“What about Lucy?” Guy asked this time.
“We don’t know the entire details. Adele and Kyle were approached,” Matthew said.
“We had gone running down by a lake when the witch and warlock stumbled upon us,” Adele said. “It was the first time I’d ever been afraid.”
“They were covered in blood, cut up, and terrified,” Kyle said.
“We didn’t have enough time, and they transported us to the pack. Right here.” Adele placed her palm on the table. “In a nutshell, they had met, fallen in love, and she had gotten pregnant with Lucy. The couple had been on the run trying to find a place to raise their child. No matter where they went, their covens were after them.”
“Okay, I get it, two people met, fell in love, and the whole Romeo and Juliet shit—what does this have to do with Lucy?” Caleb asked.
“Witches tend to fuck other paranormal beings, demons, vampires, and even wolves. They never mate with warlocks. Lucy is the most powerful witch on the planet as her genetics are made up of both witch and warlock,” Adele said.
“Her emotions are the key at the moment to her tapping into her powers. It’s dangerous.” Emma blew out a breath. “We can’t let her leave.”
“Bianca’s my mate, and she’s trying to take her with her.” Guy finally spoke up, and everyone went silent.
“Bianca?” Matthew asked.
“Yes.”
“Does your father know?”
“Yes.”
“Why haven’t you claimed her?” Emma asked.
Caleb smirked as his friend started to blush. There was nothing like an alpha female to make a male feel small.
“He’s worried about the other women who he’s been with,” Caleb said, giving his friend some reprieve from his mother’s questions.
“Bianca’s a sub. I don’t want her getting hurt.”
“The moment you declare her as your mate, she won’t be challenged,” Emma said.
“My past, erm, lovers, they’ve been pretty determined in mating me.” Guy was a bright red.
Emma rolled her eyes. “This is why men are clueless.”
“Either way, babe, we can’t let Lucy take Bianca away. It will drive Guy nuts, and she won’t survive out in the world with her wolf,” Matthew said.
“She’s going out hunting for them,” Adele said.
“Who?” Caleb asked.
“Her parents. Her coven, and if she finds them, she’s in for a rude awakening. They will kill her to harness her power,” Kyle said.
“So we don’t let her get it. I’ll distract her,” Caleb said.
“What?” This came from both his mother and father.
“I’ll distract Lucy, give her something to stay for.” The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.
“I was going to give her the book that was handed to us for safekeeping,” Adele said. She leaned down and lifted up a bag.
Caleb watched as she carefully removed the book, without touching it, from the bag. There, before him, bound in leather, was the first ever witches’ book he’d seen.
Reaching for the book, he lifted it up, and his parents yelled at him to release it.
Everyone, apart from Guy, had gotten to their feet.
“What’s going on?” Caleb asked. He held the book in his hand. It was heavy, but he didn’t see anything wrong with it.
“That means he’s connected to her,” Emma said.
His father stared at him, assessing. “You’re not feeling any pain?”
“None, why?”
“No reason. You’re happy to keep Lucy distracted?”
“Yep.” Placing the book inside the bag, he stepped back from the table.
Matthew turned toward Adele. “Give her the book, and she’ll probably want to experiment. It’s going to get rather interesting around Wolf Valley.”
“Come on,” Caleb said, seeing that his parents wanted to talk without them. “Let’s go hunting.”
****
“Your son is destined to die,” Kyle said, the moment Caleb was out of the house.
Matthew stared at the book which his son had picked up without any fear. No wolf or immortal could handle a magical book. The power was locked to Lucy, and only she was able to hold the book, apart from her mated partner.
Reaching for the book, Matthew tried to touch it, and the moment his fingers grazed the bound book, he recoiled and cursed as his hand burned.
The fire was like the pits of hell, or at least how he imagined the pits of hell to be.
“Fuck!”
“Lucy is Caleb’s mate,” Emma said.
“The prophecy we were told states that the mate will die in protecting Lucy,” Adele said.
Lucy’s real parents had not only come to them bearing the offering of Lucy, they had come with the prophecy which foretold of a great witch. Like all prophecies, they were subjective, and could mean anything. If Lucy was allowed to be pulled toward the dark side, she would be lost, and a great evil would be released upon the world, creating an eternal darkness.
If she stayed good, a battle would commence that would see her animal killed in her place.
Either way, his son was in danger.
Staring into his mate’s eyes, he saw she feared the worst. “We won’t let that happen.”
“We can’t stop the future.”
“We can. Lucy was raised by all of us. She is part of this pack, and I will not let any member of my pack be hurt. Lucy is not a wolf, but she is family. I, myself, have cared for her, and I have watched as Caleb has waited for her. There is more to that prophecy than we know. We will fight together as a family, as a pack. I will not lose my son to witches.” He slammed his hand down on the table, and stood. “Lucy doesn’t leave the pack. I will protect them.”
“We’re going to have to tell the pack the truth, Matthew,” Emma said.
“No. The more pack that knows the less chance she has of actually surviving. They will cast her out believing she is evil.” Matthew shook his head. He had once had those same fears, and he’d come to see differently of himself, and of witches. From afar, he’d watched Lucy grow. She’d been an adorable chubby baby, the most endearing toddler, and she had won his heart, and that of his son years ago.
He’d not been blind to his son’s infatuation or even his interest in Lucy. When she was younger Caleb was always there near her. Caleb was the one who’d sat with her when she’d fallen out of the tree, and nearly broken her neck.
Matthew should have seen it before. There was always this connection between the two, and Caleb had never taken any of the women he’d screwed as a mate.
Wolves couldn’t just mate to anyone. He’d heard of some wolves agreeing to a mating even though they hadn’t found their destined mate, and that always ended up badly.
“Do you really think we can protect everyone?” Emma asked.
“We don’t have a choice. We’ve got to protect the pack, and we’ve got to protect Caleb and his mate.”
“Do you think he knows?”
“He doesn’t have a clue that Lucy is his mate. I hope he’s ready for the truth when it finally comes out.”
Chapter Three
The following day Lucy made her way back to the creek with her spellbook in hand. What was she supposed to call it? Her parents had surprised her last night with the book that had been with her when they found her. They had been worried about her having a book they didn’t understand, and if she was completely honest, she was terrified of using it. What if she couldn’t make the magic work? The only time she’d been successful was when her emotions had been crazy.
Bianca was staying at home for the day, and she didn’t want her friend to be close in case some of the spells, or whatever the hell they were called, were dangerous.
“This is crazy, Lucy. You’re going near a creek, deep in the forest to learn some spells. Spells you don’t have a clue how they work, or even if you want them to work. Completely crazy.” She held the book against her chest, and paused as she made her way out of the thick line of trees, and looked toward the calming creek.
Placing the book on the ground, she had to wonder how damn old the book actually was. Cringing at the thought of the binding being made of animal skin, she reached into her bag and placed it on the floor. Taking a seat in the center, she crossed her legs, reached for the book, and took several deep breaths.
“You can do this, Lucy. It’s easy. You just open the book.”
She opened the book, and something started to happen to the pages, and she quickly closed it.
“It happens all the time. The ink on pages moves. It’s nothing. You’re not going to die.”
Her heart was racing, and she closed her eyes. Horror had never been her strong point, not watching it or dealing with it.
“It’s a book. It’s a book. It’s a book.”
Opening the book, she forced herself to watch as the lines on the page focused in, and started to make sense to her.
The book made no sense, and then suddenly, she understood what each word meant. Something glowed underneath her palm, and when she turned the book over, her handprint was on the front cover of the book. She watched as the book seemed to absorb her print, and glow warm. On the cover of the book, her name appeared, and she was overcome with such joy.