Chapter twenty

Celeste unfreezes Monique, Adara tensing beside me, and she drops heavily to the ground, her eyes wide. "High Priestesses, please. It… It could benefit all of us to take the wolves' immortality. Don't you remember the old ways?"

Batya's lip curls up in disgust. "The old ways were misguided and barbaric. Our magic was never meant to last more than a mortal's lifetime. You, of all of us, should know this."

All pretense drops from Monique's expression, unbridled rage twisting her features, and she uses a nearby tree to pull herself onto her feet. "I know how powerful I have become because of it. Are you not jealous of the multitude of spells I have learned in the years since I've been alive?"

Batya chortles, raising her palm toward Monique. "I pity you, old crone. The only good you've done to this world is bring the two young witches into our coven. Now, it's time to pay for your crimes."

"No!" Monique dives to the ground, lifting her palms toward both high priestesses, but no magic comes.

"I knew it," Adara whispers, frowning.

I reach for her, draping a blanket that a passing witch handed to me over her shoulders. A second blanket is tied around my waist.

Although she's out of her own magic, Monique uses the coverage of the trees within the forest to dodge the various spells thrown at her. In the end, it takes both high priestesses to pin Monique between two oaks, casting a spell together to drag her to the wooden cross.

"You can't do this," Monique screams, as she's bound to the cross. "I'll kill all of you! My magic will come back, and it'll be stronger than before. You'll suffer for this!"

I squeeze Adara closer to me, her muscle bunched tight beneath my touch. "Let's go home. You don't have to listen to this."

Monique's crazed eyes find Adara and I near the front of the gathered crowd. Her chest heaves rapidly. "This is your fault," she cries, struggling against the bonds keeping her wrists tied beHind her back. "I SHOULD'VE NEVER HAD YOU! I SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU THE MINUTE I HAD THE CHANCE!"

"No," Adara mutters, barely audible above the noise of the crackling fire as it starts at the base of the kindling gathered before the cross. "I want to stay."

"Are you sure, mia fiamma?" I run my knuckles over her arm. "We can go, or I could tell them to use their magic for something useful—like silencing her so we don't have to listen to her spew any more hatred."

"Let her have her hate," she says softly. "It's all she has left to hold on to."

As the fire grows, eating the kindling and slowly crawling up the cross to Monique's ankles. Her hateful words turn into screams of fear and panic and pain. The light of the flames flickers across Adara's face as she gazes at the wooden cross before us, never taking her eyes from it. Every scream that Monique releases pierces the sky, but Adara doesn't so much as flinch at the sound. She refuses to put Kaylus down, clutching his body to her chest like a shield. As if his death was the final straw. It's been hours since she accessed the mate bond to restore his life force, but he hasn't moved, hasn't even taken a breath. His death is the one that might break her completely.

As the hours pass, the screams slowly die down, and the young oracle approaches us.

"Jules and Wren have been healed and brought back along with the others," Ruya says, tilting her head to the side as she gazes just above Adara's head, who doesn't take her gaze from the pyre or acknowledge the witch at all.

"Thank you," I say, earning her attention.

She nods, chewing on her lip before disappearing back into the crowd.

A few minutes go by before Mila rushes up to us, crushing Adara into a hug. "Oh my gods, Addy!" she cries. "I was so worried, and when—"

Frank's hand touches Mila's shoulder, prying her off Adara slowly as he shakes his head.

"Is she…" Mila looks from Adara to me. "Is she okay?"

My jaw ticks.

"She'll be alright, love," Frank tells her. "The rest of us have arrived. Jaz won't be long," he adds, giving me a nod as he steers his mate away.

I take a deep breath, placing a kiss on Adara's shoulder. "Do you need anything?"

She shakes her head, the movement almost imperceptible, but I glance down to see whitening of her knuckles as she clutches the raven to her chest.

Frank was right—Jaz finds us only moments later, clutching at the blanket draped around Adara. She doesn't say anything, somehow sensing the need for silence.

"You should go home, pup," I say.

She shakes her head, and I sigh, glancing over my shoulder at Darrold where he stands with Maddie. She cries for Adara when Maddie scoops her up, ripping the blanket from her grasp, and my hold on Adara's waist tightens as the concern in my chest builds. It only worsens when Juliana walks up to us.

She brushes her hand gently over Adara's hair. "Hey, Addy," she whispers, but Adara barely spares her a glance.

Wren and I exchange a worried glance, but Juliana pats my shoulder, taking Wren's hand in hers again.

"Give her some time," she says, giving her sister a teary smile. "It's been… a lot."

With a sigh, I nod. "Yes, it has been. You both are welcome to rest in the guest room at the house. If you still wish to stay there after… everything."

Juliana smiles. "We'd appreciate that, thank you."

I signal to Darrold, still off to the side, and he approaches, offering them a ride to the house. And then, it's quiet. The witches around us seem to be giving Adara appraising glances, tinged with a sense of curiosity, but it's as if they all know she's in no place to hold a conversation.

I gently push her hair behind her shoulder and freeze when a cellar spider appears on my wrist. Irrationally long legs, when compared to its microscopic body, scuttle up my forearm. I raise my hand to flick it off, then realize I can't move.

"I'm afraid he doesn't take kindly to being flicked," Batya says from behind me. She snaps her fingers, and the spider leaps from my arm to hers. Once he's out of reach, my body unfreezes.

Her damn magic,my wolf growls.

She walks until she's right beside me, the spider settling itself into the collar of her cloak.

"I didn't realize pests could be familiars," I say, making the assumption.

Keeping her gaze trained forward on the inferno before us, she quips, "I didn't realize you were someone a witch could fall in love with."

I huff a laugh, impressed and annoyed with her wit.

