Chapter 35

T he moment we arrived home, we started putting our plan in place. Part one is the thing I hate the most, and that’s Silas and I going minimal with our in person contact, which is already weighing on me.

Not the same way as before. It’s not like my body physically aches if I’m not near him. I just genuinely miss him.

I feel stupid for ever having doubted Ember and Iris. Not when Ember’s mother and grandmother have already agreed to side with us, and not as I sit across from Delphine, Iris’ grandmother.

She clutches her cane, as her unseeing but all telling eyes glance over at me. She may be blind, but she knows far more than I realize.

The older witch looks similar to Iris, the same umber skin, amber eyes, and relative height. Her hair is buzzed close to her head and her large gold earrings jingle as she closes her eyes, her chin pointing up to the air as she takes a deep breath.

A slow, calming smile takes over her face, before she laughs, all of her jewelry clanging with the motion.

Iris glances over at me, more used to her grandmother’s quirks.

“How is your mother?” Delphine asks, and my mouth parts as I glance over at Iris.

“Devoid of magic,” I say and she nods.

“I fear this is my fault,” she says, her hand gripping her cane to the point where her knuckles nearly turn white.

“Mawmaw, what does that mean?” Iris says, asking the question for me.

The older woman sighs, rising from her seat she heads toward her bookshelf. Even without her sight, she knows what she wants as a small box flies through the air and lands in her hand. She comes back to the table and opens it.

“There’s only so much I can say,” she says, and Iris and I glance at each other.

A vow of secrecy. It’s why no one in the coven ever talked about my mother, why each and every one of them had the same story to tell.

“Iris, take the purple one out,” Delphine says to her granddaughter, which she does.

It’s a small pearl. I don’t understand what it is, but Iris does with a gasp.

“A prophecy?” Iris says and Delphine nods.

“I should have kept it to myself. But we were all worried when Atticus Collins became Alpha. He was unlike the ones before him. He had initiative. We were already scared. I’m sorry Violet. You have my support in this. You and your wolf, you’re on the right side,” she says, standing up from the worn wooden chair and walking away without a word.

I look over to Iris, who inspects the small pearl between her fingers. She hands it to me and it seems inconspicuous enough.

“Crush it between your fingers,” Iris says in a whisper. “You’ll be able to see what she saw thirty years ago.”

I look at the pearl and back up at my best friend, who gives me a small smile.

“It’s alright. Go ahead,” she says, grabbing my hand so that we can do this together.

I crush the pearl in between my fingers as a vision plays before me. It’s lightning fast, almost hard to keep up with. The vision starts with a baby wrapped up in a lilac colored blanket, its small fist clutching a rose gold chain as it coos. A moment later, my grand-mère, or a younger version of her, is picking up the child. Right before her eyes, the baby morphs into a large wolf, so quickly I can hardly make out the details. My grand-mère yelps, but before the sound is even clear, the wolf bites down sharply into her jugular, sending her bleeding to the ground. The wolf quickly transforms back into a baby that cries endlessly, no one is around to pick it up and soothe the poor child covered in blood.

My vision comes back to normal as I breathe heavily.

“She thought I was going to kill her?” I gasp as the reality of what we both witness hits me.

“See what I said about visions being confusing? That could mean anything, not literal death, but it’s clear she took it that way,” Iris says.

“I don’t want to kill her,” I whisper and Iris squeezes my hand.

“I know you don’t. But Aster isn’t the kind of witch you just let go, Violet,” Iris says, and I know she’s right. I know that we can’t just rip her coven away from her, expose the truth, and let her go. There have to be consequences. Steep ones.

I toss and turn in my bed. It feels too big, too empty without Silas here.

“Take a sleeping potion, you’re being annoying,” Walter hisses.

“You’re being annoying,” I tell him with a huff, shoving my face into my pillow.

He chirps, jumping off my bed to go sleep in the guest room. He’s been in a mood since he learned the whole truth. He’s having a hard time dealing with the fact that the High Priestess isn’t the witch we thought she was. I also think he’s wrapping his small little cat brain around the idea that Silas will be a permanent fixture in this house once everything is resolved.

I can’t sleep. There’s this endless ache for Silas I can’t curb. It’s heavy in my chest among all the other aches plaguing me as of late. There’s so much to do, so much pressure on my shoulders. All I want to do is forget. Just a moment where I’m not me and the weight of the world isn’t on my shoulders.

I glance over at my nightstand. The necklace feels like it’s beckoning me. While I know that now isn’t the time to be messing around with this other side of me, it would almost feel like a relief to not be for a few moments.

My hand grips the brass handle, tugging the drawer open as I grab the nearly glowing necklace.

I should put it back, take a sleeping potion like Walter suggested. But there’s also this nagging feeling of wanting to get to know Azure, to let her out and get to know this part of me that’s been repressed, that’s been hidden from me.

Haven’t I given enough? Hasn’t Azure?

I take a deep breath and stop arguing with myself as I place the necklace around my neck. The metal is cool and I hope that Azure doesn’t rip out of me right away.

