Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

Chapter 8: Witches in the Wind

In the morning, Kylie and Tian work on packing up Adam’s car while Adam and his sister share one last tearful goodbye. Kylie already tried to cheer him up earlier, reminding him that eventually they plan to move to this region. She also pointed out that since their packs will likely turn out to be allies in the end, they will probably be seeing lots more of Alex soon. He agreed but pointed out that it’s unwise to take future plans as fact because no one knows how things will turn out in the end.

Tian takes the luggage from her hand and pats her on the shoulder. “I think their private moment is over, so you should probably join them and say your goodbyes as well.”

“What about you? You haven’t even properly introduced yourself yet.” Tian had arrived not even a half hour before, electing to spend his night at a hotel rather than inviting himself to stay with Adam’s family.

“Did you notice the way Alex’s scent changed slightly when I arrived?” he asks her as he leans in closer to be discreet. She had but didn’t think much of it because she hasn’t yet learned to identify scents of all the different biological processes the way Adam and Tian seem to be able to.

She nods in reply and he seems pleased. It is exciting for him to observe how quickly Kylie is adapting to her awakened wolf traits.

“That scent means she doesn’t like me much,” he explains, “though lately I can never be sure whether someone is more bothered that I’m a vampire or that I’ve attached myself to you and Adam. I misread your grandmother, for instance.”

Kylie gives him a sympathetic and understanding pat and rub of his bicep before turning and joining Adam and Alex on the porch. She makes a mental note to discuss with Tian later why people seem to dislike vampires so much, considering what he told them before about most of them being good and humane.

“I’m just saying you should consider it,” Alex is saying when Kylie steps up beside Adam. “It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“I hear you,” he acknowledges her, and Kylie makes another mental note to ask him what that conversation was about as soon as she gets a chance.

“Oh, Kylie, I was just saying I need to come hug you goodbye,” Alex says as she shifts her attention to her.

“Same here. I love hugs,” Kylie tells her as an invitation, and sure enough, Alex pulls her in for a tight embrace.

“Oh, you smell like him,” Alex comments with a tone that indicates that it’s her distaste for vampires that Tian was smelling.

“Well, I’m sorry that it bothers you, but I’m not sorry that I smell like him. He’s our friend,” Kylie replies. “I do regret that we have to leave already, though, but we’ll be sure to come visit again as soon as we can.”

After a few more hugs and tears, Adam and Kylie turn to head to the car, where Tian is already waiting in the back seat. Kylie offers him the front, but as usual, he turns it down. Tagging along with them for practically everything they do is one thing but taking her rightful place by the side of her mate is something he simply will not do.

“It’s so weird that Alex seems to have developed a prejudice against vampires,” Adam says only a few moments after they have left her driveway. “She was raised the same as me, with all sorts of people around all the time.”

“Yes, but she has spent most of her life here,” Tian points out. “And I’ve noticed that people around here and even up in Oregon seem to have a particular dislike for my kind. It makes me wonder if there might be a fair number of troublesome nests of the darker sort of vampires around here.”

“Is that something you need to tell The Council about?” Kylie asks.

“I can let them know of my suspicions, but I would assume that if these nests were breaking supernatural laws, The Council would already be on top of it. It’s not a crime for vampires to be vampires, although the law does require consent for feeding. They can’t feed from humans, so my guess would be they’ve been feeding from werewolves somehow. It would make sense, considering.”

“Considering what?” Kylie wonders. She knows he probably worded it like that to bait her to ask a question because he loves when she asks him questions about supernaturals, but it doesn’t bother her. She likes asking them.

“Considering that werewolves are a favorite snack for vampires,” Adam cuts in, also knowing Tian’s game. He shoots him a smirk in the rearview mirror.

Tian nods and smirks back at him, not missing a beat before continuing to explain, “Witches are sweet, but not very satisfying, and fae are addictive, but deadly. Their blood can’t actually kill us, but it can drive us mad. Humans are a delight, both tasty and nourishing, and also forbidden. But werewolves, my dear, are the perfect choice. Their blood is hearty and flavorful. A werewolf snack can keep an active vampire satiated for many days, and if it’s an Alpha, well, there’s just no comparison.”

“Oh. That makes sense,” Kylie responds softly, thinking back to when she suggested Tian feed from her, and he told her she had no idea what she was offering him. “I suppose it would also make sense that it seems to be werewolves who dislike vampires the most.”

