Karizma: Reborn
Chapter 19: Ryleigh

Ryleigh stood beside Lukas nervously in the woods behind the pack’s property. When Ryleigh and Lukas had returned home after training, Lukas had visited Jackson while Ryleigh showered. He advised Jackson to relay the invitation to the woods to the rest of the pack. Lycans trickled their way through the pack houses into the woods and waited for their Alpha’s announcement.

Ryleigh’s nervousness was heightened with awkwardness; for an announcement so grand, Ryleigh felt that wearing her traditional jeans and t-shirt would be inappropriate, so she chose a dress. She was wearing a light red sundress that fell just above her knees, the thin straps resting against her shoulders. Her crimson hair was displayed across her breasts. Lukas stood beside her in jeans with a red silk shirt to match her dress, his hair slicked back. Jackson stood on the other side of Lukas with his arms crossed over his black muscle shirt paired with jeans. Ryleigh glanced at Bailey beside her and was met with a smile. Bailey was wearing a pair of jeans shorts with a blue blouse, her brown hair pulled into a ponytail.

Ryleigh had spoken with Bailey before meeting Lukas in the woods and told her that they were going to tell the pack everything. She had asked Bailey for her consent to tell the pack about her as well; that, not only was their Luna a Karizma, but that the Luna had a sister Karizma. Ryleigh loathed the idea of more people knowing about Bailey, but she felt that the pack had a right to know. Bailey had stated that she could not argue with the Luna if that was what the Luna had wished, and Ryleigh immediately argued that she would never be the Luna to her sister. Bailey stated that if Ryleigh felt that it was best to reveal the secret, that it must be the best decision. Their entire lives were built on the secrecy of their identities; if Ryleigh felt that people needed to know, it only enhanced the seriousness of the war that was to come.

Lukas turned to Ryleigh and held his hand out to her, and she hesitated. She wanted to hold his hand during this, to feel grounded and safe during this exposure, but she also thought that it showed a weakness. Ryleigh had never needed to rely on someone else to steady her and holding hands during something so serious seemed childish. But holding hands also signifies unity, and that is something that we need to show our people. Slowly, she intertwined her fingers with his, and the awkwardness and nervousness were washed away. Confidence flooded through her veins, and she inhaled softly. Lukas squeezed her hand, and she shifted her gaze to the pack in front of her.

“As you all well know,” Lukas began. “A few weeks ago, a witch was brought to us that had passed. With the help of myself and another witch, she was revived.” He nodded to Ryleigh. “Upon the witch’s rebirth, I found my mate in her, in Ryleigh.” Soft gasps and mutters of surprise skittered amongst the Lycans, but Lukas ignored them and continued. “Out of respect for her, I waited until she was ready to announce her to you. I understand that this should have been conveyed as soon as I knew, but she was not born into this. I wanted to wait until she had time to process what the mating bond was before I said anything.”

The murmurs amongst the pack members grew louder, both in excitement and irritation. The females. The unmated females in the pack bore gold orbs of jealous rage at her. Ryleigh felt a low growl bubble in her throat. Lukas squeezed her hand again and continued. “It is also time that you understand the circumstances of Ryleigh’s death, and why it is relevant now. Your Luna is not just a witch, she is a Karizma.” The pack began shouting now. “She was hunted,” Lukas’ loud voice boomed over the pack. “She was hunted and murdered by the Karizma Killer vampire. He had grown a heart with her and brought her to me, where she was resurrected. Upon her rebirth, she shared rather troubling information about her captors.”

Ryleigh inhaled sharply and squeezed Lukas’ hand for stability as she spoke. “The Karizma Killer may have ended my life, but he did it out of mercy. Like your Alpha said, the Karizma Killer grew a heart.” The pack before her remained quiet, despite the shocked glances that were tossed from one another. “I was kidnapped by the Master and Mistress Vampire first, the two beings that put the bounty on the Karizma bloodline centuries ago. The Mistress Vampire was quite chatty with me, and I understood why my kind was being slaughtered.” She inhaled slowly as she braced for the pack’s reaction with her next admission. “The Mistress Vampire is a Karizma as well.”

“This is absurd!”

“You’ve put our entire pack in danger by being here!”

“How do we know that she speaks the truth?”

“You should have stayed dead!”

“Go back to the leeches, then!”

Ryleigh flinched at the anger that flooded the pack. She could not blame them, not for one second. The Lycans were sworn enemies with the vampires, and she just revealed that the vampires could wipe out the entire Lycan species if they really wanted to. And they are right. I have placed every single Lycan here in danger with my very existence. A Karizma killed me, and if she replaces out I am still alive, she will hunt me down, and they all damn well know it.

“Enough!” Lukas roared. All voices ceased at the outburst. Lukas took a step forward and squeezed Ryleigh’s hand again. “You are all allowed to feel this anger and fear at such news, so I will allow the outbursts. Once. Do it again, and you will be exiled from this pack and my protection with your tails shoved so far up your asses that you will be coughing fucking fur for the rest of your lives. She is your Luna, my mate. Do not dare disrespect her again.” He turned to look at Ryleigh, and gold fire blinded her as he nodded. “Continue.”

