The Spell

LORELAI

I stood in the courtyard, the torches re-lit in a circle.

The beast was on one side of the circle, still knocked out. Adrenna was on the other side, chained, her dress dirty, her hair tangled.

She looked tired but not angry. Her eyes were wary as they moved over the beast.

I turned to Tabby, who was in the circle with me, and to Cain too.

“You two don’t have to do this. It’s one thing for me to go against the witches; you don’t have to.”

Tabby shook her head, leaning heavily on her cane.

“Yes, I do, child. The realm has spoken, and they are pretending to be deaf. We all know they are just scared. And they should be. The realm is turning on them, or it would never have let you see their magic or even fight it. Now we play our part as we are meant to,” she said wistfully.

Cain helped her to her spot in the triangle we were creating.

“And you think we will be able to do this? Siphon out the curse from the beast and the magic from Adrenna?” I asked.

Tabby nodded. “Yes.”

Her answer was simple, but there was something behind it. I wasn’t sure what the look in her eyes was when she met mine, but it made me think there was something she wasn’t telling me.

I turned to Cain.

“And I know how you feel about the witches. But are you sure you’re okay to do the spell?” I asked.

Tabby said the spell would take everything we had. It would mean the next few days of recovery were vital, and she gave strict instructions to the Alphas and Beenie to nurse us back to health.

“I’m not letting my mom do a spell like this without me, Lori. She likes to think she’s strong, but really she’s just stubborn, and since we’re not at the swamp—”

“Stubborn is just strength in will. I have that. Now stop dillydallying; we don’t have all winter,” Tabby interrupted, shooing us away to our corners of the triangle.

I gave her a small smile, then went to my side. I looked behind me to where the Alphas were gathered. The pack surrounded the circle of fire torches.

But the night was silent. Tension and fear clung to us all as we hoped like hell that this was going to work.

I shivered as an icy wind filled the air. We had to do this; I knew it was the right thing.

But now the witches were enemies.

So were the vampires.

We had us and the humans. And the rogues, if their word meant anything.

It wasn’t enough, which is exactly why we needed to take away Adrenna being a liability. She was the vampire’s weapon. The beast was the witches’.

We needed to eliminate both of those, and taking on that magic was the only advantage we had.

I was sick of seeing our wolves die, and I didn’t want the vampires taking any of us again. They were experts in torture, and thinking that I might be stuck there again if it didn’t work made my heart race.

“Are we ready then?” I breathed out.

Cain nodded once, his eyes going to Beenie, who was in the shadows, watching with wide eyes.

~“What’d she see?”~ I asked in the link.

~“That’s the problem. She can’t see this one. The outcome hasn’t come to her, in nightmares or visions. She hates being blind.”~

I didn’t respond. That was either a good thing or a bad thing, and the only way I was going to find out which was by pushing through.

Brax came forward so I could kiss Enzi on the head. Then Derik with Zale. Mom and Galen stood close, his body slightly in front of her, protecting.

I smiled at them all, then turned to Tabby, who was whispering something in the flames of the torches.

“Ready,” she blew out a deep breath too, then turned to us. “I’ll say the spell. You two keep your magic flowing. It’ll pass through the beast and then Adrenna, then filter through Cain and me, and absorb back into you, Luna,” she explained. I nodded, as did Cain.

“Will it hurt?” I shivered.

She gave me a patronizing smile, as if I should already know the answer to that.

I did; I was just hoping for something better.

I turned to Adrenna.

“Once you and the beast are human, and we’ve made sure he is not hunting you still, we’ll take off your shackles.”

She nodded. “Fine.”

“You’re still agreeable?”

“Let’s get this done. I want to see him again,” she said quietly, and if I didn’t feel the need for him and see the way their souls reached for each other, then I was pretty sure I would’ve canceled the whole thing. Instead, I turned to Cain and Tabby.

Tabby started the spell.

At first, nothing happened. Her Latin words floated in the wind with no reaction.

And then it hit.

The beast groaned; Adrenna cried out.

They both squirmed and writhed in pain as Cain grunted, holding firm as he held his mom’s hand. I held theirs, and when it got back to me, it was like a hot poker through my heart.

I clenched my teeth, holding them closed against the scream that tried to escape.

A barrier of magic shot up, enclosing the circle of torches and all of us inside.

