SORCERESS' DECEPTION

I could count the number of times lightning shook the ground as I ambled along the hallway. The day was beginning to darken but gratefully, the Tower servants were already lighting the candelabras that remained fixed on the walls.




When I turned to the stairs, I felt a warm hand slide across my shoulders and I shuddered, aware that no one I knew was capable of doing such. However, I was beyond surprised when I turned and saw the green-eyed wolf. He was not smiling, yet his eyes carried a great amount of enthusiasm that I had never seen in them, not as if I saw him so much though.




I watched him nod at a few maidservants, who just walked past us, before his gaze returned to me. It was as it had always been― clouded with diverse emotions that I still failed to discern.




“You do not also hear this uncertain voice trying to speak through the Pack link, do you?” He asked, his voice sounding calm and steely at the same time.




I shrugged, made uncomfortable by the arm across my back. My orbs wandered to Flynn’s lips and lingered there for a while, watching it slowly curve to an impish smirk. I then flicked my eyes to his, only to realize he still had them on me, except that now they were teemed with curiosity. 




“Why are you staring at my lips, do you want to have a taste?” He queried mockingly and I cringed; he was definitely having the wrong impression. 




“Get your hand off my shoulders,” I hissed before Flynn recoiled humorously, grinning at me, an action that kept my eyes on him for a long while. 




Actually, I loved his perfectly arrayed dentition. It was something one would be proud to show the world at the least given opportunity, but smiling was not really a thing for the sentinel, it did not suit him. I realized that poker faces with a tinge of warmth were the best things for him and speaking of which, he was acting very odd from the last times I saw him.




“Never be too cold to me, Alpha,” he purred. “After all, I will be your Beta sooner.”




I shook my head with a smile as we reached the sixth floor. Dusk was already creeping up but it was worth it when the conversation with Flynn took a lively turn. He told me about the thrilling occurrence of a rupturing voice trying to form words in his head and I made him know that it could probably be the voice filling his mind with unwanted humors. He cackled and that was it.




When we arrived at the hall, we found Phyllis, Deveron, Fiona as well as a few sentinels standing around the concealed body of Alpha Gar. They let us know that we were to wait for the pack members to shut out all the lights in their tents before continuing the process of the funeral, as they believed the Alpha would walk through the Fire-pall pack for the last time before finally crossing over to the underworld. I huffed at this belief, given the fact that it sounded silly to me, yet I was in no place to do something different. 




We waited for close to half an hour before I received a mind message from one of the guarding sentries that the streets were now out of light. We left the hall after that, the sentinels, including Flynn, carrying the wooden stretcher on their shoulders as we made our way out into the dark and wet night. The once teeming rain had stopped to a bracing drizzle, which made the walk much easier. Although I was not sure how the witches were able to see but certainly, the werewolves were able to use their super sights to see through the darkness. 




It was obviously one single part leading away from the Tower and another leading up a hill. Downhill led to a desert-like valley where the only thing that we could see was a four corner stone and a few rocks mingling in the sand. The sentinels placed the body on the stone before we all stood around it, waiting for the other Pack members to fully troop in.

  

We observed ordinances before leading Alpha Gar’s corpse to his tomb. The whole Pack later gathered around the blazing fire made in the middle of the valley, the only light expected to be found within the Pack as we waited for Alpha Gar to finally cross over to his new world. 




Flynn played with gravel beside me while Elspeth sat opposite me, staring blankly into the fire. Phyllis and some other sentries stood behind us, but the only people I never saw after the funeral were Deveron and Fiona. 




Believe me when I said I had been looking around and yet could not see them. Glancing at Flynn, I realize that he looked quite distracted to have even noticed the absence of anyone.

~




“You think you can play petty tricks on me, huh?” Fiona grumbled as her fingers clasp the knob before pushing the Lab door open.




Deveron may have thought that she had fooled everyone when she slipped out of the crowd even before the Pack led the corpse away, but Fiona actually noticed her and had only waited until the main ceremony was done before deciding to go after the witch.

