THE WITCH AND HER ALPHA

Chapter 13

Raquelle's mom, Mariah Myers, looked shocked. That was definitely not the question she expected her daughter would ask her. She should exactly be surprised though. Raquelle had been hanging out with a werewolf and she knew her daughter was very perceptive, it was only a matter of time before she found out about the supernatural.

“What are you talking about?" she asked, hoping that her daughter was just bluffing but the look in her eyes and the boy's eyes told her otherwise. She knew it was time to come clean.

“Don't play with me mom. We both know what I'm talking about", Raquelle replied.

Mariah sighed. “Fine, you'll need to sit down for this", she said, gesturing to the space beside her.

Raquelle and Drake both took seats. She noticed how Raquelle chose to seat beside Drake and she also noticed the way they had kept their fingers locked together since they had arrived. She didn't comment on it though.

“If you want to know what I know about witches, then you're going to have to be specific about what you want to know about them because I know everything there is to know about witches".

Raquelle and Drake shared a look at Mariah's admission. That definitely caught them by surprise.

“Why don't you start us off from the beginning?" Raquelle suggested.

Mariah gave a wry chuckle. “We'd definitely be here all day if I decided to do that and something tells me that you're asking me about this because you already know the basics, presumably from the werewolf sitting next to you l so I'll ask again, what do you want to know?"

Raquelle and Drake shared another look before she turned to glare at her mother but her mother held her stare. She got her stubbornness from her after all. Drake however wasn't completely surprised that she talked about him being a werewolf so nonchalantly, he already suspected that she knew about him.

“Fine then, how do you know about witches?" Raquelle settled on asking.

“Because I am one or at least I was one", Mariah answered, her voice sounding a little wistful.

“Wait what does that mean?" Raquelle asked.

“It means I was born a witch, with magical powers but I lost them a long time ago and I've basically been living like a human ever since", Mariah replied.

Raquelle's eyes almost popped out of its sockets at that. “But— But how?" she stuttered out.

“My mom was one and my grandmother and my great grandmother and you get the idea", Mariah said, a playful smile on her face.

“Grandma was a witch?" Raquelle asked.

Mariah nodded slowly, memories of her mother playing themselves in her head.

“She was one of the most powerful actually. She taught me everything I know. I'd actually say I was one of the most powerful myself. Our family comes from a long line of powerful witches. It's a surprise you didn't get the genes but I guess it's for the best, at least you're safe".

“What do you mean, at least I'm safe?" Raquelle asked.

“Do you remember how your grandmother died?" Mariah asked.

“She died of old age. What does that have to do with anything?" Raquelle shrugged.

“Honey your grandmother died die of old age. She died in the most badass way possible, in battle. Long ago, when you were a child, your grandmother and I joined the fight against an old and very powerful witch. Her name was Esmeralda. You probably know her Drake. She has been waging war on werewolves for a long time".

Drake nodded at that.

“Well your grandmother and I and are bunch of other witches were a part of a coven of witches who tried to stop Esmeralda but she had grown too powerful and she had an even larger army on her side. We tried our best but we couldn't stop her. We weakened her and her army a little but it wasn't enough. Esmeralda recognized our potentials and she tried to recruit us to join her and her coven but we refused. We know werewolves aren't our enemy. They never were and they never will be. The moon goddess created us both to serve each other not for one to rule the other".

Those words rang deep for Drake. He remembered his mother saying something like that before she died when he was a kid. Raquelle however was in shock. She could hear her mom saying it, she had the powers to prove it and she had come face to face with Esmeralda herself but yet it all seemed like a dream, like it was too good to be true. She had barely come to terms with werewolves existing and she was thrown into the world of witches and finding out she was one.

Her mom went on. “Anyway, after we refused to join Esmeralda, she got furious and she wanted to destroy us all. To save us, my mom, had to use a very strong and dangerous spell but it backfired and took her life in the process. I tried to stay and help my mother but Esmeralda took my powers. I was only able to escape with my life with the help of my friend".

“Wow", Raquelle exclaimed, “this is a lot to take in. Why did you keep this from me? Why am I just finding out about this now? Why didn't you just tell me?"

“I was protecting you from this world and besides there was no need to tell you. Witches show signs of their powers from when they're babies or young kids basically they show signs of being witches at a very young age. You didn't. You were always a normal girl and I wanted you to live a normal life. This world of ours Raquelle, it's dangerous. Especially with Esmeralda running the show. She took lots of lives, both werewolves and the witches who didn't join her, my mother, your grandmother included. I lost my powers to her. I wasn't just going to expose my only daughter to this world especially when she didn't need it", Mariah explained, a single tear drop falling from her eye. She wiped it away quickly.

“I understand how you feel Mrs Myers", Drake said. She looked at him with a questioning gaze. “You do?" she asked.

“I lost my parents to Esmeralda too when I was just a kid. It was the most painful thing to ever happen to me", Drake continued.

“I'm sorry about that Drake", Mariah said sympathetically.

“It's okay. It's been a while now".

Mariah turned to her daughter then. She had answered her questions now it was time to get her answers.

“Why did you suddenly want to know about witches Raquelle?" she asked.

“Because mom, you were wrong when you said I was born normal. I found out today that I'm a witch", Raquelle answered.