The magic pulsed through me. I felt every part of it sewing itself into mine.

My magic and shadows that already existed inside investigated the foreign magic, poking and prodding it as it filled into me.

My head fell back as my eyes went to the sky. They flew open as power, raw and potent, found itself.

The border magic recognized it as its own, and my body exploded in pain.

I almost collapsed, but Cain and Tabby held my hands tightly so I couldn’t go anywhere. I fought through the pain, accepting it as easily as I could.

Tabby’s voice carried everywhere, filling the silence with the spell. The beast roared, whimpered, howled. Adrenna screamed, then cursed before falling to her knees.

She went silent, her eyes wide as she held in the pain.

Cain was straight-faced, taking every bit of pain a lot better than the rest of us.

I shut the links down tightly, ignoring my Alphas trying to take on some of the pain. I needed to do this, and I didn’t know if letting them in would affect the spell. So I kept them out of my head and in my heart.

Tabby’s hand slackened in my grip, and my eyes snapped to her.

“Mom!” Cain yelled over the wind picking up, the flame from the torches spreading around the circle outline.

Tabby’s eyes were closed, her voice still muttering the spell.

“Teach me the spell; let me say it!” he growled. Tabby shook her head and kept talking.

Her body shuddered with every breath she drew in, her face paling.

I looked at Cain, wide-eyed as a stone dropped in my stomach.

“Tabby, stop the spell!” I called over the roar of the flames and wind.

She shook her head again. She gave my hand a squeeze as if that was meant to be reassuring.

It wasn’t.

Tabitha sniffled a second before blood started leaking from her nose. Fuck.

“No! Mom!” Cain yelled at her, trying to yank his hand free. Tabby squeezed it harder, refusing to let him go. Her eyes met his, then dragged to mine.

They were glowing pale yellow. Not the vibrant gold they were meant to be.

I shook my head at her. “Don’t. Not if this is the price,” I said, tears stinging in my eyes.

She didn’t let either of us go.

The wind and fire still roared.

The pain still existed.

The spell still continued.

And my magic still combined with the other half of itself.

Until Tabby finally stopped chanting.

The beast collapsed, silent.

Adrenna collapsed, and then Tabby.

Cain caught her as I rushed over to her. He pulled her hair off her damp face, while I tore a piece of hem from my shirt and dabbed at the blood under her nose.

I held her hand in mine, tears streaking down my cheeks at the look on her face. She was so pale, her lips too.

The wind and night were still. Silent.

The flames were embers now, and the pack was hovering.

A bitter sadness swelled up in me from them, especially from Cain. His pain was the worst.

I let it all in, helped take it on as my own pain crushed me.

“Tabby?” I whispered.

She smirked up at me from where her head lay on Cain’s lap.

“It’s alright, child. All magic requires a sacrifice,” she said softly back. I shook my head.

“Not this kind of sacrifice,” I cried.

“You knew before we started,” Cain bit back.

Tabitha reached up and pressed her hand to her son’s cheek. “Of course I did, Son. We all have a part to play, and this was mine. I accepted it. You need to too.”

“No. I won’t.” He shook his head, his voice wavering as a tear splattered on her hand from his eye.

“You must. And you must move on. The spell worked; my sacrifice has been accepted.”

“No, the fuck it hasn’t!” Cain snapped. He moved Tabby off him and shoved me over, leaning over her.

He put his hands over her, and they glowed. Until they didn’t. He tried again.

Tabby was still pale.

“Help me!” Cain growled at me, and I scrambled over to help him.

But we both knew it was not going to work. I tried anyway.

I put my hands over Tabby and tried to heal her with Cain.

Nothing happened.

“Mom, don’t okay? I need you, we need you. You’ve given everything; this isn’t right!” Cain shouted, the pain in his voice and heart infecting us all.

Tears ran freely as I sniffled, my heart clenched, my throat blocked.

Kai was there then, wrapping his arms around me, grabbing Tabby’s hand.

“I love you, Tabby,” he said, his voice thick as his own eyes wavered. “I will avenge you. The vampires will pay for forcing us into this path.”

Tabby smiled weakly and shook her head. “No, Nikolai, this was not the vampires. This was the realm. The path you’re on only ends in balance if both sides lose. Otherwise, it is not a balance.”

He rolled his eyes, then kissed her hand, laying it on her chest.

