Page 38 of Witch Unexpected
“Care to fill me in?”
She leaned in conspiratorially. “Well, finding an anchor was one problem, but we’re also down an alpha.”
“What?”
She nodded slowly. “Uh-huh, Torsten is refusing to come home and do his duty.”
Torsten, the third alpha? “Well, that hardly seems fair. I mean, he knows what’s at stake, right?”
“Yep, but Torsten has always been a law unto himself. He’s always been volatile, but about a year ago, he just upped and left. He’d rather palm off his duty to another alpha in his pack. Problem is, the binding needs primal bloodlines.”
“And what are those?”
“The original bloodlines of the alphas who signed the covenant.”
“Okay. Got it. Go on.”
“Torsten is the last of the Mana Pack’s primal bloodline, just like Rune and I are the last of Holm Pack’s primal line. I mean, Mana could give the coven another alpha, but it probably won’t work, and then we’d all be fucked.”
Leif and Anna were speaking low and urgent, and now I knew what they were discussing, the tension in the air was evident. My being here was useless without all three alphas being on board, and as much as I’d hated the idea of doing this, I hated the idea of my friends being in danger even more.
It was obvious that this Torsten guy needed a good kick up his arse, and if he thought he was volatile, he hadn’t seen my manic gene in action.
I jerked my head in their direction and then wandered closer with Halle in tow.
“The ceremony will take place in less than two weeks at the blood moon,” Anna said to Leif. “We need him.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Leif asked. “But I also know Tor; he’s made up his mind. We can’t force him into this. It’s got to be voluntary, and Ulf has volunteered in Torsten’s place.”
“Ulf isn’t primal stock,” Anna reminded him. “It’s too huge a risk. If the ceremony fails, the present anchor won’t survive till the next blood moon, and the seal… The seal will be broken.”
I joined them. “What’s this guy’s problem anyway?”
Both Leif and Anna turned to look at me, but it was Leif who answered.
“Torsten doesn’t want to anchor himself to anyone. He wants to be free, away from compacts and ancient threats.”
Oh boy, could I understand that, but ifIhad to do this, then so did he. He was going to have to put his big boy pants on and deal with it. “Where is he?”
“Why?” Leif asked.
“Because I’m going to go get him.”
“You?” He looked perplexed then worried. “Not a good idea. Torsten is…dangerous and volatile. The wolves that Sten—his uncle, the current alpha—sent to bring him home came back beaten so badly they took days to heal.”
Okay, so he got aggressive. “Would he hit a woman?”
Leif looked horrified. “Torsten may be a lot of things, but he would never hurt a female.”
“Okay, if I have that in my arsenal, maybe I can get him to listen to me.”
Leif didn’t look convinced.
I smiled sweetly up at him. “I don’t take no for an answer, and I’m not easily intimidated.” I grinned. “I also have gorgeous cornflower blue eyes.” I fluttered my lashes. “And other distracting assets, and if all those techniques fail to get him to listen, I’ll teleport his ass here, and we can lock him up until we wear him down.”
Leif snort-laughed, then looked surprised at himself. “I like the way you think.”
“No,” Anna said. “The Order is out there, waiting for a chance to end you. You’re not safe outside these walls. Not until after the blood moon ceremony.”
