Fatal Temptation: Between Two Alphas
Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Enough!" Morgan steps forward. She raises her hands. The runes explode off her wrists like shrapnel, spearing into the stones and into at least one wolf.

I am knocked off my feet.

I didn't know she had power like that.

From the gasps and screams of the pack-they didn't know a witch could have power like that either.

"I said, 'Enough!"" she screams.

The fire churns even brighter, flames glowing in red and purple and blue. Wind rages through the circle.

The Elders shift.

The pack moves...like a pack. Wolves grouping together into a wall of snarling fangs and snapping teeth. They move from outside the sacred stones into the inner sanctum.

Morgan blows back the frontline wolves with a gust of wind that sends them tumbling into the wolves behind them.

Then she calls the flames. And they rise.

Like a sheet of fire, the swirling inferno grows.

Two wolves catch me before I can stand back up-the decree has been issued, and even amid this madness, they will see that the Alpha's will is done. One of them bites my leg and I scream in pain. Morgan gathers her magic and the blast of wind and fire she unleashes rocks through the circle in waves.

Wolves whimper and reel.

They burn and are tossed into the stones.

All at once, I'm slammed to the ground, the two wolves who held me are gone-they roll and howl as they burn. I shove to my hands and knees and gasp for air. My leg is mangled and I'm losing blood. Before I can stand, I'm ripped back by my hair.

A knife presses to my throat. "Stop! Now!" Alpha Healmsworth growls.

Morgan freezes. She sways on her feet.

The pack is regrouping. The scent of burnt hair and ash is heavy in the air. After the maelstrom of wind and fire, the stillness of the night is unnerving.

There is no sound.

Only the harsh breathing of humans and beasts, and the crackling of the fire that has dimmed to a low burn.

I'm going to die now.

Naked and alone. At the mercy of an Alpha-who has none.

The Elders encircle us. They're in a lycan state, their eyes glowing an eerie yellow, and combining their power with the Alpha's to protect him. He's a monster with claws and fangs and a half-human face. "Restrain the witch!" the Alpha demands. His power pulses in the words, and Jace moves to hold Morgan's arms.

"Don't do this, Dad." Jace has his hands on Morgan, but whether he is holding her up or holding her back, I don't know.

I stare at my hands, where they sink into the earth.

Chaos surrounds me and I can only focus on the ground beneath my fingertips. It's cold and damp and my heart heaves at the knowledge that my blood will spill.

That I will die here tonight.

That I'll never hold my son or kiss my daughter. Or watch them grow.

A tear slides down my cheek. What of the child I may have conceived?

Nala howls. She...mourns.

The Alpha snarls down at me, his features morphing more into his wolf. "It has to be this way."

There is no apology. His word is law. And to him, I'm just a rogue wolf who has made a grievous mistake.

Morgan screams and the winds rise, but the Elders are channeling their powers now, protecting the Alpha from any spell she might weave.

Morgan's strong...but she used too much magic in those first spells. She staggers as she tries to raise the flames again, and Jace catches her as she falls. The fire flickers and fades.

I let my eyes meet hers. She has wronged me, yes, but when given the chance to use her magic to escape or to save a friend.

She chose to try to help me.

A tear slips free.

I feel the knife cut into my skin. I suck in a breath as my blood drips down my neck.

I never thought about what my last moments on this earth might be like. Not like this, for sure. I would've liked to have died old, surrounded by my children and grandchildren, holding Cameron's hand. Knowing my life had been spent well.

That I was loved.

Time slows and ebbs. I draw a breath and then another, holding them in because these will be my last, and I want to cling to everything I can on this earth.

The knife is steady at my throat, but even without it slicing deep, I'm bleeding freely from my leg.

It won't be long now.

My vision dims and I try to reach that place I did with Cam, that plane between the worlds. I feel my pulse slow as the air leaves my lungs...

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