Enter The Queen Witch

They stood face to face for what seemed like an eternity; neither saying a word, both with tears in their eyes. Brayden couldn’t believe how much his life had changed in just a few short days. Finding out he was supernatural royalty by birth, stolen from his family and raised as a mortal; all out of greed.
Now here he was, face to face, with his real mother; a woman he knew nothing about yet had so much instant love for her. He wanted to take her in his arms and assure her that he would never allow one more ounce of pain to come her way; but he was frozen in his tracks.
“My son,” she said as she reached her arms out in a gesture for him to accept her embrace. Without hesitation, Brayden took one huge step and was engulfed with emotion as he wrapped his huge arms around her. Nothing else mattered at this very moment; not Henis and his betrayal, not the battles he waged at the manipulation, not anything. Being in his mother’s arms was all he needed or wanted; and he made a vow to himself to never be away from her again.
She released him and pushed his head back just a bit in an effort to fully see him; he looked so much like his father, her heart swelled with pride. “You are so handsome; as I knew you would be,” she said beaming with joy. “There is so much to tell you, my son, so many lost years to catch up on.” Brayden felt his heart swell; she was absolutely beautiful; he had know idea what instant love felt like until now.
“Aye, mother, so much was taken from us; he will pay for what he has done,” he said matter of factly. Henis, Horace, Luka; everyone involved would pay, he would make sure of that.
“Brayden, your desire is warranted but you must not act on impulse; I cannot lose you again,” she brushed the stray hair from his forehead before wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. “You won’t, I promise,” he replied as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders while his other hand gently rubbed her head.
Her protection was all that mattered now. He knew Henis would be looking for him and he had to ensure her safety when he found him. Everything he had ever known had now changed; priorities, loyalty, family..everything.
“He is surely looking for me; you know this, we must be prepared.” Brayden looked forward to reuniting with his so-called father, as well as the others, but his mother and Morgan were right; he must not act on impulse. He had a short time to learn and he intended on using every second to do just that.
“Although we do not have much time I believe we do have enough to embrace this beautiful reunion, don’t you think?” Morgan smiled as she stood before the two. “Come, let us get to the cottage; we will eat and let the two of you enjoy the moment,” she turned and headed back to where they had come earlier.
They walked in silence, arm in arm; and they were both perfectly okay with that. As they reached the opening of the forest they saw the cottage, soft lights from the candles shone through the windows and the wonderful aroma of freshly cooked stew filled the air; suddenly he realized how hungry he was.
They entered the cottage to find Harper standing in front of the table where Christian sat; both stared in awe as the mother and son duo stood before them. Harper could not believe what she was seeing; a Queen Witch and her werewolf son, standing proudly before her. Still unable to fully grasp that she was unable to pick up on his supernatural side, Harper could only look at him proudly. The man she fell in love with many years ago now stood before her someone totally different; yet so much the same. His entire aura changed; where it used to glow a bright golden color now glowed ruby red, a color she assumed was the result of his alpha status that had recently been revealed. It suited him, she thought.
As they approached, Brayden turned to his mother as he introduced her to Harper and her brother; Harper, Christian, this is my mother Althea he said with pride. An instant understanding came over Althea as she walked to Harper; there was no mistaking the feeling she had when she looked at her. Brayden’s soulmate, even if they both had not realized it yet, stood before her nervously.
“Do not be nervous, my dear, you are as lovely as I envisioned,” she said as she smiled at her. Lowering her eyes, trying to conceal the blush red that rose up on her cheeks, all Harper could muster was, “thank you Queen.” Moving slightly to the left, Althea looked Christian in his eyes as she placed one hand on the side of his face, “thank you,” was all she said. “My pleasure, your highness,” he replied as he slowly nodded his head.
“Well! Something smells amazing and I am famished; shall we eat?” Althea said with joy as she clasped her hands together before her. “Please, sit, I will get you some food,” Harper smiled as she turned to get the stew out of the cauldron.
Brayden watched as his heart soared; still unable to fully accept what was before him, he just wanted to enjoy this moment. His mother! The God’s have truly blessed him; he would not take this for granted.
They sat around the table, enjoying their meal together and for the first time in his life he could remember, Brayden felt a sense of belonging; family. “I cannot tell you what an honor it is to meet you,” Harper said. The Queen Witch was a legendary royal that few got the privilege to meet. Since the vanishing of her son she had become almost a recluse; rarely showing herself. Many talked that she went into such a dark sadness at the loss of her son she was never the same and chose to stay locked away in a small castle many miles from here.
“Thank you, my dear, but the privilege is mine. I know of your coven; you are highly respected by the ancestors. We have much to discuss,” she said with a knowing smile. Placing her hand on Brayden’s she continued, “but first I would like to know more about my son. I tried for many years to hone into your thoughts, but there was a dark spirit covering you that kept me away. I could not see anything of you know matter how hard I tried or how many spells I cast; eventually I gave up and just accepted you might be lost to me forever.” Her eyes turned sad as she remembered the pain of losing him all over again.
“Mother, don’t; do not allow yourself to relive the pain. I know not what dark spirit you speak of, but nothing surprises me at this point. All that matters now is we are together and nothing will ever separate us again; I give you my word,” Brayden squeezed his mother’s hand as he spoke. “They will come, soon. Although we are all quite enjoying this reunion, we must address the situation at hand. We do not have much time,” Christian said.
“Aye, I know Henis well and he is surely searching right now. It won’t be long before he figures out where I am; and when he does he will come heavily armed with his most trusted and fierce soldiers,” Brayden said angrily. He was well versed in Henis’ attack strategies; and he knew they would look for him in the forests, given his past.
“We must not stay here; he will surely have Luka use his vision to find me,” he said as he looked at Harper. “If we stay here it will bring havoc to this coven and I will not allow that to happen, but that means drawing him to your land.” Harper knew he was right; she did not want a war on her land but she could not allow for an ambush on this coven that accepted them in.
“He is right; Luka is Henis’ right hand, he does not make a move until Luka tells him it is safe. He may be a half breed but he is powerful enough to lead them right to us,” Christian replied.
“Then we leave at sunrise. Harper, can you cast a dark spell; limit Luka’s visions?” Althea asked. “I can; with limited herbs here I’m afraid it won’t be as powerful and may not last as long as we may need it,” Harper responded.
Althea nodded at her as she continued, “do that, if it is a war he seeks, let us welcome him in true royal fashion.”