54. Anna

54

Anna

How dare he? Had he asked me instead of ordered me, I might have considered it. Had he asked me yesterday, I would have certainly said yes since I would have had time to prep. My wolf was doing better. Even now, when I reached out to her, she came to me happily and willingly. She was so happy whenever we were with Jax.

But the idea of facing all those wolves of power? And Emerson? Her fear spread through me until I wanted to vomit.

"You're stronger than I thought."

Head jerking up, I turned around, but it was just Lunessa walking toward me. The look on her face wasn't happy. "My wolf? She's getting stronger."

"I'm not talking about your wolf. There was a lot of magic on Amaya. I removed it before your healer could get to her."

"I didn't see any."

"Then I did my job well. She was coated in a transportation spell. A very powerful one."

Lunessa smiled faintly. "Even I couldn't pull that kind of magic off."

"You seem to transport wherever you want."

"Transporting myself is much different than transporting someone else. Movement spells are tricky. The farther you move something, the harder it is, and Amaya went miles in an instant.

She was injured in her apartment but died in the woods."

That was exactly what Jax and I had thought. "Does that mean that you've been to her house?"

"Yes, but I couldn't finish up before Jax's wolves got there. There's evidence all over her house."

"Great. So we'll know who killed her. Why do you say it like that's a bad thing?"

Lunessa's gaze flitted around the woods. "Why are you storming around the woods alone?"

"Because Jax is an asshole."

And I was a coward.

"You are supposed to have a guard. Where is your guard?"

At her troubled voice, I started scanning the woods as well. "I just sort of stormed off. Am I in danger?"

"You always seem to be in danger, Anna. Pull your power in. You're leaking all over the place."

"Excuse me?"

Lunessa whipped her head around. "We have company."

With that, she took a deep breath.

And disappeared.

"Well, fuck. Fat lot of good that does me," I grumbled and looked around. Whatever spooked Lunessa didn't pop out at me. I couldn't smell or see anyone.

Annoyed, I oriented myself and headed for Irene's property. After a few steps, my wolf rose to the surface and howled. Suddenly, it felt like my change was imminent.

What the hell? My wolf didn't disobey me like that. I ordered her back down and took a few more steps.

The urge hit me again, strong enough that I fell to my hands and knees. "No," I screamed.

Was this a spell? I was a null. Spells didn't affect me.

Was Lunessa doing this to me?

Stop , I commanded to my wolf. What are you doing?

Not safe. Must protect.

Protect? But I was all alone, and my wolf didn't act like this. She didn't protect me.

I protect you, I told her.

It had been too long since I shifted. I needed to let her out, but this was not the time or place. She was acting erratically.

Was she sensing a smell? Lunessa had said that I was stronger.

Show me what you sense.

Quieting inside of me, she stilled, and then I could smell it.

A spell.

Rising back to my feet, I turned. Now that my wolf had shown me, I could see it all over the woods, like a rising mist of colors. Magic reached out to me and danced all around me.

Was Lunessa doing this? Narrowing my eyes, I studied the magic of the woods. Layers upon layers.

Transportation magic. What had Lunessa said? The spell had to connect two different places.

Something else was about to come through this mist. Another dead body? Something else?

Reaching out, I touched the mists and began to spread my void. Nothing else was coming through here. Not while I was around.

When it was done, I turned back toward the house. Whatever Emerson had planned, I wasn't going to sit out here and hide.

I'd retraced my steps before I realized that I wasn't alone. Freezing, I watched as Emerson slowly walked toward me. "Anna. What a lovely surprise."

Lovely surprise my ass. "Emerson. I was just coming to join you, but I expected you to be in meetings all day."

"Jax is in a foul mood. We decided it was in everyone's best interests to take a little break.

I wanted to stretch my legs."

And find me when I was completely alone. How convenient. "I'm on my way to see Jax. I bet I can bring him out of his bad mood."

His eyes narrowed just a little, but then he smiled. "No doubt. Mates are like that. I was surprised you haven't been in the meetings. Your opinions are invaluable."

