Call of freedom (rewriting-slow updates)
chapter 26

Alexia’s POV

“I’ll be going now. Remember, stay away from purple eyes.” Mara instructed when she sat up from her squat, dusting off her dress from the dirt as she finished drawing a magical circle; leaving us here where it’s safer than going head to head with her sister...At least that’s what she said.

“You go now, the circle will disappear when I arrive at the other side. Take care while leaving this forest.” She said, entering the circle and disappearing.

“Come on, we’re leaving as she said. This forest is too dangerous.” Landon said as he squeezed my hand, dragging me behind him. But I can’t argue with him. The Dead man’s forest is dangerous. It’s doesn’t belong to any pack. No werewolf likes entering it either; rogues, hunters as well as other creatures roam here freely. Very dangerous.

We kept walking beside Maxwell and Emma. When we heard a twig crack, we stopped. Landon and Maxwell taking fighting stances, almost suffocating us between them.

“Who’s there!” Landon growled, extending his claws.

Rogues’ scents came from every direction but there was also an odd smell. It was like Mara’s but then again it smelled so odd. No way, was it Raven? But Mara said that her sister called for her. Was she tricking us? I knew we shouldn’t have trusted her. Was all that she said lies and my father never did anything? But then again what she said about my parents’ fights and what I could remember was true...

More twigs cracked; growls and snarls are loud as rogues slowly circled us, trapping us.

“I suggest you don’t do anything rashly.” A calm voice said.

The odd-smelled thing came from behind a tree. It was a tall male. Black hair and green eyes. Good. No purple eyes.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Maxwell snarled.

Almost amused, the man grinned at us.

“You pack of werewolves are so confident as usual, thinking everyone will give you answers and obey you. You have no choice but obey my commands yet you act like you own the place. May I remind you that this place is The dead man’s forest and even if you are alphas, this isn’t your territory to do or command what you want. No one will obey you!” He laughed as if he told us a joke. He waved his hand at the rogues around us.

He was right. Landon and Maxwell can’t command them. That guy simply has the upper hand.

“And what do you want from us?” Landon said as he kept observing them.

“I want the four of you to come with me.”

“We refuse.”

The man stayed silent as the rogues snarled at us, one of them taking a step towards us. As its ears stood straight upwards, it bared its teeth at Landon; getting ready to attack him, sending him a clear message. Take what you said back.

“Back off!” The man glared at the rogue. It clearly ignored him as he jumped at Landon, attacking him.

I froze as I saw the rogue’s teeth harshly sink in Landon’s left bicep. The rest of the rogues started to take steps threateningly as blood started seeping from his injured bicep. He tried to snap his teeth down harder but let go with a loud snarl as Landon clawed his eye. When his dark eyes slightly turned to purple, his snarks turned to whimpers as he kept stumbling backwards, shaking his head violently till his body collapsed to the ground; completely still.

Blood. Memories from my old pack hit me. My body was shaking uncontrollably as my eyes stared at the blood. Everything became muted again like how it was when mum died saving me. Instead of hearing Emma’s cries or the rogues’ growls at that guy and us, I could hear that little girl’s cries. That pack’s screams and yelling. The flashback of my bloody little figure crying as I saw mum’s massacred body...

I don’t know what exactly happened, but everything became white then turned black as I lost consciousness. When I came back to reality, I found myself along with Emma, Maxwell and an injured Landon in an empty white room...Landon.

“Are you okay?” I whispered as I stared at his now poorly bandaged bite with a piece of cloth.

“Peachy.” He had a ghost smile.

“How can you be like this when we’re...” I choked. How is he able to say that...

“We will be okay. I’ll make sure,” His right hand reached to my face. I leaned forward, letting him cup my cheek; his thumb softly brushing under my eye.

I don’t know what’s happening and what did dad do to that crazy witch. What was that bad that made her so eager to take revenge on me? I don’t want her to hurt my family...

“We tried the door, didn’t budge.”

“She’s here!” Emma gasped, sticking herself in her mate’s side when a mist of wisteria appeared out of nowhere; the man from before appears alongside a pretty black-haired woman with purple eyes... No.

“It’s you!” I couldn’t hide my shock. Why is she here? Is she that Raven?

“Why are you so scared of me, Emma?” She had an eerily calm voice. Some dark, heavy, invisible power bonded my body, no muscle except for my heart and face could move.

