The Invite

LORELAI

I hadn’t understood before. I don’t know if I had ever truly grasped what power the witches had. But with every hour that passed, I figured it out—a lot.

The wolves were obsessively sweeping cobblestone, weeding gardens, and fixing every crack and crevice. I helped Anetta get flowers from the garden for the tables—something we had never done before.

She told me off for putting the wrong forks at the witches’ table, then for using the wrong cloth on that table. Then I was hanging decorations wrong and putting the wrong offerings in the wrong baskets. I was useless at this witch-pleasing business, but my heart wasn’t in it either.

I didn’t understand why it took so much to appease the witches. The wolves had done nothing but serve them and the realm for as long as I had lived—probably longer. And yet, they had to bend over backward for a single request? Just so they wouldn’t take away the magic that made them who they were.

I had already made up my mind: if the witches tried to do that, I would stop them. I had magic too, and I was prepared to use it. It wasn’t like the witches could take the magic back anyway; it would be the worst thing for the balance.

So I didn’t see why we couldn’t just have a normal meeting where we asked for what we wanted, they agreed because it was the right thing to do, and then we moved on to getting it done and winning this war before it escalated. My alphas didn’t think that was a possibility, or a thing we should even attempt. Don’t anger the witches, apparently, was the golden rule.

I thought no kissing or keeping the virgins was the golden rule, and we’d already broken that. I shook away my thoughts on the witches and hung up some cute drawings from the pack pups over the mantle of the fire, reaching high to make sure they were up properly.

Strong hands gripped my waist as I did and hauled me up so I could reach easier. I looked down and smirked at Derik, who kissed the bare skin between my pants and where my shirt had ridden up. I put the last picture up, then Derik slid me down his body, holding my legs around his waist before I could reach the ground. His mouth crashed into mine, and I fisted his hair in my hands.

“Cute touch. From the school?” Derik breathed between the meeting of our mouths.

“Yeah, Anetta and I went and got them earlier. I’m under strict instructions of where to place them.”

“She may have mentioned your aversion for putting anything in the right spots and sent me to check on you,” Derik chuckled. I laughed and kissed him again.

“I have a right spot you can check on,” I whispered against him.

Derik grinned and carried me out of the dining hall, past the other wolves all decorating and organizing. We made it to the upstairs hall before Brax found us. I was still on Derik’s waist, him heading toward the bedroom, our mouths still connecting.

“We have a few hours before the witches come, Luna. If you’re giving in to the stress urges, then come find me when Derik is finished with you and stay the fuck away from Kai. That asshole won’t let you go. You’ll be late for the witches, and we’ll get a denial before we’ve had a chance to take a breath,” Brax winked, then carried on walking.

I laughed, then went back to kissing Derik, getting carried all the way up to our suite. Derik kicked in the door as I kept his mouth busy against mine. He dropped me on our bed, then climbed over me. His mouth was hot on mine, claiming it with kisses that made my body burn for more. But we never got to the more part because howls ripped through the air from outside.

I froze beneath Derik as he eyed the doors to the patio.

“We should probably—”

~“It’s the beast, he broke out! Get to Adrenna!”~ Kai called through the link.

Derik jumped off me as I scrambled from the bed. We were out the door in seconds. Brax’s shadows were already stretched into the twins’ room when we got into the hall. Mine joined his and made sure they were okay. They were, so I ran down the stairs with Derik.

~“We’re on our way. Where’s the beast now?”~ I asked, searching the pack link for where it was. The wolves reported back, telling me everywhere it was. It was hunting. Fuck.

~“Galen?”~ I called down the link. It was a stretch to get to him when he was with the humans and my mom, but he was powerful. And he always stayed out of the tunnels so we could reach him through the arsenal they were creating.

~“I’m on my way. I have Pearl with me,”~ he said, the feel of the breeze on his coat brushing over me as he entered the link properly.

~“Good, run fast. The beast can’t get to Adrenna. We’re hours away from making this happen.”~ I ran faster toward the dungeons.

