Page 33 of Alpha Bride

Suddenly, Marian is beside me. She grabs my hand and squeezes tightly. “Now,” she whispers. “Now, Emily.”

And just like that, the dam breaks. The power I’ve been pushing down for so long erupts from me in a wave, washing over everything in its path. The ocean begins to rise up before us, and I direct it at will, a wall of water surging toward the rogues. Some are big enough to hold their ground, while others try to flee back into the sea. But it’s not fast enough as they’re drowned under the sheer force of the water.

Tristen looks over at me, turning back into a man. His eyes become filled with wild power, and he extends his hand outward toward the wall of water. The wind picks up around us, whipping my hair into my face as he pushes against the water, pulling it back out to sea with incredible force. The rogues who had tried to stand their ground are swept far out to sea. Some battle against the current, but it’s useless, and they slip beneath the waves.

My heart hammers in my chest as I become aware of Marian cackling beside me, as she waves to the disappearing rogues in celebration. I glance over at Tristen, who stands in absolute shock, staring at me. Looking down at my hands, which now look completely normal, I feel an unfamiliar sensation wash over me.

Power.

Chapter 17 - Tristen

I take a sip of the amber liquid, letting the whiskey burn my throat. I almost wish it burned more—alcohol doesn’t have much of an effect on shifters, but we do enjoy the initial buzz. We just metabolize it too fast to enjoy the lingering effects humans do. Right now, I could do with a bit of oblivion.

Ryan sits across from me, looking equally grim. The quiet of my office is only punctuated by the sound of him slamming his empty glass down.

I’ve decided what my least favorite alpha responsibility is: telling families that their loved ones died defending the pack.

After collecting what was left of Sean’s body from the dunes, we brought him back to town, and I headed straight to tell the family. It’s going to take a long time to wash his blood from my soul. I grew up with Sean. His entire family relocated to the western shore when I became alpha so he could take up his rightful position as one of our leaders. He was a great man, a great beta.

It takes a lot to kill a shifter. Those were monsters, not just rogues. I stand and walk to the window. Looking down, I see Emily sitting on the back steps, engrossed in a phone call. I imagine it’s with Ava. I only wrapped up my own call with Callum and Aiden a few minutes ago, one filled with anger and a whole load of trepidation over what Malik has coming our way next. If he can turn rogues into those monsters, we’re almost out of time to figure out what the hell to do.

I note Emily’s hand resting on her still-flat stomach and feel my heart race. Despite all she’s going through, I can see how focused she is on our baby, keeping them safe. A thought hits me: she’s going to be an amazing mother, like, really incredible.

She’s nodding at something Ava has obviously said, and I can see the determination in her expression. She seems a lot more grounded since her magic unlocked. I still can’t get over her sheer power on the beach. It’s going to take some time to process everything we witnessed. The only thing I know for sure is that more of us would have been dead without her. We were completely unprepared for the rogues possessing new powers. That can’t ever happen again.

“She okay?” Ryan says, refilling our glasses and coming to stand next to me at the window.

I nod. “Yeah, she’s something else,” I reply, knocking back the whiskey.

“Never thought I’d hear you say that about a witch,” Ryan chuckles, genuinely amused. “You gonna be able to trust her with all that power?”

“Ironically, I’m more concerned with her trusting me at this point,” I say quietly.

Ryan looks confused. “Trust you in what way?”

“To keep her safe? Our baby is safe. To keep the whole damn pack safe when we don’t know what Malik is going to unleash next,” I reply.

Having just spoken to my brothers, I know these are the issues weighing on everyone’s minds. Even Marian is proving her worth as a leader in ways I never anticipated. Shifters have ruled this island for millennia. My father always made it sound as though we tolerated the witches out of some kind of charity and that their magic was annoying and devious at best. Having witnessed Marian and her sisters in battle, I can’t believe I ever thought their magic was limited to trickster spells and bewitching. Given that Ralph claimed to know witchesall too well, I can’t help but wonder why he never shared the extent oftheir power. Or that the covens are just as loyal to each other as shifter packs are.

I’m starting to question if Emily, or her coven, ever bewitched me. Is it really possible that what I felt in the forest that day was the mates bond? And I’ve just been blowing it all along? I down the rest of my glass, this time relishing the tiniest of rushes as it hits my system.

“Tristen, mate, you all right?” Ryan asks, concern etched on his face.

He’s never seen me this out of sorts. It’s a feeling I could do without. The truth is I’m terrified not just for Emily and our unborn child but for everyone. We’ve always known Malik was coming for us, but now I realize we have no idea what he’s truly capable of.

“Better than Sean or his family,” I reply grimly. Knowing I need to change the subject before I dwell too much, I ask for an update on the emergency patrol we sent out with some witches to reinforce the runes, including along the beaches. My brothers are doing the same, though I feel for Aiden. So much of the mountains is inaccessible to witches, and is barely even accessible to shifters. On one hand, there’s no way the rogues are traveling in and out of those areas, but Malik? With his shapeshifting abilities, we’re beginning to narrow down where he might be living, and the mountains are the most obvious choice.

Ryan looks at his phone, pulling up our tracking app and messages. “They’re at one of the final checkpoints,” he says. “Everything looks good so far.”

I turn to look at the map on the wall, my stomach in knots. “We need to organize more patrols. They are getting bolder and bolder. We can’t risk another ambush like that. Weneed to hunt them down before they come for us.” Then, sighing, I add, “I’m going to go and check on Emily. Let me know if you hear anything.”

“Will do,” Ryan says as I walk out of the office, leaving him to check on the other patrols—and hopefully not finish my whiskey. Sean’s death has hit him hard, too.

Grabbing a coffee from the pot on my way through the kitchen, I take a long drink as I walk out onto the patio to chase away the last of the whiskey. Emily appears to have just finished up her call as she turns to me, the phone still in her hand.

“Ava okay?” I ask, knowing how stressed out Callum is, waiting for the birth.

Emily nods thoughtfully, “I think she’s handling it better than Callum and Harper, they’re too impatient.” She smiles at that, and, despite her weariness, it still lights up her whole damn face.

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