Chapter 83

The moon hangs heavy in the night sky, almost full, causing silvery shafts of light through the dense canopy of many, many trees. Dad was right. This forest feels suffocating. I get it now why it’s notorious for swallowing children whole in the past. But now, nobody enters here anymore, not since the old camp was closed decades ago.
But we’re not children. 
We’re not just anyone. 
We’re Werewolves. And tonight, I’ve come to end this fucking witch’s life.
Summerville lies behind us, its faint glow long gone, swallowed by the black expanse of trees. I grip a sturdy branch as I leap over a fallen log, landing with a practiced silence. The bridge we crossed and where we parked our cars hours ago is ancient, just like the rogue said. Now, as we veer west, I command everyone through the mindlink to search for the signpost.   
‘Alpha Ethan, there it is,’ Christine mindlinks everyone, pointing to the faded camp sign, splintered and covered in rot and moss. Its paint was long peeled, and words eroded into nonsense. I bare my teeth in a grin as I look down at it. It’s enough to confirm we’re on the right path. 
Thank fuck. Every step I take tightens the noose around her neck.
After I killed Mac, all Kral cared about was getting the fuck out of there and heading straight to where the fucking rogue said. But I couldn’t fuck up this lead. 
And after my feral wolf almost forced a shifting to fight my father because he wanted to stop us, I saw that Dad was right. I should have backup. I couldn’t go there alone.
That’s why, before dawn even breaks, Vi, two of my warriors—Kane and Christine—and I met Josh at my nightclub in Summerville. Even though my nerves were on edge and Kral’s only thought was kill-kill-kill, I summoned all my control to listen to what my sister and my Beta were telling me.
A plan. They were creating a damn plan while all I could think about was hunting and killing that old bitch. But they were right. How could we possibly go there without any protection against a being capable of casting curses from a distance?
We advance like shadows, each of us with a role. Christine and Kane carry weapons—silver-tipped arrows, just in case, and special blades honed to perfection, thanks to a contact I have in Summerville. After we find the place, they will stay at a distance, hidden among the trees, watching for traps or signs of movement. Josh’s already in wolf form, his sleek fur blending with the underbrush as he silently prowls ahead, sniffing out the path. My Beta will be closer to me than the warriors, but he won’t enter the witch house without my command. Then there’s me and my sister still in our human form. 
When Dad said the forest was thick and vast, he wasn’t exaggerating. Fucking Hell. It seems like we’ll never get where she is. On the bright side, the forest is so big that it will allow us to go unnoticed by the pack on the other side.
As we press forward, I’m the first one to sense the air changing. The witch’s magic is subtle at first, it hums in the air and pricks at the edges of my mind. Before I alert them, I sense Josh, Vi, Christine, and Kane feeling it, too, as it thickens with an unnatural weight.
I grin. Fuck. We’re close.
‘Fucking witch!’ Josh mindlinks us. Tiny puffs of dirt kick up with each step as his wolf follows me by my side. ‘It feels like you’re stuck in a hidden spiderweb I can’t see, but I feel it clinging to my fur.’  
Then Josh’s wolf stops, his ears swiveling. A low growl rumbles in his throat about what he sees, and I spot it, too. A faint shimmer in the air ahead of us, like heat rising off pavement. My grin widens. It’s a fucking enchantment, a ward meant to keep intruders out. 
And we only know this because of our caution. This enchantment is a very powerful one. I can feel everyone around me getting tense. They know this witch is powerful, and even with their instincts screaming at the top of their lungs to get out of here, they continue to follow me. Following their Alpha to remove the curse that I have. Their loyalty is a privilege for me.
We all stand in front of the enchantment.
My gaze catches on Vi. No way do I want my sister walking into a Witch coven. ‘You can stay here, Vi,’ I mindlink her, placing my hand on her shoulder. The images of what can happen to her and what had happened that day flash through my mind. It’s bad enough that my Beta and my warriors will be walking with me there. If she follows me... I clench my teeth at the mere thought of what might happen to her. If I can prevent any harm to her, I will do so. ‘You aren’t coming with us.’
Vi stares up at my hand on her shoulder before meeting my eyes. ‘Are you going, Ian?’ 
‘You know fucking well I’m going. But I’m an Alpha. You aren’t. This isn’t like when we were kids and you followed me everywhere. This is pure curses and death, facing a being that will tear you in half, drink you dry, and fucking laugh while doing it.’
‘Are. You. Going. Ian?’ she repeats fiercely in my mind. 
‘Goddess fucking dammit, Vi!’ I almost shout because this sister of mine has made up her mind, and there isn’t a fucking thing I can do about it right now.