“Witches do as well, to be sure, which is why it has been so difficult for me to get any outside The Council to meet with me,” Tian adds. “That, plus the innate goodness of witches draws the most powerful into the service of The Council. They migrate toward order and balance, which is the point of The Council, at its core.”

“So, how did you manage this meeting we’re going to?” Adam questions, suddenly worried. If witches are so difficult, then why did these ones agree to meet?

“You didn’t hear it from me, but Anya. Also, these witches are not necessarily on our side, yet. The exact wording of what Anya told me was, ‘They will test you, and you will have to prove yourself to even see them.’ I think they mostly mean Kylie. They know of her, and are interested in what she intends to do, but are hesitant because witches have the utmost faith in The Council solving problems such as a dark witch terrorizing a tri-state region. It will take some convincing to get them to agree to actual help, rather than just favoring your cause. And I will warn you right now, witches won’t be as easily influenced as werewolves. Not ones you’re not bonded with, anyway. Anya is a different situation. I think as soon as she touched you and felt your pain, she became bonded to you. I have never known her to bend rules, but now because I am asking it of her for you, she has. She won’t break them, though. You cannot count on her to intervene other than behind the scenes when she finds an opening.”

They drive a while longer until they reach the place where the witches want to meet, as Anya described it to Tian. Adam pulls the car off the highway onto what looks like a dirt service road which leads to basically nowhere. The meeting spot is just a dusty, overgrown field. He parks in a place that he feels will be easy enough to maneuver out of when it is time to go, and the three get out of the car and start to wander around, looking for any signs of anyone else approaching.

The wind starts to pick up, which in turn starts to make waiting outside a lot more uncomfortable because the dirt and sand from the ground is blowing and swirling around. Adam pulls up the collar of his overshirt to try to create a sort of wind block to keep the debris from hitting him in the face. He looks over at Kylie, who is just wearing a light t-shirt and jeans, but she doesn’t seem to be as bothered. She is focusing intently on something, and he looks around to try to determine what it is.

“Do you guys hear that?” she asks, and Adam tries to tune into the sounds around him to figure out what she means.

“Yes, I just can’t make out what they’re saying,” Tian responds.

“What is -” Adam starts to ask, but Kylie shushes him.

“The witches. The wind is carrying their voices,” she whispers softly.

He focuses in on the sound of the wind and realizes she is right. The patterns of the sounds it makes do sound like voices. He tunes in and tries to listen carefully but can’t make out anything comprehensible.

Kylie soon realizes she might be “listening” with the wrong senses. The reason she realized there were voices in the first place was because she could sense that there are others nearby. She starts to tune into her sense of the newcomers’ moods and emotions and follows that instead. She closes her eyes and reaches out to them, and without realizing it, her feet start carrying her body closer to them.

Adam starts to follow her, concerned that he doesn’t understand where she is going, but Tian holds his hand out to stop him. “They’re testing her. It’s possible she can sense things we can’t because it wasn’t meant for us.”

Kylie opens her eyes to look for the witches again and notices movement a few feet from her. She studies that area for a moment, and it looks like she can make out the silhouettes of at least two people, but it feels off. The place where she sees them is not where she senses them with her mind. She turns her attention in the direction of the most powerful connection she feels and heads in that direction.

A moment later the wind dies down, and three women suddenly appear off in the direction Kylie is heading.

“Very good,” the elder of the women congratulates her. “Our tricks are no match for you, it seems. That’s good news for you. Perhaps your dark witch will not be able to manipulate you as easily as she does most people.”

Kylie senses Adam and Tian approaching to join her as she appraises the witches and responds, “Your tricks were kind of cool, though. I wouldn’t mind learning how to hide in plain sight.”

The elder woman chuckles and explains, “Ah, but unfortunately your blood does not carry the power to do so. I have heard that you have some tricks of your own, though, and I wouldn’t mind knowing how you found us.”

“I would argue that it doesn’t matter,” the shorter woman with the frizzy brown hair interrupts their banter. “This has been fun and all, but I feel like we should not waste any more of their time.”

“I take it you do not intend to pledge your assistance,” Tian chimes in.

“We belong to a coven, and our coven acts together as one or not at all,” the elder witch explains. “When we take a vote, it must be unanimously in favor of an action, or we do not act. Unfortunately, after looking into the matter and doing some asking around about your dark witch, it was determined that a coven of our standing would be no match against her. It is too dangerous for us to try. I am sorry that we cannot help you, but we felt it important to meet you in person and tell you to your face. I am not sorry to have met you. You do seem like a special young lady.”

