Hazel tried to pull her hand away, but Ryan’s grip stayed firm.
“Tell me,” he said in a low voice.
“How much do you hate me now?”
Hazel’s frown deepened.
“You are not even worthy of my hatred, Ryan.”
Ryan gave her a painful smile and nodded slowly.
“That is what I want to hear. You do not belong to me. You belong to someone better than me.”
Rita glared at him and sneered.
“Enough with your sad poem! Didn’t you say you would let her go? You want to die?”
She grabbed Hazel’s arm and pulled her toward the big tree in the garden.
Then she suddenly stopped and stared at the tree with a strange look.
“Something is wrong here,” she muttered.
“A dark witch has been coming to this place. This is their kind of magic.”
She raised her voice.
“Stay together!”
“Oh, please, I am not your—” Hazel started.
“One minute left!” Rita cut her off.
“My illusion of you staying with the guards will not last long once they arrive!”
Hazel glanced at Ryan.
He stood with his back to them, a sword already in his hand.
As if he felt her eyes on him, he turned around.
Their eyes met for a short second.
Then everything flashed white.
When Hazel could see again, they were standing in front of an old, huge gate deep in a dark forest.
Thick trees surrounded them.
The air felt cold and heavy.
Rita sighed and looked at the large padlock on the gate.
“Stay back.”
Hazel watched carefully.
Rita’s playful face became completely serious.
Her eyes turned bright blue.
A soft blue energy rose from her hands.
Without touching the padlock, she made a small pulling motion with her fingers.
The heavy iron padlock twisted and ripped apart in mid-air.
Black liquid that looked like blood dripped from the broken metal and fell to the ground.
Hazel’s eyes widened.
“Why is the padlock bleeding?” she whispered.
“Let’s go!” Rita said quickly.
“The other witches must have noticed us.”
They stepped through the open gate and entered a huge abandoned palace.
The building was very large and looked like a haunted house.
Cold air pressed against their skin.
“Why did they put him here?” Hazel asked in a worried voice as Rita pushed the main doors open with force.
Hazel gasped.
Turned out they were far away from her father’s pack.
Even though the colours had turned dark and almost black with age, the place still looked rich and grand.
Gold patterns could still be seen on the walls.
Tall windows were broken.
Dust covered everything.
“It is obvious no one fought the witches for what they did,” Hazel said softly.
“It is complicated,” Akeelah answered.
“The Moon Goddess told us to stay out of it. We still do not know why she wants you to be the one who wakes him.”
Hazel glanced at Janet.
The older girl looked sad.
What Rita had said earlier clearly hurt her.
Hazel lowered her voice.
“The person she talked about… is that her mate?”
Akeelah’s face turned serious.
“No. He is another powerful man she loved very much.”
Hazel frowned.
“What about her real mate? Is he also at the headquarters?”
Akeelah gave a bitter smile.
“Yes. He is one of the Alphas, but Janet rejected him.”
Hazel stopped walking.
“What?”
Akeelah sighed.
“What could she do? He is a foreigner and new to the headquarters, an Alpha from another country. He already has a wife and children. He told her he did not care about her at all.” She kicked a dry skull that lay on the floor.
“Janet is much stronger and older, so…”
“Enough!” Rita suddenly roared.
“You picked the wrong time to gossip!”
She walked up to Hazel and frowned deeper.
“Forget the red lines you are seeing.”
Only then did Hazel notice it.
A thin glowing red line had appeared around her right hand.
It stretched forward and disappeared under the closed door in front of them.
Hazel stared at it in awe.
She had always longed to feel a mate bond.
She thought she would never experience it in her life.
“The other witches are here,” Rita said quickly.
“Once I open this door, your only job is to open that coffin and put your blood in his mouth!”
Hazel froze.
Janet’s claws began to grow.
Her eyes turned gold as she stepped forward to face the witches who were now appearing in the hallway.
Akeelah pulled out her sword and glared at Sarah, who stood among them with a smirk.
“Not only are you a traitor,” Akeelah said coldly, “you are also a desperate bitch!”
Sarah burst into laughter. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Look who is hiding behind a witch.” She nodded toward Rita.
Rita’s eyes glowed bright blue again.
She stepped forward.
Several of the lesser witches stepped back in fear.
“Take her inside!” Rita ordered.
“Her blood will break any spell around that coffin!” Blue flames rose from her hands.
“I will deal with them.”
“But… she is a royal witch…” one of the enemy witches whispered in fear.
” I thought the queen witch was the last royal witch!!”
Janet nodded.
She carefully cut a small line across Hazel’s palm.
Bright red blood started to drip.
Akeelah pushed the heavy door open, and they pulled Hazel into the dark room.
Outside, the fighting began.
Rita’s blue flames exploded outward.
Several witches were thrown far away.
They hit the walls and fell with blood coming from their mouths.
None of them stood up again.
Sarah transformed into her wolf form and leapt forward.
Janet caught her by the neck in mid-air.
“I trained your mother how to fight; it’s obvious she thought you were what I thought her to be,” Janet said coldly.
With one sharp move, she snapped Sarah’s neck and threw the body hard through a broken window.
The remaining witch soldiers stepped back in terror.
Inside the room, Hazel stood frozen.
In the centre stood a beautiful yet dangerous black glass coffin.
Four strange symbols — the same ones from her dream — glowed faintly on its surface.
The heavy energy around it disappeared the moment Akeelah splashed some of Hazel’s blood onto the glass.
The blood made hot smoke rise from the coffin.
Akeelah grinned happily.
“Welcome back, Alpha—”
Suddenly an invisible force lifted her into the air.
She struggled and kicked, but could not free herself.
A cold figure stepped into the room.
It was Sunny, the purple-haired witch from the Witch Kingdom, second-in-command.
“Who said you could wake him up?” Sunny asked in a calm, dangerous voice.
Akeelah fought for breath.
“Hazel… go! Their magic cannot work on you because of your blood… ahh… open the coffin and put your blood in his mouth… now!”
Sunny smirked and looked at the witches behind her.
“Get her.”
Then she turned back to Akeelah with cold eyes.
“You think you can trick me with Rita’s little illusion?”