Stealing the Alpha’s Heart
Chapter 22

I could tell from the moment Lyssa saw the girl that they would be inseparable. I didn’t exactly want the complication of a preteen in my life, but I wasn’t about to argue as we brought the distraught girl home.

“What’s your name?” Lyssa asked as we were in the car.

“Ashlee,” the girl answered slowly between sips from the bottle of water we’d given her. I was sure she probably wanted to gulp it down, but she listened when we told her that it would make her sick.

“Hi, Ashlee. My name’s Lyssa. Do you know how you ended up in this cabin?”

I had to admit, it did make me proud to see Lyssa being so automatically maternal to someone else. My inner wolf seemed pretty satisfied with her actions as well, reminding me that it was never too early for pups, even though it was definitely too early for pups.

“Yeah, my adoptive parents just… gave me away.”

“Gave you away?”

“Yeah, people came to our door one night, and my parents told me I had to go with them. I tried to get away, but they caught me.”

The anguish in the young girl’s voice made my nails grow harder and longer, sinking into the steering wheel. I was going to need to take my car into the shop, that was for sure.

“They brought me to this cabin and then this lady… she used magic on me and it hurt. A lot. I didn’t even know magic was real! And now it’s like I can hardly feel any of my emotions. Like they’ve been all locked up!”

“Don’t worry, honey,” Samson said, surprisingly sweet considering his usual demeanor around me. “We’ll get you all squared away and feeling right. You’re with good people now.”

The girl nodded, sipping at her water.

“You got any snacks?”

I took Samson aside while Lyssa tended to Ashlee. It was sweet to see my mate perch the young girl up on a stool and go about making her a grilled cheese sandwich. Not exactly the world’s most gourmet meal, but since Ashlee said she hadn’t eaten in three days, she would need to work her way up to a full spread. At least with a sandwich, she and Lyssa could split it.

“What do you make of this?” I asked Samson in a low voice.

“She’s definitely suppressed just like Lyssa and by the same witch.”

“Now that you’ve seen so much of it, can you break it?”

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“This magic is way too powerful. Whoever is doing this is on a level that I may never get to or is being boosted by something insanely important. Now that I’ve rooted around in Lyssa’s inner wolf and met Ashlee, I know there’s nothing I can do.”

My heart just about cracked in two, anger filling me. “You’re telling me you’re giving up on Lyssa?”

“Whoa, calm your clam there. No. But what I’m saying is that we might need a slight change of plans.”

Now that had me interested. “Oh?”

“You see, with such a powerful magical signature, it’s hard not to leave traces to follow. And believe me, whoever this witch is, she left a lot of traces to follow.”

There it was, hope flickering back to life again in my heart. “You’re saying you can track the witch?”

“With like ninety-nine percent certainty, my wolfy friend.”

“Do it. I’ll call the inner circle.”

I reachedmy clawed hand for the breaker box and ripped all the wires out, the warehouse in front of us largely going dark. If they had any security measures, they would likely be gone now, which was exactly what we wanted.

I let out a low howl before returning to Samson, who was standing idly by the tree line, silent and cloudy-eyed. It had been quite jolting when his eyes had first gone white and he’d started walking, but apparently, that was just how his tracking spells worked. Like a man possessed by a GPS, he led us towards the witch.

We were all geared up for a fight, and with the power out, we rushed the place in our wolf forms. Theo and I burst through the main doors while Parker, Kaleb, and Jacobian went through different windows, showering the floor in the world’s most dangerous confetti.

…except there was no one there.

I scented the air, as did my wolves around me, and curiously enough, there was no air of aggression or the smell of nervous sweat. Not even aggressive hormones.

I think it’s relatively safe,I murmured, shifting back into my human form. The rest of my circle followed suit, leaving us standing there and looking at Samson, calmly walking in like an exceptionally well-behaved zombie.

He said nothing, moving past us to end up staring at a wall. Then, and only then, did his posture suddenly change, taking on a more casual stance as he turned to us.

“Whoa, that was creepy,” he said, shaking his head.

“You should have seen it from our end,” I joked. Sure, Samson could be peculiar, but he was beginning to grow on me. Kind of like a fungus with very pretty eyes.

“Hey, we appreciate you helping with this,” Parker said. Standing the closest, he offered his hand to Samson for a shake. The witch looked at his extended palm, then to Parker’s face uncertainly before taking the kind gesture.

“Wow, such a gentleman. So the rest of you having the personality of wet dogs is a choice then, huh?”

Annnnd there was the annoying part. Moving on, I crossed to him, looking at the wall.

“Is this another false one, you think?”

“Yeah, but it’s not made of rotting wood and wet cardboard like the last one.”

“Do we need to go get drills?” Kaleb asked, sounding somewhat worried. Whether that was because Samson was still holding Parker’s hand or some other reason, I couldn’t say.

“Or, like, a wrecking ball?” Parker added. “This smells like concrete.”

But Samson just clicked his tongue. “I suppose wolves, at the end of the day, are still wolves.”

Turning back to the wall, he lifted his hands and began whispering. For a moment, nothing happened, and it seemed like maybe he was a little tapped out of magic. But then I heard a rumbling from somewhere below our feet. A moment later, vines burst up through the floor, waving and manic, a kraken of greenery.

With simply a gesture, Samson sent the vines rushing forward, and they burrowed their way into the wall, ripping and shredding as they went until just a crumbled mess was left.

“There you are.”

Samson strode forward and we joined him, stepping into what looked like a prison more than anything else. Like a higher-end version of the cabin — there were cages, chains, and all sorts of restraints. And just like the cabin, there was only one person there.

But she wasn’t chained like Ashlee had been. No, she was at the end of the room, with candles and runes surrounding her.

The witch.

We approached cautiously, Samson conjuring a shimmering veil around us that I could only assume was a shield. The woman seemed unconscious, however, floating with three gauzy rays of light encircling her.

“Hey, are those moonstones?”

Glancing to where Kaleb was pointing, I saw there were three moonstones around her, clearly giving the woman power.

“Do we kill her?” Jacobian asked uncertainly. “Is this a trap?”

“No, not a trap,” Samson said, eyeing the woman as she sat cross-legged in the air. “She’s completely checked out mentally. It looks like her entire mind and soul are going into maintaining whatever spell she’s doing.”

My thoughts began to churn out, one right after the other. “You said you can’t break this witch’s curse, right? What if she can?”

“What, you want us just to cart her away while she’s in a trance, put her into some sort of magic-locking barrier, then force her to feed us info?” Samson stopped short, rubbing his chin. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”

It was quick, but I made my mind up all at once.

“Do it. Let’s bring her home.”