All Chapters of The Alpha's Fateful Witch: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

It was late when they eventually returned to the mansion and Merlin went straight to her room to bathe and put on some clothes. She had dinner alone in her room before retiring to bed but, unable to sleep, she decided to go back to the library and find the book. The mansion was quiet, everyone having already retired for the night as she made her way downstairs and through the long corridor to the library. Pushing through the heavy wooden doors, she found the library bathed in the soft glow from the moonlight streaming through the French windows that bordered one side of the room. Reaching to turn on the lights, she thought better of it, not wanting to alert anyone seeing the lights on and come to check. Moving quietly to the back of the room, she quickly located the shelf where she had first seen the book. She scanned the books on the shelf but couldn't seem to find the one she was looking for. She paused, trying to remember if this was where she found it,

Merlin blinked slowly, her mind trying to catch up with what her ears just heard, she thought maybe Zeke was teasing her again but the look on his face told her otherwise. "I....I couldn't......you don't know that it was me", she stammered. "I was there Merlin", he stated simply. Her hands were clutching at her shirt and he could see her trembling as her eyes darted nervously around the room. He could hear her breathing becoming shallow and erratic, her heart beating too fast. "Merlin", he called, "Merlin, look at me"She didn't seem to hear him so he called her name again but louder this time. "Merlin! I said look at me! Finally she looked at him and he spoke to her in a soft, firm voice, "You need to calm down and control it, don't let it control you. Do you understand?"The blank look in her eyes faded as she focused on his face and voice and she nodded imperceptibly. "I think

Merlin knew that she should resist, knew it with every fiber of her being but she needed this, she needed him. She had just lost the only family she had ever had and she was completely alone now. Without Aunt May, there was no one left for her, she probably didn't even have a home to go back to once this was over, whatever the hell this was. She felt like she was suffocating, she couldn't breathe, she wanted to be anywhere but here.  Merlin pushed him away and wrenched the door open, almost falling out of the car as she stumbled and righted herself before taking off, running into the forest. It was dark in the forest, the tree canopy, preventing the moonlight from reaching the ground below. She ran blindly, the undergrowth like skeletal fingers, reaching out to drag her down, their sharp claws, scratching at her face and arms, drawing blood.  In front of her, a flash of lightning briefly illuminated a path through the trees with a

"It's complicated", Merlin replied softly. "Let's get cleaned up and get out of here, you can tell me all about it over dinner",  he said, smiling reassuringly. Later that evening, after dinner, as they sat outside on the balcony, watching the sunset, Zeke turned to look at her, a questioning look on his face. "What did Aunt May say to you that day?"Merlin hesitated, running her tongue over her lips as she stared out at the forest, trying to gather her thoughts and arrange them into some sort of order. Zeke waited patiently, reaching out to take her hand in his and  running his thumb over her knuckles. When she eventually spoke, her voice was soft and halting and filled with so many different emotions. "She said, trust no one but the Alpha, his destiny is tied to yours" A strange, but not uncomfortable, silence settled over them as they became lost in their own thoughts, while above them, the moon and

After her first day of training, Merlin returned to the third floor that evening, to find that Zeke had left for a series of meetings with the neighboring packs and would return at the end of the week. She was, in fact, quietly relieved as this would enable her to focus on her training so she could be ready when he got back. With each passing day, Merlin’s magical abilities improved, along with her confidence, under Juliette's unorthodox tutelage. The two witches had formed a friendship of sorts and a peculiar bond that, under different circumstances, might never have been forged. They were frequently seen either arguing loudly or doubled over in fits of unrestrained laughter, completely oblivious to the stares from passing werewolves. For the most part, their training sessions were uninterrupted, the werewolves steering clear of them, due to the long-standing feud between witches and werewolves.As the end of the week approached, Juliette prepared Merlin f