“Why are you doing this?” Emma cried. The woman stared at Emma then started walking towards me as a smile crawled to her face. She crouched in front of me and asked me as her finger traced my face.

“I’ll finally finish everything!” She laughed.

“Do you hate me? be honest, please.” Her voice clear, almost loud as it echoed in the empty room. Threateningly as it has always been.

“Of course I hate you! Why are you doing all of this!” She stood up, walking back to that man’s side.

“Let us be clear to your dear bewildered friends here. I’m Raven; Mara’s older sister as well as Alexia’s previous pack’s Luna.” She stared at them, pleased as she looked at them. She always had this uncomfortable stare; as if she was looking one’s soul. No, uncomfortable is a poor description for it...

She laughed at Landon when he growled at her, “I love how you keep resisting and fail. Don’t bother, you won’t be able to protect her.”

“You know, you look like your father, Alexia. Same green eyes. Faint features here and there too. I miss him, you know.”

Father. It’s been many years since someone told me that. I miss him.

“But you also look like her.” She said in disgust.

“If your parents haven’t met, I would have been with him. Do you even know that you have half-brothers?”

What?!

“B-brothers?”

“Oh how cute, the little girl is stuttering! Looks like your father hasn’t told you. Well, I would be lying if I said that I’m surprised. Your father was a liar.”

“He wasn’t!”

“He was! He was a coward and a cheater!” She screeched. “He promised that he would reject his mate as soon as they replace each other but he broke his promise. He loved me but she took him away! If it weren’t for their bond, he wouldn’t have married her! I disappeared from his life and coincidentally met him twelve years later and you know what I did? I told him about his son and what was his reaction? Nothing. He clawed me only when I told him he must tell his mate about his son. I am no home-wrecker, but I was not letting my son have a life without a father after I met him again.”

“How’s that not home-wrecking! You’re lying...” How could he? She must be lying. My dad wasn’t like this, he loved mum. He loved us.

“You can deny all that you want, but you can never change the past nor what he did. Later on,” She continued,

“He got drunk one night while he was with his friends. He went to the place where we used to meet...He kept cried. He kept calling me; apologised for everything he did. I made the mistake to believe him again and slept with him. The morning came and when he realised what he did, he blamed me. He threatened me and my son’s lives if I come near his family. If you were in my place, you would have done what did.” She stared at the wall behind us, she looked as if she were living inside those particular memories again.

“What did you do?” Landon could barely grit his teeth without snarling.

“I asked the rogues for help.” She smiled.

What...

“What did you do!” I screamed. She’s the one behind that attack.

“The rogues wanted to take over your pack and I wanted to kill your family. I simply made a deal with them; I’ll manipulate the warriors at the borders and they do what they want in exchange, they will kill you along with your family. They did a fair job if I’m honestly speaking. They failed; all meeting their deaths when they attacked that pack except a few ones. I killed them along with that little girl. Do you remember her? The one who pleaded you for help and died?”

No...This can’t be happening. Why...?

“Don’t look so sad. I had to do all of that you know. Killing my lover, his wife and now his daughter.”

“Where you the one who killed the Luna?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

She turned around, marching towards the man who has been quiet all the time, shaking him as she yelled,

“I wanted to torment you. Your father needs to see that there are consequences to his actions. He should feel my pain. Our pain!”

She’s crazy. How is she so blinded?

“You see him?” She grabbed the man’s face, painfully squeezing his face as she continued what took me by another surprise,

“He’s your brother, Alexia. Do you see how grown he is? Lucas had to live all these years without a father’s love unlike you!” She spat.

Her face was happy as she directed one hand towards Landon. As it glowed wisteria, she laughed.

“I’ll take what you took from me. Say goodbye to him.”

“He’s not my family, you already took them from me!”

“Family isn’t always blood.” She said before a purple glow fired from her hand. I was stuck. I couldn’t do anything again. I was too weak to protect him too...

Before it hit Landon, the door slammed open, a wave of a cold invisible power hit us. The bindings that froze us no longer existed as we were pushed back. Raven’s expression changed from delight into anger as she slightly stumbled, her aura became murderous.

“I think that’s quite enough, Raven.” Mara’s voice gave me a little shiver as she stared at her sister.

“Let them go now. It’s not worth it; he’s already dead.” She said, her palm glowing blue like her eyes as one hand shook while the other stayed behind her back.