“You’re a crazy witch, but you’re ours, and we will remember you,” he said.

“You will.” She smiled, her breath shuddering.

“No,” I cried, turning into Kai who shook with his own emotion. His tears were wet on me as I accepted what was happening. Or tried to.

“Thank you,” I whispered to her. “For your sacrifice.”

She smiled between us but said nothing.

Brax and Derik came over with the twins.

My magic stirred inside me, and I swallowed at the pain that ached through my bones with it. I wasn’t sure if the pain was meant to continue, so I ignored it and moved over so the twins could see Tabby.

Her eyes went wide, then she grinned, her eyes closing.

“They absorbed the witches’ magic,” she chuckled breathily.

I frowned and looked at them.

“I thought Adrenna’s came to me? I felt it?” I asked.

“You absorbed Adrenna’s. That was the border magic; it belonged to you. The witch’s curse on the beast though? That was the witches’. Your children have that now. They must’ve seen the sparkles too,” Tabby winked up at me, then her eyes closed again.

Her breaths were shallow and slow as Cain held her to him. We all surrounded her, crying as she struggled to take each breath.

I was tired as she had predicted, my mind exhausted from the spell, but my body had none of that. It was still aching and throbbing. I winced as the pain clutched my bones in my ribs, a sharp pain stabbing me.

I sucked in a breath when it did it again.

“You okay?” Derik asked.

Brax was whispering to Tabby, and I tried to listen to what he was saying, but more pain stabbed my head.

“Ow,” I gritted out.

Brax turned to me, and Tabby peered around him. Her face broke out in a weak grin.

“It has begun,” she let out a final breath and fell into a peaceful sleep. One we knew she wouldn’t come out of.

Cain cried against her, holding her, rocking her as we all became silent, tears in all of our eyes.

I swallowed them down and nuzzled into Derik, who had Zale. I kissed them both as Kai laid Tabby’s shawl that had fallen off her shoulders over her body.

“I’ll take her to get prepped for burial. She’ll want to be near her swamp,” Cain sniffled, standing and lifting Tabby with him.

Nobody stopped him.

I turned into Derik and cried, my heart broken. It felt like my fault. I had insisted on the stupid spell.

“The spell worked,” a soft voice whispered from a few feet away.

I spun to the voice and looked over at Adrenna.

She was getting her shackles removed, looking over her body. Then she looked over at the beast.

But he wasn’t a beast anymore.

His body was human, naked, and slumped on the floor. He stirred and grunted, slowly rising from the ground.

I watched in fascination as the beast I knew stood up as a man.

As soon as his eyes fell on Adrenna, they lit up.

“Adie.” He grinned, then ran for her, and their mouths connected harshly.

I looked over at my mom and Galen.

“Take them to the human village. We’ll be in touch with details for Tabby’s funeral ceremony,” I murmured. Galen nodded solemnly, walking forward as Mom wiped her face of tears.

They interrupted the make-out session of the happy couple and led them away from the pack.

“Thank you,” Parker dipped his head toward me as Adrenna gave me a grateful look.

I nodded.

I couldn’t say more than that. Not when their happy ever after had cost Tabby’s life. I knew that wasn’t the only reason we had done it, but it felt like it when my magic felt the same in me.

Sure, I felt fuller, my magic heavier but not more powerful.

I curled into Derik again.

Until the pain lacerated me again. I winced, sucking in a breath.

I gripped my stomach as a searing ache tore through it.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked, standing up and coming to me. Brax held Enzi but looked up to me too.

“I don’t know,” I gritted out.

My magic swelled, and the touch of it on my bones fucking burned.

“My magic, I don’t know. It’s—” I screamed as it burned brighter and dropped to my knees.

There was a crack as my arm broke, my legs. I collapsed to the ground, my sobs turning to whimpers.

My claws extended, scratching against the cobblestone, my gums bled, releasing canines.

I snapped my head up to my Alphas, their scents filling me.

“Fuck,” Derik was wide-eyed.

“Yes.” Brax grinned.

Kai smirked, kneeling down to me. “It’s going to be okay, Little Luna.”

“How the hell do you know? What’s happening to me?!”

My alphas all smiled, an excitement in their eyes.

“You’re shifting, beautiful,” Derik said softly.

“You’re turning into a wolf, Spitfire. And we can’t fucking wait.”