60. A Step Closer To Death

**Third Person's POV**

The cheers and hoots from the crowd were so loud that one could barely hear his or her own voice. The never-ending snarl and growl of the alpha wolves resonated in the air like vicious lightning before a storm. Their wild, glowing eyes were focused on each other, trying to outsmart each other’s moves. While Kade’s wolf has leaped towards Xander’s, he waited for a beat to examine his action and thwarted the blow.
Another menacing growl shot through the air, followed by the applause as the wolves tried to sink their teeth on each other’s necks. So far, Xander could only inflict a savage blow to his opponent’s legs, while Kade made a small gashing wound to Xander’s wolf.
“Where the hell are you, Maeve?” Xander’s wolf thought, trying his best to mind-link with his mate as well as trying to survive the fight. It was difficult to say what worried him more — his mate or the fighting.
In one fluent motion, Kade’s wolf leaped into the air and tried to pin his nemesis, but Xander’s brown beast rolled away. But at the same time, something unexpected happened.
Something *unfathomable* and *terrible*.
One of the Elders of the Wolf’s Council rushed to stand near the ground and raised a flag. The flag was to cease the fight. It has never happened before, and neither of the alphas was not happy about it.
“What the hell is going on?” Kade shouted the moment he shifted back to his human form. Xander followed suit, but genuine concern knitted his brows.
“We have a problem,” the Elder declared solemnly, looking between them. “Xander, we have reason to believe that someone has taken your mate captive.”
“What?”
Kade jumped in, vehemently protesting. “Oh, c’mon! It’s just a ploy.”
“Whoever has kidnapped Maeve, has taken your sister, Janelle, as well.”
Rage bloomed on his face like molten lava. “What the fuck are you saying?”

