The Alpha's Curse The Enemy Within

I was forced to step out of the castle and keep watch over the pack during the ball. My conversation with Sheila a few hours ago left me completely worried, especially about her dreams, and that worried me more. Maybe we should have canceled the ball after all.

The pack had invited many guests to attend from within North Central and beyond, and because of that, we had lowered the protection spell guarding the pack. | was outside in the darkness when I felt the sudden shift in the air. It was almost unnoticeable, but felt it.

1 pulled up the hood of my cloak, covering my hair properly. | sauntered back to the castle, heading to the ball in search of Lorenzo.

“Come with me," 1 left the grand hall with Lorenzo and we headed to the northern borders of the pack.

“What's happening, Val?" Lorenzo asked, glancing sideways.

“I don't know, there's a slight shift in the air, | can't describe it. Can't you feel it?" | asked, and he shook his head. This wasn't just paranoia; I could feel the sick shift in the air current. | tuned to Lorenzo. "We must raise the protection spell, covering the entire pack,” | said, and Lorenzo's brows furrowed.

“No one will be able to go in or out,” he began and I nodded right away.

“Precisely,” | hurried to the borderline of the Packs territory. Lorenzo caught up with me, and | gripped his hand to channel as much magic as possible that will be needed to cover the entire pack.

We were halfway into raising the protection spell when a veil appeared up in the sky, covering the entire pack.

“What the hell is that?" | heard Lorenzo mutter behind me, and the fear in my gut rose.

“It's trouble,” | muttered under my breath, “It's a black veil. We are stripped of our magic, and—" my words got stuck as several balls of flames fell from the veil, scattering around the Pack.

“Bloody hell, it's heading for the witches’ quarters,” Lorenzo's voice filtered into the night.

“This is exactly what Sheila feared. They are here for her,” I sounded, feeling a churn within me.

“Who are they?" “The Dark Circle, and they've cut us off. Oh goodness, we need to move now, Lorenzo. We need to help,” | hastened back to our horses.

“What's the plan? We need to inform Killian," Lorenzo was behind me.

“With the looks of things, he already knows. Everyone knows,” | was

about to get on my horse when we were surrounded by the Dark Circle minions. Feral wolves. And they were rogues too. They kept spilling into the borders.

1 got on my horse, and so did Lorenzo, as he unsheathed his sword dangling around his waist.

“To the west. We have to get to the cemetery!” | yelled at him, as | kicked my horse into motion, heading to the one place where | could put an end to this. The witches’ cemetery. It was at the western borders and the only place that wasn't affected by the veil. As we kept moving, a few wolves came after us, catching up with us.

Lorenzo slowed his fast speed on his horse. “Il catch up with you,” he pulled his horse around to face the wolves behind us.

“Lorenzo, be careful," | voiced in worry, sending one glance at him before racing on my horse.

I headed to the cemetery, | could hear the howling sounds echo in the smoky darkness and the stench of death mixed with it. It reminded me of the time the Crystal Fortress was attacked and also, the Black Blood Pack. | couldn't let what happened several years ago repeat itself. The Dark Circle mustn't get their hands on Sheila.

I kept on moving in a hurry, my hands firmly holding onto the reins of the horse. Time was running out. I had to get to the cemetery and tear down the veil. We needed all the help we could get, and that included the Council.

From afar, | could see the witches’ cemetery come into view. | glanced behind me, and Lorenzo hasn't caught up with me yet. The veil had to be lifted, for the sake of everyone, including the coven.

1 alighted from my horse, racing into the cemetery. As soon as | crossed through the entrance, | felt my magic once more, coursing through my veins. | breathed in relief. The runic symbols that were etched on each corner pillar, the walls, and the earth had life in them

as they glowed in the darkness. The magical symbols were protecting the cemetery from the veil's effect.

Every witch from the coven that had lost their life was buried here.

The magic was in the air, and exactly what | needed to tear down the veil and ask for help.