We made it to the lobby of the mansion before Derik grabbed me by the waist and pushed me behind him. A second later, the beast broke through the mansion doors, wood and debris sputtering into the space. I threw a shield up before anything could get us.

Derik looked over his shoulder with a smirk.

“And here I was thinking I needed to protect you. So much for my Knight in shining armor fantasies,” he said.

I held the shield up as the beast roared, then pushed it out, blasting him back out of the huge hole he had made.

I grinned back at Derik, putting my magic down. “Well, you won’t make that mistake again then, will you? As for your fantasies, we can roleplay later,” I teased, tiptoeing to kiss his cheek before running out to the beast.

He was sprawled over the grass, growling and slowly recovering. His eyes were wild, his body shaking as he roared. It shook the ground, and more debris fell from the mansion.

~“Brax, keep your shadows with mine in the twins’ room. Don’t leave them for anything,”~ I said.

~“Wasn’t planning on it, Spitfire. I’m heading to the dungeons to safeguard Adrenna.”~

~“Good. Kai?”~

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to because a second later, his black wolf form was springing from the barrier wall of the mansion to the spot between us and the beast. He snarled angrily at the beast, his warning clear.

The beast roared back, and the hackles on Kai’s back rose.

“Someone didn’t get the memo,” Derik muttered as he eyed Kai. I huffed out a laugh before eyeing the beast.

I had no idea how to get through to him when he was in wild, hunting Adrenna mode. Last time, it was easy. He wanted Adrenna, and so did we. But that wasn’t our goal anymore. Now it was worse because he wanted Adrenna, and we were standing in his way. Which put us right where we needed to be to get on the beast’s bad side.

The beast stamped his heavy feet into the ground, grass and dirt ripping out from the force of his anger.

“Beast!” I called.

Kai glared at me over his shoulder, telling me not to be an idiot in the link. The beast snarled and ran his paw through the grass, getting ready to charge.

The night was dark like it always was, but the pack were there, some in wolf form, some in human. They carried torches and nets, ready to help if they needed to. I shook my head at them and inched closer. Kai nudged me back.

“Stop, I can handle—”

The beast roared before using his deformed snout to launch me back across the hill. Hit with the surprise, my back slammed against the stone of the mansion, my head bouncing off it. I fell to the ground with a thud, blood trickling down my face.

It barely hurt, a surface graze, but that was all it took for the chaos to descend. My alphas roared, charging the beast as the pack moved in. Some of the wolves rushed to me to help, but I waved them off, slowly standing. The cut was already healed, and I wiped away the blood before stomping back over to where my alphas were getting their asses kicked.

They were in the way of the beast getting to Adrenna; it wasn’t going to let them stop it by the look of things.

~“Need me there, Spitfire?”~ Brax asked in the link.

~“No. Just need to put the beast to sleep until the witches get here, I think. Mom will know what to give it. And until then, we’ll keep him busy,”~ I said back.

~“Leave the keeping it busy to Kai and Derik. Stay out of its way.”~

~“Why?”~ I demanded.

Brax’s chuckle echoed in the link. ~“Because you are our luna, and when you get hurt, we feel it. It makes us do crazy things like pick fights with beasts.”~

I shook my head and moved closer, ~“I told you, I don’t need a Knight in shining armor this time, or an alpha. I can handle it,”~ I said, then ignored Brax telling me not to and let my magic fall from my fingertips.

Just as the beast went to go for Kai again, I threw my magic up between them. The beast smashed into it, roaring out as he flew backward. He skidded to a stop, his paws digging in, leaving track marks in the grass. He bared his teeth, his eyes turning even more feral.

“Control it, beast! She will be yours soon!” I called. The beast gnashed its giant jaw at me, then charged again. I forced him back with my magic.

“We’re trying to help!” I screamed at him as the wind picked up around us.

He growled, definitely not believing me. So I had no choice.

