Page 153 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

More women come out of the water behind her. The white witches who are restraining Alice now look frightened, as does Serena.

“What is this? Who are you?” she demands.

“You don’t remember us, Serena?” the one holding Mira replies. “But you were the one who led the charges against us. You cornered me and my sisters here, and you drained us of our powers.”

I look back and forth between them, confused. This woman is acting as if the coven leader should know them, but these dark witches should be centuries old. Serena can’t be more than a hundred at the most. At least, that’s what I was told by my father, the king.

Serena is shaking now. “You’re dead. You’re supposed to be dead! I—”

“You tortured us. You held us down, using your wolf companions. You drained us of our magic and then threw our bodies into the lake.” The woman carrying Mira walks over to Alice. She breaks whatever magic has been cast on her with one swift movement of her hand, then delivers our daughter into my mate’s arms. “You’ve grown up,” she says to Alice. “You’ve done well, child. We knew you would come to us. Now, let us take care of the rest.”

My soldiers look to me for guidance as the women from the lake face off against the white witches. Unable to hold my weight any longer due to my battered body, I growl, “Take Alice and Mira. Get them out of here.” I collapse into the water and hear Alice’s voice shout my name. My men start to lift me up, but I shake my head. “No. Take them away. I need to stay here.”

Then, I feel my mate’s arm around me. “Darian.”

“Go with the soldiers,” I order weakly. “You’ll be safe in the palace. I have to see this to the end.”

She takes hold of my chin and forces me to look at her, her voice fierce. “So do I! I’m not going anywhere.”

When the soldiers try to support me again, she waves them off. “I’ve got him.”

“I can’t stand up, Alice,” I breathe through the pain. “My bones—”

“I know,” she whispers, pulling me from the water and lowering me to the ground in a sitting position. Mira is there, and I examine our daughter as Alice pulls her into an embrace.

“She’s not hurt, is she?”

“Your Majesty!” A young girl wearing a white cloak rushes toward us. The soldiers immediately step forward, ready to kill her, but she cries, “Don’t hurt me. I just want to help!”

“She’s just a kid,” Alice says, but she is on high alert. “Let her through.”

The girl hurries forward and crouches by my side. “I can heal you. I—Not all of us support what the coven leader is doing, Sire. Some of us just want to heal.”

She can’t be more than ten years old. Her face pale, she holds out her hand, and I feel the familiar healing energy wash over me.

A battle is taking place next to us. The white witches are facing off against the dark witches.

“Were they alive all this time?” I ask, bewildered.

Alice holds Mira even tighter. “I don’t know. Not every white witch is taking part in the fight, though.”

The young healer’s head is bowed, and she says in a trembling voice, “Not everyone agrees with Serena’s methods. We—White witches are meant to be healers. Some of us don’t want to be here, but we were summoned. We don’t want to take part in this.”

The girl is straining herself. The healing ability of this white witch is incredibly strong. I can feel my bones mending, and it only takes a couple of minutes for my strength to return.

Alice has a death grip on my hand. “Do you think they’re going to win?”

The dark witches are barely more than two dozen in number, facing off against the hundred plus white witches, but they’re holding their own.

“They have battle magic,” I say, nodding. “Whatever the white witches gained was through unnatural means. They’ll win. The dark witches will win.”

I’ve heard plenty of stories of how dark witches once fought in the battlefields. Seeing it in person fascinates me. Their magic is dazzling, their steps coordinated, and their movements fierce. The white witches may have the magic, but they don’t have the skill and experience to back it up.

However, I’m not going to take any chances. I thank the young healer, get to my feet, and look at my men. “Let’s give the dark witches a helping hand.”

Alice tries to stop me. “You can’t—You’re not planning to go face them again, are you? Look at what they did to you before!”

“This is our only chance to stop them, Alice,” I tell her firmly. “I will not put you in any more danger.”

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