“I can respect that,” Kylie responds, trying not to sound too disappointed. “And I appreciate your consideration and kind words.”

“We will be rooting for you,” the woman promises. “And you would be surprised what an effect positive energy can have when it comes from a coven of witches. Best of luck to you, child.”

After bidding the witches goodbye, Adam comes to put his arm around Kylie and leads her back to their car. Though he is also disappointed that the witches declined to help, he is glad to be leaving. This whole place gives him the creeps, which Tian explains is because it is protected by the coven, whose home must be nearby. Like the protected territory where Spirit Moon resides, spells can be woven into an area and make it so that any intruders are naturally deterred from going there.

Kylie climbs into the car and settles into her seat, leaning back to get comfortable and relax her tense muscles. Just as her eyes start to drift closed, she remembers something.

“Adam, what was Alex talking about earlier? I remember she said you should ‘consider something’ and ‘it doesn’t hurt to ask’ but I didn’t hear the context of that conversation.”

He forcefully exhales a breath and glances over at her. After he finishes maneuvering the car out of the dusty, abandoned field and the troublesome dirt path until it is safely back on the highway, he finally answers her.

“She had an idea for some potential allies. A big pack, lots of skilled warriors.”

“Oh?” Tian perks up in the back seat. “Do tell.”

“Well, I don’t know about her idea. It has merit but is also problematic. For one, this is a pack with no apparent stake in our war. They’re far enough south in California that if they’re on Black Moon’s radar, it won’t be for some time until they’re in danger. Hopefully, by then we will have resolved the problem.”

“And what’s the other reason?” Kylie asks.

“What other reason?” Adam questions in return. She can tell that he has another reason, but just doesn’t want to say it.

“You started a list of reasons and only gave one. Also, I can feel and smell that there’s more,” Kylie says matter-of-factly.

“Yeah,” Adam sighs, “but I was hoping the one was enough. Well, I suppose Tian would be more familiar with why this is a problem, but the pack she was talking about is Luna’s Grace.”

Kylie hears Tian inhale sharply.

“Yes, I would agree that it could be problematic,” he confirms. “Luna’s Grace is a large pack that draws only the most devout followers of the Moon Goddess Selene and the ancient werewolf traditions that have become a sort of religion for them. They’re very strict and very conservative about following the old ways, which would include restricting the role of Alpha to males only. I don’t think they will support your claim, Kylie. On the other hand, their warriors are a bit of an army in themselves. It’s a large pack, and the warriors comprise at least half of the membership.”

“Alex thinks we could convince them because of Kylie’s rare traits,” Adam explains. “She said traits like those are viewed as blessings directly from The Moon Goddess, and therefore, Kylie might be viewed as an exception to the rules, some sort of divine being in herself. I told her that they might take issue with us just showing up there claiming that.”

“Probably so,” Tian agrees, “but we could go there, not claiming that, and try to appeal to them just based on logical reasoning. Should we lose the fight, Black Moon will eventually be big enough to be the only pack that can oppose Luna’s Grace, and will at that point be a threat to them. Perhaps we’ll get lucky, and Kylie’s traits will speak for themselves. Perhaps they’ll anoint her on their own.”

“I don’t know how I feel about that,” Kylie admits. “The large, disciplined army would be nice, but not at the cost of posing as some divine being.”

“I had thought of that, but there’s actually something else that worries me more,” Adam tells them. “The thing I haven’t told you yet is that the whole reason why Alex even suggested this is because I know someone close to the pack leadership.”

“Who?” Kylie and Tian ask at the same time.

“Melissa,” Adam reveals. “Melissa is mated to their former Beta, and her step-son is the current Beta. And I know how you feel about Melissa.”

“Well, I think we should try to set up a meeting,” Kylie suggests. “I’m an adult, and a future Alpha. I can handle your ex-wife, especially if it means rescuing my sisters and securing the futures of the rest of my family.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Adam responds, reaching over to take her hand as he drives.

They stay quiet like that for some time, driving along and enjoying the comfortable silence, until Kylie’s head nods off to the side and Tian reaches forward to hold her head so that it doesn’t bang against the window as she rests. Adam releases her hand and reaches behind the seat to give Tian’s shoulder a grateful squeeze.

“She’s our special girl,” he says, though he knows he doesn’t need to tell Tian that. “Thank you for always being there for her, and for us.”

“Of course. It’s my honor and pleasure. Always.”