"You didn't think that when my father was alive."

"Anna, I can only imagine how the experiences with your father have clouded your memories. I've done some things that I am not proud of, but I never meant to hurt you. I have no intentions of hurting you now. Let me walk you back to the house. I get a strange feeling about these woods."

I just bet he did. We fell into step with each other, and I tried to hide my revulsion. "Are you even upset that Bridget and Dean are dead?"

"Not at all, and neither should you be. They were disloyal. I am impressed that you were the one who killed them, although I should not be. It's not the first time you've killed."

"So now that Plan A has failed, what is Plan B?"

"No Plan B. I hadn't really had a Plan A, either. Dean and Bridget truly did not think you would come to me on your own. If I had realized that they planned to kidnap you, I would have put a stop to it."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"No, of course not." He sighed. "But I can and will show it to you. I hope you'll join in the meetings. I think the packs should come together as never before. Allies in this fight. If I can get Jax on my side, the others will come around."

I cast a side look at him. "And what does this entail? This cooperation? A singular figure over all the alphas? You, perhaps?"

Emerson chuckled. "Hardly. That's a headache I imagine no one would ask for. As packs, we fight over everything. Territory. Products. Hell, just last year, London wanted to send some of his juveniles to a high-ranking university in the city, and the other alphas lost their minds."

"You think we shouldn't be a secret anymore?"

"I think we should trust our packs. We are hardly the only packs in the world. Not all of us live in secluded clusters, you know. Some of them blend quite well with the human population.

Perhaps if we did, we would not be such targets."

If wolves were blending in with humans, they would be even harder to control. Why would Emerson want that? "We aren't the targets, though. Witches are."

"To target us. You think it's me. Understandable. I've been a villain in your life before. I know it's not though, and the only way to get you to believe me is to be on your side. Are you certain that you trust Jax?"

Startled, I almost stopped. "You're going to accuse Jax? Of stripping his own witch of power? Just what the hell does he get from that?"

"What's happening right now, of course. A plethora of witches. And that's not my theory.

It's London's. I don't buy it, but then, none of us know Jax very well. When I met him with your father…"

This time, I did stop. And I growled. "You're a fucking liar. Jax never met my father before the night he killed him."

Emerson looked at me with concern and slowly nodded. "All right. We don't have to talk about it now, but the body of a dead witch showing up in the forest is not a good look for him."

"It took magic to transport that body. With Irene stripped of her magic, Jax doesn't have access to that kind of power," I said tightly as I started to stride away. My thoughts were racing.

If Emerson starting pointing the finger at Jax, the other alphas could follow suit.

This meeting of alliance could quickly turn into a war.

I started walking faster.

"I've upset you. That was not my intention," Emerson said quickly. "I know you feel safe here. I'm not trying to take that away from you."

I whirled around to face him. "Then what the hell are you doing, Emerson? You want an alliance, but you also want everyone suspecting Jax! Did you think that if you took him out of the equation, that Bridget would step up? Kill Jenson and run this pack through her? Or just take it from her? You've always wanted power, Emerson. Your pack doesn't seem to be enough for you. My father held nothing from me. He didn't have to. He thought I was so snugly under his thumb that he didn't give a fuck what I saw or heard. I saw you. I saw Dean. I saw the dead bodies. I killed a few of them myself. Jax was never involved. Not until he finally stepped in and did what I should have done years ago."

Emerson put his hands up and took a step back. "I'm just asking you to be careful. I hope I'm wrong. I think Jax is a good man, and a good alpha, but if I am not wrong, then he will drag you down into this mess. He will use you. I know I don't have the right to say that, but maybe you'll listen since it's coming from me. I know what that is like. And I do know you're wrong about one thing."

"What's that?"

"Irene has magic. And she's hiding it."

A scream pierced the woods, and I glared at him. "Why does this always happen when we're alone?"

"Maybe it's because you are not with Jax."