—-

Maeve was shaken to her core.
The last person she ever expected to betray her was Esmeralda. The friend, guidance, and confidant she trusted with her eyes closed. Perhaps, that was the mistake that cost her.
“Esmeralda,” Maeve whispered, almost incredulously.
The old woman didn’t smile, nor did she reflect any remorse. She was just expressionless as if her face was carved out of marble stone. But when she opened her mouth, the true extent of her treachery was realized. “Maeve, I didn’t think we’d ever meet like this. You were, indeed, a brave woman.”
Maeve gaped at her in surprise, and she experienced every feeling of her betrayal again in fresh, sharp detail as she snarled viciously. “And a stupid one. I trusted you. Xander trusted you. You were his pack, his family!” With every word, her voice rose an octave, punctuating Esmeralda’s sins.
“I did everything for my family, for my mate!” she spewed in her defense. The old woman stomped over to Maeve, standing inches away. “Do you know how it feels to live without a mate for years? Eric wasn’t supposed to die! He wasn’t supposed to die if Xander’s father, the so-called Alpha didn’t send him that night into the forest!”
It took a moment for Maeve to collect her wits because she has never seen this side of Esmeralda. To her, she was the most graceful woman and trusted friend. But it seemed like she was also a master manipulator and an excellent actress.
Maeve shook her head as if in disbelief. “Eric was killed by the humans,” she tried to reason aimlessly. “How could you blame the Alpha then?”
“It was the Alpha’s job to protect the pack and face the dangers.” By now, Maeve was well-acquainted with the pack’s hierarchy, but she could not agree with her. But Esmeralda went on. “I did everything in my power to bring him back. I called upon the Moon Goddess but she turned me down,” she revealed with equal parts of sorrow and anger. “What could I have done?”
“So you made a deal with the devil?” Maeve asked as she glimpsed at Ametrine from the corner of her eyes.
“Is it a sin to try and save your mate from the throes of death?” Esmeralda countered with every scrap of arrogance her old voice could muster.
“No, but it is a sin to betray your pack.” A new voice interfered. Maeve almost forgot about Janelle’s presence until she hurled into the conversation like a hurricane. “But who can blame you?” Janelle scoffed at Esmeralda. “You are not a wolf. You are just a witch. So you can never belong to a pack.”
Maeve did not know what to think of Janelle, who reserved air of entitlement and bore a genuine hatred towards other supernaturals like witches or vampires.
“The pack could go to hell,” Esmeralda sneered back. “All I ever wanted was Eric.”
Maeve understood her desperation, partly because she was feeling the same. But unlike Esmeralda, she did not backstab people or plotted their murder for her selfish causes. “Eric is dead, Esmeralda. If the Moon Goddess could not bring him back. Nothing ever could. How could you go against nature?”
There was a fleeting sadness in the old woman’s eyes before it vanished. “I didn’t give up. I resorted to dark magic, the magic Ametrine created hundred of years ago and relentlessly practised it day and night. But nothing came out of it. Until one day, opportunity knocked on my door like a divine premonition.” She smirked wickedly, pinning her wrinkling gaze on Maeve. “Blaize told me about this psychic girl who is his brother’s mate and I just couldn’t stop myself.”
Maeve was smart enough to connect the dots. “So you pretended to help us and keep us safe.” This time, she did not bother to frame this as a question. The puzzle blocks were slowly revealing themselves. “You manipulated me into getting the werewolf mark so that the venom entered my body and then you awakened the magic in my blood. It was you who gave her the talisman to bind me in a spell.”
Esmeralda did not deny it. And how could she? It was her all long.
She had planned it a long time ago ever since she heard of Maeve.
“Enough of this chit-chat,” Ametrine intervened rudely and turned to her Esmeralda. “Let’s get down to business. I believe we have everything we need.” Her slender fingers pointed. “A witch, a werewolf, thanks to Maeve again and a vampire.” A tall man stood behind her, almost unmoving. “Finish the spell and you will be reunited with the love of your life.”
Maeve clutched Esmeralda’s hand and halted her. “Don’t listen to her! She can never bring back the dead. Ametrine has no such powers.”
The old woman smirked, and it was Ametrine who spoke on her behalf. “I admire your naive mind, Maeve but you have limited power in terms of witchery, my dear. If I created them, I can bring them back, too.”
Ametrine seemed confident, and Janelle took a sly moment to launch an attack on her. Except, she failed the second time, and the expressionless, pale vampire immediately broke her leg.
“No! Don’t!” Maeve cried, but it was all too late. Janelle was already on the floor, writhing and crying in pain.
Esmeralda began to light the candle around the room, creating a boundary that trapped all of them in an invisible cell. No amount of threats or requests could sway her from the path of destruction. Even Maeve understood that. Whatever little hope she held onto was slowly ebbing away.
“She is lying, Esmeralda!” Maeve tried one last time. “Your mate is on the other side and in peace. He’s with the Moon Goddess.” Her words fell on deaf ears as Esmeralda neither turned nor stopped her chant.
“Restrain her, please,” Ametrine sighed, turning to the vampire. With an abominable speed, the beast bound her arms and legs, rendering her immobile.
“We are ready, Ametrine,” Esmeralda said.
“We have to go in reverse to turn around the ancient spell,” the ancient witch instructed. “Which means, it will go like this - a vampire, werewolf and then a psychic. One by one, each spell has to be performed. And with each one of the deaths, I will regain my power.”
Esmeralda nodded and looked up. “Give me your wrist,” she asked the vampire, who promptly obeyed. He did not even flinch when she slashed his wrist and let the blood directly into the fire, changing its color to an exceptional red flame. She did the same with Janelle, who put up a great struggle and was panting for her life.
The spell went on for an hour, and with each passing minute, the vampire was wheezing for breath. His bloodshot eyes were turning pale while his pale skin ashen even more. Even his ability to speak was slowly diminishing.
“It’s just a matter of time,” Ametrine whispered in great delight.
His suffering went on for half an hour until death finally claimed him. And just as soon he died, Janelle felt her heart rate quickening.
*The vampire, the werewolf, and then the psychic.*
Every *death* was going to bring Ametrine closer to her supreme dominance.

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***Thank you for unlocking the chapter and continuing the story. I know I promised daily updates, but I could not keep up my word due to some health issues. Nevertheless, I will still try and post a chapter tomorrow. So, it would mean a lot if you guys could comment and let me know your thoughts/criticism/feedback. Thank you!***