Chapter Nineteen

Hayden and Alexia walked back into the packhouse, laden with different shopping bags that were emblazoned with the names of popular brands.

“That…was exhausting, and boring. The boredom made it exhausting. How do you ladies do this?” Hayden groaned as they trudged up the stairs.

“It was boring for you, not for me. I’ve never bought this much before though. It’s like your card never runs out. I just kept swiping and swiping. I liked it,” she said bubbly.

“I am glad you do, because now you can do it as much as you want,” he replied, smiling.

Hayden opened the door and Alexia stepped in. As soon as Hayden entered and closed the door behind him, they felt a charge in the air. It felt dangerous and threatening.

Alexia dropped the bags on the bed and turned to face Hayden, “There’s a charm in this room. a magical charm. I can’t tell what it was supposed to do, but it was planted here with evil intentions,” she explained.

Hayden nodded, “I feel it too. But how do we find it, and dispose of it if possible?”

“Leave that to me,” said Alexia. Her pupils narrowed into slits like a cat’s, and her ears pricked. A strange energy hummed from her and she turned and started perambulating the room.

“It is not on or near the table,” she said and entered the bathroom. She came out shortly after and shook her head.

“It is not in the bathroom,” she said again and moved to the wardrobe. She opened it and stood there for 10 seconds, then she slammed its doors, “It is not there either.”

She moved closer to the nightstand and stood still, “It’s near the bed,” she declared.

She stripped the bed of its beddings and pillows, but she didn’t find it. Then she bent down and checked under the bed, and she retrieved a carved wooden figurine of a girl and a wolf, with a piece of string tied around it.

Her eye slits narrowed further and she told Hayden, “There’s another one on this floor, but not in this room. I suspect your office.”

“Okay then. Lead the way,” he said and she marched out of the room, still clutching the figurine. As soon as she entered the office, her whole body shook and buzzed. Hayden moved closer to her, “Alexia, what is it?”

“Don’t touch me right now,” she warned. She stretched her hand and allowed the energy of the figurine flow through her. Then she went directly to the shelf, pushed down a bunch of heavy books and retrieved the second figurine. This second one was a wood carving of a man and a woman holding hands.

As soon as she held the second one, she collapsed, but Hayden grabbed her quickly before she hit the ground. Her eyes rolled back in her head, she lost consciousness. Before Hayden could attempt to resuscitate her, she gasped, and her eyes opened again. They were back to normal.

“C…call one of the warlo…cks to perform a c…cleansing ritual into the two…rooms. I would have done it, but those fig..g…gurines took out all my energy. They…have to d…destroy them. They should know how,” she explained weakly. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head again and she fainted.

“Alexia! Alexia! Alex, baby, open your eyes, Alexia!” Hayden yelled, tapping her face. He quickly mindlinked Ace, “Ace, get up here right now with…Romulus and notify the pack doctor that a patient is coming to the clinic right now!” he commanded.

“Yes, Alpha,” replied Ace in his mind. Hayden continued to cradle Alexia, as he brushed a stray hair away from her face gently.

“You’ll be fine, darling. You’ll be fine,” he kept whispering.

***

Romulus walked out of the bedroom, looking a little worn out.

“Those figurines were more powerful than I thought. The aura they left in the rooms is very powerful. You may not be able to use them for some time. I cannot even destroy them alone. It has to be a collective effort of me and my partners,” Romulus told Hayden.

“Who could have planted such a dangerous thing in both my office and my room? those are the places I spend the most time; but why?” he pondered.

“I do not know the answers to your questions Alpha. What I can tell you is that you have a very powerful mate. She is an easy and effortless conduit for magic such that with proper training, she can harness it for spells. You are also a conduit yourself, but a much weaker one. Your aura compliments and improves hers. I am starting to see how the two of you could be the saving grace of the Supernaturals,” Romulus explained.

“If she is such a powerful conduit for magic as you have just said, then why did she lose consciousness?” asked Hayden skeptically
.
“My guess is that the figurines were too powerful for her and she channeled too much magic at a time, more than she has ever done before. This magic conduit is also what makes her an exceptional Hunter—”

Hayden cut in, “Huntress. She is a Huntress.”

“—Huntress with an incredibly potent Sixth Sense. She needs to recover now. Under no circumstances should she try to Hunt, so that she would not conduct magic and burn herself out totally,” he cautioned.

Hayden nodded, “Thank you, Romulus. You may leave now,” he said to the warlock. He bowed once, then he descended the stairs.

“Alpha, Alexia has come to, and she’s asking for you,” the pack doctor mindlinked him.

“I will be there in a few minutes,” Hayden replied and hurriedly went down the stairs.

He left the packhouse through the front door, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the pack clinic in town.

When he entered the white, sterile building, he made his way towards the private ward that Alexia was admitted into. When he opened the door, he found Alexia looking pale. She was sitting up in bed, and her hair fanned out on the pillow she was propped up against. She was dressed in the loose cotton gown that was commonly given to hospital patients.

Relief flooded through every molecule in his body. He smiled and went to sit beside her on the bed. He held her hand and caressed it with his thumb, then he raised it to place a soft kiss on the back of it.

“How are you feeling now?” he asked gently.

“I feel better, but drained. Did you do what I asked you to do?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Shhh. Don’t wear yourself out. Yes, I did. Romulus came to cleanse the office and the bedroom and he took the figurines with him. He said that they were too powerful for him to destroy alone, so he was going to destroy it with the other warlocks,” Hayden told her.

She nodded gently, “That’s nice. There’s now one question that baffles me. Who planted those figurines, and why?”

“I don’t know babe, I don’t know. However, I told Ace and Adrian to start investigating, but whoever it is…” Hayden trailed off and chuckled darkly.

He looked at Alexia and smiled again, “I am so relieved that you are fine.”

Alexia looked down at the hospital gown, then giggled
“Why are you laughing?” Hayden asked, bemused.

“Oh, I was just thinking about the irony. I went out and shopped for new clothes, only for the first thing I wear after that to be a shapeless hospital gown,” she remarked.

Hayden laughed, “An irony indeed,” he replied.

He remembered something, “Also, he said we won’t be able to use the two rooms for a while. The auras of the figurines were too strong, so we have to wait for them to be completely cleansed.”

“That makes sense. What I’m just pissed about is my new clothes. I won’t get them for a while,” she said, pouting. Hayden kissed her pouty lips.

“I would buy you more clothes if you need them. Don’t worry,” he said.

“Fine. But I have one more question. How could you afford those cars? They are mighty expensive. Where do you get your money from?”

“Really?” Hayden mused, “That’s what's bothering you?”

“Yup.”

“Fine. I’m a businessman. I have numerous shares in the biggest companies in the country. I earn from those every day. The Werewolf clan also has a company, and I am the Chief Executive Officer, so I get paid quite a lot,” he expatiate.

“Wow! That’s awesome,” she explained.

“I know. Now scoot over, I want to cuddle with you,” he said.

Alexia dutifully adjusted on the bed and Hayden laid in bed with her, before drawing her close. Both of them sighed contentedly, and soon drifted off to sleep.

***

She broke the vase in her room angrily. That Alexia was more powerful than she thought. How was she able to fish out the figurines? She was very unpredictable, and they had to find more ways to break her and Hayden apart.
The Leader was not going to be happy to hear this. Amidst that, she must not be found as the person who planted those figurines. She was in double trouble.