“What are you doing? If you’re not helping me, then stay out of this, Mara. This is my business.” She sneered, her hands gradually started to glow purple.

“Let them go, or I will take both of them with me.” She gently pulled a boy no older than ten from behind her. He had Raven’s black hair.

“Alec! Didn’t I order you to stay in your room!” Raven yelled, her body shaking with anger.

“I’m sorry, she told me that you called for me.”

“You tricked him? How could you, Mara; I trusted you!”

“And you’re my sister. I won’t let you harm others more. I have always done my best to protect them from you. If you haven’t broken my crystal ball that year, I might not have stopped you in this way.”

“You tricked me? You too? Why...I trusted you and I loved you!”

“And because I love you, I don’t want you to harm them. You’re not like this. Just because you fell in love with the wrong person doesn’t mean that the whole world is bad...” Mara coughed blood.

“What is this?” Raven looked shocked like us...

“I tried to stop you from killing that pack but failed.” She continued coughing.

“What pack?” Maxwell said.

Raven’s voice became stoic as she answered him, “The Twilight pack. Her old pack. I didn’t need them anymore so I killed them.”

“You kill people?” The little boy she called Alec asked as he hid behind the black-haired man.

“Alec, I’m a monster. That’s what monsters do.”

“You’re not a monster.” Mara fell to her knees as the blood became too much. Raven’s glowing hands became normal again as she went to her sister’s side, cradling her

“You simply did what you thought would put your mind at ease. You thought that was the right thing to do.” She palmed Raven’s cheek as she was gently put to the floor.

“Please stop it. She didn’t do anything.” Mara pleaded.

“She did. She took that man’s love from my son.”

“What’s done is done; he’s already dead and she didn’t get to have his love either. Just take care of your children.”

“I can’t. I don’t know how.” Raven’s voice broke down as tears descended from her eyes.

“Please don’t cry.”

“Why are you coughing blood? What did you do?”

“I couldn’t give up on you, so you can’t give up on yourself either, okay?”

“I did not stain my hands with blood for this, I only wanted revenge on them!”

In response, Mara coughed more, barely able to breathe.

Third person’s POV

Raven used to think that love was real. After she was betrayed, she was blinded by revenge. She couldn’t see the blessing she had and descended to madness. She became wicked. What she always believed she wouldn’t be. Everything her little sister did behind her back hit her hard. She loved her. Raven always thought that Mara was quiescent; a quiet, soft-spoken soul. She believed that because her sister loved her, then she would have helped her take revenge not stopping her.

Even though Mara couldn’t stop all the blood-shedding that happened, she still believed that she could save her sister even if the cost was her life. Mara regretted a few things in the small span of her life one of these was manipulating Emma and taking her place beside Maxwell. To lessen her guilt, she confessed almost everything to him before he could mark her or make her his mate completely.

Maxwell in response always sad at the fact that he wasn’t able to spend his days with Emma, but he knew that he was saving his mate, best friend and second family from something dangerous. If he wasn’t busy with work or planning the next move with Mara, he would keep thinking about Emma. He almost ruined everything several times by almost calling Emma. He always felt guilty and sometimes thought that he was cheating on her. And the fact that she didn’t know that he was her mate broke him more.

Landon was a good person. The day his parents told him about the mate bond and his mate, he made a promise with himself that he’d cherish her. He’ll make sure that she has everything she needs and wants. He wanted his family especially sister to have a good relation with her. They were his world and when he found Alexia, he was ecstatic. He finally found his missing piece. What almost broke him was the fact that she didn’t want him. He did his best to make her fall in love with him and choose him willingly; he never thought that he would force his mark on her. When she said that she would leave him, he was truly scared. He believed that he was about to lose her forever and at that moment, he did it on a whim. When he realised what he did, it was too late. He regretted doing that and was truly sorry. His family especially his mother and sister always made him feel guilty; his wolf was no exception and that almost made him stop functioning. They helped him win her back though. His family never left his back.

Cara was always there from the beginning. Since Alexia’s parents were murdered until now. She was truly thankful that she wen with her instincts and defied Alexia, aiding Landon in pursuing his mate. When she was left all alone with Alexia, she didn’t know what to do. Watching her friend getting harmed by that pack angered her; she couldn’t do anything, everything was useless. When the day they finally ran away came, she felt joyful and was doing her best to protect them and escape from these people. Meeting Landon and his wolf Jack gave her hope. They would keep Alexia safe; her only desire after everything they have been through. She didn’t like the idea of staying with the humans; they were weaker than them, but they will still have to stay under the radar. They wouldn’t be able to go out and run. Something she wished to do after many years...

