Part Three

I emptied half a bottle of Scotch in the time it took James to arrive at the house. I was exhausted and I was scared. I wouldn’t admit that to anyone, but I was. I had no idea what awaited me because I hadn’t even known witches existed.

James and I finished the bottle as I told him my story. His eyes held disbelief and the expression on his face was one of utter shock. I left nothing out, I told him everything. He didn’t interrupt me once and for that I was glad. It was hard enough to tell the story twice in one day.

I hadn’t slept yet and I knew my eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep. I had spent the night looking at Christian and Kai as they slept in our bed next to Adara. Christian saw it as having a sleepover and he loved it.

“I don’t know what to say. Witches…shit”

“Tell me about it.” I rubbed a hand over my face and sighed.

“And Jessica and Malachi? I didn’t see that one coming.” I smiled at the way he said it, the slight frown making it more comical than it was. “What are you going to tell the pack?”

“The truth. I don’t want anyone hurt because of me. The more they know the better prepared they can be.”

James nodded his agreement and stood up to call the pack in for a meeting. We would convene at the den a bit later that night. It was an emergency meeting after all and I felt nervous. It would be my first official meeting as the Alpha.

My first official speech and I was telling my pack secrets that had been buried for years, secrets that probably would’ve stayed buried if Dezrael hadn’t upset the natural balance. I knew I’d give up the Alpha seat if the pack demanded it. Kai was more important, Saga too, they always would be.

James and I drove to the den together while Malachi followed behind us with Jessica. Adara declined to join us, I couldn’t blame her for staying. Of course she didn’t want to hear this story again. I had asked Robert and Malika to stay with her at the house and I’d share everything with Robert when I was done at the den.

Malachi had frowned at me when I told him to bring Jessica, but I needed a witch there to prove to the rest of them that witches were in fact real and not extinct like we thought. We arrived at the den and there were a few cars already there.

I only invited the men, and I would put the option on the table for them to have me removed from my seat. I knew that Malachi wouldn’t agree with me, but I felt that it was the right thing to do.

I walked inside and Jeff, Carl, Frank, and Travis bowed their heads at me, and I nodded at them. Malachi walked in behind me, holding Jessica’s hand and they got more than one look.

“Malachi.” They greeted him and nodded their heads.

It was an almost automatic transition for them regarding how they treated Malachi now that I had become their Alpha. Malachi was now ranked third in our pack behind James.

Patrick, Lionell, Charles, Richard and Maxwell arrived at the den and everybody sat down as I took the Alpha Seat with James on my right and Malachi on my left. Jessica had a seat slightly behind me.

I hit the wolf shaped gavel on the table and declared the meeting open. “Good evening and welcome to our first official meeting.”

“Alpha.” Their voices chorused around the den as they all settled down.

“First off, thank you for all the gifts and warm wishes with Kai’s birth, they’re both doing really well.” I got a few smiles from them and the mood in the room grew somber.

“I would like to introduce Jessica to all of you. She is firstly a friend of mine and a new close friend of Malachi’s. Secondly, she’s also a witch.” Shock registered with them and a few of them looked concerned.

“Why would you invite a witch to our inner sanctum?” Richard asked me.

He was used to speaking his mind with Malachi and had just continued to do the same with me. I cleared my throat and told them the short version of what had happened without giving them the sordid details of cutting out my own liver. They were silent for quite a while and Maxwell broke the silence first.

“Can’t you just kill her?” He asked innocently. He was eighteen now and would soon go off to college. I smiled at him, but Jessica was the one to answer.

“It’s really not that easy to kill a witch,” she said and Carl sniggered.

“You don’t look so tough, missy,” he said as he looked at her.

“Would you like to try me outside? You can even shift if you need to.” Frank and Jeff burst out laughing. Carl looked at me and I just smiled. I stood up and we all walked outside.

Jessica walked a few feet away from Carl and smiled at him. “Whenever you’re ready, Susan.” She goaded him.

We all laughed and Carl readied himself. He took his shirt off and as he went for her, he crumpled to the ground in agony. She lowered her hands and Carl stood up.

“What the hell was that?” He looked at her in awe. Jessica stood up straight and smiled at him.

“That was just a simple pain spell. Killing a witch is not like killing a human.” I nodded my head and now I understood what she had meant earlier. There was no way I would get close enough to Dezrael to kill her.

“Okay, let’s go back inside.” The pack followed me back inside and most of them eyed Jessica warily.

“So, Jessica kills this other witch, and we all say thank you and go about our business,” Carl said as we sat down.