I wrapped the beast in my magic. It thrashed, roared, bellowed, and had an epic-sized tantrum. But I held my magic steady, locking it inside an orb of purple that it couldn’t break out of.

“A cage of magic,” Cain said, walking forward with his hands in his pockets. “Nice touch.” He grinned.

I grinned back. “He’s strong, but I can hold him—at least until help arrives.”

“Don’t wear yourself out,” he warned. “Using that much magic on him could drain you quicker than normal, especially with the curse that’s on him to prevent magic from being used against him.”

I nodded; I had considered that.

“That’s why I’m not using it on him, only the air around him,” I said with a smirk.

Cain’s face fell. “What?”

“What?” I shrugged as Kai came over, nudging me with a whine. Derik also approached, kissing the top of my head.

“He’s in there at full force right now? You haven’t lowered his strength at all before trapping him?” Cain demanded.

I shook my head. “No. Like you said, I can’t actually use the magic on him,” I reminded him, not sure why he was acting weird about it.

It was a struggle; my brow was damp, and my hands were cramping from holding the magic there. Maybe my pulse was a little high and loud in my ear, my head throbbing, but it was a high-adrenaline situation. That was expected, wasn’t it?

“You shouldn’t be able to hold him in there like that. Your magic is strong, but it’s only half the border. It shouldn’t be able to contain him or a curse as old as his at full strength,” Cain said, his eyes wide as he circled the trapped beast, who was howling in the middle of the cage.

“It’s a good thing she’s more powerful than she looks then, because that beast can throw,” Derik said, letting out a panting breath. His body was damp as well, his brow sweating, sticking his hair to his forehead.

Kai brushed harder against my leg, and I gave him a reassuring smile.

“How far away are you, Galen?” I asked through the link. He sent me a flash of what he was seeing: the lake. He was close then.

I adjusted my hands and magic, leaning a little more into Derik as a wave of exhaustion hit. He held me up as I stumbled.

“Lorelai?” he asked. I shook off the heavy feeling in my body and eyelids.

“I’m okay.”

Kai whined against me. He didn’t believe me.

I wasn’t telling the truth, so it wasn’t surprising.

My heart was speeding up. My temperature was climbing. My body was shaking.

All things I ignored to keep the beast locked down.

“I have to hold this. So I’m okay until the others get here.”

“Cain, help her. Add your magic,” Derik ordered.

“I can’t, D. I don’t have border magic. I can’t just create a border like she can. I have to work my magic through healing and spells,” Cain replied.

I was going to interrupt, tell them I was fine again, but my eyes tried to close.

Kai growled and woke me up.

I clamped down on the magic that was trying to crawl back inside me.

I ordered it to stay. The command made it angrier.

I winced as the ache in my head got worse.

“I’ve got the twins, Spitfire. Take your shadows back, feed the magic. Channel us too,” Brax offered through the link.

I swallowed, hating the idea, but Brax flashed me a picture. He was physically with the twins. They were safe.

So I could use my shadows. And I needed to, or the magic cage wasn’t going to hold.

I pulled my shadows back to us, then poured them out through my body to entwine with the magic caging in the beast.

They loved it. My magic and shadows had become close, like working together was easier. Separated, it was more of a struggle.

My shadows supported my magic, and my body felt lighter immediately.

My magic gave me a burst of relief in my body, as if it was just as happy as I was that the shadows were there. The beast even stopped fighting, his roars turning to whines.

Then he did the weirdest thing of all. He nuzzled against the cage, as if the shadows had broken through the craze.

I raised a brow and looked at the others. The pack was hovering, sniffing the air for any threat. Derik had his hands on his hips, standing next to me, with Cain on the other side. Kai was still between me and the beast in wolf form.

“When we went to the shadow realm, they liked him there too,” I murmured.

Cain nodded. “He spent years there; it’s not surprising he made a few friends. My guess is, the shadows in you knew him before they came through to our realm in you.”

