Natala (Emerald) POV:
Closing my eyes, I cleared my head of all my thoughts, letting go of the shimmering anger against my mates and brothers; I forgot everyone in the room as I concentrated on the dust and scent around me. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes, and I was standing in a lit room, but however, this room had black veins all over the pristine white walls. The mind had possibly been corrupted; that was what my intuition was telling me. No doubt I was in Cassandraâs mind! If I had entered the rogue witchâs mind, the room would have black walls. According to Clara, every soul with ill intentions would have grey walls; the white was for the pure souls, and black was for the worst that had no ounce of humanity in them; their soul was consumed by sin and greed. From the looks of it, Cassandraâs mind was not too far from becoming thoroughly corrupted; her soul would turn black if she didnât make the right choices.
I would be lying if I wasnât a bit scared. Being inside someoneâs head was scary; you donât know what demons people held in them, especially in their minds. Feeling my uneasiness Trisha and my Lycan came and stood next to me. The light directed us towards the door on the right; taking another deep breath, I walked towards it. Every step I took, I saw the ground crack more; goddess, this meant Cassandra was too far gone to be saved: she had definitely been corrupted, her soul was full of greed and deceit now. Reaching the door, I grabbed the knob and closed my eyes, picturing the shelves like a library behind the door. Opening the door, I felt a breeze hit my face, and my lycan and Trisha snarled; I could also feel another presence in the room; as much as I wanted to slam the door shut and run, I didnât. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and looked for the light source showing me the book, roaming my eyes over every aisle until I found a small black book on the very first shelf in the bottom left corner. Well, at least itâll be faster to run out once Iâm done. Trisha and my Lycan gave out a grunt and shook their heads at my thoughts. I just ignored them; I was sure they were pooping their pants just like I was at the moment. Taking small deep breaths, I approached the shelf, keeping my senses on high alert. Casandraâs mind had been corrupted; who knew what could pop out of any corner at any moment? Bending down, grabbing the book and closing my eye, I opened it and felt myself being sucked into a vacuum. I opened my eyes, and I saw a witch, she couldnât have been a day older than thirty, but I knew I was wrong; supernatural donât age after their twenty-fifth birthday, and if this witch was the same one that dealt with my death scene then she could well be over a hundred years old. Beside her stood my deranged uncle, both of them staring down at Cassandra, Ivy and Aria. The three she-wolves were battered and bruised, tied up with silver chains, wounds were infected, their glowing skin had patches of b***d and dirt, their lips chapped, and the slightest movement had them ripping. Goddess!
âWho are you?â Croaked out Cassandra
âSalvation for you all. My name is Edward, we donât have much time, so Iâm going to get straight to the point. We make a deal. I need you three to capture a she-wolf in the pack, which will lure the luna out, giving enough time for Khole and me to grab her.â Said, Edward
âNo! Messing with that b***h was what got us here in the first place.â Screeched out Ivy
âWe were building up to convincing the younger three alphas to take us as chosen mates, but that b***h showed up and ruined everything. An insignificant, the runt of the pack, acting all innocent when we supposedly attacked her!â Snarled Aria
The hatred the three had for me was evident in their voices and eyes. Even close to death and starvation, their hate overpowered it. What promises did the younger three quads give them to have them hate me so much?
âThen you wonât have a problem helping us. Lure out the girl, and youâll be free of the luna. On top of all that, Iâll even have the alphas under the spell to take you all as a chosen mate, where you all can run the pack as co-lunas.â Said the girl, who I knew as Khole now.
The three she-wolvesâ eyes sparkled with excitement. Not even thinking twice, all three nodded their heads in agreement. Khole and Edward smirked, and all five of them were gone in a flick of her wrist and some Latin word. My heart clenched at the idea of my mates being with anyone other than me.
The scene faded; opening my eyes slowly, the meticulous library I had seen was falling apart, and darkness was consuming it. Dropping the book where I stood, Trisha, my Lycan, and I ran towards the door, crossing over and shutting it. My chest heaved up and down; the room shook where we stood. I knew my concentration was not wavering, but it felt like I was forcibly being expelled from the scene; not wanting to be there any longer; I closed my eyes and willed myself out of the bubble.
