Page 102 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate
Chapter 19 - Marcus
Marcus had felt Athena’s presence from inside the room and hadn’t realized how much he had missed her till every passing minute in the meeting stretched long like hours.
He couldn’t wait to see her, and finally setting his eyes on her did nothing less than make his heart leap all over again.
But he didn’t let it show. Not entirely.
He couldn’t afford to.
Athena was thriving here. She was stronger and focused. She was in better control of her magic in a way that both amazed and unnerved him. He could feel the pulse of her magic. It was steadier.
So, he immersed himself in his work.
Except for the occasional hiss of the wind rustling the nearby trees, the training grounds on the camp’s outer ridge were silent. Marcus took a position opposite Aubrey, who was standing in the middle with her arms folded across her chest. Her face was composed, too composed for the power that thrived beneath her skin like a second pulse.
“I thought I was a guest, not a test subject,” she said, arching a brow.
Marcus crossed his arms, the corners of his mouth twitching dryly. “Guests don’t usually carry enough raw power to split the sky.”
She tilted her head, amused. ”Thanks for the flattery.”
“It was simply a fact,” he shot back dryly. He stepped forward, just enough to catch her gaze. “We need to know how much you are capable of. How much control you have. If we arebringing you into this… we need to know what we are dealing with.”
There was a flicker of calculation in her expression.
Aubrey stepped into the circle Marcus had drawn on the ground earlier, her eyes glinting like an obsidian stone.
“So what do you want me to do? Do you want me to light a fire? Toss a few fireballs?” she asked in a mocking, sly tone Marcus recognized too well.
Marcus didn’t answer immediately. He studied her, every inch of her posture,
“Do what you would do in a fight,” he said finally. “If the camp was suddenly under attack, what would you unleash first?”
Aubrey smiled. But it didn’t reach her eyes. “You know the answer,” she replied.
It was true that he knew it. Manipulation. It was why demons worked with dark witches for demonic possession.
She lifted her hand, her palm open to the air as the air shifted. The leaves around them lifted and froze midair—suspended and vibrating. Then, with a sudden crack, a ring of force burst out from her feet, tossing the leaves sharply like knives against a dummy and shredding it into pieces.
Marcus stood his ground. His eyes locked on hers.
Aubrey lowered her arm.
“Well?” she asked.
He let out a breath. “Good.” He wasn’t expecting anything less.
It was true. That was another thing about powerful dark witches: they could easily split the sky without muttering a single spell. Their magic ran in their blood and mind.
But deep down, something in his gut churned. Her magic was powerful, but he worried that it was not enough. His gaze drifted past her toward the horizon, where the mountains barely held the last light of day.
Somewhere beyond those walls were pockets of demon influence they hadn’t fully rooted out. Their main threat—Xavier Storm—had fallen, but like all twisted things, darkness had a way of seeping through the cracks, lingering in corners too small to see until it bloomed again like rot beneath floorboards.
He clenched his jaw. The organization was meant to purge that corruption. They were meant to be the line of defense. But more and more, he was starting to wonder if the enemy hadn’t just infiltrated their world—maybe it had already built a fort within it.
“How long have you been practicing it?” Marcus asked, suddenly referring to her dark magic.
Aubrey hesitated. “Since I was fifteen. Maybe earlier.”
