Chapter 5

The Louisiana humidity hit like a wall when we finally reached New Orleans two days later. We'd switched vehicles three times, dodged four more bounty hunter attacks, and I'd barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her—Scarlett, the First Witch, standing in flames with eyes like molten gold.

"She's getting stronger," I told Dimitri as we drove through the French Quarter.

"I know. Your eyes have been glowing on and off for the past hour."

Luna was quiet in the backseat, clutching a stuffed wolf Dimitri had bought her at our last stop. She'd been different since the attack—quieter, more observant. Sometimes I caught her staring at nothing, like she was listening to something only she could hear.

"There." Dimitri pointed to a building squeezed between two tourist shops. The sign read "Midnight Moon"—a bar that shouldn't exist, according to the human world.

"How do humans not see it?"

"Witch magic. They see what Morgana wants them to see." He parked and turned to me. "Let me go first. She might—"

The car door ripped off its hinges. A woman stood there—my mother's face, but harder, angrier. Morgana Bell, dressed in black leather and radiating power that made the air crackle.

"Twenty-seven years," she said, voice deadly quiet, "and you bring her to me now? When she's already half-possessed?"

"Morgana—" Dimitri started.

She flicked her wrist, and he flew backward, slamming into a brick wall. "I wasn't talking to you, wolf."

"Stop!" I got out, placing myself between them. "He's trying to help!"

Morgana's eyes—violet like Thea's, I realized—examined me with an intensity that felt like being x-rayed.

"You look just like her," she said softly. Then her expression hardened. "And you're just as foolish. Binding yourself to wolves, letting them suppress your gifts."

"I didn't know—"

"No. Because Rose hid you, even from me." Pain flickered across her features. "Her own sister, and she didn't trust me to protect you."

Luna climbed out of the car. The moment Morgana saw her, everything changed. The anger melted from her face.

"Goddess above," she whispered. "A baby witch-wolf. They said it was impossible."

"The tests said she was a pure wolf," I said.

Morgana laughed bitterly. "Wolf tests can't detect dormant witch blood. But I can feel it from here. She's more powerful than you, niece. More powerful than Rose was."

"That's impossible. She's six."

"Age means nothing to power." Morgana crouched to Luna's level. "Hello, little moon child. What's your name?"

"Luna Bell," my daughter said clearly. "The pretty fire lady says you can help Mommy."

Morgana went very still. "You can see Scarlett?"

Luna nodded. "She talks to me. She's angry at the bad wolves who hurt her children. She wants to burn them all."

"Of course she does." Morgana stood slowly. "Inside. Now. Before every supernatural in the Quarter senses what you're carrying."

The bar's interior was bigger than should be possible—witch magic expanding space. The patrons were an impossible mix: vampires nursing blood wine, fairies giggling over glowing drinks, and in the corner, a group of wolves who tensed when they saw Dimitri.

"Neutral ground," Morgana announced loudly. "If anyone starts trouble, I end them."

She led us upstairs to a private apartment warded with so many protection spells the air hummed.

"Sit," she commanded, then began pulling items from shelves—crystals, herbs, things that glowed with their own light. "Tell me everything."

I did. From the rejection to the fire manifestation to the voice in my head. Morgana's expression grew darker with each word.

"Holden Ford knew," she said when I finished. "His father didn't just kill Rose—he tried to steal her power first. The ritual went wrong. Instead of taking her magic, he released something that should have stayed bound."

"Scarlett."

"The First Witch. The mother of all witches. She was imprisoned centuries ago for trying to wipe out werewolves completely." Morgana mixed something in a bowl that smoked purple. "Your mother, brilliant as always, contained Scarlett's spirit in the only vessel that could hold her—you. A hybrid strong enough to cage her, innocent enough that she couldn't fully possess."

"But the binding's breaking."

"Because you rejected your mate bond. The emotional trauma cracked Rose's spell." She handed me the smoking bowl. "Drink."

"What is it?"

"Temporary suppressor. It'll keep Scarlett quiet for a few hours while we figure out a permanent solution."

I drank. It tasted like lightning and winter. Immediately, the constant burning in my chest cooled.

"Better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Morgana turned to Dimitri, who'd been silent throughout. "You. Alpha. You've been playing a very long game."

