[50] Do Not Test The Witch

I could see each drop of the rain falling, passing through the ray of upside down Jeep's back lights and slowly adding to the muddy puddle on the ground

One drop.

Another.

I couldn't count then.

The tears kept flowing through my burning eyes.

The thunder was loud but louder was the silence of the wolves.

The lightning showed the content faces of the Lycans who knew that they had won.

The border had won. Again.

Who was to be blamed? The Lycans? The border?

Wasn't it Alpha Rucus who asked for it?

Fresh wind shifted the direction of the rain just like Gilbert placed his hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him slowly.

Putting two fingers under my chin, he grimaced when I looked up in his eyes. In the dark, I could only see the lack of reaction. The shadow had darkened his face, making it impossible for me to observe him.

What was he thinking? What did he find out just by looking in my eyes?

I understood that I would never be able to completely read him.

The fingers slipped slowly from under my chin and he pulled his hand back.

A cry jolted my head back to the far right.

His silence had made Keira fall on the ground in shock. Eva lost her focus and got attacked by a wicked Anton.

Within a blink, she was turned around with her hands on the back, being cuffed by the same thick chain she had used to attack them before. Anton kicked on the back of her knee, made her kneel and hit her head when she tried to move.

Looking at Thomas, my heart twisted a little at catching him looking at me only. The forehead was covered with wet hair and chin with blood. It was his eyes that were big and full of shock as if he had reached a conclusion.

"You shouldn't have thrown her here if you only had to perform this failed attempt of a rescue in the end," said Virion, coming forward while hitting Thomas on the back of his head on the way with a sneer.

I sniffled softly, unable to understand the logic. After all, I wasn't like them.

I was born a human.

Lysar tilted his head while squinting his eyes in pettiness. Giving Pete a disgusting look, he let out a loud an irritated huff. "Or you could have simply come earlier," he taunted, shrugging his shoulders a little.

I bit my trembling lip when Anton grabbed Eva's hair while smirking, "We could have let you take her away then. As we know, it is a family custom to run away from the mate and leave little pups behind."

My body stiffened while Eva let out a growl.

Lysar looked at me blankly.

Thomas let out a humorless chuckle while trying to get up from the ground. "Right. If my mother hadn't run away, your brother would have lost his shit way earlier without Misty's existence!"

Anton looked at him, growling lowly. His fists tightened while Thomas only spat the blood.

Virion stepped back and took a round around Thomas, giving him an annoyed glare. "Well, aren't you talking too much for that bleeding little mouth?" He taunted calmly.

Thomas looked up at him, his knees slipping into the mud when he tried to fight exhaustion and get up. "Wait until you hear me counting the names of the males who fancied Savina and still do, brother-in-law-"

A scream escaped me when the leather boot hit Thomas right on the face.

The force made him fall on the muddy ground.

Virion breathed angrily while waiting for more reaction and preparing to attack again if that happened.

But thankfully, Thomas didn't speak ahead.

The pain must be too much for him to continue as he kept squirming on the ground and tried to get up. But failed.

My eyes full of tears moved slowly towards the left to look back at my elder brother desperately, who now looked as if he was about to transform. The clenched fists were shaking, making his muscular arms flex more. The face had reddened from the anger. The Alpha in him was hanging on a lose thread.

Moving my eyes a little towards right, I caught Karam staring away from Pete to far away in the jungle behind him. The glassy look was scaring me.

My heart was telling me that I would be punished if I stayed. Definitely.

They had been patient with all my tantrums and insults. But this was getting caught red-handed while trying to escape.

I couldn't afford any upcoming pain or trauma. I would lose myself, I was sure.

The horror of uncertainty was chilling my spine.

"He has a pup?" Gilbert asked immediately, turning the air intense.

My eyes lowered while he stayed unmoving in shock.

"The mother is dead," Lysar answered defensively when Eva started growling curses violently. The sound of Anton hitting her on the back kept reaching the unopened dark rooms of my heart forcefully. "But your sister cherishes his existence. We didn't force her but she took it upon herself and promised to be his mother. Now we know, it's not just her but her brother too doesn't stick to his words."

I wanted to scream out loud and slap myself to madness. I wanted to pull at my hair and hit my head against a tree with a sharp bark.

But it all seemed less painful comparing to the heart that was breaking inside silently. It felt like I was losing my courage. My hope.

