Chapter 16

"Is anyone there?" A dark voice called out. A shiver ran down my back as I looked up to see a man dressed in all black step out of the shadows. He had black eyeliner around his silver eyes, which only made him look even more dark.

I picked my head up from my knees and looked at the man. "Why, dear," he said. "Why are you crying? Come now. A girl as beautiful as you shouldn't be crying on a rock in the woods."

I quickly wiped my tear-stained cheeks and climbed off the rock. "I-" I started to say, but he cut me off. "Who's that calling for you?" he asked.

The thought of Percy made more tears run down my face. The large man stepped closer and with his gloved hand, wiped them away. His hand burned my skin (no pun intended) and I took a couple steps back. "Who are you?" I asked.

He grinned a wicked smile. "My name is Edmund, my dear, and what would be yours?"

"Crys-Christine." Something told me to lie and get the heck away from this man. I started to turn and leave, but he ran around me and blocked my path with his large form.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Yes, I was. Now if you'll excuse me," I said as I tried to sidestep the man. He stuck out his arm and caught me before I could go further. I let a small yelp at the fast movement, but that only seemed to make him smile even more as he flung me back. I flew into the rock and fell onto the ground with the sheer force of his throw. I looked up at him and when I saw his eyes glowing and his canines lengthening, I knew who he was. He was one of the insane Alphas and from the look on my face, he must have saw that I knew. "You're not going anywhere, Crystal Waters." He rushed forward at me, but I just barely managed to escape his massive arms.

I scrambled to my feet and ran straight into the arms of the other Alpha. He had long blonde hair and tattoos running up each arm. I kicked and struggled to get out of Blondie's  iron hold. When a lock of his hair fell out of his ponytail from trying to hold me, I yanked it as hard as I could. He howled in pain and stepped away from me, holding his head.

I started running toward the only other way that wasn't blocked by an Alpha and was just about to break into the woods, when Edmund yelled, "Stop or your friend will never see the light of day again!"

I stopped in my tracks. I slowly turned to face the two Alphas. My hands vanished as flames began to ignite at my fingertips. They started to wrap around my arms, but I was immune to the fire. "What are you two idiots talking about?" I know, don't go enraging an already provoked werewolf, especially when there are two, but I felt like I could do some serious damage with my fire.

"Ah, so you do care about your little human friend. Riley, is it?" The one with blonde hair said. Edmund motioned for a third stranger to come out of the shadows.

A shorter but still very muscular man stepped into the clearing. He brought Riley with him who was floating in mid air. Dark green swirls wrapped around her but since she was unconscious, she didn't notice them. The man looked to be in his early twenties, but in this world, you can't rely on looks. A three-hundred-year-old werewolf could only look thirty years old. He light brown hair and piercing icy blue eyes. He looked like he didn't want to be here, like he didn't want what was happening to be happening. Once the Alphas addressed him though, the look vanished and in its place was a look of pure malice.

"Terrell, here, has your friend in a sleeping spell. Either you come with us and she lives or you can run back to your Perseus and Riley, here ,will die." The Blondie smiled at having me caught between my best friend and Percy.

As if my eternal pain wasn't enough, Edmund nodded at Terrell and the warlock raised his hands. The green swirls grew tighter around Riley until they were so tight she couldn't breathe. She struggled to breathe, but Terrell wouldn't loosen his hold.

When I couldn't stand to see Riley suffocating any longer, I shouted, "Enough! Alright." I opened the bond one last time and reached out to Percy. He was worrying about me, angry that he couldn't get to me, and upset at having been tricked. I frowned a little. What did he mean that he was tricked? I didn't have long to think about though because once he noticed my presence in his mind, I whispered, I'm sorry, Percy.

Crystal! What's going on?!

I pulled away from his mind as I looked at Riley, the warlock, and the two Alphas. "If you promise that Riley will live and no harm will come to her from you two, I will go with you."

"You have our word that your Riley will live and we will not lay a hand on her."