Before I say anything else, Vi crouches beside me and mindlinks all of us, ‘Well, she’s clever. I can give her that.’ She reaches into her satchel and pulls out a pouch of salt and iron filings. ‘But not clever enough, bitch.’ She tosses the mixture across the shimmer, and it crackles as it hits the invisible barrier. A gap forms, just wide enough for us to pass. I shove through without hesitation, then Josh’s wolf. He shakes his fur like he’s feeling cold as it prickles his fur while he breaches the ward. My sister is the last to enter, just as the small passage is about to close. My instinct begs me again to leave her stubborn ass outside and protected, but that would be an impossible mission.
I narrow my eyes at the path ahead.
One down. There’ll be more.
The second ward is more vicious. Josh’s wolf spots it just in time with his paws after hours have passed since we found the first one. It’s an intricate snare of roots and brambles hidden beneath a patch of leaves. Vi needs to use another salt mix that is much harder to get than the first one, and we have little of it, so she saves as much as she can. The witch isn’t playing around. The moment she sprinkles the mixture, the ground quakes, and the roots recoil like snakes burned by fire. 
Fuck. I hope she doesn’t know someone’s coming. Yet. 
I thought that after breaking another protective barrier, we would be closer. Goddess help me! How I was wrong! Out of hatred, I almost tell Kral to run ahead as he pleased. This is taking too long. Almost two hours later, we still hadn’t found anything.
Fuck this fucking forest, I mutter to myself.
‘Maybe we’re in some kind of enchantment,’ Kane suggests. 
‘Hell, how big is this forest?’ Vi asks. ‘I didn’t even know it was this huge. It must be almost four. Daybreak isn’t far off.’
‘I already knew this forest was big,’ Christine says. ‘But I’ve never been this far in here before, though.’
‘I don’t think we’re on the right path—’
Suddenly, we finally see a house under the pale light of the moon, which interrupts Kane’s complaints. My blood boils. It’s tucked in a clearing, a crooked thing that looks like it grew out of the forest itself. It isn’t natural, I fucking know it. Vines crawl up its sides, and the windows are dark. The place isn’t small by any means. 
I try to hold back the growl in my throat as I inch closer, my ears capturing at every creak of the trees. 
This is it. She’s inside, the one who cursed my sister before I took her place. And I know this not only because I can sense presence inside the house but because I remember this smell. Unlike the day she cursed me, when her scent was much more subtle, probably to hide from the members of my pack, today, the scent is much more abroad. 
As if she had no fear in the world. 
As if nothing could invade her precious place.
The scent is not something stinky like rogues; it is quite the opposite. She has the ability to make her scent inviting. But the air around is heavy. Exhausting. Witches are ghost magnets—especially the ones who deal in ancestral magics or are as powerful as her.
All of them look at me for directions. But I can’t tear my gaze off the house far away as I suppress a growl, hating having to follow a fucking plan when all I want to do is tear through the door and sink my teeth into her throat. Just kill her already. But I know better. Kral knows better. This bitch is dangerous and powerful.
‘Christine and Kane, you know exactly what to do and where to position yourself,’ I mindlink to both of them as I indicate with my hand the back of the house and the front side, respectively, where each one will be ready and waiting.
From the shadows, I watch them approach their posts. The forest is silent except for the noise of small nocturnal insects and the distant rustle of leaves. Josh’s wolf crouches low beside me, his tail flicking in anticipation. Christine and Kane are already hidden somewhere as instructed, knowing them, their arrows must be nocked and ready. 
I loop the amulet over my head. Immediately, I feel at ease. I haven’t realized how much I was feeling pressed into the enchanted air. My contact in Summerville gave me two necklaces that prevent any curse from being cast without physical contact with the person. An excellent and powerful tool to use at this moment, but its useful lifetime is short. It only prevents one spell. Not that I’m planning to go around telling the witch about this detail. 
I made Vi wear one of them before even entering the woods, and now I’m wearing the other one. 
What’s going to happen from now on, I’m sure, will be very dangerous, and even though deep down, I feel that this piddly little necklace won’t be enough to get me out unharmed at all, I still wear it.
The closer we get, the harder it is to keep the hatred from consuming me. I think about how she ruined my life. Not only in big events in my life like finding my fated mate but also in small ones. Like feeling something other than just coldness and loneliness. The relentless nights spent chasing her. My pack deserves a Luna, and she’s the one standing in the way. 
I am tempted to tell Vi it is time for her to bow out, but one look at her fearless face tells me not to. 
Even without a fucking mindlink, she seems to read my mind because she shakes her head at me. ‘Don’t even start.’ She grabs my hand, and I realize only now that it’s balled into tight fists. ‘We’re in this together, remember?’ Her mindlink is only to me.
‘The first sign of danger you run. I don’t care what’s happening. You. Run! Understand, Violet?’
Her lips press tightly together. ‘Yes, Alpha.’
We stare at each other for a moment. A million emotions seem to pass through our eyes. And then she skirts the short tree almost between us and holds me in a nearly bone-crushing hug, even though she knows damn well I don’t feel anything in her touch. Still, I appreciate the gesture, especially because I feel like she needs it. ‘I swear, Vi, if you get hurt, I’ll kill you.’
‘Same, Ian.’