Page 83 of The Alpha Wolf Defying Fate

Baer leaped forward and took out the last shadow guard at the gate as Aurora aimed another powerful ball of harnessed sunlight at the wooden gate. As the smoke cleared, we found ourselves once again blocked in our path by the very witch and her vampire mate, who had first sent the legion after us.

“Well,” Minerva said with a slow, sarcastic clap. “I have to say I am surprised. You certainly have earned your reward.”

I bristled as I watched the witch, and my wolf began to pace impatiently.

‘Mate,’he said with a growl.‘She’s close.’

‘I know,’I said.‘I feel her too.’

“Are you really surprised though?” her mate chuckled. “I’m not. That red head there, she’s the daughter of the Crete hybrid who killed your little wolf friend, remember? She certainly has her parent’s fiery spirit, I mean, for wolves anyway.”

He smiled and wiggled his fingers at Aurora. “If you get home, tell your mother hello from me.” Baer growled and stepped in front of Aurora, turning the vampire’s attention to him. “Same to you. Your mother was one of my students after all.”

“John,” Minerva said, her brow raised. “Let’s give him the choice before we give requests. After all, depending on what he chooses, they may never be able to deliver those messages for you.”

John sighed and nodded as he took Minerva’s hand and kissed her fingers. “You are right as always, My Love. Go on and give him his options then.”

Minerva smiled, then tilted her head to me. The scent of magic swirled around me, and I felt my throat tingling as a strange shift began inside me. I howled out in surprise, my voice coming out not as a wolf, but as a man.

“There,” Minerva said. “I can’t fully shift you back to human. Not with you so close to the castle that is. The closer you are to her, the more wolfy you will become, you see. That’s my king’s wishes, but I can’t possibly know what you choose if I can’t understand you.”

I let out a cough. “What the hell?”

Baer and Aurora both gasped. Their eyes widened as they looked down at me.

“Yes, yes, talking wolf. So, surprising. Anyway, I promised you a choice. Are you ready to hear it?” she asked.

“Where is Sasha?” I demanded instead of answering.

She laughed and shook her head. “Well, I will tell you depending on the choice you make.”

“Why don’t you just tell us now? Would make all of this a whole lot easier for everyone.” Baer cut in.

Minerva looked over at him and cocked her head. “And what fun would that be? Nothing that is easy is worth having. Trust me, I’ve spent a millennium working towards my goals.” She looked back at me. “Now then, you have two options. You can leave here now without the girl, return home and give your dear, sweet, magic-less uncle this vial,” she waved her hand, revealing the vial in question. “And become his hero just as you had set out to be. The moment you leave this realm you will be able to shift back to a human and walk away from all of this mess with the very goal you left home to complete.”

I stared at the vial with widened eyes as she paused and smiled back at me.

“Or” she continued. “You can walk right past me and through those double doors and try your luck at taking the girl back from the very creator of dark magic himself. The choice is entirely up to you.”

My eyes remained glued to the vial in her hand. Images of Atlas sitting alone in the field when he thought no one was watching. His eyes filled with longing as he turned his gaze to the moon, twitching his finger in a desperate yearning for that blood-induced magic.

He always swore he was fine. Put on a radiant smile with the family as he taught each of the kids in the coven how to use the syphoning magic he discovered in his trials. He always said that it wasn’t the magic that mattered, but the love that he surrounded himself and the people who he shared those feelings with.

The night before I left, I had seen him once again sitting alone on the hill and staring up at the moon. It was then that I swore to him in secret that I wouldn’t return home without the magic that was rightfully his, and there it was. I could feel it. The family magic radiated out to me as it recognized the familiar bonds.

It wasn’t a bluff on her part. She held the true magic in her hands that would return my uncle to his full self. Make him whole again.

“Ayden,” Aurora gasped as she watched me.

“Shh,” Baer coaxed her as he wrapped his arm around her. “You have to trust him. He will do the right thing. Just give him a minute.”

“Tick, tock, Moon Witch,” Minerva mocked as she twitched the vial back and forth. “This is a timed choice. Take the win or risk the loss. I think it’s a no brainer personally.”

‘Mate,’my wolf howled in my mind.‘Mate, mate, mate.’

Images of Sasha flashed in my eyes as my wolf pushed memory after memory forward. Each one becoming a little more blurred with the feral curse pushing at our mind once more.

Then Atlas’s voice came into my mind again. “It’s not about the power or magic, Ayden. You have to remember that magic is what you make of it. What really matters is family and having your family’s best interests in mind above all else. That’s why wolves run in packs and witches practice in covens.”

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