~Layla~
“What is that?” Sebastian spat.
His eyes met mine.
The crack of branches had my head snapping to the left. Two wolves stepped out. Three more came behind us.
“Finally, I was starting to think this would be one of those therapy fights.” Justin grinned. Danielle joined and got busy with the wolves.
Our Emberclaws were busy with the diversion. A content smile grew on Sebastian’s face.
The witch stretched her arms, and he grabbed my daughter. She wasn’t making a sound.
“Her power is incredible,” he said.
“What do we do?” I asked Tracey.
“Get angry,” she said lowly.
I channeled all my anger. Tracey squeezed my hand.
“Not at him.” She looked behind him at the witch.
What was she saying? We were here to kill Sebastian.
Someone growled behind me. Anna’s eyes glowed, and she ran up the stairs to the cottage past Sebastian.
The witch raised her hand. Anna flew to the ground, rolling before her body hit a tree.
Mason took off at high speed toward the witch, who effortlessly tossed him into the house. I heard the boards breaking when his body hit the wall.
“Don’t you see?” Sebastian exclaimed. “You can’t win. The power that my witch has comes directly from this source right here. If you want to kill her, you have to kill the source.” His lips turned in a snarl, and the enjoyment in his eyes twinkled.
The white light inside the house grew bigger. Why was that happening?
“You’re ready. Fight her.” Tracey stared at the witch. Her palms turned, facing the house.
The witch looked over her shoulder, her long hair hiding her face. “Sebastian,” she said and turned with a frown.
He looked and saw the light.
“Fight her long enough for her to draw the power from Celine.”
“Wait, what?” I asked and turned to Tracey in shock.
I couldn’t have heard her right.
“Layla, do you want your daughter to go through everything you did? Whether or not Nathaniel is alive doesn’t matter. She’s an Emberclaw, and one day, another threat will arise. She will be hunted out of fear or spite. Forced to choose between loves. Do you really want that for her?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Tracey turned and nodded. “If the witch draws all of the excessive power from Celine, she won’t have those supernatural abilities. She’ll be a normal werewolf. The magic is sourced in her Emberclaw gene. That gene needs to be fried, drained of any power.”
I looked at my daughter in Sebastian’s hands. She could be normal. She wouldn’t have to endure everything that came with being an Emberclaw. She would grow up, have one mate, fall in love, hunt and fight, and one day start a family of her own.
“What do I have to do?” I murmured under my breath.
Sebastian clenched his jaw.
“Who are you talking to?” he asked and narrowed his eyes on mine.
“Take a breath and trust me. When I say go, you go,” she ordered.
“Layla?” Kade’s voice was loud behind me, but I couldn’t turn.
I was ready; I had to be ready. Tracey turned her head and gave me a wink.
The light started pushing out through the door of the house.
Mason came running out of the house. The witch bent her knees, and he came flying over her head. Her hand rose, but whatever was supposed to happen didn’t.
“What the hell?” she asked and flicked her hand again.
“Kill him!” Sebastian ordered.
The witch turned her hand. “I… I can’t.”
Sebastian’s head snapped around, and he lifted my daughter.
“Go,” Tracey said.
I ran up the stairs, and my body slammed into hers. We fell on the wooden floors in the cottage.
The witch groaned and started throwing punches. Her magic wasn’t working. Something was blocking it. The furniture was dimmed. It didn’t look like the cottage I had been in when Analise was here. Everything was bright, as though the sun was hanging in the ceiling.
“What did you do to me?!” she spat.
My head jerked to the side when her fist came down. Clara was pissed and took over, and I sat back.
“Nothing compared to what I’m going to do next,” Clara spoke through me, and she wasn’t going to be gentle to the woman who kidnapped her pup. I had a front-row seat.
She raised her hands and drew from the power; her eyes turned black, and though we couldn’t see it, I heard the glass shards falling from above.
Her muscles tensed, and her lips pulled back in a scream.
“What is she doing?”
I don’t know, Clara, but I think you should step back.
Clara didn’t move. The witch stood to her feet.
Step back, Clara!
She took a few steps back, staring wide-eyed at the surge of power visible on the witch’s face. The door to the cottage was a vale of light hanging over the opening. She was gathering all the power she could.
I looked around. Something flickered behind the witch. I looked over her shoulder and gasped.
“Be ready,” Tracey said.
Her hair pulled back. A big smile grew, and she started laughing menacingly.
“Did you really think that you, a mere, pathetic little wolf, can take down a witch harvesting power from a source created by black magic?” She laughed again.
The sound sent shivers down my spine. I felt Clara’s fear spreading through us—through my veins, over to Clara, who was keeping her eyes narrowed on the witch.
I saw her through the small frame of Clara’s predatory eyes. Her laughs were filling the house, echoing down the light.
Tracey was staring attentively at the back of the witch’s head.
Her fingers up, pressing into the palm of her hand.
Tracey’s eyes slowly found mine. The witch’s laugh was louder than ever as the magic swallowed her, and she relished in the power she was stealing.
Tracey bowed her head and stepped back.
“Did you really think that I would ever let anything happen to my daughter?” The witch grinned.
Clara jumped, and her claws slashed in the air. We fell back when a surge of power shifted in the room and pressed us against the wall.
“You can not win!” she shouted, and her words echoed. “A deal is a deal. I help Sebastian kill those who ruined his life, and in return, I get an unlimited source of supernatural dark magic!”
“Don’t do this,” Clara said and tried to move.
I was trying to help. I took control and tried moving my hand. When I looked down, not a single finger was moving.
Clara, I need you to use all your strength.
“But it won’t work.”
No, but she’ll have to fight harder.
A vicious growl left her lips, and she pulled her arms away from the wall. They moved an ich, that was it. However, it was enough for the witch to summon more power. Tracey’s hands were facing the witch. Her eyes were glowing. She nodded, and Clara used every ounce of strength she could muster.
