Chapter 3

"You okay kiddo?" Alex's mismatched eyes found me immediately nearly twelve hours later before he even fully entered the almost empty office that used to belong to High priest Shadowblood, may the goddess torment his soul for all eternity.

"Ace the snitch called you, huh?" my mouth twisted in a grimace as I contemplated how to repay the treacherous shifter for the betrayal.

Since the alpha just stood there staring at me intently as if he had x-ray vision and could confirm for himself that I was as well as when I left his house, I waved at the space next to me on the bare floor so he could join me instead of looming over my head ominously.

"I knew I should've come with you." With a huff he grumbled under his nose and shaking his head stomped across the space so he could plop next to me.

"He shouldn't have called you." Raising my hand to stop his argument I leaned the back of my head on the wall and closed my eyes. "You have a pack to run and family to take care off. I'm a big girl. Believe it or not I could take care of myself."

"If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't have let you out of my sight." Nudging my shoulder with his he forced me to turn my head and look at him. "After facing off Leviathan and coming out not just alive but well enough to give Danika attitude I believe you can take care of all of us, not just yourself." His thick forefinger popped between us when I opened my mouth to say something. "It doesn't mean I'll stop worrying about you, kid. With all we've been through, you are like one of my own runts now."

"I'll tell Amber that you're calling her precious children runts." At the horrified expression on his face I had to bark out a laugh so unexpectedly I choked on my own spit. All the humor left me however as he started pounding on my back in attempt to help me. Sharp pains spread through my upper body with such intensity I cried out before I could stop myself.

"Hazel?" Alex lifted both his hands in surrender, jerking away from me as if I burnt him. "I didn't hit that hard. What's wrong?"

"Wait." I wheezed holding a hand between us to stop him from trying to smack my back or talk, I had no idea which. It was unnecessary to say the least because the mountain of a male shrunk back away from me as far as he could without getting up. "I'm okay…I'm okay."

"I would disagree, kid." The wary way he was eying me told me he expected me to break down into sobs or literally fall apart so that he would have to reattach my libs together. "What in the worlds happen here?"

My mouth opened to say that I'm fine again but his eyebrows shot up all the way to his hairline and murder burst into life in his mismatched eyes effectively shutting me up with a snap. "Does all that screaming have something to do with why you're in pain? May the universe help me, Hazel, but Danika will answer to me if she has hurt you."

He was already halfway up ready to march down and shake Danika from her expensive shoes but I snatched the edge of his t-shirt and yanked him down. We were both surprised that I managed to pull him to the floor.

"I stumbled onto something when I came to the coven. The male didn't like that I interrupted his business so he attacked me. I didn't expect him to do that." A snort escaped me at the dumb way I handled the situation. "He got a few good hits before I upper-handed him." At the doubtful look Alex gave me I twisted my mouth in distaste. "Okay, fine. He did a number on me before my brain to fists connection was restored. You should've seen him, Alex. He looks like he can't pick up anything heavier than a cup of tea."

"Since when do you underestimate anyone based on their appearance?" the lecturing tone of his voice hurt more than any fists ever could.

"I was today years old when I learned that I can be dumb on occasion." With a self-deprecating shrug I petted his raised knee. "I should've known better than to have my guard down but I was too worked up about asking Danika to let me back in, that I was oblivious to everything else. I'm pathetic."

"I heard my name." The door suddenly opened and my grandmother floated inside on silent feet effectively cutting off anything Alex was about to say.

My heart tried to jump out through my mouth and escape but I swallowed it down with great effort. "Of course, you did." I hated that she had that effect on me. I was not a child anymore damn it. "Even the walls have ears in this place, yet no one had a clue something fishy was going on."

"Do not presume to lecture me on how to run my coven, Hazel Byrne. Magic or not you are still under my authority." The icebergs in the North Pole had more warmth than the expression on Danika's face or her tone.

I'd liked to pretend that she was just angry because of the male I caught doing whatever he was doing behind her back, but I knew better. That fury which turned the green of her eyes as cold and as sharp as glass was reserved for me only. I've seen it enough times to have no doubt about it. Resentment bubbled hot and fast at the center of my chest and my mouth opened although I knew I should bite my tongue.

"I do not presume anything, grandmother." My sneer took not just her, but me too by surprise.

"Do we know what the male was trying to hide?" Alex spoke so calmly and nonchalantly like we were not about to start throwing magic at each other.

Both, Danika and I turned to gap at him with our lips slightly parted. Me, with a stupefied expression on my face was a common sight. Danika was a totally different matter and I watched Alex incredulously as he fought a smile. The Alpha had balls of steel, I'd say that much.

"No." My grandmother narrowed her predatory gaze on the Alpha and I didn't like the calculative look she gave him. " We, don't know. Yet." The way she dragged the we, suggested he was not part of whatever equated as we in the situation.

Protective instincts rose in me to stand between the Alpha and whatever threat he was facing, so I followed the urge without thinking twice. Standing up I placed myself between them, jutting my chin up at my grandmother's glare. There was no reason to second guess my instincts. Danika may be my blood but actions proved that Alex was family. If she wanted to get to him, she will have to go through me first. I made that abundantly clear to her and had no regrets for my action.