My eyes widened again. I knew the shadows were a winter-born thing, and after going to their realm, I had figured out where they came from, but it was still hard to accept that they were actual living things inside me. Before, they were just shadows. Now, they were allies—and enemies. It was so confusing and had my mind going to my brother.

Was that why he had chosen differently? Had his shadows already been bad, and that’s why he chose to let them in? If I had been given his shadows, and he had mine, would it have been different?

“The shadows seek out the nature they want in the human they want. Your shadows never would have come through if his body was the only one to inhabit. Your shadows chose you, and when you chose them back, using them the way they intended, it made you both strong. If you had chosen to do the same things as your brother, then you and your shadows would have turned,” Brax explained, probably eavesdropping on my thoughts as usual.

“So Lucas really was corrupted by my father?”

Brax didn’t answer, but I felt the nod.

That was a hard pill to swallow, but I did and let the bitterness go with it. Lucas had done what he did, my father had done what he did. They both sucked, and now they were gone.

I had to move on from that and concentrate on making sure my shadows and I set a good example for the twins.

“Galen’s here,” Derik said, looking up and toward the front gates of the city.

I looked where he was pointing, and sure enough, there was Galen, in full wolf form that was still ridiculously huge, with my mom on his back.

He stopped in front of us, narrowing his eyes on the beast.

“I’ve got him subdued—for now. I don’t know if he’ll stay that way for long. Do you have any herbs for a sleeping agent?” I asked, looking up at Mom.

She looked healthier than I had seen her in—well, my life. She was glowing, her skin warm, and her hair out. She always wore braids, but today, she only wore jewelry clips holding it up at the sides.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shining as she smiled and climbed down from Galen, his body lowering so it was easier for her.

Derik went over and helped her down. She nodded to him in thanks, then handed over a leather satchel.

“This should do it. We’ve been making some sleeping powder for the vampires. I took out the garlic cloves and added the smallest hint of wolfsbane. Not enough to hurt, but it will weaken him enough for the sleeping herbs to take effect,” Mom explained.

I grabbed it as the beast whined, eyeing it.

“I’m sorry, it’s only for a few hours so we can get the witches’ approval. When you wake up, we’ll make you human, okay?” I said.

Now that the beast was calmer, talking to it was easier, and he nodded. He went to lie down, but I laughed and shook my head.

“There’s no way we’re getting you back to the barn if you fall asleep. You’ve got to go back yourself,” I said, pointing to the half-collapsed barn.

It huffed, then nodded and started walking. I followed, sending the pack off to continue preparations. Galen, Mom, Derik, and Cain came with us.

“I need to go make sure the borders to the city are ready for tonight,” Kai said in the link, then snarled at the beast in warning.

“He’ll be okay, Kai. The shadows, he likes them; they’ll keep him behaving.”

Kai whined at me, nudging my body before nuzzling against me.

I petted him, kissed his nose, then sent him off. I knew he wanted to protect me, but he also needed to trust that I could do that for myself.

He understood that, then ran off with his formation of wolves.

We got the beast back to the barn, half his body lying out of it since he had destroyed the thing. He lay down, and I blew the powder over him. It settled on his coat, and after a minute, his blinks slowed. Then his eyes closed, and he was out.

I turned to Mom and wrapped my arms around her. “Thank you. I missed you,” I whispered. She held me tighter. “Missed you too, Sweetheart. Ready to convince some witches?” She asked.

I nodded, pulling back. “Yeah. I have to. I gave the beast and Adrenna my word,” I said, starting to get nervous about what I was doing. What if they said no?

“Good timing as always, Luna,” Cain said, backing away, frowning up at the sky as it grew stormy. The sky was already dark, but the moisture in the air threatened rain.

It never rained.

Lightning cracked against the dark sky, and I jumped as Derik growled.

Cain blew out a breath. “Great. Something has already irritated them,” he said, rolling his eyes, obviously having the same issues with the witches that I did. “Well, glad you’re ready to do this because they’re here, Luna.”

I tensed just as the city bell started tolling.