           

As she stepped into the space, the strong scent of Deveron’s presence hit her, refuting the fact that the witch was nowhere inside the Lab. Fiona huffed and walked to the counter, a smirk playing on her face as her head tilted to the side. 




She was certain that Deveron was not so stupid enough to think a high-ranked Firne could be fooled easily. She had read the witch like the lines on her palm and she understood every move the latter made. What she could not get was the primary reason for Deveron’s actions after serving the Alpha for so many decades. 




Fiona leaned on the bar and ran her fingers along the smooth edges of the wine bottles on it, her smirk fading when she suddenly sensed another scent lingering in the room. Although this one was seemingly masked and faint, like it never was there. It came like a flash and disappeared before any random person would notice.




The Firne’s attention shifted to the wall at the opposite end of the hall; her head remained tilted even as her eyes puckered. So many witch tricks were there for her to decipher and discovering a paved way in the wall was one of them. Yet before she could even push her figure away from the counter, Deveron appeared in between the shelves. 




The latter’s gray, satiny dress clung tightly to her ageless and curvy body, her loose dirty Blond stayed flipped over her left shoulder, falling onto her perky boobs. Her physical presence expressed an imperturbable aura even as she fiercely tugged at the woolen material draped over her leveled shoulders.




Fiona ignored the older woman’s presence and turned to pour herself a drink instead. Only realizing Deveron’s fingers drumming on the counter when she brought the rim of the mug to her mouth. She smiled into the wine, “Is it not too early to walk me out?” 




“No,” Deveron firmly replied, increasing the beat of her drumming fingers. She then smiled, trying her best to maintain her tranquil façade. “You see, I wonder at how you and your sisters are still loitering around the Tower even at this time. Alpha Gar is dead. Why do you not leave already?”




Fiona’s smile stretched before she gulped down the whole content in the mug and slammed the base on the counter. “Gar might be dead, but the Alpha is not. You appointed him yourself. Have you forgotten?” Deveron instantly stopped her tapping and narrowed her serene brown eyes. “It was your entire scheme to kill Gar and then appoint someone weaker, someone who would not even think of declining your orders because of your daughter’s skillful manipulation. You also saw the need to get rid of the very person who undeniably does not appreciate the present Alpha and could serve as a true Alpha in the eyes of the Pack. Thus, knowing he will not be easily pushed around, you fabricated a lie about his whereabouts,” Fiona spoke eloquently and her words came out like the whispers of morning air, seeming as if she had seen all she stated with her own eyes.




“Leave, Fiona,” Deveron hissed, yet Fiona remains unflustered. 

           

“Where is Forrest?” She asked instead. Her question came as a blow that caused Deveron to recoil. 




The latter backed a few steps away from Fiona, but was luckily able to regain her stand. “All these should not be your concern, young Lady. Alpha Gar needed your service for his personal protection and since he is no more, you should also go away.”




Fiona shook her head and ambled to the open exit door, only turning back to face Deveron when she had almost crossed the sill. “My mission here is to protect the Alphas of Fire-pall Pack, not just Gar. And so you know, do not bother using the Alpha against me because I am already aware that he is being controlled by you two. It will only be a matter of time before he realizes that the emperor has no clothes and by then I will be―” 




“Get out!” Deveron’s order came out through clenched jaws and Fiona could not help but chortle. She shook her head casually and flashed a smile at the fuming witch before turning back to leave.




Deveron sighed and rolled her eyes to the wall, her hand gripping onto the edge of the counter to support her sagging stature. Her thoughts were piled with the disbelief that her calm poise had failed her and she could not imagine that she could quite lose her temper in front of this daring Firne. She had known all along that if there was anyone whom she could not hide her barbarities from, it was Fiona. The latter was too eagle-eyed that no tiny detail passed by without her looking into it. 




However, Deveron had ignored this fact and believed she was more wary of her actions; it was only now that it was beginning to jab back at her. When she turned to face the portrait of her beloved Queen, she realized that it was time for her to change her tactics.