Page 152 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

I roar and sprint toward my daughter. As I reach the witches, something shoves me so hard that I go flying into the trees. I can hear my bones snap, but I don’t stop. Getting to my feet, I launch another attack. I’m thrown back once more, but my daughter’s screams pull me up again.

“You just don’t learn!” Serena raises her voice, lifting her hand in the air. As she does, my wolf body goes flying upward, and then it slams down into the ground. More bones break, yet I refuse to give up. I don’t care what happens to me. I have to get to Mira.

I start crawling toward her, and Serena uses her magic to fling me into the air yet again and then propel me back to the groundwith even greater force than before. This time, my body doesn’t move when I tell it to.

Mira is still screaming. I can taste the blood in my mouth, smell it thick in the air.

I failed.

I failed to protect them. Again.

The ground begins to vibrate as I lie limp in the dirt.

A shrill shriek rings out, one unlike any I have ever heard before. A sharp wind picks up. Weakly, I lift my head and see Alice glowing. Her body is surrounded by white light. Willow is scrambling away from her. Serena has diverted all her focus to my mate and is chanting something. Even from here, I can tell that the coven leader looks afraid.

“Kill her!” she screams, and all the white witches turn toward Alice, their hands outstretched. The air is filled with their voices, but there doesn’t seem to be any impact on my mate. Her eyes are closed. Willow is running away from her. I force myself to my feet, an almost impossible task.

While Alice has everyone distracted, I should get to Mira. I have to—

An explosion of power throws me off my feet, and my back lands against the closest tree. I lose my wolf form; I’m too weak to maintain it any longer. The witches shield Serena, who is also on the ground, and as I watch helplessly, my mate steps out of the circle, her eyes blazing. Her short red hair is lifting with the breeze that is centered around her.

She’s pissed. I can tell. She lifts her hand and waves it in the air. All the witches in front of Serena fly backward, exposing the coven leader.

“How dare you touch my child?!” Alice’s voice is a low growl. “How dare you hurt her?!”

Serena struggles to stand. “You awakened your latent powers.” She looks both fascinated and horrified. “Don’t think it makes you stronger than us. With all of us combined—”

“I don’t have to be stronger than all of you,” Alice snarls. “I just have to be stronger than you.”

She gestures with her hand, and Serena cries out, clutching her chest. “You dare—”

“Yes, I dare.” Alice rushes at her, her claws extended and her eyes glowing a bright white.

Before she can land the first blow on Serena, Willow’s voice echoes through the clearing. “You’re not going to win! You fucking freak!”

All eyes turn toward her, and to my horror, she has Mira by the wrist.

“Let her go!” Serena shouts. “Stop her!”

As the witches scramble to try to stop Willow, the shifter simply swings Mira toward the lake. I watch my daughter fall into the water, and a howl leaves my lips. Most of the bones in my body are shattered, and my healing has not had time to work, but that doesn’t stop me from dragging myself in the direction of the lake.

Alice runs toward the water, screaming Mira’s name.

Willow steps in front of her, laughing hysterically. “Your spawn is gone. You thought you were better than me, giving Darian an heir? Well, now there’s no heir left. You are nothing. You have lost. You—”

Alice thrusts her hand into Willow’s chest, pulls out her heart, and crushes it.

Willow’s smirk is frozen on her face as she stares at Alice, her gaze growing duller by the second. Her body crumbles to the ground, and Alice jumps over her corpse.

She’s about to dive into the lake when Serena shouts, “Drain her! We need her power! Finish the ritual before she goes in the water!”

All the white witches focus on Alice, and my mate is once again paralyzed, every white witch here using their magic to root her in place. She struggles in vain. Her gaze meets mine as I’m hobbling toward the water, and she screams, “Darian! Darian, she can’t swim!”

The wounded soldiers seem to have realized what’s happening, and their wolves start limping toward me. All of a sudden, ripples begin to form in the water, and a soft glow of light appears in the center of the lake. It doesn’t stop me from wading in.

The ripples on the surface grow more powerful, and I’m pushed back. A figure starts to emerge from the water. It’s a woman. As she walks toward us, I see she is carrying a small child in her arms. I go still, remembering when Alice described the witches she had seen at the bottom of the lake. The woman carrying ourdaughter matches the description of the one Alice claimed had grabbed her wrist.

She’s not alone.

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