I drifted back to reality, the sounds of my mates and brothers asking me to open up my eyes as Clara reprimanded them for letting me concentrate. I open my eyes and see all of them outside Cassandraâs cell looking at me. Looking down, I see my paws; I was still in my hybrid form.
âBaby, are you okay? Your lycan was grunting as if she were in pain.â Asked Sam, concern oozing out of his voice.
My other three mates and brothers looked on in worried as they waited for my answer. Nodding towards them in my hybrid form, I crawled out. Even with me out of the cell, I could still not fully stand up to my height with the low ceilings.
My brothers sighed in relief, but my mates stilled and seemed skeptical though they could feel my anxiousness about what I had seen. Before I could move toward Ivyâs cell, I heard Ezeakil speak up.
âLuna, shift back! Letâs go.â He said
I grunted and shook my head. As much as I hated what I was about to do, it was necessary. I needed to see if Ivy and Aria had the same scene in their heads as Cassandra did. Clara had mentioned that since Edward and the witch, which I knew as Khole, knew of my powers, they could manipulate it with Kholeâs magic. However, she mentioned only one memory could be altered, not several, and deficiencies would easily be picked up if they were. Seeing as I wouldnât listen much to my mateâs dismay, they gritted their teeth and nodded, moving back so my hybrid form could get crawl into the other two cells. Repeating the process of what I did in Cassandraâs cell, I did in Ivyâs. Seeing the same vision, when I went towards Ariaâs cell, the same vision was also seen.
That meant Edward was going to strike soon. He knew the place was guarded and swamped to its peak with warriors, not to mention I had the lycan kings and future supreme alphas attached to me wherever I went. An attack would be downright absurd. He would lose, but then again, he had a rogue witch by his side and by the way all three she-wolvesâ minds were corrupted, she was indeed strong. It took great power to infiltrate and poison the mind; our wolf physiology didnât allow us to turn rogue or go against our pack, and if we did, that meant something severely had harmed our psychic. On top of that, forgoing a bond with the three younger quads I didnât think was possible, but then again, I had never taken spell knowledge classes at the academy; I would need to ask Clara once I shifted back.
Once out of the cell, I see my mates glaring at me at this point, my brother not far from them as well. My emotions were all over the place: fear, anxiousness, not to mention fatigue. Even though I had learned to control my power and jump only into a single mind and not multiple, it didnât mean I had the energy to do it repeatably without a break.
âThatâs enough! Shift Natala! Your feeding off your lycanâs energy source at this point.â Snarled Azreal
My brother snarled at Azrealâs words as they gave me a pointed look. If I had the energy, I wouldâve definitely rolled my eyes at the all. Yeah! I was tired, but I wasnât dying. I concentrated on my human form, not wanting to piss everyone off any more than I already did. My bones cracked, my spine twisted a grunt of pain left my muzzle, which had my mates huddling around me. They were undoubtedly pissed, but I could feel their concern for me through the bond. After a few seconds, my fur had receded, my muzzle had gone in, and I laid stark naked on the floor, sweating dribbling down my back. I felt myself being picked up by a strong pair of arms and a shirt being pulled over my head. Opening my eyes, I see Iâm in Zekeâs arm as he gives me a small smile.
âYouâre going to be the death of us women!.â Said, Zeke
Which had me chuckling and eventually all my mates.
âCare to enlighten us? What was all that about little wolf?â I heard Hayden ask from behind us.
Turning around, I see all my brotherâs back turned to us, giving me my privacy to put on some clothes.
âIâll tell you! Just not here.â I said
That had them turning towards me; they looked at me for a second to make sure I was okay and then nodded, stalking up the stairs.
âDonât think youâre off the hook, baby. Not only did you challenge your alphas and mates, but you defied us. Youâve earned yourself a punishment,â said Sam, nipping my ear, which had my p***y clench.
However, as much as I enjoy these so called punishments, I think it was high time my mates got one as well for treating me like a clueless pup.