Page 91 of Ruthless Moon

Lila nods and motions to an empty bench. “Come join us. There’s a lot that needs to be discussed. I’ll start, then you fill in if you know something else.”

We follow her directions, the four of us sitting quietly at the front near Lila.

“Meredith was very powerful, you know that, but you probably don’t understand exactly what kind of scale she was on compared to the rest of us. She was what we call aMathair—a mother witch. Her lineage traces back centuries. Powerful blood. Powerful magick. The ability to do spells and create beyond what most of us here can do. She chose to die in that house and we don’t know why. She turned herself over to Oliver when Emma bonded to Finn. But beyond that, we don’t know much about that relationship. She communicated with Rachel from time to time and got messages back to us. But she had to hold Oliver at bay.”

“Yes. They had a degree of mutual assured destruction between them,” I say. “My father didn’t hurt or bother with Emma as long as Meredith helped his business thrive.”

Lila frowns. “Yes. It gave him a significant advantage over his brother, and Dave Gallagher has gotten much more vicious over the last several months. He’s managed to quietly assume control of several small outlier packs around the area, strengthening his pack numbers by almost double what they were six months ago.”

Holy shit!“Did my father know Uncle Dave was doing this?”

“Not according to Meredith. Not for quite a while. But she did think it triggered him looking for a weak point in the O’Connor pack. That was when he found and bought your father’s gambling debt, Aiden.” Lila turns to me. “He had to have leverage so Aiden would agree to marry you, Gen. And then he would’ve had the O’Connor pack on his side against his brother.”

Aiden’s nodding, a thoughtful expression of agreement on his face. “Dave had already approached me several times about an arranged marriage to someone in his pack. We thought we’d kept the debt a secret, but Oliver has really good resources. Apparently better than Dave’s.”

“My father is a cruel bastard, but my uncle isn’t a good man either. Still, he feels he has a righteous cause because Oliver stole what was his. Dave is the eldest brother and should rightfully be the single Gallagher alpha. He’s always maintained that his goal was to unite the pack and fix what Oliver broke.”

Lila glances at Rachel. “It’s probably worth meeting with Lucas to see what he wants. We have no idea what he could want with you, Gen. I’m sorry. We can send Rachel with you if she’s willing.”

“Yes. Absolutely, I’ll go,” Rachel answers quickly.

“Very good. Be careful. If Oliver’s still alive, Lawrence is hunting him and probably also looking for Emma, which means he’ll be looking for us, likely thinking she’s gone into hiding here in the court. Coming in and out of the court will be very dangerous and needs to be done with the utmost caution. Do you understand?”

“Yes, but who exactly is Lawrence? What should we be prepared for?” Aiden’s eyes snap to Lila. “We can’t be careful of a danger we don’t understand.”

Lila releases a heavy sigh. “Lawrence is a warlock—a male witch. They’re forbidden and typically eliminated at birth by witches loyal to theMathairs.”

The silence and disgust in the room is deafening.

Aiden’s face is blank. “Go on.”

“The most important parts are that his mother didn’t agree with the law, like many of us, and was able to hide Lawrence from her coven. He and Meredith fell in love and planned to run away together. The New EnglandMathairfound out and sentenced them both to death—Lawrence merely because he existed and Meredith for being a traitor to her lineage. The coven managed tomarkLawrence unbeknownst to Meredith before they fled together.The mark allows him to be magickally tracked if he steps outside of a court...like a homing beacon.”

“Fuck,” the three men growl almost at the same moment.

“Yes. Exactly.” Lila continues, “He left Meredith for her own good even though it nearly broke her. By doing so, he saved her life and the life of their unborn child. TheMathairsfocused on him more than Meredith and she was able to slip away and build this court to protect herself and Emma.”

My mouth drops open. “TheMathairsdidn’t know Meredith was pregnant, did they?”

“Correct. And Emma is the product of a warlock and a witch, making her more powerful than her mother or father. TheMathairswill want her desperately when they realize she exists. Most wolves don’t know this, but bloodlines matter for power. The more pure generations in a row, the more powerful you are. Because witch law doesn’t allow male witches to live, theMathairscreated a loophole for collecting more power. We harvest magick when witches pass away.”

The room spins around me. I squeeze Liam’s hand and he pulls me into his side. “You want Meredith’s body so you canharvesther magick?”

Lila’s eyes narrow. “Meredith would want us to have her magick to protect the coven.”

Aiden stares in silence, his face still unreadable.

Bast raises his hand. “You said bloodlines matter for witches, but what about wolves? And what about the witch wolf—Talia?”

Lila doesn’t miss a beat. It’s like she’s just been waiting for the right moment to open a Pandora’s box. And we’re in that moment. Right. Now.

“It is the same for wolves. When a wolf mates a wolf, you get more powerful wolves. When a wolf mates a human, the power dilutes. And when you start mixing wolf and witch lines...the magick starts to mix and grow differently. But the same principle applies. Magick grows more magick.”

“And if theMathairsrealize there are hybrids—”

A tightness grows in my chest waiting for Lila’s answer to Bast’s question.

Lila pauses, her face going semi-green. “We’ll have more than just the New EnglandMathairto deal with.”

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