Chapter 324

Nathan

The morning light was just beginning to break over the horizon, casting soft rays through the nursery window.

I found myself staring at the twins as they slept. They looked so cozy and warm, swaddled in their cribs, their little chests rising and falling with each innocent breath. The urge to protect them tightened around my heart like a vice, and that was precisely why I decided to slip out early to get to work.

Quietly, I backed out of the room, pulling the door shut with the gentlest click.

I had to make a decision today—a dangerous, irreversible decision—and I needed to plan it out. My feet carried me out of the house and through the town, finally stopping at the Council building.

As soon as I entered my office, I picked up the phone. “Levi, I need you and the others here. Urgent meeting. Ten minutes.”

Levi’s voice crackled through the phone, tinged with both concern and curiosity. “Alright, Alpha. We’ll be there.”

True to their word, Levi and a handful of my other trusted pack members filed into the office moments later. The atmosphere was thick with anticipation as they sat down.

I dove right in, not wanting to waste any time. “We’re dealing with a witch—a real one—and she’s a threat. We need to take her down. The plan is to trap her inside her hut, neutralize her magic with a salt circle, and set the place on fire.”

A murmur ran through the room.

“Why the urgency, Nathan?” Levi broke the silence, his eyes meeting mine. He was the only one here who was privy to my dilemma, and I wanted to keep it that way.

“It’s personal,” I said, my voice harder than I’d intended. “And it involves the safety of the entire pack.”

If they had questions, they kept them to themselves. Levi knew better than to reveal my reasons, and the gravity of the situation was sinking in. “Alright,” he said. “We’re with you, Alpha.”

“But,” Levi continued, cautiously choosing his words, “if we’re going after a witch, we should make sure she’s actually there. A scout could verify. Otherwise, showing up with a dozen people might just scare her off.”

I leaned back in my chair, letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding. “That’s a good idea, Levi. Scout first, then we move.”

Levi nodded, signaling to one of our swifter members to carry out the order. Once the scout was dispatched, I turned my attention to some lingering Alpha duties to fill the time and keep my mind occupied.

Papers were signed, decisions made, but all the while, my mind was elsewhere.

Suddenly, the phone on my desk buzzed, snapping me out of my thoughts. Olivia’s name, along with a picture of her and the twins, flashed on the screen. I picked up, apprehension building within me.

“Nathan, why did you leave this morning without saying anything? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” Olivia’s voice was sharp, cutting through the phone before I even had the chance to say hello.

“I had to make some arrangements,” I responded, maybe a little defensively. “You have nothing to worry about. When I come home tonight, the witch will be dead.”

There was a pause on the other end. “You sound so certain.”

“That’s because I am,” I said, my voice unwavering.

Olivia paused for a few moments. I could practically sense her disbelief through the phone, and honestly, I wasn’t so sure if I felt entirely different from her. But when she finally spoke, her voice was soft. “I love you, Nathan. Just... please, be careful, okay? Come home to us. In one piece, preferably.”

I found myself hesitating, my lips slightly parted.

My frustration toward Olivia bubbled up, but then Layla’s words echoed in my head—be more understanding. She was right. The anger dissipated, replaced by something deeper, softer.

“I love you too, Olivia. So much.”

…

The tension was palpable when the scout, a young guy named Tyler, burst into my office. “Alpha, her hut’s still there, right where we suspected. Saw her through the window. She was walking around, didn’t seem to have a clue.”

“Good. Gather the men. Levi, brief them on the way. We’re heading out immediately.”

Levi gave me a quick nod and left the room, his footsteps brisk and filled with purpose. As for me, every muscle in my body was coiled like a spring. This was it. The witch who had been terrorizing my family would soon meet her end, and we would be safe again.

Hopefully.

“Alpha, should we bring any special equipment? Silver knives, blessed water?” Tyler asked, his voice coming across just as hesitant as one would expect.

“No,” I said, meeting his gaze with a stern look. “Just bring yourselves and your wits. We’re more than enough.”

Tyler nodded and quickly exited the room, leaving me alone in a space suddenly too small for my thoughts. I took a deep breath, grounding myself. My mind momentarily flickered to Olivia and the twins.

But I shook my head to dispel the thought; I needed to focus.

Minutes later, we were at the forest’s edge, just outside the pack’s territory. The moon hung low in the sky, casting bluish white light through the trees and onto the forest floor.

Each of us felt the transformation pulling at our senses, urging us to shift. With a collective, almost silent agreement, we became wolves, our clothes merging into our forms as fur sprouted from skin.

We moved stealthily, our paws barely making a sound on the forest floor. Our eyes were adjusted to the darkness, each movement calculated, every sense heightened.

“Keep close, eyes peeled,” I communicated through the pack link. “We can’t afford mistakes.”

“Understood, Alpha,” came the unified response.

Our formation was tight as we moved closer to where the hut should be. I felt Levi’s presence next to me, sturdy and reliable. I had never thought that he would wind up becoming my right-hand man, but I was glad he did. I trusted him with my life at this point.

“We’re close, Nathan,” he signaled, using the more personal channel that allowed us to speak privately even in wolf form. “Remember, witches are cunning. We must be cautious.”

“I know,” I replied, feeling the first seeds of doubt beginning to plant in my stomach, as though my body somehow knew that something was wrong..

Then we arrived. Just as my body predicted, the spot was empty, devoid of the hut that should have stood there. Only the residual magic remained, shimmering and then dissipating like mist. The hut had vanished.

Disbelief and frustration boiled within me, and I sensed similar emotions from the pack. We shifted back into human form, clothes materializing as we did. The atmosphere was thick with disappointment and confusion.

“What the hell just happened?” Tyler blurted out, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Levi spoke before I could, his tone filled with regret. “Witches, especially the older ones, have the ability to teleport their huts. Some even give them legs to walk away. Like Baba Yaga.”

I kicked a rock in frustration, watching as it hurtled through the air and crashed into a tree. “So she knew we were coming, is that it?” My voice was a bitter blend of anger and regret.

“It’s likely,” Levi said. “Or she had some protective spells up that alerted her. Either way, looks like we’re shit out of luck. For tonight, at least.”

A growl escaped my lips involuntarily. Layla’s warning echoed in my mind: witches are tricksters. It wasn’t going to be simple, and I had been foolish to think otherwise.

“So, what now, Nathan?” Levi asked. His eyes were probing, as if trying to gauge my state of mind.

“We’ll regroup,” I said, forcing the words out. “We’ll hunt this damn witch down if we have to. I swear, by the end of the month, she’ll be nothing but ashes.”