What are the chances that this witch will attack the pack?

Noah

Once Eli had finally calmed down, he and Lucas began filling me in on everything that had happened while I was unconscious. They explained how they had managed to get past the wolf border with me and eventually brought me to a werewolf clinic. I had been in terrible condition, and the doctors had worked desperately to keep me alive. Lucas also told me that he had heard me tell the doctor that Vera was my mate before I flat-lined. That piece of information had earned him a deadly look from Eli, who had only found out about it moments earlier.

“Honestly, I couldn't even be certain I heard you correctly,” Lucas said, sadness showing in his eyes. “You could have been delirious for all I knew. You were in terrible shape, Noah. I thought we'd lost you. If Vera hadn't brought you back and operated on you, I don't think you'd be sitting here right now.”

I stared at him, still trying to take everything in. So her name was Vera Blackwood.

Lucas must have noticed the look on my face because his expression brightened.

“Yeah, her name is Vera Blackwood. I asked around about her.”

He gave me a broad grin, and for once, I didn't mind his curiosity. At least one of them seemed genuinely pleased that I had found my mate.

“What else have you found out?”

I already knew Vera would be returning tomorrow morning, but Lucas had gone to the trouble of asking questions about her. If he had learned anything useful, I wanted to know.

“Well, this is the Dark Moon Pack, and she's a member of the pack, although she wasn't born here. This is the only pack in the country that has an orphanage, and she came here when she was a toddler. She grew up in the pack and has lived here ever since...”

Eli interrupted him with a low growl.

“Ladies, if you want to gossip, you can do it once we're back at the castle. We're in enemy territory, in case you've forgotten. Don't forget what these wolves are capable of.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Sometimes I forgot just how stubborn Eli could be.

“What exactly do you suggest we do, Eli?” I asked. “Would you rather we go wandering through the forest while looking and feeling like shit? We could run into that creature again, and I'm not sure any of us would survive another encounter.”

I gestured towards my injuries.

“Look at me. I don't even think I can run properly in this condition. We might be lycans, old man, but that thing tore through us and left us looking like livestock. We still have no idea what it was, either. So I suggest you get comfortable and stop sneering at the wolves who saved our lives.”

I gave him a low growl to make my point clear.

I might see Eli as something close to a father, but that didn't change the fact that I was his Alpha.

He lowered his head, knowing there was nothing he could say. Everything I had told him was true, and he knew it.

Lucas looked between us before continuing.

“The Alpha believes it may have been dark magic.”

I turned towards him, waiting for an explanation.

“Our Alpha, Sofia Allen, comes from a very old line of Alphas. Her family has records that go back to before the Age of Witches. According to those records, her ancestors documented the use of dark magic during the war.”

Lucas paused for a moment.

“She is still investigating the matter, but she's convinced that what attacked you was a very powerful witch.”

“A witch?”

The idea sounded absurd to me.

“A witch attacked a camp full of lycans? Why would a witch even dare to attack lycans? Wolves, perhaps, but lycans?”

Lucas gave a small shake of his head.

“They didn't attack the wolves. The wolves attacked it first. My guess is that the creature was defending itself. Once you started running deeper into wolf territory, it stopped chasing you.”

I fell silent. So the creature had not gone after the wolves first.

They had attacked it. And once we moved farther into their territory, it had stopped pursuing us. That raised another question.

Why had it been after the lycans?

From everything I had ever read about witches, blood sacrifices had often been connected to their ceremonies. Dark magic was said to require terrible sacrifices when a witch wanted to gain greater power. But none of that made sense here.

Every lycan warrior at the camp had been accounted for. The creature hadn't taken anyone away for a sacrifice. It hadn't dragged one of our warriors into the forest or tried to keep anyone alive.

When it grabbed me, its intention had been to kill me. It hadn't tried to capture me. The more I thought about it, the stranger the entire situation became.

Witches and warlocks were supposed to be part of history. Every lesson I had ever received about them described them as creatures that had disappeared long ago. The old books, the lectures and even the stories told by ordinary people all said the same thing.

They were supposed to be dead. There hadn't been a confirmed record of a witch or warlock for almost a hundred years.

Yet I had seen one. I had fought one. And whatever that creature was, it had nearly killed me.

“Have any of you contacted the Council or the King?” I asked.

“No,” Eli replied. “We didn't think they'd appreciate the three of us being treated at a werewolf clinic. More importantly, they'd probably want our heads for failing to bring the enemy back with us.”

Eli was right.

The Council was nothing more than a group of old assholes who seemed far too comfortable handing out punishments. The King wasn't much different.

I frowned, anger rising as I thought about the situation.

“What are the chances that this witch will attack the pack?”

Lucas thought about it before answering.

“Honestly, we can't be certain. As you probably know, witches were extremely sadistic creatures, but they usually had a reason for what they did. Until we know what this one wants, there's no way to say what it will do next.”

He paused before continuing.

“Either way, Alpha Sofia has doubled the border protection. Scouts are searching the woods constantly. They might not be able to stop the creature if it returns, but they'll know if it comes close. That should give everyone enough time to escape.”

I nodded.

“I'll contact the King tomorrow morning. He needs to know what happened at the camp, assuming he doesn't already.”

The thought of contacting the King made all three of us grimace.

That camp had been responsible for guarding our border and protecting our territory from the wolves. Now every warrior stationed there was dead, and the only three survivors were lying inside a werewolf clinic.

There was nobody left guarding that part of the border.

“I suggest we wait before contacting the King or the Council,” Eli said. “Our brothers are dead. We've left the border without protection, and we've sought refuge with the wolves. Surely you understand how this is going to look.”

I nodded.

He was right. We wouldn't just look like survivors. We could look like deserters. Worse, we could be accused of betraying our own people. And the punishment for treason was death.

Just thinking about it should have kept me awake all night, but thankfully, I was still heavily medicated. At least I wouldn't spend the night lying there worrying about how badly everything had gone.

For now, I was alive. Tomorrow would bring whatever came next.