Chapter 3

Trinity, also known as the Mother of Dark Magic, was the very first human to get the gift of a sorceress. She had a twin named Titania. Ironically, Titania became the Mother of True Magic. While Trinity practiced Dark Magic, Titania practiced true magic which was also known as the magic of white witches. One sister fell into the darkness and another walked in the light. Both of them were enemies till this very day. Trinity was said to earn her magic true mating with one of the princes of Hell. Thus, granting her forbidden magics and immortality. Titania passed at the age of three hundred. Her legacy was carried by those who were born as white witches. From Titania’s lineage, two types of witches were born; the white witches and the normal witches. 

Then, from Trinity, one type of witches was born; the dark witches who practiced all sorts of dark and forbidden spells. 

Amanda reached to the black barrier and instantly it burnt her hands. She pulled off and looked at her reddened hands. That was the darkness of forbidden magic. Any magic that came from the light would be drained by dark magic especially when the caster was weak. Amanda touched the barrier once more and it burnt her hands again.

“I’m not weak,” she said to herself. “I didn’t practice all these months just to be defeated by dark magic.”

“Amanda, stop. You’d hurt yourself,” Liam said.

She pressed her palms against the barrier and enchanted as loud as she could. All her magic energy was channeled from her body into the barrier. Trinity looked at her and smiled sinisterly. With a gesture of her hand, Cohen was thrown away and collided against the barrier. She walked to the direction where Amanda was desperately trying to break the barrier.

“I can almost smell her blood in you,” Trinity said, licking her lips. “Yet, you don't have her strength. What a pity.” she blew a kiss and instantly everyone collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Amanda resisted the sleeping spell. She did as much as she could before a crack happened on the barrier. Then, she collapsed to the ground.

“All of that just for a crack,” Trinity said.

Amanda chuckled as she looked up to her. “Sometimes, you gotta start small.”

Trinity sighed, “I’m just wasting my time here. The demon wolf’s body is nowhere to be found.”

“Why do you want Mira’s body?”

“The knowledge is too big for your tiny brain. I’ll guess I have to find the body on my own then.”

Her body disintegrated into hundreds of bats flying to the sky. The barrier shattered and everyone woke up from their sleep. Amanda collapsed because of the exhaustion after overusing her power earlier. Mira warned her about overusing her power. Everything had its own limitation but Amanda often ignored the limitation. With each overusing power, her energy would deplete even faster. 

Amanda tried to stand up but her legs refused to support her body. Liam quickly caught her body before she hit the ground once more. He carried her in his arms as she passed out. As he stood straight, Cohen approached him. Liam’s expression was no different than before. He was no longer smiling a lot. He spent the majority of his time keeping the pack intact. He no longer spent time with the Enforcers like he used to be. It seemed the Alpha’s duty had sucked all of his happiness out of his body.

“Alpha Liam,” Cohen acknowledged the Interim Alpha.

“We’ll take once I settle some matters,” Liam replied coldly. “You should return to the lake house. After all, your status as a member of the pack remained unclear.”

“Understood,” Cohen replied.

He turned around and left, carrying Amanda in his arms. Cohen watched as everyone else nodded to him before following Liam. The former Alpha understood Liam’s coldness. After nine months of no news, Liam had every right to be cold and angry at Cohen. After all, he was the Beta. Cohen was supposed to trust him more than anyone else. But Cohen decided to keep his location a secret until Mira’s body went missing. Now, he showed up here like an uninvited guest.

Despite growing up in the pack, Cohen felt like he was an outsider as he walked back to his lake house. He didn’t feel home anymore. Cohen stood at the deck, thinking why the Mother of Dark Magic wanted Mira’s body. But it seemed Mira’s body had gained more than one interest. If Trinity didn’t take her body, it means someone else had Mira’s body.

Cohen didn’t expect that it would happen. Even in death, Mira’s body couldn’t be rested in peace without someone wanting to steal and exploit her. His hands clenched the deck’s railing as he soaked in the sunset. Cohen was still filled with rage that somebody disturbed his mate’s resting place. He couldn’t think of anyone who would want Mira’s body. After all, he barely knew her even though he thought he knew her well. 

Cohen rubbed the back of his neck, groaning as he thought even more. He just couldn’t figure it out. Who did take Mira’s body? Trinity didn’t seem to know it. She seemed as surprised as he was when she saw Mira’s empty grave.

Mira’s body had been buried for nine months. It should decompose by now. It would just be bones and a little bit of flesh here and there. Even so, it was still valuable. If not, they would have just left her in the grave. 

Thirty minutes later, a black truck parked next to the lake house. Liam came out of the driver’s seat and walked to the deck. He stood next to Cohen in silence.

“I didn’t expect you to come back,” Liam spoke.

“I’ve surprised myself too,” Cohen replied. “How’s Amanda?”

“She’d pull through. Just exhausted from overusing her power.”

“Did you find out who took Mira’s body?”

“No, all the cameras around the cemetery were broken.”

“I saw several bouquets of flowers there.”

“Yeah, your mother visited her grave every day. She stayed an hour or so, talking to Luna.” Liam turned to him. "I didn't come to make small chat. I want to know if you're in or not."

"It's my mate's body we're talking about. Of course, I'm in."

"Good. Swing by for dinner tonight. I'll fill you in with the details of the investigation."

"Roger that."