Defiance

03.

Chapter 3

A L D R I C

"Beta Aldric. There's a problem." It was Lucius, my second in command.

"I have to go back to see Ella. You can tell me later."

Ella's weak form comes to my mind. My little sister had nearly died. She had been captured and tortured and I wasn't able to stop it. I tried to ignore the boulder that sat on my chest. I promised myself that I wouldn't let a witch ever get her hands on the people I loved. I had failed but I was going to make sure I never fail again. 

The witches of the village were going to have a storm come after them. Every single one of them was going to beg forgiveness. Ella's back was sliced and she had been crying and screaming for what felt like days. I had finally left the infirmary. If I heard her in pain again, I was going to end up setting the whole village on fire. But the wolves say she's live. She'll be okay. They told me to be patient.

I wanted to laugh in their faces. When have I ever been patient?

The witches bought a war to their home. They will never be forgiven.

"Beta. There's a witch in our woods," Lucius said. His voice was shaking, almost as if he was terrified. But Lucius wasn't a coward. Normally, he knew the drill. If a witch was stupid enough to come into this deep in the Woods, she would be dead.

"Kill her. It's not that hard, Lucius," I answered.

"Beta - I would have. But her scent is the same as the cloak Ella came back in."

Cloak. Ella was wearing a burgundy velvet cloak around her body when the wolves saw her. She had been in her wolf form and it was obvious she had run a long distance. But the second she saw me, she fell back and transformed back into the human form. To see that she was alive - to know that she was breathing - For the first time in my life, I felt my rage rest back into my body.

But that cloak. Everything on that cloak smelled wrong. The second I had its scent, my wolf thought - mate. Except that was impossible. That burgundy cloak belonged to a witch. There was magic coated on every inch of that cloak. I could smell the magic. But I could smell the strange scent that almost brought me to my knees. The witch must have charmed it. She must have hexed the cloak.

"Bring her to me right now."

_

Mate.

If it was possible for my breathing to stop, I think for a second, it did.

Control. 

Control.

The second I meet her eyes, the dark brown eyes, my wolf cried out inside. I couldn't stop staring at her. She had an angular face, brown skin, large brown eyes, full lips. Her hair was a mess and she was shivering uncontrollably. I could feel her body shaking. To me, she was the most beautiful woman to walk the realm. 

But her body looked so weak. The color was out of her eyes. Her dress was soaked and stuck to her body, showing every curve. I could see the fear in her eyes. At the same time, I could see her strength. With each step, she was trying to escape. She had been yelling and screaming. Lucius held her roughly and I had every intention of pushing him away before I caught her scent. 

She was a witch.

That was impossible.

She wasn't supposed to be real.

This was some magic trick.

"Let me go!" she hissed at Lucius. "I'm not going to hurt anyone!"