If Gilbert didn't raise a question about heat, it meant that Karam was telling the truth.

I didn't want to ask how could it happen even when I was a human.

I just felt too hurt to object.

I had started to trust Karam. I really thought that we were ahead of the Lycan vs. Southerners phase. Yet in the end, it came to 'the pack comes first'.

He hid such an important information about me from me only.

He knew that I was losing my license to cross the border. He let it happen and didn't inform me.

I felt extremely betrayed. Foolish.

I didn't hesitate from showing Thomas that I felt guilty for trying to escape. Was I being too kind to these Lycans? To Karam.

"What a douche!" Eva growled angrily, trying to wriggle out of the chain. Her canines were out and eyes were shining golden. Her pony had loosened and hair were out of it and wet stuck to her face. "A pup? An illegitimate pup?"

Anton kept pulling at her hair with one hand and with other her hands.

My feet moved ahead desperately on their own when Gilbert grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

I looked at him questioningly. He shook his head.

My lips trembled as faint sobs escaped me in defeat. Why was he not protecting his daughter? His real biological daughter.

"Leave me, you asshole!" She screamed while rubbing her knees against the mud, trying to get up. "How fucking dare you!" She looked back up at Karam. "How dare you!"

"It was a trap by the Mystics." Lysar shouted while looking back at her, again trying to defend his brother who wasn't even reacting like he was present here.

"I don't care! But your disgusting brother doesn't deserve my sister! He does not!" Eva shouted angrily while letting out a loud roar.

"Why don't you go ask Moon Goddess about it," Lysar teased wickedly while putting hand on his waist.

Anton gave me a knowing evil smirk and said, "We are family. She entertains us. Humans are endearing. If you all hadn't shown up, she was almost forgetting about you all."

My nostrils flared in extreme anger and hurt. "I'd rather be dust than be again with you monsters!"

Anton narrowed his eyes and pouted slightly. He pulled hard at Eva's hair and twisted the hands at her back much higher.

Eva's screams were horrifying.

Shivers ran down my spine.

"Does Alvena scream just like that when you tell her about mingling with two mystics in one night?" Keira spoke up all of a sudden.

Her glassy eyes were at the lights of the Jeep, still sitting in the mud, shaking under the rain.

Anton halted his movements.

"Did you tell her that her elder brother die because you all didn't let your sister Tara see him before it was too late?"

My jaw dropped in surprise. How the hell did she know about all of this?

Even Lysar and Virion looked shocked as they turned their heads to observe her.

"Did you tell her that her younger brother has a mate hidden here too? Tell her that he might die the same way," said Keira, chuckling darkly.

Anton's smirk faded slowly.

"Would you care to tell her that her father misses her the most?" Keira asked while the rain made her blink. "Especially, the tea. She makes the best tea. Doesn't she?"

"Does it look like he might have even noticed it?" Thomas taunted with a huff, earning another hit from Virion on the back.

Eva took advantage of the distraction and grabbed Anton's wrist. Raising her legs, she did a flip and climbed on his shoulders, twisting his body with the sudden strength.

Anton was quick to recover and tried to remove her away. But Eva was seeing red.

She used the chain on her wrist to him continuously on the head. Anton, with one aggressive jolt, pulled her down by grabbing on to her pony tail.

Eva wasn't the only one with the long hair.

During the forceful flip, she had grabbed on to Anton's shoulder length hair. Jumping back, she pulled them hard enough to bring his head down to hit the ground.

Before Anton could pull his head back or roll away, Eva's put her foot against his cheek, letting out the sharpest growl.

"A Mystic might be a werewolf but the witch blood is running through her veins," said Eva while bending down dominantly. Her nostrils flared while rain drops from her hair fell down on Anton's angry face. "If a common female could birth a Lycan pup while living here right under your noses, imagine what the daughter of the Alpha of Mystics can do."

Keira stood up while shaking her head. "Do not test the witch hidden inside her."

Eva kicked Anton in the stomach and turned around to look at us. The trails of blood leaking down from her forehead, getting smudged by the rain drops.

Her satisfied expressions from hitting the douche shifted to blank ones when her eyes fell on me. "What now?" She asked her father, looking at him.

"Leave," said Lysar while standing beside Karam, giving him a quick glance. He looked at me briefly before announcing, "Your sister will be taken care of."