So I talk to her out loud, just like I do with Walter.

“Azure?” I ask.

It’s almost like a yawn in the back of my head as she replies. “You’ve kept me away from him. You’re ashamed of me,” she says and I shake my head.

“No. I was just scared. Kept you from whom?”

“My mate! You’ve kept me asleep and away from my mate,” she says, irritation riddled in her tone.

I swallow thickly and panic laces through me. Mate?

Someone is our mate?

Fuck. Silas would have said something, I would have known. No, it can’t be someone else. I can’t give up Silas if this is what accepting my wolf’s side means. I go to rip the necklace from my neck and the wolf sighs.

“Wait.”

I hold the grip on my necklace, worried she’s about to take over and with Silas not here, who knows how I’ll get back to my standard form. This was such a stupid idea.

“Thorin. The man, Silas. They are our mate. He told me to keep it between us for now.”

I press my tongue to the side of my cheek.

“Thorin or Silas?” I say, knowing if Silas told my wolf to not say anything, I’m going to wring his thick neck.

“Handsome, perfect, Thorin. He said you weren’t ready, that the man wasn’t ready,” she tells me.

“If I keep the necklace on, do you promise not to shift?”

She groans in the back of my head, like she’s a caged animal wanting to get out—I suppose she is.

“Is this the beginning of us becoming one?” she asks.

“Only if you’re okay with me teleporting to the pack lands right now and giving our secret keeping mate a piece of my mind.”

Excitement fills me, but it’s not my own. Getting used to sharing thoughts and words with a wolf inside of my head is going to be a new experience.

“For the both of us, but I accept. Only if you promise I get to see my Thorin soon. I miss him.”

Fine.

The pack lands are not where I should be right now, especially not with this sizzling anger that’s plaguing me. But how could he keep this from me?

Not only have I been worried about him possibly having a mate out there, but why have I been worried about this stupid fucking hex when we’re tied together in this way, anyway? Why did he keep this from me? How long has he known?

The more I think about it, the more pissed that I get.

He lied to me. He asked me to stay as his wife, that we’re in this together and he’s been keeping this huge secret from me.

I slide on my boots, not giving a shit. I’m just wearing one of his massive shirts to sleep in as I take a breath and think about where he is. I don’t care if he’s inside somewhere. I’m risking teleportation.

I scoop my wand up from the vintage nightstand top and concentrate, popping right in front of my dear husband.

Unfortunately for me, he’s shirtless, standing in a circle where another man is trembling, about to shift, while the entirety of his pack stands in a circle watching on.

The crisp air whips against my face as my jaw drops and a lot of the rage I felt before slips away.

Silas looks pissed, and the lot surrounding me look like they want to slice my throat.

Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea.

“Violet,” Silas’ deep voice chastises me as the people around us eye their Alpha suspiciously.

“Fuck,” Jonas hisses, grabbing my elbow and pulling me to the side.

Everyone eyes me suspiciously and I wonder if they can tell that this is Silas’ shirt, like I smell like him.

I try to take a deep inhale, but it seems like I don’t have that particular shifter trait.

“You think you’re fit to lead the pack when you bring a fucking witch to the pack lands?” the man across from Silas spews.

Silas doesn’t look at me, but I can almost see that Thorin is begging to come out.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jonas hisses under his breath.

“Did you know I was his mate?” I ask, and the man sighs next to me.

“You should go home.”

“Do not let her fucking leave,” Silas points over at us, but doesn’t stop staring across the way at the man challenging him. It’s an open field, the autumn night air crisp as the birds chirp and the shifters watch on like this is the most entertainment they’ve had in years.

“You two are honestly the messiest individuals I’ve ever met,” Jonas complains.

I roll my eyes.

“Where is your mate tonight?” I ask, not looking away from Silas.

“Safe, at home with our baby boy,” he says proudly, and I smile at that.

“What do you have to say for yourself, bringing a filthy fucking w?—”

His opponent doesn’t finish his sentence as Thorin comes rippling out of Silas’ body so fast it happens in a blink of an eye. His jeans and shirt ripped to shreds on the ground.

It’s nearly embarrassing how quickly Thorin jumps on the man, his paws pressing against his chest.

“God dammit,” Jonas says.

“What?”

“There’s no fucking way Thorin is going to let him live.”

“Good,” Azure purrs in my ear and I swallow as I watch that happen.

I came here thinking I was going to give Silas a piece of my mind, but it appears it might just backfire on me completely.

Especially as soon as Azure sees her beloved wolf. I can feel her pushing against my mental walls, begging to come out, begging to reunite with her mate.

Before I can speak, before any of the other wolves has a chance to degrade me any further, Azure rips her way out of me, breaking her promise, ripping Silas’ shirt and taking over.

There’s a short minute where I’m aware, but it’s brief. The last thing I remember before losing myself is a deep rumbled purr that sends a shiver up my spine.

“My mate,” it says, and I know without a doubt it’s Thorin, greeting Azure with nothing but happiness.

I suppose my confrontation with Silas is going to have to wait.