Elly
They couldn’t get back to the church fast enough. Every sharp turn and detour Jonah took made Elly’s body scream with pain. The car was hadn’t come to a full stop before she was out the door and moving toward her room. At the back of the church in a room used for storage, she had just enough room a small bed and a chest of drawers for what few clothes she had. She closed the door behind her. Staring at it for a moment wishing it didn’t lock from the outside.
She reached under her pillow and pulled out her family’s grimoire. She had been trying to piece together a plan for years. Everything she needed to know was in that book. Just like everything else in her life, the answers were just out of reach. The book was spelled to only react to Elly’s magic. Magic she could not use. She flipped through the pages hoping for something, anything. The pages remained blank aside from the drawing of herbs and their description of their uses. The only magic anyone could use regardless of how much power they possess. She was too depleted from the day for anything useful to show up. Stupid Darren draining extra power from her.
She fell back onto her bed and curled up. She was just so tired. How was she supposed to think when she was always so tired. there was a tugging inside her urging her to get up and go outside. Elly knew she should listen. whatever that feeling was had yet to steer her wrong. How could she follow it when she couldn’t even lift her head. Tucking the book back under her pillow the first sob hit her. Then the next. Before she knew it she had her face buried in her pillow sobbing. It didn’t make her body stop hurting but it distracted her from the aching inside.
Her door swung open with a bang and Elly stopped breathing mid sob. by the sound of the footsteps she knew it was Rebekah. She hated when Elly cried. It set her off. She swallowed hard and tried to use the collar of her shirt to dry her face.
“Get up.” Snapped Rebekah. Elly took a deep breath trying to will her body to move. She pressed her face into her pillow in a final attempt to hide her tears. It took everything she had left but she managed to stand. Elly made sure to look Rebekah in the eyes. She knew how much she hated it. She complained constantly about Elly’s lifeless eyes and Elly took every opportunity she could to make Rebekah uncomfortable for what she did to her.
Rebekah grabbed Elly’s face. The sting she expected never came. The bone-crushing pressure that wrapped around Elly’s entire body was pulled away. She was able to relax her shoulders and stand up straight. The pressure on her hips and knees lessened as her body moved back into alignment. Elly couldn’t help but gasp at the immediate relief she felt. Without saying a word Rebekah turned and left the room.
Elly rushed to pull open her bottom drawer. She pulled the broken bottom up and reached inside. She pulled out a shard of broken mirror and held it up in front of her. The wrinkles were gone. For all she knew the was her true face staring back at her. All except for the eyes.
Taking a deep breath Elly put the mirror back and closed the drawer. It would be getting dark soon and she had little time to waste. She grabbed her book from under her pillow and headed out of the door. On the way out she passed Jonah and Darren carrying boxes.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Darren shouted. Elly kept her head down and tried to ignore him. when she got close enough he slammed his shoulder into her and sent her book flying. She gritted her teeth as pain radiated through her. The force of the hit pushed the air out of her and sent her tumbling to the ground. After Elly was able to catch her breath she scrambled across the floor to collect her book. “Don’t ignore me.” Darren stepped on the book and leaned close to her face.
“Leave her be. We’ve got work to do.” Jonah snapped at his son. He stood over her for another minute staring down at the blank pages of Elly’s grimoire. It never stopped amazing her that her parents were brilliant enough to spell the grimoire. It only reacted to Elly’s power which caused problems for her not being able to make it work. That also meant the Hughes believed it was a blank book. Rebekah was quick to snatch it away from her as soon as she was able to get it open. She believed the ritual that would give them their power back would be written in it. To her great disappointment, she flipped through page after page of the empty book. It was the only reason they allowed her to keep it.
Her heart thudded inside her chest as she grabbed her book and took off. that grimoire was her only connection to her family. When she looked through it she felt like she was communicating with them. Elly ran out of the church and straight into the woods. She wove through the trees avoiding the wards Jonah put everywhere. It was their way of tracking where she went. When she came to the creek she collapsed on a rock. It was the only place she had any peace.
Her shaking hands couldn’t hold onto the book. Whether from not eating all day or from her encounter with Darren she was shaking so hard the book slipped from her hands leaving her with a nasty paper cut. She held her finger to her mouth trying to soothe the burn. Darren’s earlier words echoed in her head. ‘We’ve got a whole week to spend some quality time together.’ Thinking of them again made her sick. Darren was constantly pushing her boundaries. Just the sound of him breathing made bile rise in her throat.
