Chapter 02

“Alpha, what a surprise, what can I do for you?” asked Esther, trying to keep her tone light and the wariness from it. 

Horace and Anton had been good friends, but Esther had never liked his hot temper and the way he let it control him.

“I understand Natasha has been giving Arla a hard time at school. I wanted to come and apologise for her behaviour,” he replied, glancing briefly at Esther, then fixing his gaze on Arla, who kept her eyes downward.

“Oh, well, thank you,” she replied, feeling embarrassed that she hadn’t known that Arla was having issues. “Would you like to come in?”

Alpha Anton followed Esther into the house and sat at the head of the dining table as she made coffee. Arla sat warily at the opposite end and began her homework, stealing glances at him. Alpha Anton was an imposing figure, the type of person who made large spaces feel incredibly small, not only because of his size, but by the power he exuded. 

He was tall, with broad muscular shoulders and powerful legs. His raven coloured hair was shoulder length, but he always wore it pulled back in a neat, short ponytail at his nape. His eyes were stone grey in colour and looked just as hard. He was a person who commanded attention.

“Natasha has had trouble adjusting. Unfortunately, I think she’s been taking it out on those around her, Arla included.”

Esther handed the Alpha a cup of coffee.

“But anyway... how have you been?” he asked.

“I’m coping. Actually, that’s a lie. I had a bit of a wake-up call today and realised that I haven’t been there for Arla at all these last couple of months.” The Alpha nodded his head. 

“The world hasn’t stopped, even though I feel like it should have,” she added, toying with the handle of her cup.

“I’ve had warriors searching for any trace of the witches since it happened. I promise you I will hunt them down and kill every last one of them.”

“Haven’t we lost enough Alpha? You saw how powerful those witches were. Even a band of our strongest warriors stand little chance if they happen to find them.”

“You want to let them get away with murdering Horace?” he questioned, his voice hard and eyes narrowed.

“It won’t bring him back. You could wipe out every last witch and Luna Simone would not be returned to you either, Alpha,” she replied softly.

“You will not say her name in front of me. That is an order!” Alpha Anton yelled, slamming his fist on the table and making both Esther and Arla jump with fright. The coffee cup smashed, sending hot liquid spilling across the table.

“I apologise, Alpha,” Esther quickly replied, keeping her eyes lowered in submission and grabbing paper towel to clean up the mess. “I won’t mention her again.”

“Good. I did have another reason for calling on you today,” he said, his tone switching back to conversational. “I was hoping I might have a brief chat with Arla?”

Surprise registered on Esther’s face, and she tried to hide her concern. She turned to Arla and gestured for her to speak.

“Yes, Alpha?” said Arla timidly.

“Arla, do you remember seeing the witches during the attack?” Arla swallowed uncomfortably, feeling anxious as she recalled the night her father died, and nodded her head. “Had you seen them before?”

“No, Alpha.”

“Are you sure?”

“Alpha, what is this about?” Esther interrupted protectively.

“As they were fleeing, I noticed one witch in particular, fixated on Arla. They were both looking at one another as though they knew each other, as though they were communicating silently. I have replayed the scene over and over again in my mind, and I want to know what Arla knows,” he explained, his piercing grey eyes never once leaving Arla’s deep dark brown ones.

“You do realise how ridiculous that sounds. She’s twelve years old, for goodness’ sake,” said Esther, trying to divert the conversation.

The words were barely out of Esther’s mouth before Alpha Anton grabbed her by the throat, pulling her out of the chair, and slammed her back flat against the wall behind him. She thrashed against him, struggling to breathe, staring at his hard, impassive face.

Arla was terrified. Her mother was in trouble, and she was helpless to stop the huge, powerful Alpha. Glancing up, she saw her father’s heavy sporting trophy on the bookshelf above the Alpha’s head and wished she were tall enough to push it off. 

She felt the swirl of power in her gut, awoken by the fear she felt for her mother, and watched with a mixture of silent fascination and horror, as the trophy slid off the shelf and landed with a loud crack on Alpha Anton’s skull.

The Alpha dropped to the floor unconscious, releasing his grip on Esther. Arla ran to her, wrapping her small arms around her waist tightly while she recovered her breathing. 

“Arla, what did you do?” rasped Esther, full of panic.