"Misty, we can make a house near the border, live together and keep the idiots away," Thomas said while walking towards me slowly. This time, Virion let him without any attack. Eva and Keira followed him as they stood in front of me one by one.

My eyes were way too tired from the pain of continuously crying. Yet the tears didn't stop. My heart felt so heavy. It was painful to take every breath.

I looked away from them, not able to meet their pitiful eyes.

"We will find out a way. There must be some way for you to get out," said Keira as politely as she could to calm me and fill me with hope again.

The words didn't excite me anymore.

"You can't live with them," Eva told me, giving me the hard look. "Fuck them. Let's stay at the borders until we find a way. I am not letting you turn into another Savina or Alvena. You are just a baby. Our baby."

I sniffled hard at her words while Gilbert broke our moment by walking away.

Towards the Jeep.

I bit the inside of my lips, trying to think. But I couldn't. All I could see were the four walls closing on me. Soon enough, I would be crushed.

"Misty," said Thomas, his voice breaking slightly. "Hey, I am not going to leave you."

"Speak," said Keira while clenching her jaws, gulping hard.

Eva shook her head and grabbed my wrist. "Get in the Jeep."

The sound of the vehicle being tossed around echoed again. The lights moved all over the pale faces of the Lycans who were watching my brother and sisters, listening to the words with no expressions.

"It's okay," I choked out absentmindedly.

Eva had heard it, passed me a blank look and started tugging on my hand.

"She'll get burnt!" Lysar yelled tauntingly.

I was being forcefully pulled towards the Jeep that Gilbert had just turned back to it's supposed position.

"Eva, it's okay." I said through hoarse and shaky tone.

"Shut up!" Eva growled lowly and kept dragging me.

I stumbled on my steps but she didn't stop. I had started to resist by not walking.

"She doesn't want to leave!" Lysar's voice came again.

It triggered the senses inside me.

I grabbed Eva's hand and removed it from mine harshly. "Fucking leave!" I screamed angrily through the tears.

Eva stopped while Keira and Thomas gasped.

They stood around me while I controlled a heartwrenching sob, stepping backwards and catching Gilbert checking the Jeep.

"You all can go." I said before lowering my head and turning around to walk towards the Lycan men.

"Misty!" Keira shrieked aggressively.

I didn't respond and kept walking in the dark until I accidentally raised my gaze and saw Kingston standing far away.

Robin stood on his left. Both walked ahead, making Virion and Anton stand on the side.

Kingston took Karam's left side and Robin stood at the corner. Lysar was already on Karam's right.

I was right at the edge of the line partitioning the teams.

From where I was watching the scene, Pete stood on the left side of the invisible line while four Lycan brothers on the right.

As if the night wasn't already scary.

The lightning struck across the sky, creating flashes all around.

A shiver ran down my spine. I was drenched in rain that was still pouring. Shuddering with my hands fisted aside, my squinted eyes widened slightly.

Like a deja vu of a scene from my imaginations, it appeared all in front of my eyes.

Alpha Rucus stood facing the four Lycan brothers.

The jeans was replaced by the furry skirt. Thick liner outlining the scary intense eyes. Beads at the end of the braided hair. Dark tattoos across the chests.

The Southerner's eyes were filled with self-esteem and helplessness while the Lycans were radiating the arrogance and distaste.

I blinked and within a second, the ancient figures disappeared along with the magical halos that were outlining them.

My lips parted in horror and the words kept echoing in my mind.

The history is repeating itself.

"I will forget the trespassing, Alpha Pete."

Kingston's voice was loud and firm, so intimidating and suiting the dark forest. His aura of a wide and tall grubby man, having those long hair passing his shoulder, in old breeches and thick half-jacket with laces in the front, face showing the lack of interest clearly.

The wind was swishing around, creating more noise.

As if it could feel the Lycan Alpha's presence. Or worse, his confrontation with the Alpha of Rucussa. In his own territory. Across the border.

"I will forget the betrayal of Mystics. I will forget you trying to help my brother's bride run away," said Kingston, loud and clear. "If I were you, I would have done the same and even succeeded."

Pete was quiet. Deadly quiet.

It was creepy.

"What I will not forget is your claws against my brother's chest."

My heart twisted slowly. Eyes moved directly to Karam's chest visible from the transparent wet shirt. All red and bloodied. Gashes were easy to make out.

I looked up at his face.

