Page 30 of Alpha Bride

“Okay, what’s the issue, then?” Aiden sighs.

I let out a breath, the weight of the last twenty-four hours suddenly feeling immense. “We spoke to Marian, and Emily found out some stuff…”

I fill him in on our conversation with Marian, from the details about Emily’s mom to the little we know about her father, his powers, and how it all relates to Malik’s own magic. Aiden’s face goes from passive to intrigued to finally horrified.

“Are you saying your baby might possess the same kind of magic Malik does? That shapeshifting shit?” Aiden finally asks, stunned.

“For fuck’s sake, Aiden,” I mutter, and he cringes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it was a bad thing,” he soothes. “I’m just in shock here. We’ve all been assuming Malik was some kind of one-off. You’d think Marian might have mentioned this before.”

I nod. “Her loyalties are with the witches. I think she was trying to protect Emily or maybe her mom’s secret. Seems like they were friends.”

“And what about Emily?” Aiden asks. “Does she have this power? Is it still bound?”

I shrug, genuinely not knowing the answer. Does Emily have no magic, or is she one of the most powerful witches on the island? “We don’t know. Marian says they could try unbinding her, but she’s reluctant. It seems that’s what killed her mom.”

Aiden’s eyes go wide. “Fuck, man,” he says, running a hand over his face.

We both fall silent for a moment until his phone rings. He glances down at it and wanders away to talk to whoever it is while I grab another bottle of water. The training is almostwrapping up for the day, with our betas using some new runes provided by the witches to supercharge our fighting abilities. Part of me wants to be pissed at Marian, but I know she’s trying, and I understand loyalty all too well myself.

“Tristen,” Aiden calls out, running back over, “you gotta hear this.”

He comes striding back over, holding the phone aloft and indicating it’s on speaker. “Byron, tell him what you just told me.”

I listen as one of Aiden’s most trusted betas, who’s currently on patrol along our border, comes on the line. “Sure thing, Alpha,” he replies, clearing his throat. “We were trailing a couple of rogues along the ridge. Think they were out scouting; they don’t seem local. Mainland, I think. To be honest, we were about to take them out when I heard them mention a bounty.”

A bounty?

“On who?” I ask, even though I suspect I already know the answer deep down.

“They said Malik wants the special red-haired witch,” Byron says, confirming my worst fears. “Sorry, Tristen. But Aiden mentioned she’d been targeted before.”

I close my eyes to quell the banging headache, threatening to descend as my wolf begins to stir, agitated beyond belief. I turn, rubbing my hand across my stubble to ground me.

“Tell him the rest,” Aiden tells Byron grimly.

“There’s more?” I growl, and Aiden nods solemnly.

Byron sighs before continuing, “One of them asked if they’d get more if the witch is really pregnant. Two for one.”

For once, I feel completely speechless. Instead, my wolf does the talking. With my claws extended, I turn and punch the cabin wall, the wood giving way to a shower of splinters under my clawed fist. I dimly hear Aiden hanging up the call, and I feel his presence behind me, waiting to calm down. Eventually, I turn around to face him. “I need to speak to those rogues.”

Aiden shakes his head. “They refused to be taken alive; Byron had no choice.”

Cursing, I grab my keys. “I need to see Emily. Double security.”

“Good idea,” Aiden agrees, walking with me toward my truck. “You know, if Malik is that desperate to get her, bringing in mercenaries and a bounty, it means something. We’re not getting anywhere in tracking him down, just fending off attacks. Maybe she’s the key to all this.”

“She has no powers, Aiden. She’s completely vulnerable,” I snap.

Aiden stands by as I start the engine.

“Seems like she might, though,” he says as I pull away. I pretend not to hear him, but his words echo in my mind all the way back into town. For Malik to recognize her power, it must still be there. And how the hell does he know she’s pregnant?

I’m still mulling over those questions as I pull up to the house. Pausing as I take the steps toward the door, it becomes apparent I have visitors. So I’m not surprised when I open the door and immediately spot several familiar-looking witches gathered in my kitchen, the smell of potions hitting my sensitive senses like a slap to the face.

The funny thing is, this is what I assumed it would be like when Emily became my luna—a house full of witches and theconstant aura of magic. I didn’t count on her distant position within the coven. Now, I strongly suspect Marian did that on purpose, perhaps out of guilt or to keep her potential type of magic a secret. But with a bounty on her head and Malik hunting her down, that’s clearly not going to work.

---