4. The Montgomery Twins

Nari Montgomery

Standing in front of the full-length mirror, I twirled excitedly in my birthday dress, admiring the soft folds of its fabric and the beautiful shimmer it makes as light touches the dress. The high waisted garment is close-fitting around the bust and tapers off loosely from the waist to my ankles.

Today is my nineteenth birthday and tonight will be the night where the Goddess will reveal I am the chosen mate for the Alpha of Bayswater pack, Romeo Price. 

I giggled at the thought of finally being mated to my best friend and boyfriend, the thought filling my heart with happiness and making me giddy. I eyed my twin sister slinking at the doorway behind me, trying to be obscure. 

“Alaia!” I called out, inviting her to join me in the room. 

She looked up at me warily, slowly entering the room. Like me, she was also wearing a dress, but it’s not as elaborate or shiny as mine. Unlike me, Alaia prefers to be out of the spotlight, lurking in the shadows. Thus, tonight’s celebration is about me, and me only. 

Not that I minded. My parents have always preferred me over her. Between the two of us, I am the more powerful twin, my magical powers exceed a normal witch and my dear twin sister, adorable as she is, has always been mediocre. However, her powers are growing and I can see the aura of her powers, hues or red, violet and green glowing around her. 

I opened my palms, my fingers tingling in anticipation as I pulled her aura towards me, the colors ebbing from around her towards my fingers, fueling my strength. I gave a small feline smile as I saw her shoulders droop and she fell on the sofa, her face appearing confused and disoriented.

I am stealing my twin’s magical powers just like a leech and she doesn’t have a clue about it.

That is how I managed to become the greatest witch in Bayswater. I have been usurping my sister’s powers since I was five years old, since I learnt how to read and this power sucking spell was the first spell I memorised. I have always been obscure, stealing only a fraction of her powers so that she doesn’t notice. At most, she will feel lethargic and a short nap will rejuvenate her. 

Unfortunately for me, my time as a power leech is due because once my sister learns how to master the protective spells that she’s currently learning, I will not be able to pilfer from her anymore. 

Thus, this is where my mate, Romeo Price comes in. Since he’s taken over the role as Alpha, his strength and powers have grown by leaps and bounds. I salivate over the unlimited access to his powers, he would be able to give me way more compared to what my sister has. 

“Can’t you believe our birthday is tonight? Are you excited, sis?” I gushed at Alaia, who is now slumped at the sofa, her face pale, her eyes drooping. 

“Uhuh.” Alaia replies thickly, her speech blurred, her head resting at the back of the sofa. 

“You look tired, sis.” I blinked, as if suddenly realizing the state that Alaia was in. 

Quickly I stepped away from the mirror and poured her a drink from the jug on the table. The drink was laced with an enhancement spell which would allow anyone to feel refreshed after sipping a glass of the water. I handed the glass to her and told her to drink. 

“I’m excited for Romeo to be my mate tonight! I really do hope we get to fulfill the prophecy between the black onyx wolf and the ruby witch.” I continued my monologue, chattering excitedly as I walked back to the mirror.

Unbeknownst to Romeo, I am the descendant of the ruby witch as foretold by the prophecy and the legend has been passed from generation to generation. So far, none of my ancestors have managed to fulfill the prophecy and the stone has been missing for years, leading to the discontinuation of the royal family. 

With my father’s help, we will find the ruby stone, reinstate our position as the royal family and fulfill the prophecy. As Romeo’s mate, I will not only be the Queen of Wiccans, I would also be the Queen to the Kingdom of Werewolves.

Alaia has finally recovered from her lethargy, colour appearing to her cheeks as she sat up straighter in the sofa. 

I smiled smugly, my spells and potions are always very potent and they work very well because they are infused with my aura. However, that causes me to deplete my strength significantly and requires me to continuously tap on to another witches’ power. And the power sucking spell, although it is very effective, is not something that I can use often. Most witches have protective spells around them and I cannot risk exposing myself, thus I usually leech off Alaia and those whom I know do not have the protective spells surrounding their aura. 

“There are several flaws to your theory.” She proclaims matter of factly, blinking away the last remnants of fatigue.  

I raised my eyebrows at her statement. 

“Firstly, we do not have the ruby stone which is a necessity to discern the guardian wolf of the black onyx stone. Without the ruby stone, we would just be clueless witches. And secondly, based on the prophecy, the blood moon is supposed to unite the witch and the wolf. In case you haven’t noticed, the blood moon is tomorrow night while our birthday is tonight.”

**********

Alaia Montgomery

I watched as Nari’s face contorted with fury, something that I am used to seeing for most of my life. My twin sister almost gets everything she wants and right now what she wants is the Alpha of Bayswater pack as her mate. Which is quite silly if you ask me, because the guy is practically a slave to the Moon Goddess and is waiting for his destined mate, but right now Nari doesn’t seem interested in what I have to say. 

“Romeo. Price. Is. My. Mate.” Nari stated coldly, anger reverberating from her in waves as she looked at me. Then her face clears, looking terrifyingly calm, her wrath had majestically disappeared and replaced by tranquility. It was as if the angry expression was never there in the first place. 

“Those are just semantics, sister.” Nari continued, her voice taking on an alluring quality as her eyes glazed, most probably conjuring visions of Romeo in her mind. 

“What is important is that he will be my mate tonight.” She wistfully continued, her eyes half-closed, as if in a trance. 

I left Nari to her musings and went to check on the hall where we’re hosting the party tonight. A number of our witch friends have been invited, they’re mostly Nari’s friends because she’s the popular one and werewolves from the Bayswater pack will be coming too. 

The birthday party is about to start soon. The baker was on the stage, placing layers of cakes and icing on top of each other and making finishing touches to the icing. Feeling curious, I walked up to the stage to see the baker and the birthday cake up close.  

As I walked up the stage, something glinted on the wooden floor, catching my eye. Six coloured stones were placed on the floor, each stone on the pointy edges of a hexagon star. This looks highly suspicious. Is someone planning something bad against Nari?

I paused, narrowing my eyes as I focused to identify if there is any magic on the stones. Slowly the colours begin to form and I could see threads of black, gray and silver interlacing with each other as they form the lines of a hexagon star. 

An immobility spell? My heart palpitated at the thought of someone wanting something evil to befall my sister. I searched the hall with my eyes, trying to distinguish if there are any other spells but found none. So far, the only spell that I can see is the one on the stage. 

Should I break the spell?

I shook my head. That would be dangerous. Whoever made this spell will be at the party tonight and I need to find out who this person is. I left the stones untouched and devised a plan, one that involves saving Nari and catching the culprit in action tonight. 

I briskly left the stage and retreated to my room, my hands sifting through the small library that I have, trying to find a spell book for a freeing spell. The very least I can do is protect my sister from any harm, especially tonight, since she’s so hell bent on making Romeo her mate. 

I hope Romeo knows how lucky he is to have Nari as his mate.