The Gamma’s Secret Witch

I’m Not my Sister!

TABITHA

I could hear my father start to walk away, I had completely forgotten he was still there, it was like I had little to no control over my own body. I raised my head off Asher's chest slightly and I swore I heard a whimper escape from his lips. "I'm sorry Asher, for what it's worth." I said, trying to sound as sincere as I could. I saw the smallest flicker of appreciation in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. I knew enough about how the mate bond worked, or at least the basics of it from studying my father's grimoires.

Unless we officially accepted or rejected one another, the mate bond would become unbearable for him. It's what made wolves different from most other supernatural beings; they relied on the mate bond; it was very rare for werewolves to reject their mates because it was nearly impossible for them to be granted what's called a second chance mate. If Asher had been already looking for me for seven years and given up, there was no telling whether or not he'd be okay continuing life mate-less.

"You're beautiful Tabitha" I heard Asher whisper just loud enough for my ears to hear it. I didn't think I was ugly by any means. I was unique, I had long jet black raven hair that freely hung down my back. My eyes were a light crystal blue that really contrasted against my dark hair and light skin. I wasn't skinny, well not supermodel skinny, I had some curves in all the right places, but it wasn’t like I was overweight either. I always thought of myself as pretty average in comparison to other supernatural beings.

This was all new to me, I didn't know how to react or what I was supposed to do next. "Why were you in the forest today?" Asher asked me. It was a fair question but one I didn't really want to get into.

"Umm, well, I needed to collect ingredients for a potion." I said slowly. I didn't know how much Asher knew about us, he obviously knew enough to know that he had entered witches territory and if my name alone had not already given away the fact that I was in fact a witch, my earlier introduction should have clarified any doubt. At least that appeared evident in his reluctance to go beyond the tree line of our land in his wolf form. He looked down at me, and I knew he wanted to ask me more questions. "I am a white witch in case you were wondering if you needed to worry or not." I said, trying to reassure him that he had nothing to worry about. "Well that's good, but I still don't understand why you were there alone." Asher said, sounding more concerned than anything else.

I sighed, it was only fair that I explained things to him, and then he could make the decision, he would know everything and could choose whether or not he wanted to stay mated to me, or if he in fact wanted to reject me and hope that his Moon Goddess granted him a second chance.

Motioning for Asher to come inside, I stepped aside, inviting a wolf into our home was probably a first for my kind. Asher slowly walked inside. He was looking around the house in amazement. I didn't know what he had expected to find, we weren't like my ancestors. The house we lived in was homey, it looked like any other house, except we had vials, tubes, and books all over the place.

Asher walked into our living room, he seemed to be drawn to a picture of me and Willa. Mother refused to take down any pictures or references to my sister. She hoped that one day Willa would see the error of her ways and would come home to us. Mother was the forgiving kind, I, on the other hand, worried. I worried that Mother's heart would end up broken. Willa was stubborn, she felt like she was passed over and well, I'm sure she felt like she was second-best compared to me. After all, this all started because Mother picked me as her successor, instead of her.

"Who is she?" Asher asked, looking harder at the photo of Willa and myself. I didn't know how to even start explaining it to him. I guess the beginning is as good a place as any to start. "That's my younger sister, Willa." I said a hint of sadness in my voice, my best friend growing up, we were just under two years apart in age so we were always closer than most other sisters were. "She looks just like you." He said smiling at the photo.

After Asher set the photo back down, we sat on the couch together. Nothing about this conversation was easy, it was a painful subject for me. "Willa, she is the reason I was in the forest tonight." I stated. I knew this would raise more questions, but it was the best place to start. Asher went to speak, but I held up my hand to silence him. "Let me start from the beginning. Asher, I need you to listen okay?" I asked him. He nodded and I breathed in deeply, " Thank you" I said before starting my story.

"Willa is just shy of being two years younger than me. We were as close as sisters could be, she was my best friend and we did everything together. At least that's what it was like before." I said. Asher looked confused but I just continued on with my story. "When it came to studying, I excelled at it, magic came easier to me than it did Willa and eventually, when we grew up more my mother made the decision to make me the rightful heir." I continued, the look of confusion didn't leave Asher's face." My parents are the high priest and priestess of the Half Moon coven, Asher. I am not just a normal witch, I am in training to take over this coven from them when they step down." I added trying to clear that information up for him.

"Anyways, Willa at first didn't seem like she had a problem with our mother's choice. She was happy for me. Then, after a while, she started to act funny, she shied away from me, at the start I thought it was because of our mother's decision and she would get over it." I explained. Asher had been silent this whole time listening closely to everything I was saying. "Months progressed, I put all my energy into training and studying.

Learning everything I could so that I would be prepared when the day came for me to take the reins. Willa made new friends, and I thought again that she was getting better. She started staying out late, and she was always moody. My parents were getting worried about her, her behavior had changed and she was becoming unstable." I continued. Asher's face had become emotionless and impossible to read. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, so I just continued on with my lengthy explanation.

"I guess the jealousy became too much for her, she would accuse me of sucking up to our parents to make her look bad. That I was conspiring against her and that it should be her, and not me who took over the coven. She left the house that night and she never came back. " The next part would be hard for me to say, her actions hurt me deeply and I was still trying to put those pieces back together. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes before I continued speaking.

"Willa is the reason witches in this area only really leave our sanctuary when it's absolutely needed. She has succumbed to the dark magic, and once you get a taste, it's hard to not want more. Willa wanted to be powerful, but she didn't want to follow instructions, she didn't want to be under somebody, she wanted to lead and be acknowledged.