"We," sticking a thumb over my shoulder at Alex who was still silently sitting on the floor I turned it at myself next, pressing the tip of my nail to my chest. "would like to be kept in the loop. If you don't mind. After all the bruises and aches I received to hold that bastard down, I deserve that much."

"You could've used magic." Danika mocked me, a smirk tugging on one corner of her mouth that lacked humor.

Ever since I told her about our not so nice meet and greet with Leviathan in his realm and all the pearls he let slip, Danika has been acting strange. Making little jabs every chance she got about my newly found magic and how undeserving or inadequate I am to have such power. In other words, she couldn't deal well with having another person as powerful as she is around. Not that I was fully ready to use whatever gifts I had. But I wasn't as pathetic as when I blew up the building that first time, either.

"I could've killed him, too, instead of giving you the opportunity to interrogate him, but here we are." And just because I had a death wish and never learned to keep my trap shut I grinned widely at her. "Besides, someone once told me that with great power comes even grater responsibility." Alex choked a laugh behind me but covered it with a cough. "Which is why I resorted to physical altercation in the middle of the day where humans were gawking at us. I know how much appearances matter to you, grandmother. I wouldn't dare sully your reputation."

Danika watched me with single-minded focus for long enough that an itch developed on the nostril on the left side of my face and I was dying to scratch it but didn't dare break eye contact. What I lacked in experience when it came to winning battles with magic I made up for with stubbornness especially in staring, or glaring as the case was at that moment, matches. The whisky I drank like a fool you'd think it was water started to churn in my stomach as well intensifying the acid that slowly crept up my throat. Still I started at Danika unblinking not backing down to save my life.

"Why are you here, Hazel?" After uncomfortably long time, she expelled a long sigh and released me from her gaze.

"What? I need a permission to come to my coven now?" I meant it to sound snarky but it came out defensive and hurt.

When Alex placed a plate sized hand on my shoulder and squeezed to tell me that he was there and had my back always, tears prickled at the back of my eyes but I blinked them away. Blowing out a breath I shook my head to physically disperse all the argumentative thoughts that were fighting to come out. Danika didn't miss the gesture from the Alpha and she was not very pleased judging by the muscle that started ticking on one side of her jaw.

"Sorry." I swallowed my pride and locked gazes with Danika without any bravado this time. "That was uncalled for but I'm still riled up from the fight and everything else. I hope you won't hold it against me."

One perfectly shaped eyebrow rising up was my only answer.

"I came to ask you to put me back on the roster for city patrol."

"You were never on the roster." She drawled but I acted like I didn't hear her. That was semantics.

Taking a fast breath before she would dismiss me I rushed to convince her better. "I have control of my magic now. Alex can confirm it, too. Plus, I'll be more productive here than hidden on pack lands. It's not like trouble doesn't find me there as you have witnessed yourself. At least here you'll always have an eye on me and my whereabouts." Giving her a sharp nod for no reason I remembered one more thing so I stabbed a finger in the air for emphases. "And I'll have a partner. So, I can't be wayward without you being alerted about it."

Danika squinted at me like I had some hidden agenda or something. In all honesty I was going insane and had to be productive or I would go find someone to kill me myself.

"It's a win-win. Really." Nodding encouragingly like a bubblehead when she stayed silent, I held my breath.

"I'm willing to add one of my males to every pair you send out if you allow Hazel to join in patrols." Alex's deep voice warmed me inside like nothing ever could. "The pack still stands to protect her, no matter where she goes."

The support from the Alpha and his family ever since that cursed day I unlocked my magic has been something I. never dreamed of having. I owed it to them as well as handful of others that stood by me to do something with this power instead of hiding like a scared little girl.

"I do not believe this to be the right time for you to join our ranks, Hazel." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Danika closed her eyes briefly allowing us for the first time to see how exhausted she was. "Mr. Greywood, as admirable as your dedication is to keep my granddaughter safe, I am trying to keep her out of sight for a good reason. There are seven delegations arriving in Cleveland as we speak to reassess the Gatekeeper's coven and our dealings here after word has gotten out about Hazel's magic. Which I denied, of course."

I had no idea how I missed that Danika was not her perfect self. As she allowed the mask to slip, I could notice the tightness around the corners of her mouth and eyes and the rigid way she held herself so much different from her effortless elegance.

"What do they want with Hazel?" the Alpha's question snapped me out of my close examination of Danika.

"They want to make sure she is not a danger to society." Her pointed look annoyed me to no end. "I need to meet with all of them first before I know how to proceed."

"You think the male sneaking around the building in the middle of the day had something to do with it?" Alex stepped away from me and started pacing a tight line next to us. A deep line formed between his eyebrows and he glared at the bare floor like it owed him a life debt. "Maybe I should try questioning him."

"Be my guest." Danika swirled a long-fingered hand in no specific direction. "He will talk, I do try not to kill him, so it takes a bit longer."

Alex opened his mouth to reply but the opening of the door had all three of us turn in that direction. Sissily popped her head and quickly read the tension in the room as her gaze darted from Danika, to me, to Alex. Not bothering to ask if it's okay to join us she darted inside slamming the door behind her and rushed to stand next to me.

"They are here." My best friend told Danika before looking me up and down. "What did I miss?"