Page 84 of Star-crossed Betas

“Sure. May as well if I’ve only got a two-path chance to live another four years.”

“Don’t worry, Noah will do the right thing, and I have a feeling once the decision is made, there will be plenty more paths again. You and your Phoenix bird will get many more years together, I am sure,” she says, and I’m slightly more reassured. I take a pull on the joint and chuckle at the mental image of Phoenix as a bird.

Olra and I sit companionably, passing the joint back and forth as she tells me stories of my mum as a child. I’ve heard them all before, but there’s still something comforting about them. After she died, it was a few years before Da would even talk about her. He and Mum were mates, and he was so destroyed that it sometimes felt as though he might pine away and follow her into the afterlife like a heartsick swan.

“There we go. I knew my boy would make the right choice,” Olra says, seemingly out of the blue. A few minutes later, Noah walks through the door and glares at her.

“Get it over with then,” he says through gritted teeth, his jaw pulsating with tension, but Orla just smiles at him knowingly. She briefly leaves the room and returns with a rather crude-looking knife. Are there any rituals that don't entail slicing me open?

“Left hands, palms up,” she says to the both of us, and we do as requested. Without any preamble, she slices a shallow cut across my palm, right where the scar from the binding ceremony is, and then does the same to Noah’s. The knife is sharper than it looks and leaves only a brief sting. “Quickly, before his hand heals itself,” she says to Noah, who grips my left hand with his own, causing our blood to mix.

“I vow my life to your pack and any Alpha who succeeds you. I vow to put the best interest of the pack before my own and will put your life before mine. I will be your witch, to utilise in the manner you see fit to ensure the safety, well-being, and future of the pack. That is my oath.”

When I pull my hand away, the blood is gone, but the silvery scar remains. Even brighter, somehow. The blood in my veins is thrumming with magic, like electricity flowing through me. I’ve never been told exactly what it entails to be a pack witch, and I had no idea it was an actual blood oath. It’s difficult to tell how much I’m still buzzed from the weed and how much it’s the magic Noah transferred into me.

An hour or so later, we get up to leave. Noah still hasn’t said a word and mutters goodbye under his breath as we leave the house.

“Get back here right now, Noah,” Orla says firmly. Noah’s back straightens abruptly, and he turns around to come back. “How would you feel if that’s how you said goodbye, and I died tomorrow?”

“Are you goin’ to die tomorrow?” he asks, arching an eyebrow at her.

“It’s unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Tell me you love me and be on your way.” Orla turns her cheek for him to kiss it, and he mutters what sounds like ‘love you’ and then stalks off back to where he parked the car earlier. Right before he gets inside, I swear I hear him say, ‘manipulative old hag,’ and I hope for his sake Orla’s hearing is a lot worse than mine.

“You’ll be pleased to know you have many more paths ahead of you, my dear Connor. Just don’t make the mistakes your forefathers made.” I nod, not that I’m entirely sure what she means by that, but agreeing seems like the right thing to do. When I reach down to hug her goodbye, she whispers, “And make sure you look after my boy,” before letting me go. Glancing over my shoulder at where Noah is sitting in the car, I tell her I will before joining him so we can make our way back home.

While I’m itching to return to Fee, to return to the land that makes my blood sing, I’m apprehensive, too. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Archie was killed and our home was set on fire, trapping Fee inside. There’s a reason he almost died the same way the Yorkshire pack were killed fifty years ago. And why, without Noah becoming my pack witch, did it almost guarantee my death?

'You aren't safe here'. That's what that witch's note said. I assumed the note was about Archie after what happened to him. But maybe it was meant for all of us?

Thirty-one

June 2023

Phoenix Campbell

“How many weddings is too many weddings?” Cee asks from where he’s standing in front of the mirror, butchering his bowtie.

“Well, the first one was legal, the second was for show, and I’d say the third one is going to bejust right.” I wink at him and then spin him to face me so I can tie his bowtie properly.

“Alright, Goldilocks. Let’s agree this is most definitely the last, though.” I smile and peck a kiss on his lips once I’m finished.

With so much tension and resentment shadowing our official weddings last year, we wanted a do-over on our own terms. A chance to have the wedding we had talked about and planned over the years we were together.

“Go time, boys,” Niamh shouts from outside our bedroom door.

“Why am I so nervous? Fuck, we’ve been married for over a year, this is ridiculous.” Cee wipes a bead of sweat from his temple.

“Come on, husband,” I say, reaching out for him with my hand. Our fingers intertwine, and we both take a deep breath as we leave the room.

With Connor still being paranoid that someone is going to try and kill me, we’re having our third and final wedding on our land, within the safety of Noah’s wards. We’ve hired a marquee for the reception, and Niamh and Will have done a beautiful job arranging the seating, flowers, and an archway for the ceremony.

We don’t have tons of guests; both of our families, as well as close friends from our old packs, are here, along with a few people from the Eastwood pack. Alice stands under the archway, ready to lead the ceremony. She joined our pack in December, and as the only person who knew us together when we were younger, it seems fitting. Niamh and Jasper are on either side of her as best man and woman. When the music begins, Cee and I slowly walk down the makeshift aisle for our very last,I do.

“As this is a somewhat less official wedding, the grooms have opted to write their own vows, which they will now read out,” Alice says, and I take a large gulp of air. I’m sorely regretting agreeing to go first. I clear my throat a little too loudly and wince.

“As some of you know, and some of you don’t know, I met Connor six years ago today. I was minding my own business, enjoying a late night swim, when this big dark grey wolf appeared, rudely interrupting me.” Several of our guests laugh, and Cee rolls his eyes.

“The moment you appeared, it felt like coming home, only to a home I’d never been to before. I knew the moment the breeze blew your scent towards me that this was it. That you were myhome and I’d met my mate. You’ve been the focal point of my world ever since.

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