***“Already?” Philip stood too but Jeremy pointed at his own head and gestured for him to resume his seat as he took his seat as well.‘How are you able to communicate on our mind-link if you’re not on the pack’s land?’ Jeremy was asking his mate with a confused frown on his face.‘Ask your kid.’ Ryan chuckled. ‘I just got the urge to try so I did. I’m just as surprised as you.’‘This is freaky.’ Jeremy breathed.‘Watch it.’ Ryan gave a mock growl. ‘His dad hates any word that sounds like freak…’‘Aw zip it, we’re all freaks.’ Jeremy drawled. ‘Everyone is here so I’d rather I video-call you to enable us plan together, okay?’‘Alright.’“Okay, here goes…” Jeremy murmured as he dialed Ryan’s number.“Were you just chatting with him on your mind-link?” Philip asked, his shocked look mirroring that of the others around the table.“Yep.” Jeremy tried to maintain a straight face but failed and allowed the awed grin to burst free.“How?” Gloria screeched. “I thought you said he was at Agyem
***“If they think I’m going to stand by and watch them take my brother again, they have another thing coming.” Jeremy’s growl was packed with so much anger and power a hush fell on the people in the conference room.‘Baby?’ Ryan called out softly on his mind-link with Jeremy. ‘Calm down, please. Troy is not going anywhere.’“Easy, brother.” Philip rasped low in his throat as he gripped Jeremy’s shoulder and gave him a slight shake. “The only way they can get to Troy is over our dead fucking bodies.” He growled. As Jeremy’s closest friend, Philip knew that it was imperative to calm the alpha of alphas before he got too upset. No one wanted Jeremy to snap.“Yeah…thanks.” Jeremy breathed. With his mate’s voice in his head and his friend’s reassuring grip, Jeremy visibly calmed down.“Paul says that Mary has a lot of witches she’s using,” Agyemang informed the group. “He even knows that some had been made to look like him to fool us.”“What else did he tell you?” Philip asked.“That’s it
***In the next instant, Ryan was in the conference room, standing right beside Jeremy. “Hello.” He grinned at everyone as Jeremy stood up and enfolded him in his arms.“Good job, honey,” Gloria called out.“Thanks, mum.” Ryan’s response was muffled as his face was pressed against Jeremy but Gloria hear him perfectly. When Jeremy eventually released him, Ryan turned to address Philip. “Now, tell me what to do.”“I’ve got this, babe.” Jeremy rasped as he took his seat and drew a yawning Ryan into his lap. “I’ll blast all of them to oblivion as soon they step onto our land.”“No, you won’t.” Philip countered.“What’s the fun in that?” Stan stared at Jeremy.“There may be some innocent people in there, Jer,” Philip said. “We need to be sure of who we’re sending into the afterlife.”“That’s true.” Jeremy breathed.“So…” Philip looked at the people gathered. “Let’s plan.”***“Holy shit!” Mario exclaimed as the ground shook with two massive explosions, one rapidly following the other. “You
***“Ryan and Deloris, you’re up,” Philip said out loud for Deloris’ sake. Warlocks didn’t have the ability to communicate with werewolves telepathically.“On it, Alpha,” Deloris muttered as she reached for Ryan’s hand.The two didn’t even have to open their mouths. The dark clouds instantly cleared. What happened next was both funny and strange. The witches stopped chanting and looked at one another as though they didn’t know where they were or what they were doing there. The look on their faces soon turned from confusion to apprehension. Some started crying, saying they didn’t feel the same, whilst others stated angrily that their powers had been stolen.“You’re no longer witches, ladies,” Deloris announced with a smug smile. “You’ve been stripped of your…gift…” She shrugged.“How dare you…” One former witch began to speak angrily but the high priested waved her wand again, instantly sealing the lady’s lips.“You should be grateful, ladies.” Deloris’ eyes narrowed. “We could have ki
***“Del-the-fucking-Spell.” Mary muttered as she stared at Deloris with recognition. Almost every upper-level warlock knew about the warlock whose expertise, when it came to spells, was legendary. Over a century ago, she’d fallen in love with a wolf and caused a massive uproar between her clan and the werewolves. There had been a fierce battle that had resulted in the death of the wolf that Del-the-Spell was in love with. Del had disappeared, never to be heard of again. “I see you’re still running with fleabags.”“Sorry, I didn’t get that.” Deloris shrugged. “I don’t speak bullshit. Your arse must be pretty jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth. You’re trespassing, woman.”“I thought you said the warlock was pregnant.” Mary addressed Sally.“The warlock who came to take the boy was pregnant.” Sally insisted. “If Mario wasn’t a…toad, he would have…”“About that…” Mary sighed. She waved a hand in the direction of the high priestess, instantly sweeping the elderly woman o
***“This is your mate?” Mary’s eyes ran over Ryan. “Clearly a man but also clearly pregnant. What is freakier than that?” She drawled. “A pack full of freaks.” Mary began to laugh.“If I stay here for long, I might become a donkey or something.“Mary?” Sally gasped just as everyone began to chuckle. A donkey stood where Mary stood a second earlier.“What?” The donkey rolled its eyes at Sally. “Even they think it’s funny. “That sounds like a title of a book actually.” The donkey laughed as Ryan turned to look at the high priestess and Deloris with questioning eyes. “Like that book…A Quiver Full of Arrows. This one will be, A Pack Full of Freaks… get it?” The donkey grinned at a horrified-looking Sally.The amused chuckles soon turned into laughter as both the high priestess and Deloris shook their heads at Ryan, indicating that neither of them had turned Mary into the talking donkey.“Oh, my god…” Ryan gasped when it dawned on him who the culprit was. He gave a laughing Jeremy an icy
***Gloria gulped for air and started to choke. A number of people started to run towards Gloria but a ring of blue flames suddenly flared up to surround her, stopping everyone. Mary stood up and allowed a smile to widen her bleeding lips. Her fist was clenched.“Anyone who crosses that, dies,” Mary announced. “I’m sure your warlock here knows the kind of flame this is.” She gave Deloris a triumphant smile.“You won’t leave here alive if anything happens to her so you better stop this.” Deloris looked terrified for the first time since the face-off began. “She spared your life when she could have killed you moments ago. I suggest to show her the same respect.”“Show her the same respect, huh?” Mary’s short laughter was without humour. “At least her death is not going to be instant.” She shrugged. “It’s just going to be slow and painful as you can tell.”“Deloris?” Ryan breathed, totally confused as to what was going on.“This is bad, Ryan.” Deloris groaned. “She’s linked them in some
***“You.” Mary whirled around to look at Paige with blind fury.“Yes, me.” Paige sneered. “The double-crossing prick. Ripped his throat right out.”Mary let out a bloodcurdling scream and opened both hands to fire a couple of fireballs at Paige, dropping the hair which was her link to Gloria in the process. Even as the fireballs flew out of her palms and bounced off Paige, the wind blew the hair into the flame, burning it instantly and severing the link. Unfortunately for an oblivious Mary, abruptly severing the link that fed the flame had its consequences. The energy of the blue flame had to go back to its conjurer in the same abrupt manner. And that was exactly what happened. To the shock of everyone, the blue flames…which seemed to have suddenly come alive, shifted to where Mary stood screaming frenziedly at Paige and engulfed her.“Oh god…” Gloria gasped as she covered Troy’s head so that he wouldn’t see Mary being burnt alive by the flames.But though he couldn’t see the woman w