I moved with haste, finding the center of the cemetery. | grabbed the small dagger from under my long dress, slitting my palm and in an instant, blood rushed from my palm.

1 used my blood to make a large symbol on the ground. My purple eyes glanced at the veil covering the air, and | stepped into the symbol and began chanting. | needed all the magic | could channel.

The magic keeping the veil up was too powerful. | sought nature's magic, gaining access to the earth's magic and every atom | could find around the cemetery.

| continued chanting, attempting to tear down the veil when | felt

another presence in the cemetery. | pulled my eyes open and Lorenzo came into view. His clothes were drenched in blood, and on his shoulder, he held an almost lifeless body, while his hand dragged another of the Dark Circle minions who was also a second from joining his ancestors.

“Why did you bring them here?" He tossed them against the ground, moving closer to where | was.

“They will be of help. They are everywhere. Vampires and rogues.

Things are bad outside, Valerie, we need to do something,” he used, his magic and stopped his bleeding, stepping into the symbol, and we began chanting.

It took a while, but Lorenzo and | managed to create a crack in the magic holding the veil, and soon, we were able to tear it down. It took away an enormous amount of magic from me.

1 breathed weakly as my purple eyes lifted to the sky and the veil was no more. | met Lorenzo's gaze. “You have to go and help the others.”

“And you?" My eyes fell on the bodies he had brought here. And he was right.

They would be of great use to get rid of the Dark Circle army.

“I will finish it all from here. But please, find Sheila and protect her." The skin on Lorenzo's forehead folded, he knew exactly what | was thinking. “They are an army. There's no way you can take them all at once in this state, the veil took a lot from you. What you are proposing will consume you and itl be disastrous.” I held his hand firmly. "No. The Dark Lord getting his hands on the white wolf will be destruction itself. Find her and protect her at all cost.” 1 pushed him away. There was no time to argue.

He spared me one last look, before exiting the cemetery. As soon as he left, | used my magic and blood to create an urgent message. Only the heavens know what will become of this night, but | had to inform the Council heads and Leonardo of what was going on.

It was paramount that we stopped the Dark Circle's army from leaving with the white wolf. For the first time, | admitted the fear in my heart, and | prayed to the heavens that tonight doesn't become another tragedy. Using my magic, | conjured an old symbol up in the night sky. It was that of the Crystal Fortress and was used for desperate situations. Anyone seeing it would know exactly what it meant.

I moved to the bodies; the wolf was still alive. He was badly injured by Lorenzo's sword and wasn't healing from the effect of the wolfsbane, while the vampire was dead. But they'll both do.

I slit the wrist of both of them, allowing their blood to soak the earth.

The ritual | was about to perform was deadly and required a lot of

magic. | would be linking their blood to every wolf and vampire that was within the pack and belonged to the Dark Circle. That way, if these imbeciles ended up dead, the same would happen to every of the Dark Circle rogues and vampires.

1 got to work, channeling all the magic around, filling up my energy and | began the ritual, creating a connection.

1 pushed my eyes closed and started chanting, shutting my external senses. | dived deep into my essence, now gaining permission from the earth's magic. | could feel its magic rushing in, the feeling was so familiar.

Without delay, | began channeling the earth's magic. Earth magic is the oldest form of magic and surprisingly, this territory has magic buried in the earth. Its magic is pure and dangerous as well when witches push beyond their limit. | could feel the earth's elements and forces of nature welcoming me.

1 fought against the exhaustion that slowly invaded my body, alerting me that | was pushing hard and exerting my energy. I felt the warm fluid that flowed from my nose in a warning. The ritual was draining me but | couldn't stop now, letting all my efforts so far be wasted. | was almost done.

1 gasped weakly, falling to my knees. It was done. I felt my blood absconding me and the comers of my eyes burned like hell. | couldn't feel anything, and my vision was covered by complete darkness. | collapsed on the ground.