Faster than my mind could comprehend, dark green swirls surrounded the Alphas, warlock, Riley, and me. I had a feeling that I would never see Percy again as the world faded away into the darkness.

~~~

The next thing I knew, I was waking up on top of a bed. I propped myself up on one elbow and opened my eyes. The walls were a dark red with black accents. The bedspread was purple with black designs. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. The wooden floors were cold beneath my bare feet. When I looked down, I saw that I was in different clothes. I was in a black dress that had a sweetheart neckline and a lace bodice. There were thin straps holding the dress up on my shoulders. To take a step, I had to hold the dress up or risk tripping and falling on my face.

It was only when I took a step when I realized that someone had had to undress me and put me in new clothes. A shiver ran through me as I thought of one of the Alphas undressing me while I was unaware. My hands immediately became enlightened with flames as I walked toward the only door in the room. I tried to open it but it was locked. I let out a huff and concentrated on the lock. I pictured it unlocking in my mind and heard the click. I didn't know how I did that trick, but my mind was solely focused on finding a way out of the hell hole that I was now in.

I turned right down a hallway that was lit with torches every five feet. I didn't get transported back in time did I? I tried to reach out to Percy, but something was blocking the bond. It wasn't me and I knew for sure it wasn't a wall that Percy had put up. It was like a misty cloud that distorted the rope tying Percy and I together. I tried to reach beyond past it, but I immediately felt dizzy and nauseous. I leaned against a red wall for support. Well, I guess that I'm going to have to communicate with Percy by phone then. Wait a minute. He doesn't even want me anymore. He's probably rejoicing right now that I'm gone because he can take that little skank as his mate and not have to worry about me killing her.

A small growl escaped my lips at that thought. Even though Percy didn't want me, I still wanted him. Darn my pathetic girly feelings. I rounded another corner and came across two big double doors. They looked grand enough to be the doors that had to lead to outside. Just as a reached for the golden handle, I heard the Alphas' and Terrrel's voices. I opened the door a nudge and peeked in. The Alphas' backs were to me and I couldn't see Terrell on the other side of their massive forms.

"The girl did nothing. She is innocent. Let her go free," Terrell demanded. Yes, let the girl, who is me, go free please!

Edmund said, "She can be used to get the witch to cooperate and meet our demands. She stays." Well, I'm obviously the witch so who is...Riley! They said they wouldn't hurt her!

"You promised to Crystal that you wouldn't harm the girl in any way," Terrell retorted. Exactly! Wait a second, why is this evil warlock on my side? Is this a trick?Oh, if only if I could see his face to see if he is telling the truth!

Blondie looked at Edmund. "The warlock is right. We did give her our word."

Edmund brought his hand to his face, probably to scratch his stubbly chin. "I guess I will not break my promise to my future mate." At that comment, Blondie snarled at Edmund. Edmund pulled back his right hand and punched the blond Alpha straight in the jaw. Blondie flew back into the wall and slid down onto the floor. He immediately picked himself up and was about to punch Edmund back when the warlock used his green magic to bind the Alpha's feet and legs together.

"Enough!" he shouted. The Alphas easily broke the green bonds around their feet and stood up. They snarled at the warlock but made no move toward him. "Now, I know that you both don't like each other and are only here for the witch to be one of your mates, but you have to stop fighting before neither of you are here to be the witch's mate. How about the human stays with me in my quarters? We don't have a dungeon to keep her locked up in because it was destroyed in the war, so my place is the next best place. She can't escape my magic and Crystal won't be able to reach her. You also have access to her in case you need her, which I highly doubt. Fair enough?"

The Alphas glared at the warlock before nodding their heads once. As they turned to leave, I ducked out of the small opening and ran back to my room. I locked it up again and pretended to still be out cold.

As I lied my head down on the pillows, the door unlocked and the men walked into my room. "Wake her up," Edmund said. I felt something come over me and I was forced to open my eyes. I saw green swirls and knew that Terrell used his magic to wake me up. The swirls faded and I sat up.

"Good morning, my dear." Edmund nodded his head in my direction. I glared at him and made no move to look away. He was going to submit to me whether he liked it or not. When he realized that I was challenging him for dominance, he grabbed my hair and yanked my head back against the head board. "You may think you have more dominance than me, my dear, but we both know that you don't so never try to make me submit again." He released my hair and I looked down at my hands. I heard him chuckle at my submission. Yeah, right. We both know that I have way more dominance than you and you were just going to submit to me. You pulled my hair back so that you wouldn't have to. Boob. 