Mariah gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth in shock. “What?" she asked, her voice coming out barely louder than a whisper. “How? As a kid, you didn't show any signs of magic".

Raquelle shared a look with Drake as if wondering whether or not to tell her mother about Esmeralda. Her mom noticed the hesitation in her eyes.

She gave her daughter a steely look. “Raquelle Raven Myers, tell me everything", she said in a tone that left no room for disagreement.

“Fine. So you know how I always used to get these premonitory dreams as a child, well I think those were my ways of showing signs of magic but they were never anything serious so we both kinda dismissed it", Raquelle began, looking at her mother to try and gauge her reaction. She just looked like she was waiting to hear the rest of it.

“Go on", Mariah said, confirming her daughter's thoughts.

“Well this morning, I had something like that except I didn't remember this dream so instead it came to me in visions. This morning when you thought something was off about me, that was why. I had just had a flash of a vision. It didn't make sense to me so I kept quiet and hoped things would go back to normal soon", Raquelle continued.

She paused because everything still seemed a bit like a blur to her.

“It all became even worse when this girl showed up at our school. I was getting negative vibes just by being in close proximity with her and then later, I find out that she put a spell on Drake and the visions made sense. I knew the girl was actually Esmeralda in disguise especially since I'd heard about her before. She took Drake away and I just knew he was in danger. I called up his cousin and somehow, I could see through Drake's eyes and I was able to find out where Esmeralda took him. It still didn't add up to me being a witch until Esmeralda was about to deliver the final blow to Drake and his cousin and I jumped in and saved them".

Mariah just stood there, seemingly frozen in shock. “You met Esmeralda and you used magic on her? Powerful enough magic to stop her from finishing her attack?"

Raquelle nodded. Mariah stood up then, pacing around the room, a worried look on her face.

“This is bad, this is really really bad", she muttered to herself.

Raquelle stood up and came face to face with her mother, putting her hands on her shoulder to steady her.

“Mom calm down", she said.

“How can I calm down? I spent my whole life working to protect you from Esmeralda and now you went and show yourself to her. Do you know what this means? She's going to come after you!"

“Well I couldn't exactly stand there and do nothing when she was going to destroy Drake", Raquelle said in her defense.

“And when you went out there, what were you going to do? Did you already know you had magic then? What was your plan?"

Raquelle looked away at that. She knew things could have gone differently and ended really badly for her, Drake and Joanne if her powers hadn't chosen to reveal themselves at that exact moment.

“Of course you didn't have any plan. Honey I appreciate that you have a heart of gold but you can't keep putting yourself in reckless situations. You're just lucky that you keep coming out of them alive".

At that, her memory flashed back to when she was sixteen and she saw an old lady crossing the street slowly. She remembered seeing a driver who ignored the stop sign speeding right towards the old lady. She knew even if she screamed, the lady wouldn't be able to move out of the way fast enough so she threw herself in the middle of the road and pushed the lady to safety. Miraculously, Raquelle escaped the whole ordeal with only a few scratches and bruises.

She remembered a few more similar events and thinking about it now, she realized that must have been her powers protecting her from getting hurt.

The look on her mother's face showed she was probably thinking the same thing and before Raquelle could say anything, her mother pulled her into a hug.

“Oh honey, please don't do crazy stunts like that again", Mariah's voice was thick with unshed tears. “You're all I have left. I've lost my parents and my husband and I can't lose you too".

Mariah pulled back a little to hold her daughter's face and Raquelle got a glimpse of her mother's tear stained face. She pulled her back into the hug.

“I love you Raquelle and I want you to be safe. You're all I have left in the world. You have to promise that you won't keep putting yourself on the line like that. My mom died a martyr. I don't need two in my life. Please just promise me".

If only to stop her from crying, Raquelle made the promise to her mother. Drake, kept quiet as he watched the touching interaction between mother and daughter.

“Good, and don't worry. We'll find a way to keep Esmeralda away from you. I promise you. I won't let her take you away from me. I'll die before I let that happen", Mariah said, trying to assure her daughter.

“It's okay mom. We're in this together".

They pulled out of their hug then with mother and daughter smiling at each other.

“Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to make a few phone calls. I promise you baby, you're going to be safe", Mariah said, disappearing into her room.

Drake came to stand beside Raquelle then. “Hey. How are you?" he asked.

“I'm fine", she answered.

“No I mean, how are you really feeling?"

“Overwhelmed. I just learned about my family's past and it's completely different from what I always thought it was. It feels like my whole life has been a lie. I want to be mad at my mom for keeping this from me but I know she had a good reason too. She was just trying to protect me especially after everything she'd been through", Raquelle answered truthfully.

“It's okay Myers. I'm here for you. You don't have to process all these feelings in a day. Remember, I've got you", Drake told her.

She smiled at him wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He hugged her back instinctively. She held him tight wondering what would have happened if Esmeralda had succeeded. She couldn't bear to imagine that. She was just thankful that he was safe, here, with her.

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. I had the busiest day at school. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the book so far. Leave comments on your thoughts. Seriously, please do. You literally have no idea what those do to my confidence and self esteem ?? ??. Also comments talking about what parts you enjoy help overcome writer's block so please, don't hold back. Thank you. XOXO