Karam's eyes were on the ground. He looked disturbed.

For a moment, I wished that he would see me. I longed to get a sign from me. An answer. I wanted him to tell me what he was thinking. Feeling.

I wanted him to look at me and observe how hurt and scared I was because of him.

"You threw your sister to him. He didn't beg for it. We asked and we accepted your kindness with all our heart. We remember you in our prayers," said Kingston, his eyes holding the power. "Beyond the border, you could decide what you wanted. Behind the border, the decisions are ours to make."

"Yours?" Thomas taunted immediately, like a suicidal rebel.

And my heart dropped.

Kingston didn't look at him but Robin did. The faint look of warning had made Thomas' shoulder sulk immediately.

The force do the aura was so harsh, my little brother was wincing.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

"He is right," admitted Kingston, his face looking paler because of the raven hair getting wet and sticking to his beardy face. "It is the wish of the border."

Kingston looked at Pete in the eye blankly. "It cannot be possible that you didn't smell your sister's scent," said the Lycan Alpha with amused eyes. "You brought the rain but it wanted to help us. Not you, Alpha Pete."

Robin smirked slightly.

"You didn't have to come all the way here and perform a fail attempt to remove the guilt of betraying your sister from your heart."

A sob ripped out from my chest as I felt my chest heaving up and down.

"You brought two mates together," said Robin with eyes showing the enthusiastic charm as if they were all entertained by what happened tonight. "You did nothing wrong."

Kingston smiled slightly and slowly, the smile faded. His eyebrows narrowed and corner of his lips raised a little with a sneer.

"There is no use of standing here," said Karam's eldest brother. "If Severa feels the presence of the descendant of Rucus, we will have to welcome a disaster. You do not want your pregnant cousin, Savina to be in the midst of it."

Eva gasped slightly and glared hard at Virion who had blank expressions at the moment.

"What if Severa has already felt it, brother?" Robin asked dramatically and gasped. "Maybe, something scary is really about to happen."

Lysar laughed wickedly. "Nothing would be scarier for Alpha Pete than for his mate to die of happiness at smelling his rich scent."

Oh God. Why did he mention-

Wait. What?

My mouth opened and heart started dropping in anxiety. It scared me more when Eva and Keira started exchanging a glance.

"Seeing that idiotic laughter was scary enough," commented Thomas, in a mumbled yet loud voice because of the pain around his mouth.

Lysar stopped laughing.

"What a relief that your mate can't see you. She would be hell pissed at Goon. . . Moon Goddess." Thomas continued, nodding his head as the pettiness started satisfying his aching body.

"At least, Pete's mate knows that she would have been a Luna," said Thomas, raising his tone, giving Lysar a disgusted smirk. "I am sure your mate would be grateful for the border when I'll tell all the unmated females out of this border about the males existing here."

Lysar looked so pissed. I would have smiled if circumstances weren't this cruel to me.

"Pete's mate reached the border," said Eva loudly, huffing in pride. "Your mates didn't even attend the ceremonies."

"And the void won't even get filled by the Mystic widows now," taunted Keira immediately. "I mean, you are not going to still continue that joke of a tradition. Would you? Oops, the mystic widows have fulfilled their purpose and won't be coming anymore. Sad."

"Sad is the Lycan whose breeches got stolen tonight," Eva said through gritted teeth while nodding at Robin far away. "Sorry, man. The size of your ass matches mine. And kicking some asses in that Mystic skirt was boring."

Robin's lips tightened into a straight line.

All their eyes lowered down to look at the breeches Eva had worn.

"Wish you could steal what you actually wanted to," Robin taunted back with a brief glance at me. "Enough of the bath in the rain. Sleep is heavy in my eyes. Must we say farewell now, Alpha Pete."

"Come, brother." Lysar told Karam before turning around.

Virion, Anton slowly did the same and so did Robin and Kingston.

Karam raised his eyes to look at Pete and my heart started beating faster.

No words were exchanged. My so-called mate turned around to follow his brothers, his chest still bleeding frighteningly.

My mouth stayed open in disbelief and hurt.

That was it? The Lycans had started to leave as if they were daring my family to still try to take me away behind their backs.

Until the familiar loud voice boomed all around.

"No brides from next year!"

______

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I didn't do the proofreading. Please point out the errors if you find any. I'll edit them out.

Ah! These chapters were difficult to write. I hope, you like them.

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