I looked up met Terrell's eyes. I glared daggers at him until he looked away. He looked sad. Pfft. Now you feel guilty? Well it's too late for that, you turd.

"It's time to start your training, Crystal," he said. I looked between him and the Alphas for an explanation until he finally explained. "The Alphas want you to have mastered your powers before they claim you as their mate so you can make them even more powerful."

"You have two weeks. If you haven't fully mastered your powers by then, the human girl dies." I snapped my head up to meet Edmund's eyes. "I know that we gave our word that we wouldn't harm her, but Terrell here promised nothing. He will make sure she has a horrible death if you don't cooperate. So you better start practicing now." Edmund nodded toward Terrell and he used his magic to transport us into a huge clearing in the woods.

The moment my feet hit the soft grass, I shot fire out of my hands at Terrell and took off running. He absorbed the flames with his green magic and transported himself in front of me. He shot a strand of lightning at me and the force of it threw me across the field and into a tree. I crumbled to the ground as Terrell walked over. He came to a stop in front of me and that forced me to look up at him.

"Please don't try to run. I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to to get you to listen to me, "He said as he crouched down to help me up.

I smacked his arms away and pushed myself up. I looked up his six foot two height to meet his eyes. "Why are you doing this? Why do you even care about me or Riley? You're just some stupid warlock that's hungry for power, aren't you?" I knew that I shouldn't insult him, especially since he has more control over his magic than I do but I was enraged.

I expected him to throw me back across the field again but instead he looked down at his feet before saying, "I'm really not an evil guy as you think, you know."

"Uh huh, and I'm just supposed to believe you?" I folded my arms across my chest.

"No," he said. He let out a deep breath and took a step back. "I don't expect you to even listen to a word that I'm saying. I'm really trying to help you. They were going to kill Riley, but I stopped them. I saw you open the door you know. You don't know me...They were threatening my family."

He looked down to meet my eyes and I saw that he was telling the truth. "I was the warlock king's finest soldier. I was awarded many medals by him and his queen for my bravery and magic. That's why they changed my name to Terrell, meaning powerful. My name was once Talon, but they changed it to match my powerful magic.

"The only true family I have is my little sister. The king and queen kind of adopted my sister and I when our parents were killed in a battle that happened twenty years ago. I was only three and my sister was two. The Alphas needed someone who knew magic to help them capture you so while I was walking home late one night, they jumped me. They had my sister tied up in rope that's immune to magic and had a knife to her throat. They were going to kill her unless I agreed to help them capture you. I had to agree to save my sister.

"A couple days later, they heard that you were at the Romanian pack mansion and had found your true mate. I was happy that you had found your true mate and hoped that the insane wolves would leave you alone. They refused to let you go. They saw that you and your mate had had a fight and wanted you to hurt even more so that you would go with them."

He was silent and looked everywhere but at me. He took a deep breath before continuing. "The girl that was kissing Percy? That...that was my sister. The Alphas had me place a spell over her to make her look and talk exactly like you so when Percy thought that he was apologizing to you, he was actually apologizing to my sister in disguise."

I couldn't take it anymore. How dare he disguise another girl to trick my mate! I lunged forward and wrapped my hands around the warlock's throat. He made no move to fight back. He just closed his eyes and waited for me to end his life. I looked down at the warlock in my hands, waiting for me to kill him when suddenly all the anger that had filled me was gone. All that was left was sadness for not giving Percy a chance to talk. He was upset for being tricked. He must've saw who she truly was when I threatened to kill her. Oh no. What have I done?

I hesitantly let go of Terrell's neck and sat back on my heels. My hands came up to my mouth and tears silently rolled down my cheeks. Terrell sat up and placed his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged his hand off and shut my eyes.

"I never wanted for you to get hurt. From the moment I saw you, I knew that you were good, and that you aren't evil like the Alphas wanted. The Alphas are keeping my sister somewhere I can't reach her now and I just wanted your friend to be somewhere safe, well safer than where they sent my sister. I thought that it would show you that I'm not totally evil like the Alphas. You don't have to worry about Riley. I will keep her safe. I promise."

I opened my eyes and looked to see if he was telling the truth. In his eyes, I saw nothing but geninuine concern for me and Riley. In that moment, I knew that I could trust this warlock. Let's just hope I don't regret trusting this warlock.