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I smiled at the Alpha. “Because I’ve seen myself do it. The fates showed me what to do. So long as you all do what I’ve said, we are all going to walk away from this stronger than ever.”
The Alphas all nodded, turning and waving for their Betas to join us at the base of the path we were to start on. I held the pendulum in my hand, letting it guide me along the path to know precisely when to split and head into the unmarked forest. The sun was slipping below the horizon, darkness falling quickly beneath the canopies of the trees overhead. We didn’t have much time to search, but my instincts told me that we would make it. We had to.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Nyte asked, placing his hand on the base of my spine. His eyes were filled with worry, glancing at my flat belly as if he could see the little one growing inside me.
“I’m fine, Nyte. Trust me, I wouldn't be here if I didn’t think that the baby and I could handle this.” I assured him with a smile. “The baby is safe. Witch children aren’t affected by magic in the womb; and if I feel the need, I can always put an extra barrier to protect our child.”
“How do witches fight if magic doesn’t affect them?” Nyte asked with a frown.
“When a witch gets their magic, the protection is gone. They have to rely on their own magic to protect them. But before that, they have protections.” With my eyes closed, I placed my hand over my stomach, feeling the soft, distant hum of the natural magic that protected our child from using my magic and magic used against me.
It wouldn’t have been the same against the werewolf magic had Markus attempted to remove Nyte’s mark. That had been why I put the extra barrier around my womb. However, no matter how much this dark witch threw curses and magic at me, my baby would be unaffected. Only if she managed to kill me would my child be harmed. But that wouldn’t happen. I was going to walk away from this with Nyte at my side. I saw it, and with the packs behind us, it would come to fruition.
The pendulum began to pulse in my hand at a bend in the path, pulling in the direction it wanted me to go.
“This way,” I told Nyte, allowing him to stay a step ahead of me. His instinct was to protect me in my condition even though I could handle myself. After Markus took me, I was more than willing to let Nyte follow his instincts. Not only that, but the pack needed a clear leader; although the Luna stands at the Alpha’s side, he leads the pack. I had to respect that tradition. The pack needed it for us to come out on the other side in one piece.
I could hear the wolves sniffing the air as we left the path, memorizing our way so we could get out of the forest quickly when we accomplished what we had set out to do here. A few, I’m sure, were hoping to catch the scent of a wolf or vampire they could follow, but I knew they wouldn’t. The witch’s spell was still in place. While my pendulum could find them through it, any scents would be hidden from the wolves.
My pendulum spun in my hand before pointing in a new direction, rounding a rocky bend in the forest. I could feel the magic buzzing in the air around us. The taste of darkness souring the familiar feeling of spellwork in the air, sending a shiver down my spine.
“We’re getting closer,” I whispered softly to Nyte. “I can feel her magic everywhere.”
Nyte looked at me with concern, his eyes drifting to the pendulum as it pulled in my hands, urging us forward. He kept the lead, looking back at the pendulum to ensure he was going the right way. The further we went, the thicker the air felt, although only I seemed to notice. The magic was heavy. Dark and ominous, I could almost see it trickling through the forest, running through the very veins of the woods. I quickly realized what she had done when I spotted the first of the mushrooms in an unnatural line.
“Wait,” I said, grabbing Nyte’s arm. He raised his hand to halt the packs following us, looking down as I pointed to the mushrooms. “She made a fairy circle. That’s how she is keeping such a large area hidden. She’s using the mushrooms.”
“What does that mean?” Madi asked from behind me, stepping closer to look at the mushrooms. “What would have happened if we hadn’t stopped?”
“Everyone would have forgotten why they were here. It’s ancient magic. The kind that witches used to use when humans believed in the fairy folks to keep them away from important monuments and ritual grounds.” I stepped around Nyte, kneeling by the mushrooms. “Mushrooms have a different form of roots than other plants. They are connected to each other for miles. They communicate with each other through the mycelium.” I explained, digging my finger into the ground to trace out a sigil I had learned as a young child.
Nyte and Madi stood close behind me, watching and listening as I worked and explained how the magic works.
“Fairy circles aren’t usually made as big as this, but they can be and are just as effective. Because mushrooms can communicate with one another, they move the spell, making them a perfect continuous conduit for magic.” I finished the sigil, feeling the sputter in the magic before reaching out and plucking the mushroom. “Just like with a string of lights, the magic will end when you safely remove one from the circle.”
“Oh, my gods,” Madi gasped, sniffing the air with widened eyes. “I can smell them!”
She wasn’t the only one. An uproar was stirring behind us, the Alphas all doing their best to calm their packs. Nyte stood tall beside me, letting out a sharp barking sound that could only have come from his wolf. The sound held an Alpha command that I couldn’t understand, but every wolf in the forest did; they all reacted, baring their necks with a few dropping down to their knees as they tilted their heads.
“You have all been given your orders,” he reminded them. “I understand that many of you have family within the stolen packs. Be they your mother, father, sister, or brother, if you want to see them through this, you better stick with the orders you have been given.”
Silence fell over the packs. “Escondido Pack, find a way above the cave entrance. With the scent of the wolves and vampires uncovered, you should be able to move downwind and position yourselves. Coronado Pack, you surround the entrance and stay hidden in the trees. You aren’t to let any vampires past you should they evade the ambush of Escondido Pack. As for Oceanside Pack, you come with us.”
Nyte held his hand out to me, pulling me onto his back before taking off at a fast sprint. He was fast. Far faster than I had ever realized a wolf could be. Looking over my shoulder, I watched Madi follow us; Thompson, and the other Oceanside wolves barely kept up with Nyte as he sprinted through the forest. Chase remained with Alexander. As a branch pack of the Coronado Pack, he had to lead his wolves to surround the outside of the cave as ordered. Only Madi remained with us. Nyte’s Beta became an Oceanside wolf the moment he took over as Alpha.
Trees rushed by in a blur. The feel of magic is still thick in the air. I pointed with my finger in the direction I felt it coming from. “Nyte! That way!”
He followed my direction, turning so fast that his hands grabbed a tree, deep claw marks left in the bark as we swung in the new direction. The ground began to rise at an angle, the trees at the top of the hill coming into view, their canopies familiar to me. Nyte skidded to a halt just before the forest floor opened up, the sound of running water heard before the sight of the small river and the roar of the waterfall into the cave.
Nyte let me slide down his back, his eyes surveying the opening, searching for the ancient vampire he would have to face. A frenzy of vampires swarmed below, panicking as they ran about. They knew we were here. No doubt the witch felt the break in her magic. She would know it was me. She had been in the vision with me. She saw almost everything that I had seen, and it was likely she would have seen things I hadn’t.
“What’s your orders, Alpha?” Madi asked from his right side, her back straight as she awaited his orders.
“No vampire leaves here alive,” he ordered. “We can’t afford any of them spreading word of what they accomplished here. We don’t need an ambitious vampire attempting it somewhere else.”
Madi nodded, turning to Thompson before the two spread the order to the pack. Nyte took my hand then, drawing my eyes away from the two Beta wolves to look up at him.
“Don’t you dare die tonight,” he growled at me.