“I don’t know, Mum. I was so worried, and I wanted to help you. It just happened.”

Esther knew the Alpha would not be knocked out long enough for the two of them to escape. She was going to have to call the new Beta. Wesley was one of the first friends Esther had made when she married Horace and joined the Apostle Ridge Pack, and he had taken Horace’s role as Beta after his death. 

Wesley arrived quickly and Esther told him that the Alpha had bumped the bookcase while walking past, and the heavy trophy had fallen, knocking him out. Beta Wesley accepted her version of events without question and arranged for Alpha Anton to be transported back to the packhouse. As he was being carried out, the Alpha groaned and panic rose in Esther’s gut.

“What happened?” he asked groggily.

“We were...talking. You bumped the bookcase over there and one of Horace’s trophies landed on your head,” replied Esther cautiously.

Recognition appeared on the Alpha’s face as he remembered his violent outburst. “Apologies for causing a scene,” he nodded towards Esther, while his eyes searched the room. 

“I’ll return after school tomorrow and we can continue our conversation, Arla,” he said, when his eyes finally found her. 

Dread, panic, despair and a whole host of other emotions flowed through Esther in torrents. She had not noticed the witch’s attention on Arla; she was too distraught over Horace. Alpha Anton had witnessed it though and now held suspicions. With Arla’s powers now clearly emerging, she knew it was no longer safe to remain here.

Alpha Anton sat at his desk and glanced at the clock, impatiently eager to return to the Chilton’s house and speak to the child. He had thought about that night with the witches to the point of obsession, and the only avenue he hadn’t yet explored was the attraction of the witch towards the Chilton girl. She was fixated on her, but why? 

His spine stiffened as a sound wave echoed through the pack mind-link, and a look of disbelief came upon his face as Esther’s link went blank. 

“Wesley, get over to the Chilton house. I’ve lost Esther from the pack link,” he ordered his Beta via mind-link.

“I’m not far from there now, I’ll update you when I can.” Wesley replied, concern evident in his voice.

As Alpha Anton waited, he ran through different scenarios in his mind. For the mind-link to disconnect, Esther had to have either died, or deliberately severed the link. He knew her well enough to know she wasn’t stupid enough to go rogue. A woman and child on their own, stuck traveling in human form, wouldn’t last long.

“Alpha,” interrupted Wesley, “they’ve gone. There’s no sign of Esther at home, and Arla wasn’t at school today. The patrol groups have already picked up their scents leaving the pack border. What’s going on, Alpha?”

She left, thought Anton. She actually left. 

What could possibly be worth taking that kind of risk? He went over their conversation from yesterday, recalling how eager Esther was to change the subject when he’d begun questioning the girl. She’d rather abandon the pack than let Anton talk to Arla again. His eyes narrowed and he let out a loud, angry growl. 

She knows something, he realised.

“They are traitors, Wesley. They’ve abandoned the pack,” he snarled.

“Alpha, I know Esther. She’s no traitor.”

“The girl knows something. Something about the witches. They’d rather run and turn rogue than share what they know. They are traitors to the pack and to me,” Alpha Anton raved, shaking with rage. “I want them found, Wesley. I want the girl brought to me, unharmed, and I want Esther executed.”

“But Alpha…”

“But nothing! That is an order,” Alpha Anton roared in his Alpha tone. No pack member could ignore the command of their Alpha, their wolves were bound to obey.

“Yes, Alpha. Understood,” replied a defeated Wesley as he ended the mind-link.

Esther had contacted the current Alpha from the pack where she grew up, and once he learned that her mate had passed and she was looking for a fresh start, Alpha Michael was only too happy to grant them a place in his pack. They had a long journey ahead of them tomorrow morning, but would arrive at the Oak Lake pack by evening. 

They ventured out on their second evening to the supermarket to buy food and snacks for their bus ride. Arla was wide-eyed and gleeful as she looked at aisle upon aisle of new and exciting foods. There wasn’t a supermarket this large in their pack, and the options seemed endless. She eventually made her choices, one bag of potato chips and a pack of lollies, while Esther made the sensible choices that would satisfy their hunger for the day ahead.

“Oh, Esther. Why did it have to come to this?” came a cold voice via mind-link.