THE WITCH AND HER ALPHA

Chapter 12

That magical blast pushed Esmeralda very hard to the ground. She was sure she had broken a few bones, nothing a potion wouldn't fix though.

Her real issue was what had just happened. Did the Westwood pack get a new witch to align with them? That couldn't have been possible. She had been keeping tabs on them for a while and that had never come up.

It seemed the girl wasn't just any witch too. She possessed power, enough power to weaken her. Esmeralda screamed into the sky. She was so close but her plans had been foiled.

She was angry with herself for not being able to sense that there was another witch in the area. The girl had been hanging around the young alpha all day and she was even with him when she had bumped into them.

How could she not have sensed that she was a witch? Especially when she had energy radars that high? Esmeralda couldn't remember the time anyone had been able to throw her around like that.

It didn't make sense. The girl must have been masking her true self but that was a very powerful spell for a teenager.

Esmeralda groaned. Every bone in her body wanted her to go back and fight, to go back and get revenge on those who thought they could mock her. But Esmeralda didn't get that far by follow her anger. She didn't become as powerful as she was by giving to her every whim and desire.

She knew it would be unwise to go face a foe she knew nothing about. She was going to go and research this mysterious witch and when she finds out more, she was either going to make the witch join her ranks or burn her to the ground.

Esmeralda tried to stand on her feet but she winced in pain. The damage that girl had caused must have been worse than she thought.

Gathering the rest of her strength, she lifted herself into the air and flew to her domain.

Joanne held a passed out Raquelle in her arms as she and Drake tried to make sense of what had just happened.

With everything Raquelle had told her in the car, it was clear to Joanne that Raquelle was in fact a witch and a powerful one from what she had just seen.

“We need to get out of here. Esmeralda might come back here any minute now. I have a change of clothes in the car, you?" Drake asked.

“Always. We can talk about this when we're in the clear", Joanne answered. Drake shifted into his wolf form and Joanne carefully placed Raquelle's form onto his back then she shifted herself.

To most people, seeing your cousin without clothes would be downright weird but it wasn't a new thing in their pack. Wolves were used to seeing themselves naked. There were spare clothes kept around handy at the pack mansion.

They ran out of the woods to the direction of their cars. When they arrived, they shifted back and put on some clothes.

“Where to?" Joanne asked.

“My house", Drake answered. They both got in their respective cars. After making sure, Raquelle was secure in the back seat, he sped off.

During the car ride home, multiple thoughts invaded Drake's brain. The most prominent of it being, he could have lost his life if Raquelle hadn't saved him.

She literally put herself at risk for him. He took a quick glance at her at the back. He wished he could just hold her in his arms but it was only a matter of time until they got home.

He always knew there was something special about Raquelle and it made sense that she was a witch. He owed her a whole lot. He knew she didn't know what she was but he wondered if her mom knew.

That would explain why her mom was always giving him a knowing look whenever he visited. Could she really know what he was? Either way, they had to get to safety, Raquelle most importantly.

A while later, he and Joanne pulled into the gate of his house. He carried Raquelle in his arms and took her to his room. He didn't want to let go of her just yet so he sat on the bed with her on his legs.

“Please be okay", he whispered to her placing a feather light kiss on her forehead. Joanne entered the room then.

“Drake we need to let her rest. She used up a lot of energy when she saved us", Joanne said.

“But—"

She came over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Hey I know you're worried about her. I am too but the only way she'll be fine is if she gets plenty of rest".

Drake sighed but he knew his cousin was right. He placed Raquelle gently on his bed and hoped for the best. Then he moved his position to the couch in his room. He was not going to leave her sight.

“I'm going to go get something to eat. Do you want anything?" Joanne asked.

Just as he was about to refuse, his stomach growled loud enough for her wolf hearing to pick up.

She gave him a smirk. “I'all ask Jerry to make us some lunch". Then she disappeared out the door and Drake was left alone to his thoughts.

He looked over at Raquelle, so unresponsive. He only knew she was alive because he could hear and see her breathing. He felt like he had known her forever even though it had only been a month.

If anybody had told Drake that he'd come to care for anyone, let alone a stranger this much, he'd have scoffed in their faces... and yet here he was, deeply worried about this mysterious girl who had worked her way into his heart.

He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her because of him. He was also worried about what this meant for the future. If Esmeralda didn't know about her before, she certainly knew about her know and he worried that Esmeralda now had Raquelle on her radar.

It didn't matter though because he knew he'd die before he let Esmeralda harm a hair on her head. Raquelle was that important to him.

Joanne came back not too long after that with a tray of sandwiches and some juice.

He helped her set it down. “Thanks", he said to her as they helped themselves to the food.

“I can't believe she just saved our lives", Joanne said, taking a look at Raquelle.

“How did you guys know where to find me. I don't exactly remember telling either of you where I was going?" Drake asked.

“Raquelle called me and said you were in danger and somehow she lead us to you. She was so confused and didn't know what was going on". Joanne told him all Raquelle told her, about her visions and why she knew something was up.

“When she was directing me on where to go, she said it was almost as if she was seeing things from your eyes. And the bad feeling she talked about having when she woke up this morning. I think they were all just various ways of her powers manifesting itself to her. We've got a very powerful witch on our hands Drake and she could be the missing piece of our puzzle".

When Drake realized what his cousin was suggesting, he turned to glare angrily at her.

“No!" he said, “we are not throwing her to the wolves".

“It wouldn't be throwing her to the wolves. She clearly has a lot of power, I mean look at what she did to Esmeralda. Of course, she'd train and harness her strengths but she could be exactly what we need. She could be the solution we've been looking for".