We tried to keep it under wraps, keep it within our community but it was a failed attempt. Your Alpha found out that dark magic was being used again. Since this directly broke the treaty agreed upon by both my ancestors and the ancestors of your Alpha." I said finally, opening my eyes I looked at Asher. It was a lot of information to take in all at one time.

"My best friend, Sorren Bale, was the latest target of my sister's attacks. He had been down on the outskirts of our lands around nightfall. It was getting darker out, all I know now is that he is fighting to not let the darkness overtake him." I said, a stray tear fell from my eye. I quickly wiped it away and continued on "Willa is trying to weaken our coven. She is trying to destroy everything that is good about my kind, anything that matters most to me because she feels like I took something that was rightfully hers." I said finally finishing my rant.

Asher seemed like he was going over things in his head, processing it and trying to figure out what his next move was. Seconds turned into minutes, nothing more was said between the two of us. Asher just stared at me, like I was some kind of mystery to him. Maybe he had never really met a witch before, or maybe just not one like me.

Asher got up from the couch and started to pace back and forth. I watched him closely as I still didn't know this man from Adam and had no idea what he was planning to do next. "Asher?" I asked him, trying to make him stop for a second. He stopped pacing finally, but still refused to speak a word to me. "How do I know you won't be like that?" Asher asked, as he looked me over and finally started speaking. I thought about it, there was no way he could know, hell there was no way I could know either really.

"You are going to have to trust me, now aren't you?" I retorted, I was a little hurt that he insinuated I would ever use dark magic. Hell, I could have used magic when we were in the forest to escape but I was too afraid of the harm it could have caused him if something had gone wrong. I suspect Asher didn't like the tone I took much, he glared, saying nothing out loud, he didn't need to, his eyes said enough. It would take Asher a long time to fully trust me, maybe he never truly would.

"Listen to me, I am not my sister. Just because we look alike doesn't make us alike. I could have used my magic when you were tracking me in the forest, I chose not to, I could have attacked you with my powers, again choosing not too. I refuse to use my magic for evil or for self-gain; unlike my sister. So please, even though you do not trust me, do not ever question my intentions again." I told him forcefully.

Asher's expression changed to one of pure bewilderment. He really must not be used to females sticking up for themselves or something, I thought to myself as Asher just stood there dumbfounded. I was about to get up and go to my room, I was shaking. I was getting so angry replaying the question he asked me over and over again in my mind. I didn't ask to be his mate, he didn't ask to be my twin flame, but here we are, witches do not reject our twin flames, that's just not how it's done.

Our souls become intertwined and that's it for life. Unlike the werewolves who can choose to break their mate bond by officially denouncing their mates to their Moon Goddess. It was up to Asher, he was it for me, I wouldn't get a second chance at this level of happiness again and as brave as I may have looked on the outside, on the inside I was terrified, the fate of my happiness was completely in Asher's hands.

I had had enough, I stood up prepared to storm past him, leaving him there in the living room. I took a few steps and as I walked past him I felt something wrap around my wrist. Asher had reached out and grabbed my wrist stopping me from leaving. My knees felt weak instantly and once again the strange fuzzy feeling had begun taking over my body.

"Where do you think you're going, Tabitha?" He said with a deep growl in his voice. I stopped dead in my tracks, I could have ripped my arm away, but I didn't want to, I was afraid that it would be the last time I would feel the warmth of his touch. I took a deep, frustrated breath through my nose before turning my body to face Asher. I looked up at him, his green eyes locked on mine. I could feel my heart beating like a drum, I could feel the blood pulsing in my head as he continued to grip my wrist. "Don't walk away from me." He said, something in his tone had changed, he almost sounded like he was pleading with me.

"Tabitha, this isn't going to be easy, you know that right?" Asher asked. I knew what he meant, and still part of me didn't care. "Nothing worth having comes easy, Asher." I said back to him. He looked at me, the smile had returned to the corner of his mouth. He was an enigma wrapped in a confusing mystery, but one that I intended to figure out.

The smile that had started to cross Asher's face disappeared. He had closed his eyes and was just standing there. I could see his pupils darting back and forth behind his closed eyelids. I knew enough about wolves through my studies to know he was having a conversation through a mind link. A special way for wolves to communicate telepathically to one another, especially when they are far apart. Asher's green eyes flew open, "My alpha was just checking in," he said, but the look on his face said otherwise. He didn't say anything else about the conversation he had with his Alpha, instead he gripped my hand tighter.

"Tabitha, I have to go, I need to get back to the pack. I left my patrol when I found you and followed you here. I never checked in after my patrol was finished, my alpha was getting worried ...." He trailed off, I knew exactly what he was going to say. His Alpha was worried because of the use of dark magic, he was afraid someone in his pack would get hurt or even killed; This was all Willa's fault I had thought to myself. Asher let go of my hand and stepped closer to me, our bodies were inches away from each other. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. I quickly put my phone number into his phone and handed it back to him. He slipped it into his back pocket.

Asher leaned down and gently placed a light kiss on my forehead before walking towards the front door. I turned around in complete shock, little rippling waves of warmth had run through my body, emanating from where his lips touched my forehead. Asher opened the front door of the house, he turned to look back at me. "Stay out of trouble Tabitha, I'll see you soon," he said before he turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. I was left standing alone in my living room, my body was shaking ever so slightly. I was trying my hardest to get air into my lungs, but everything still smelt like him, my hand and forehead still tingled from the contact.

I quickly hurried from the living room back upstairs, throwing open my bedroom door. I rushed over to the bed and threw myself down on it. It was incredibly late and I just wanted to try and sleep. I laid in my bed, a million thoughts were running through my mind right and that would be hard to turn off. I tossed and turned, and eventually fell into a restless sleep.