Page 28 of Brutal Alpha

Placing her hands gently on Julia’s ribcage, she watched Julia’s face as she took a deep inhale, wincing as her lungspressed against her fractured ribs. I held my own breath: if Julia had snapped one of her ribs entirely, she might have punctured a lung. The witch seemed competent, but I doubted she could heal something like that.

“Good,” she said after a few breaths. Relief rushed through me. “I don’t think you’ve done yourself any lasting damage, but I’m going to leave you a couple more tonics for pain and for sleep, alright?”

Julia nodded. Oh, to be a person who could give Julia orders without argument.

“Thank you, um—I’m sorry, I never asked your name.”

“Sybil.” Sybil. That was it. “Pleasure to meet you, and I hope I don’t see you again.”

She turned to leave, but Julia shot out a hand, catching her by the wrist.

“Could I ask you one more thing before you go?” Julia sounded uncertain, almost shy.

“Ask away,” said Sybil, gently.

“Can you tell me about Shadow Magic?”

“Shadow Magic?” Sybil repeated, clearly surprised. “Young lady, I’m only a hedge witch. That’s a little above my pay grade.”

“What’s the difference?” Julia’s eyebrows crinkled in confusion, and Sybil gave a little hum of amusement.

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Lapine,” Julia admitted. Her home Pack might be far more accepting of witches now that they had one for their Alpha Female, but the nomadic witches were still understandably waryof the place. Abe Thorne had barely tolerated them, and his predecessors had barred them from the island entirely.

Sybil, to her credit, didn’t look shocked or put off, only nodded as if that was exactly the answer she expected, sitting gently on the edge of Julia’s bed.

“There are three—three categories of witch, if you like,” she explained. “Hedge Witches, High Witches, and Shadow Witches. Hedge Witches like me are the most common. We deal in herb lore, healing, and a variety of other things, depending on personality. Almost anyone can become a hedge witch if they put their mind to it; we don’t possess any innate magic, you understand; we draw on the magic that exists in everything around us. Now, High Witches do possess innate magic; they’re energy manipulators, able to conjure fire from the air or move an object with just a thought. A truly powerful High Witch can stop your heart in an instant.”

“And Shadow Witches?” Julia prompted. Her eyes were wide with interest, her voice moving from unsure to enraptured. I was no less interested myself. Ferris welcomed witches, but most who passed through were Hedge Witches, like Sybil, and the others were High Witches, like Alyssa. Shadow Witches were almost as foreign a concept to me as they were to Julia, something I’d only ever heard stories about.

“I must admit I’ve never met a Shadow Witch in the flesh,” said Sybil, and Julia’s face fell. “There hasn’t been one active on the Nightfire islands for—must be getting on a century now. My grandmother used to tell me they were all blind, but more than that, I can’t tell you.”

There was a pause, and my wolf whined as Julia’s heart seemed to break in real-time before Sybil continued,

“If you were willing to make the trip to Ensign—once you’re recovered, of course—there’s a High Witch there who might be able to help you. Ask for Eve.”

The change was immediate; Julia grinned, her blue eye sparkling, and she grasped Sybil’s hand.

“I will, thank you.”

Sybil squeezed her hand in return before she rose from the bed. Her hand was on the handle of the door when she turned one last time.

“Maybe don’t tell her you’re from Lapine,” she said. “Eve’s funny about that island.”

And on that cryptic note, she left. The door clicked shut behind her, and I held up a hand to stop Julia before she could speak.

We couldn’t stay on Argent forever, but I was still reluctant to return home: Ensign would be the perfect place to hide out for the time being. Not even the bravest Arbor hunters would be stupid enough to attempt an attack on the most vicious Pack in the archipelago. She didn’t need to convince me.

“I’ll call Xander.”

Chapter 13 - Julia

After two full days of bed rest, I was going to lose my mind. The combination of my fast shifter healing and Sybil’s disgusting but effective tonics had mended my cracked ribs and rid me of my concussion by my second morning on Argent, but Ethan would have tied me to the bed if he could. My wolf’s ears perked up at the thought of Ethan tying me to the bed, but I was absolutely not going to pay her any heed.

Ethan had made it abundantly clear that he did not care about me. Every cup of tea he’d brought me and every reminder to take my tonics were simply duty, as far as he was concerned. He had to keep me healthy so he could bring me back to Caleb in full working order and forget that any of this had ever happened. I would only be one in a long line of females he’d fucked and then abandoned. If he was going to insist he was nothing to me, then I was going to act like he was nothing to me.

My room had an en-suite shower—because, of course, it did, Argent was stupid rich—and I spent far too long luxuriating in the warm spray. Days in bed had left me sweaty and smelly and uncomfortable, and feeling it all wash off me was like shedding old skin. I was no longer weak and injured and vulnerable: I was me, and I wasn’t going to let Ethan fucking Cain tell me what to do for one minute longer. I was going out, and no one could stop me.

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