"I made a promise—"

"You made more than that." She pulled out a leather journal—my mother's handwriting. "Rose wrote about you. The boy who was dying from silver poisoning until she saved him. The boy whose life she tied to her daughter's with blood magic."

I stared at Dimitri. "What?"

He wouldn't meet my eyes. "It was the only way to save me. The silver was killing me, and Rose—"

"Rose bound your life force to Camille's," Morgana interrupted. "If she dies, you die. That's why you've really been protecting her."

The room spun. Another lie. Another manipulation.

"Get out," I said quietly.

"Camille—"

"GET OUT!"

The windows cracked. Morgana raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Dimitri left without another word.

Luna crawled into my lap. "He's not bad, Mommy. I can feel his wolf. He's just sad."

"Wise little one," Morgana said. "She's right, you know. The binding Rose created—it goes both ways. You can feel what he feels, if you look."

I didn't want to look. I was tired of lies, tired of being everyone's pawn.

"What do I do about Scarlett?" I asked instead.

"There are three options." Morgana sat across from us. "One: I can try to extract her, but it might kill you. Two: You can learn to control her, make a deal with her. Three..." She hesitated.

"What?"

"You could embrace her fully. Become the vessel she needs to return. You'd be the most powerful being on earth."

"And completely possessed."

"Yes."

"Not happening."

"Then we try option two." Morgana stood. "But first, you need to understand what you're dealing with. Scarlett didn't try to destroy wolves out of random hatred. They killed her children. All of them. In one night, an entire pack slaughtered every witch child they could find."

"Why?"

"Because a prophecy said a witch-wolf hybrid would end the supernatural world as we know it." She looked at Luna meaningfully. "Sound familiar?"

My blood ran cold. "Luna?"

"Maybe. Or maybe you. Prophecies are tricky things." Morgana pulled out a crystal that pulsed with inner light. "This will let you speak to Scarlett directly. But be careful—she's had centuries to perfect manipulation."

I took the crystal. It was warm, almost alive.

"What do I do?"

"Hold it and open your mind. She'll do the rest."

I hesitated, then grasped the crystal tightly. The world exploded into flames.

I stood in a burning forest. Before me was a woman with hair like living fire and eyes that held the pain of millennia. Scarlett. The First Witch.

"Finally," she said, voice like crackling flames. "We meet properly, little hybrid."

"What do you want?"

"What I've always wanted. Justice for my children." She stepped closer, and I felt her rage like a physical thing. "Your mate's bloodline was there that night. They led the slaughter."

"Holden's ancestors?"

"Yes. And now their descendant has put a price on your head, threatens your child." Her smile was terrible. "Let me out, Camille. Let me burn them all."

"No. There has to be another way."

"Is there? They drugged you. Manipulated you. They're hunting you and your daughter right now." She circled me like a predator. "I can feel them getting closer. Dozens of them. Coming here."

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

The vision shattered. I gasped, back in Morgana's apartment. But I could feel it now—wolves. Lots of them. Surrounding the building.

"They found us," I whispered.

Morgana was already moving, gathering weapons that glowed with deadly light. "How many?"

"Fifty? Maybe more?"

"The entire Silver Creek Pack." She cursed. "Holden came himself."

As if summoned by his name, Holden's voice echoed from outside, magically amplified.

"Camille! Send out my daughter, and we'll leave peacefully. You have one minute."

Luna pressed against me. "I don't want to go with him, Mommy."

"You won't, baby. I promise."

Let me protect her, Scarlett whispered in my mind. Let me protect you both.

"Thirty seconds!" Holden called.

I looked at Morgana. "Can you get Luna out?"

"Yes, but—"

"Do it."

"Mommy, no!"

I kissed my daughter's forehead. "I'll be right behind you, baby. Go with Aunt Morgana."

Morgana opened a portal with a gesture. Through it, I could see Dimitri's pack house.

"Camille, don't do anything stupid," she warned, pulling Luna through despite her protests.

The portal closed.

"Time's up!" Holden shouted.

I walked to the window. Below, the entire Silver Creek Pack surrounded the building. Holden stood at their head, Serena beside him.

Now? Scarlett asked.

"Now," I whispered.

I jumped from the third-story window, landing in a crouch that cracked the pavement. When I stood, my eyes were pure gold, and flames danced across my skin.

"Hello, husband," I said, and my voice carried Scarlett's ancient power. "Let's talk about that bounty."