She knelt down to pick up the book. As she lifted it from the muddy ground she froze. It landed right on top of an enormous paw print. Elly looked around for more prints. It was the first time she saw anything like it. The print was easily larger than her head.
“There you are.” As Elly turned around Darren slapped the book out of her hands. She nearly jumped out of her skin at his sudden appearance.
“Ah come on.” She reached down to get the book again. Darren moved close to her. Elly looked up to see his crotch directly in her face, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
“You’ve been hiding from me.” She narrowed her eyes at him. Why was it not possible for him to give her two seconds to herself. He’d been circling her like a vulture her entire life.
“Not everything is about you.” She mumbled. Darren stomped his foot on top of the book. Elly shot up, her hands balled into fists. “My parents wanted to talk to us but I think we have time to play first.” Eyes wide, Elly tried to dart away but Darren was too fast. His hand wrapped around her throat and he slammed her back against a tree. He pressed his body against her pinning her in place.
“Get off me, Darren!” She said through gritted teeth.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” He leaned in capturing her soft bottom lip between his teeth. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth as he bit down breaking the skin. Elly screamed. She lashed out with her hand hitting him in the throat just hard enough to make him stagger back. With enough space between them, she rammed her knee into the bulge of his pants. Elly scrambled in the mud trying to get her book. Not fast enough. The air was forced out of her lungs as Darren’s foot connected with her ribs sending her crashing to the ground. In a flash, he was on top of her. A sharp sting spread across her face. He slapped her. Her ears rang and the world spun as he sat on top of her straddling her.
“You’ve been fighting me out whole lives. When are you going to accept you’re mine? We’re like mates.” He leaned down into her face trying to get to her mouth. Elly turned her head to the side and swung at his face.
“Witches don’t have mates, genius. Even if we did I’d rather die than be yours.” He snatched her wrists forcing them painfully over her head. He dipped down into her face trying to force her to look at him.
“I’ve got all the time in the world to change your mind.” He grabbed her by the chin. Elly let him turn her head toward him. As their eyes met she threw her head forward as hard as she could. Her forehead slammed into the bridge of his nose sending him tumbling backward. She got her book and got to her feet. Through the groaning and profanity, Darren got to his feet.
“You’re going to pay for that you stupid bitch.” A bone-chilling smile spread across his face. Through the sound of her heartbeat thundering in her ears, Elly didn’t the snapping of twigs until it was too late.
“Howdy neighbors!” A small scream escaped as a couple stepped out from the bushes.
Rowan The map on the table was riddled with red x’s. Rowan could feel they were close. He was drawn to that portion of the map. Were it not for the fact that he was immune to magic rowan would have thought a spell or something was forcing him to look in that section of the woods. “Stare any harder and the map will catch fire.” Lucas laughed as he walked into the room. Rowan growled at his beta. He was in no mood for jokes. “If the next words out of your mouth aren’t ‘the scout has returned’ you’ll be the only thing catching fire.” Lucas sighed as he walked over to Rowan and clapped his hands on his shoulders. “Come on Rowan. You’re my best friend. My alpha. It’s killing me to see you this way.” Rowan’s wolf lurched towards the surface at his words. He grits his teeth at the force of his sudden outburst. Lucas didn’t deserve Eris’ wrath. He was only trying to help. Despite his intentions, he hit a sore spot for the two of them. “What exactly am I the alpha of?” He asked. “Come
Elly The two of them looked like deer in headlights. Elly turned her head away from them. It wasn’t the mud covering her, or the bright red mark on her face from Darren slapping her. The Hughes instilled in her the need to stay away from strangers. If the wrong one found her it would be the death of her. It would especially mean her parents died for no reason. She couldn’t have that. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya. Our coven has land not far from here. We were hoping we could get some supplies from ya.” The man stepped forward making Darren take a few steps in front of Elly blocking her from view. “Head back and get my parents.” He said over his shoulder. The words barely made it out of his mouth before Elly was jogging away, her book clutched tight to her chest. They were witches too. What if they recognized her? Elly’s mind was frantic. Rebekah was right, she wasn’t safe after all these years. As much as she hated the glamour it kept her she needed it. “Shit…they’re never going