Alexia was like a small feisty child. When she lost her parents was the day she thought that she had lost everything. When misfortune trailed behind her everywhere, the entire Twilight pack turned their backs on her. Some wanted to help her but with the rumours around her, it scared them; some of them regretted not helping her. When Raven killed the Luna, deep down Alexia knew that a witch was behind her death. When her pack members bullied her alongside the Alpha and Luna she would defy them. Sometimes, she would believe that becoming a rogue would be better than staying there. Cara her wolf would think the same, but they had to wait. If they ran away earlier, they would have ended up dead before reaching the middle of the forest and so they stayed; watching the pack train and fight. Never permitted to train them, she had to train in secret. She had poor fighting moves, but watching people fight helped her in the end along with that, Cara was a fierce wolf in general but learned how to stay calm under different circumstances, yet she’d unleash her personality and temper in danger.

When everyone watched Raven breakdown over her sister, they never thought that she would use magic on her. Her entire body glowed wisteria as she held her dying little sister’s face; leaning forward, she planted one last kiss on her forehead. They closed their eyes when the light she was emitting became too much for them. No one would have thought that Raven the evil witch would give her life to her dear sister. She used her magic to strike one last deal; her magic and life in exchange to her sister. When they opened their eyes again, they saw Mara breathing normally like she used to do.

As soon as she opened her eyes and didn’t replace her sister, she cried. After everything she has done, she thought that she would be able to help her sister to live a peaceful life. Later on, she realised that she did; she accomplished her wish to do so. Raven made one last deal when she realised her sins. This was her way to say sorry. Sorry for everything she has done. To take care of her dear children.

At first, Alexia along with her new family and friends believed that Raven was a villain but it turned out that she was just another victim whose story hasn’t been told...

.

.

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Months passed and everything was back to normal. Almost.

With a few rumours around the twilight pack’s massacre, no one talked about it again.

Maxwell spent the first week properly pursuing his dear mate, Emma. He asked her not to accept him just because of the mate bond, but to accept him. And she did, not letting herself stay upset because, in the end, she knew how much they both loved each other.

Deep down Noah was upset he couldn’t help them when Raven kidnapped them, and so he promised himself that he would train harder to protect his family, pack and future mate.

Mara couldn’t keep her strong mask on any longer; she felt lonely every time she looked at Alec, Raven’s younger son. His purple eyes and black hair were strikingly similar to Raven’s. Lucas the older one who was barely twenty-two had his father’s green eyes but Raven’s hair. Lucas usually took care of his sick brother when they lived with Raven and he’s doing the same now. They were both werewolf-witch hybrid, but because Raven didn’t realise that she was pregnant, she used excessive magic and that harmed Alec’s life and was barely alive. After he was born, she kept looking for recipes and spells to strengthen him; he was her child after all and like the mother she was, The three of them were welcomed at Landon as well as Maxwell’s packs. They would frequently visit them and had their own rooms at the packhouses. When they do visit, Lucas would help around, while Alec and Lucas became good friends; pranking everyone.

“Noah is a bad influence for Alec,” Landon chuckled, hugging his mate from behind as he watched them both getting scolded by Mary. Finally, Landon could peacefully stay with his mate, pampering her like he always wished and she loved it...

—————-

I finally finished...I know I said I’d publish sooner, but the chapter got deleted and I had a hard time recalling it. I’m so happy I got to write this and honestly, I’m gonna start rewriting the first 13 chapters or something because they are reallllyyy cringe...and weird...you know what I mean. Anyways, I’m so happy that there are actually some people who read this story till the end and actually stuck till the end even tho I didn’t get to update often. Finally, I’m preparing for a new story but, it’s gonna be a teen fiction this time so if you’re into this genre, you can check it out when I publish it and tell me your thoughts! OH and before I forget, there are some chapters I have already rewrote and submitted but Ebookex.com doesn't show the readers the latest version...Until I replace a solution, you can check them on Wattpad under the same username and title. (They are not completed yet tho...)

I hope nothing was complicated in this story and you got to learn something or anything lol.

Stay safe lovelies, I’ll miss this story as well as your comments and thoughts here, MissDarkMagician❤️