“I said no Joanne. The Wiccan wars, that's our problem, not hers".

“Um, hello, not hers? Are you kidding? She's a witch, a real life Wicca. This is very much her problem too. And after the stunt she pulled back in the clearing, do you seriously think Esmeralda won't be out looking to get her? I'm just saying it would be a lot better to have her on our side, that way we'd at least have a fighting chance against those witches".

“That's enough Jo!! We're not putting Raquelle in the middle of this and we're certainly done talking about this", Drake said, unable to look at his cousin. He knew there was truth in what she said and the alpha in him wanted to do anything to protect his pack but he couldn't imagine Raquelle getting hurt because of him or his pack.

“Fine. We won't talk about this now but we will talk about this later because ultimately it's not your call to make, it's hers and if I know anything about Raquelle, it's that she'll make the right choice".

With that, Joanne stormed out of the room, furious. She couldn't believe Drake would be so unreasonable about everything. She thought he'd be the one to understand the most.

After everything he'd lost because of the Wiccan wars, his pack members, his parents, Joanne was sure he'd be the one who wanted to do whatever it took to end it as quickly as possible.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. She knew her brother cared about Raquelle and she did too. Raquelle was a friend to her and she basically owed her her life but she also had to think of the pack. She just hoped Raquelle would be more reasonable than her cousin had been.

She went to the living room to watch TV when the door opened. Violet and Mason walked in. “Hey Jo", Violet greeted, a smile on her face. She and Violet were very good friends.

Mason ran to give her a hug. “Hi Jojo", he greeted. Mason was the only one who called her that.

“Hey Mace. How was school today?" she asked him.

He shrugged. “Meh, same old, same old", he replied in a nonchalant voice causing both Violet and Joanne to start laughing.

“I totally feel you little man", Joanne replied, holding her hand out for a fist bump which he gave her.

“Is Drake home?" Mason asked.

“Yeah he's upstairs", Joanne answered.

“Cool, lemme go say hi", he said bouncing up the stairs.

Violet came and took a seat beside her. “What's up? You look tense?"

“Let's just say I had the longest day".

“What happened?"

“Esmeralda attacked Drake".

Violet's eyes widened in shock. “Esmeralda the witch?" she asked for confirmation.

“No, Esmeralda the princess", Joanne replied, the sarcasm very obvious in her tone. Violet rolled her eyes.

“How did you guys escape?" Violet asked.

“Raquelle. Turns out she's a witch who had no idea what she was".

Violet's eyes almost popped out of her sockets at that. If she was drinking something at that moment, she definitely would have spit it out.

“That's crazy".

“You have no idea. She's upstairs with Drake. She passed out after her releasing quite frankly the strongest bout of magic I've ever seen".

“Remind me not to get on her bad side then", Violet said, causing them both to laugh.

A few hours later, Raquelle's eyes fluttered open. Drake was instantly by her side and took her hand in his.

“Drake", she called.

“It's me honey. I'm here", he answered.

“What happened?"

As she asked that, it all came flooding back to her.

“How did I do that?" she asked.

“We think you're a witch. Raquelle, you saved Joanne and I. We owe you our lives", Drake said.

Raquelle sat up on the bed, waving him off. “I had a vision of you getting hurt this morning and when I stood there, I didn't know what I planned on doing but I know I couldn't let you get hurt.

“That was reckless and stupid not to mention incredibly dangerous. Please don't put yourself in the line for me again".

“I make no promises", she replied, causing Drake to roll his eyes.

Joanne and Violet walked in with Mason in tow. “Oh thank God you're okay", Joanne said, coming to give her a hug.

“Thank you so much for saving us".

“What did she save you from?" Mason asked curiously.

“A bad person", Drake answered.

“How?" he asked.

“She"s a witch", his brother replied.

His eyes widened in childlike wonder. “You are?"

Raquelle giggled, nodding. That seemed to be the only normal explanation for everything.

“But how?" Mason asked again.

The smile on Raquelle's face dropped. “That's a question for my mother", she muttered to herself but all the grown werewolves picked it up.

Violet sensing that the three of them had important stuff to talk about ushered Mason out of the room.

“Come on Mason you have to finish your homework". She spared a quick glance at Raquelle and a small smile graced her face. “I'm glad you're okay Raquelle".

Raquelle gave her a nod in acknowledgement. Once they were gone, she made to get up from the bed but Joanne and Drake stopped her.

“Woah woah, where are you going?" Joanne asked.

“To speak to my mother. I'm finally going to get some answers and if anybody knows anything, she does".

“You'll get to do that later. Right now you need to rest", Drake suggested.

“I've rested enough. I'm going to speak to her. Now will you drop me off or not?"

She got off the bed and straightened out her appearance, looking at Drake for his answer.

Eventually, he sighed. “Fine. Let's go".

Joanne stayed at the house while Drake drove Raquelle home. She was quiet throughout the car ride and Drake could only imagine what was going through her head.

“Hey Myers", he called, breaking through her thoughts.

She turned to look at him. “Yeah", she answered.

“I just want you to know that whatever happens, I'm here for you", he said taking her hand in his free one.

She smiled at him. “I know you are".

When they got to her house, Raquelle was happy to find her mom's car in the driveway. They entered the house to find her mom lounging on the couch.

She beamed on seeing them.

“Oh hi honey, you're a little late from school. But I see you've been spending time with this friend of yours", her mom said.

Raquelle didn't waste time before jumping straight into business. With a very serious look on her face, she asked.

“Mom, what do you know about witches?"

Eyes widened, her mom froze.