Rowan The smell of fear and the sound of a racing heart were two of Rowan’s favorite things. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent. The little witch stared up at him. They all regarded him as a wild card because they couldn’t control him. But she looked at him with more than just fear. It could almost be mistaken for hope. Just the thought made him angry. He was a wild card because of the witches. Forever missing his other half because of them. His pack forever missing their Luna. To think any of them had the audacity to believe Rowan would take one of them as a mate was the biggest insult he could imagine. He let a claw slip out of his finger as he scratched it along the bark of the tree just above Lena’s head. “Alpha Rowan…is there something I can help you with?” Redness colored her cheeks. For a moment Rowan thought he saw her sniff him. Eris recoiled inside him, disgusted by the witch’s blatant attraction to him. “Hope so.” Rowan forced the words out. Despite the forcefulnes
Elly Heavy footsteps hammered down the hall toward Elly’s door. She barely had time to shove the bag of powder under her pillow before her bedroom door went flying open. Elly turned just in time to see Darren’s hands wrap around her throat and slam her against a wall. The pinching burning sensation rolled across her skin. The same sensation she got whenever someone other than Rebekah tried to tamper with her glamour. By now Darren was good at it. He’d done it so many times he knew exactly how to manipulate the spell. Yet every time he did it the pain was so intense it brought black spots into Elly’s field of vision. By the time he was done, she was slumped against his hands unable to hold herself up. Darren pulled his hands away letting her fall to the ground. “Get up. You just need to show your face, tell them you’re fine and get your ass back in the room.” Elly’s hands went to her throat then lightly touched her face. She did her best not to scowl at what an absolute ass he was. Wi
Elly “I’m so screwed,” Elly said to herself. Looking down at Darren with his face pressed against the floor and his ass in the air, she felt a strange mix of relief and dread. She pulled the bag out from under her pillow and frowned. In her panic, she used half the bag on him. whatever doubts she still had she had to push aside. If she were still there once Darren woke up she would be dead meat. She pulled a bag out from under her bed and shoved a handful of clothes along with her grimoire in it. She went to her bedroom door and pressed her ear against it. She wasn’t sure how long she was asleep or if anyone else was still awake. Elly held her breath as she strained to hear beyond the thin wooden door. After a few moments, she finally took a deep breath. Nausea rolled over her making it hard to move. With one last glance at the idiot on the floor, she forced herself to crack the door open and peak out. Everything was completely dark. Faint traces of moonlight filtered in from the w
Rowan Once the lust-fueled fog cleared from his mind Rowan was disgusted. His wolf receded in his mind leaving Rowan to get them out of the hole they just dug themselves into. Lena wiped her mouth and climbed to her feet. Standing on her toes she wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to kiss his lips. Rowan turned his head. “What’s wrong?” Her eyes grew wide. “Did I do something wrong?” Rowan clamped his jaw shut. Being a witch was her only crime but it was one he couldn’t look past. “I told you my wolf is out of control right now. Being with me is a death wish.” Eris snarled at him. It was technically true. “Is it the mate thing? What if I can help?” Rowan stiffened at her words? It had to be a lie. Either way, he had to focus. His pack came first. Taking a deep breath he wrapped his hands around her waist. “How can I worry about a mate when my pack is tearing itself apart. If it’s a special moon your coven can do something to help right?” She stiffened in his arms. The sm
Lillie The packhouse was full of kids from the pack that had not gotten their wolves yet. Realizing things were getting out of control once the sun started to set their parents brought them to the one place they knew they would be safe. Lillie had to call in warriors to help out despite all of them being spread thin already. A fact that Rowan would know if he had bothered to answer his phone or even respond to the mind links. His father never would have been so- Lillie cuts off the thought. That wasn’t fair. Her son didn’t need to be compared to a ghost. Least of all a ghost that made his fair share of mistakes during his lifetime. She took a deep breath and looked at the guilty look on her son’s face. “Rowan. You’ve got to do better than this.” Before she could get going Rowan held up his hands. “I don’t need a lecture right now, mom.” he shook his head but his mother’s growl silenced him. “I think you do. I know Eris is getting restless without a mate. I know it’s difficult to co
Elly “I’m not sure how you were raised but running around the woods bleeding is not a good idea.” Elly froze when she recognized the voice. Cecily stepped out of the shadows eyeing the injured hand Elly held to her body. Her other hand went toward the bag of powder only to remember she used the last of it on Rebekah. Noticing the movement Cecily raised her hands in surrender and stopped moving. “Hey. Sorry, didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I think we have you to thank for our freedom.” Panic rose in Elly’s chest and she started looking for an escape route. Everywhere she looked she could see the glimmer of wards. How did they have the time or power to do all of this? More importantly, did Cecily know that power came from her? “No, no! It wasn’t me. I couldn’t get you out I don’t have power.” She tried to back away from her but Cecily lunged forward and grabbed her arm stopping her from taking another step. “Careful,” she pointed to the ground. Elly nearly stepped on a ward. “