“The Mistress Vampire did not kidnap me because she was threatened by me. She kidnapped me because I was the last of my kind, and she would no longer have descendants that she could feed on. Any Karizma that came of age, she sent her Killer out to track them down and bring them back to her. She fed on us for our power, our magic, to strengthen herself. I was the last of my kind, and she was not ready to give up the power yet…” Ryleigh sighed. “She planned to enslave me for the rest of my mortal life.” Lukas’ hand tightened defensively. “She wanted to drain me periodically; as my magic matured and strengthened, so would she. She told me,” Ryleigh spoke louder as she continued. “The vampires are planning a war; they want to overthrow the human race and become the top species of the planet. Humans would be beneath them, cowering from the vampires. Lycans, witches, none of us will be safe; we will be under the rule of the vampires.”

“We are going to war,” Lukas jumped in before the pack could protest. “We cannot allow the vampires to take over the world, to endanger every other species on the planet. We are working on obtaining our own intel, and, when the vampires attempt to strike, we will be ready. Jackson has been training you for something, but, under my orders, he did not disclose what; just that a threat was coming. Now you know what that threat is.”

“I will be fighting with you,” Ryleigh said, which prompted another round of protests about her involvement. “My kind is responsible for this,” she continued. “The Mistress is powered by my magic from my death, and by all of my ancestors before me. If it was not for her, the vampires would not have a chance in hell at trying this.” Ryleigh removed her hand from Lukas’ and shifted her gaze to Bailey. Bailey smiled lightly and nodded. “I will be fighting for the humans,” Ryleigh continued and shifted her gaze back to the pack. “I will be fighting for the Lycans, the witches, and all other species on this planet.” A shaky exhale left Ryleigh’s lips. “The Karizma line has carried for centuries through single female children, like the Amazon warriors. The Karizma bloodline will only bond with female children, so no male child has been born. Karizma women only ever birthed one child, because only one was needed to carry the line. I was the last Karizma, so I accepted the line ending with me…But I never accepted it ending with her,” Ryleigh said as she looked at her sister again. “I was fortunate enough to be given a sister, the first Karizma family to have two offspring. We spent our entire lives making sure that no one knew of her existence. I embraced my death, I begged for it, because I lived like I was the last of our kind. I wanted to die so that she could live. My death gave her more time to hide herself, to try to build a life and be the first Karizma that lived past twenty-three. I have to fight in this war, because, if we lose, my sister will die when she turns twenty-three; I may have survived my own death, but I will not survive hers.”

Silence. Silence so thick and deafening that Ryleigh began to miss the shouts and accusations. The pack was deep in thought, and, for the first time since her revival, Ryleigh was scared; not for herself, but of what the pack would do with the knowledge of Bailey. Instinctively, Ryleigh placed herself in front of Bailey. She saw Lukas move toward her out of the corner of her eye, but her gaze was locked on the pack. The air was so thick with tension that Ryleigh almost choked. She noticed movement to her right and her eyes flickered to replace the cause.

A male Lycan had stepped forward. Lukas placed himself firmly beside Ryleigh, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched. The male Lycan had long, shaggy brown hair, with brown eyes to match. He wore a white tank top with a pair of green basketball shorts. He was shorter than Lukas, but height did not matter when it came to a Lycan; their power came from within themselves. “Those who were questioning the validity of your claims did so in fear,” the male Lycan spoke. “Lycans hear heartbeats, and yours did not waiver. You spoke the truth about all of it.”

“I did,” Ryleigh stated.

“Alpha,” the male said as his gaze shifted to Lukas.

“Phinneas,” Lukas acknowledged.

“You have ruled for centuries without a mate, without even a partner. You told stories about the alliance with Karizmas many years ago. I replace it ironically poetic that your mate is just that.”

“Are you doubting my claim?” Lukas threatened.

“Like I told Luna, we know that you speak the truth,” Phinneas said. “Lycans believe in mates and destiny. Yours was meant to replace hers, and that is a sign.”

“A sign of what?” a female Lycan asked as she stepped forward. She had soft black hair and green eyes. She was wearing a light brown dress. “A sign of Armageddon?”

“A sign of hope, Amelia,” Phinneas said as he turned to face her. “Do not focus on the fear that comes with this news, focus on the alternate. What if the Karizma Killer had not brought her to our Alpha? What if they had not succeeded in reviving her? We would be in this war blind, and we would lose. We would die. We have a chance, because of them,” he said as he turned back toward Ryleigh. “She would have gone into hiding the moment that you died. Your resurrection blessed this pack with two witches, not just one. And not just witches, but Karizmas. Against an army of vampires that have their very own Karizma.” Phinneas approached Lukas and Ryleigh, and before Lukas could react, Phinneas dropped to his knees. “I believe the Moon Goddess blessed you as our Alpha’s mate for this reason, to end this blood feud between us and the vampires, and between the Karizmas and the vampires. She knew that we would need help, and she knew that you would need help, so she put you in our Alpha’s path. I will die for you, Ryleigh Karizma, if it means that this world, and every species in it, has a chance at a peaceful future.”

Ryleigh watched as each Lycan knelt in place, pledging alliance to her. Ryleigh stepped forward and Lukas wrapped his arm around her waist protectively. “Do not pledge your lives to me, or to your Alpha,” she said softly. “Pledge your lives to yourselves. It is not my future that you are fighting for, it is your own. We will win this war, so that every being on the planet will continue to evolve and live in peace.”

“We will win this war so that our destinies and our futures can be fulfilled, not cut short by those who are intimidated by us,” Lukas said. He turned Ryleigh to face him as his free hand cupped her face. “I refuse to lose my future when it is only just beginning.” He dipped his head down and kissed her deeply.