Chapter 59 - Betrayed by the council.

“NO! I’m not running again, Alaric!” She walked away and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. She couldn’t even look at him. How could he expect her to do this?

“Lena, please. I want you, the children and Rebecca to be safe.” He threw his arms in the air and Lena rolled her eyes.

“Alaric, my family … No, my kind has never been safe. The council declared war … No, YOU declared war on my kind.” He winched slightly and Lena knew what she was saying was hurting him, but she would do whatever it took not to leave her home again. This time she would stand and fight to her last breath. Lena was not going to be driven from her home just because some idiot didn’t like what she was doing or didn’t want her and her children to exist! Alaric stood with his hands on his hips looking at her and she lifted her chin slightly as she looked him squarely in the eyes.

“I will use the magic that brought on the war in the first place if I need it to protect my family. I will NOT run and hide.” She knew her eyes were ablaze with the fury she was feeling and he relented. Sighing, he threw his hands in the air again.

“Okay, okay, then you better teach me and Rebecca the spell.” His words made her gawk. She knew that he knew he was a half-blood, but he never asked her to teach him anything. She didn’t even know if it would be possible. Nobody had given him his gifts when he came of age. She had no idea if he had received his powers or if you could give someone their gift so many years later.

There was only one thing to do. They had to take him to the coven grounds and pray that the ancestors gave him his gift. She wasn’t entirely sure if they would, since he was most probably the one who killed most of them. The ancestors weren’t forgiving. They didn’t have to be. She called Rebecca and told her to get some supplies ready while Lena and Alaric got the children packed.

Lena had no idea how long the ancestors would take to give an answer, so she decided to stay on the grounds for as long as it took. In the meantime, Max would prepare the pack for an attack, while Lena hoped they would make it back in time.

It was incredibly frustrating to teach a grown man the same things she learned as a child. Rebecca even lost her cool with him once or twice, but they didn’t have years to train him. They had days at the most. Alaric needed training, and he did have natural talent, but he had not yet been given his power by the ancestors yet. While Rebecca spent her time trying to train her brother, Lena was trying to contact the ancestors.

It took some doing, but she eventually got an answer. They were willing to grant Alaric his power, but only because there were so few blood witches left after the war. It gave Lena hope that they weren’t the only ones. It was understandable that the ancestors wouldn’t reveal where the other witches were hiding. Lena didn’t push the question. She was just glad that her small family weren’t the only ones left.

The war hadn’t wiped all of them out and in time, she might even be lucky enough to see someone from her old coven again. They prepared for Alaric’s gift ceremony and had a small ceremony with just their immediate family. Alaric received the power to manipulate water, which Lena found very funny. It meant if he wasn’t near a large body of water, he would have a bit of a hard time using his power. It was probably the only punishment the ancestors could think of at such short notice.

They returned home just in time for Max to inform Alaric that it seemed as though the council were making their move. On their northern border, a large group of council soldiers were gathering. Alaric didn’t want to rush into a war again. He ordered his people not to attack unless they were attacked. It was not normal for wolves, but since the soldiers had not crossed the border, Alaric didn’t want to give the damn council more ammunition than they already had. Not that he thought it would make much of a difference.

For days, the soldiers just hung around in their camp and it seemed as though nothing was going to happen when the alarm sounded in the pack house. The soldiers had crossed the border! Alaric’s border patrol warriors had been instructed to move to the pack house once the soldiers crossed the border. If he knew the council as well as he thought he did, they would be attacking from all sides even if they made it look as though they were only coming from one.

He wasn’t wrong. A couple of minutes later, the other border patrols informed him that more soldiers were moving in from all sides. They were trapped, but they were ready. They were going to fight in their own territory, which would count against the council in the end when Alaric won. He knew that not all of the council agreed with the decision to go to war against the blood witches. If he could get them on his side after they win this fight, it would all be over once and for all.

But first, they had to show those people that they were only defending themselves. He had to show that blood witches weren’t out to commit murder because they liked it. They were just fighting to survive like everyone else. The soldiers moved closer and the hidden bombs Lena had planted all over the ground started going off. All around them they could hear soldiers scream, but they kept coming.

Alaric held the wolves back as long as he could and then gave the order to attack. He didn’t shift, but fought with his new power the way Lena taught him. If he had to be honest, it was actually a lot easier than fighting in his wolf form.

He caught sight of both Lena and Rebecca and he knew they wouldn’t be able to keep this up for very long. The soldiers kept coming and he was beginning to wonder if the entire council army had been deployed when one charged him. Instinctively, he said the words and drew the symbols in the air to release the death spell and watched as the soldier twisted horrifically and fell to the ground.

He could feel his energy drain with each spell, which made him wonder how Lena kept it up. She didn’t have the wolf energy to draw on like he and Rebecca did, and in the corner of his eye, he saw Lena losing her balance. She got up, cast another spell, and went down again. Alaric rushed to her side and was just in time to protect her from an attack. All around them, people were fighting to the death and it broke his heart that they were at war again.

Only this time he was on the opposite side. He picked Lena up and carried her inside, thinking of how incredibly stupid this fight was and how many innocent lives were being lost because of that. Deciding it was time, he shifted after leaving Lena in Rebecca’s care. As soon as he touched the ground outside of the house, he started killing soldiers.

He no longer cared if they used to be friends. He saw what Lena had been trying so hard to show him. These people could turn on you faster than you could blink even if they were your best friend just a moment ago. The same council that convinced him to lead the previous war was now out to destroy him and his family, and he would be damned if he was going to allow it.

He ripped through the throng of soldiers for what felt like hours until he noted that the fighting had died down. Some soldiers were running back toward the border and he ordered his men to let them go. They were tired. They were injured and many of the people from both sides were dead. It had been a brutal fight and all he could think of was that he had been betrayed by the damn council!

Lena was right. Lena! He whipped around after giving Max the necessary orders and rushed inside. Lena was lying on their bed looking incredibly pale and he wondered if a witch could die if she used too much power. He had never even thought of that before. Taking her hand in his, he noted how cold it was and he twitched his ears to listen for her heart beat.

Breathing a sigh of relief as soon as he heard it, he held onto her hand while they waited for the doctor.