"Celeste and I have matters to discuss with you." Glancing over at me, her eyes flit from me to Adara, then back. "Both of you."

"Another time."

"I'm afraid the matters can't wait, wolf." She turns to fully face me, Celeste appearing at her shoulder. "The wolf council has been demolished. There are feral lands, untamed and with no leader." She sighs. "And we have had a witch go rogue under our noses. We need to reform."

Shocked at the admission, I raise a brow. These witches are nothing like the ones I knew centuries ago. There is no bloodlust found within her stare, no dishonesty within her tone. "What's in it for you to mention the wolf council and feral lands?" I lean forward, invading her space to search her eyes. "Wanting a territory to hunt us within? Immortality is still not a witch's friend from what I've heard."

She scoffs, waving a hand as if to brush off my questions. "Please, you embarrass yourself with such suspicions. Witches aren't meant to be immortal. Our magic doesn't work like that."

I thrust a finger toward the stake. "She's been alive for far longer than a mortal's lifespan, Priestess, so forgive me if I don't believe you."

"What my sister has failed to explain," Celeste says, moving to join us, "is that our magic itself is mortal. What Monique… succeeded… in doing is not natural. This is why she sought the well, hunted your kind, even went as far as trying to kill her own kin. She conceived Adara long ago and froze the embryo until she was out of options, leading to Adara's birth. She needed her at full strength to harness her blood." She frowns at Adara, sadness and pity filling her eyes. "When she realized her magic had run out, she resorted to… foul choices, such as dark magic and siphoning from unfortunate witches caught in her traps."

Wendell's blood. Mila's infertility. Adara's lack of confidence and power when I first met her. Everything slowly clicks into place. That is why Monique never killed Adara as a child—she siphoned her magic from her, then suppressed the rest, finally choosing to drain her blood when she hit full strength as a lycan witch. I glare over at the burning witch, wishing it was me who could take her life. I'd tear her throat right out and relish the taste of her blood on my lips.

"She knew it wouldn't last," Celeste continues, "but once she discovered your mate bond existed, it renewed her hope. She lost her last shred of humanity long ago, but this… no one suspected her capable of this level of carnage." Her eyes cut to Batya, who avoids making eye contact. "Most of us didn't suspect, at least."

"I didn't expect anything specific," Batya says, the corner of her mouth raising slightly. "I am glad, though. The new world with the three of you will be exactly what was needed."

My brows furrow as I repeat her words, "Three of us."

She hums, mischief glinting in her ice blue eyes. "In the meantime, select those who you wish to lead your council, and one you wish to represent your kind amongst our own council."

My head swims with the onslaught of information, and I fail to keep the irritated growl from my voice. "Represent us? For what?"

"To keep us all aligned," Celeste says. "Chloe has already been an incredible help, calling the coven to action at the castle and assisting someone with a rescue in the past." She smirks. "She will fill her role as witch liaison beautifully."

Taking a deep breath, I huff. "Fine. I will sort that out."

"And your council?" Batya asks. "I believe… Frank would make a wonderful choice." She laughs when I glare at her. "Yes, wolf, I have seen him. He leads well and does not struggle with his roles—as the silver beta or the head councilman."

"Anything else?" I growl, glancing between the two high priestesses.

Batya closes her eyes briefly, then takes a deep breath. "I trust your judgment with the feral lands, but I advise you to select a liaison—"

"I know my pack, witch. There are only two I trust with that responsibility." Mila and Madrona are the two that come to mind.

"...that is young and experienced with our world," Batya finishes with a sharp gaze.

I clench my jaw.

Pick Maddie just to piss these witches off,my wolf says.

"The other one you're considering will be a wise addition to your council."

Gods damn it. "Fine," I snap with a glare. "That's enough discussion for tonight."

Celeste laughs, a small crab the size of a sand dollar and as pale and white as the moonlight itself crawling out of her sleeve. "Yes, wolf, that is enough for now. We hope to not see you again for some time, and maybe on much better terms in the future."

I scoff, turning back to the dying flames of Monique's pyre, kindling burned to ash at the base and her cloak—what was left of it—burned to nothing, strips of cloth floating in the air. Her mouth is petrified in a silent scream, charred skin shrunken down to her bones. Adara stands, her chin held high, jaw set, and shoulders back. She's so still I'm not sure if she's heard any piece of the conversation I've just had.

"And don't forget, wolf. Tenacity is survival," Batya says, a hand touching my shoulder briefly.

I spin, recognizing the words of Ruya's prophecy immediately, but she's gone. They both are.

As the pyre reduces to embers, I brush a hand over Adara's arm. She still hasn't moved, despite the sky beginning to lighten. Her eyes have stayed glued to the fire as it burned, as Monique's body shrank into itself, contorting before finally crumbling into ash.

"Adara…" I move to stand before her, cupping her cheek with my hand and grazing my thumb over her bottom lip. "It's time to go home."

She blinks, her gaze refocusing on me as her brows knit together. "It… it's really over."

I give a sad smile. "Yes, it's really over." Wrapping my arms around her, I hug her gently, careful not to crush the raven still held in her hands. When I pull back, I look down at his body. "I think it's time to say goodbye, mia fiamma."

She bows her head, bringing Kaylus up to bury her nose in his feathers as she sobs. "I can't leave him behind." Lifting her tear soaked face, her wide violet eyes bore into mine, pleading.

Her pain feels palpable in this instant, and my chest aches as my heart breaks for her. To lose this part of herself, the one being that was with her through everything… I know what that feels like, and it's soul crushing.

"Okay," I whisper, resting my cheek atop her head, "let's bring him home first." I wait a moment before reaching to scoop her into my arms and carry her to the truck that Frank drove over after taking Mila home to rest. Tomorrow, I'll check in with everyone, but tonight, my mate is mourning.