Chapter 333: Get Out Of My Way, Alpha. I Need To See Her

Nicholas walked through the destroyed front doors with his brothers flanking him and Lilith between them, and the first thing he saw was power.

Victoria Morvaine stood twenty feet from the entrance with twelve witches and warlocks arrayed behind her in formation. Her dark robes moved in a wind that existed only around her, and her eyes glowed with barely contained magic. The air itself seemed to bend around her presence, shimmering with heat and pressure.

She was not here to negotiate.

She was here to take.

Behind Nicholas, at least thirty pack wolves held defensive positions, some shifted, some human, all of them ready to fight and die if necessary. He could feel their tension through the pack bond, their absolute loyalty warring with their very reasonable fear of the magical power arrayed against them.

This was about to become a bloodbath.

Unless he could stop it.

Nicholas stepped forward, putting himself between Victoria and Lilith. "Victoria."

"Nicholas." Victoria’s voice was cold as winter. "Step aside."

"You know I can’t do that."

"Then I’ll go through you." Victoria’s magic flared brighter, making several of the younger wolves whimper. "I felt the attack. I felt my niece’s power explode across three territories because she was fighting for her life while you were off chasing false hope. So yes, Nicholas. You will step aside. Or I will make you."

"The attack wasn’t our fault," Sebastian said from Nicholas’s right. "We couldn’t have predicted..."

"You left her vulnerable!" Victoria’s voice cracked like thunder. "You bonded her. Marked her. Made her your responsibility. And then you abandoned her to chase after a witch who would only tell you what I already knew....that there is no easy way out of this curse."

Nicholas felt Kael push forward, responding to the challenge in Victoria’s tone. He forced his wolf back and kept his voice level. "We didn’t abandon her. We left her with Lucian and our Betas. The estate’s wards were intact. There was no reason to think...."

"There’s always a reason to think someone will attack the last Morvaine witch!" Victoria interrupted. "She’s the most valuable supernatural in the Northern Territories right now. Everyone wants her. Everyone wants to use her power for their own purposes. Including you."

"We’re not using her," Lucian said, and there was a growl in his voice. "We’re protecting her."

"Are you?" Victoria’s eyes blazed. "Because from where I’m standing, you’ve bonded her against her better judgment, transferred a death curse to her, and are now presenting her with impossible choices that all end with her sacrificing something essential to save you."

The words hit too close to home and Nicholas felt his jaw tighten.

***

Lilith stepped forward before the confrontation could escalate further.

"Aunt Victoria," she said, and her voice was quieter than she intended but it cut through the tension anyway. "I’m okay."

Victoria’s gaze snapped to her and Lilith saw her aunt’s expression shift....rage melting into relief and fear and desperate love all tangled together.

"You’re not okay," Victoria said, and she took three steps forward before Nicholas moved to block her path. Victoria’s magic flared dangerously. "Get out of my way, Alpha. I need to see her."

"Let her through," Lilith said.

Nicholas looked back at her, clearly reluctant, but stepped aside.

Victoria closed the distance between them in seconds and pulled Lilith into a crushing embrace. Lilith felt her aunt’s magic wash over her....checking for injuries, assessing the curse, cataloging every change since they last saw each other.

"What happened?" Victoria murmured against her hair. "I felt your power. You used ancestral magic. The kind that only manifests in direct bloodline descendants."

"We were attacked," Lilith said quietly. "By someone who called herself Thalia Morvaine."

Victoria went completely still.

Then she pulled back and looked at Lilith with an expression of absolute horror. "What did you just say?"

"Thalia Morvaine," Lilith repeated. "She said she was family. That she survived the coven attack fifteen years ago. That you thought she was dead but she’s been hiding. Watching me. Waiting."

Victoria’s face had gone pale. "That’s impossible. Thalia died in the main house when it burned. I searched the rubble myself. Found...." She stopped. "Found what I thought were her remains."

"She’s alive," Nicholas said grimly. "And she’s after Lilith. Wants to use her bond manipulation abilities to ’reshape the world.’ Whatever that means."

Victoria’s expression shifted through several emotions too quickly for Lilith to track. Shock. Horror. Rage. And underneath it all, something that looked like guilt.

"Thalia always wanted to weaponize our gift," Victoria said quietly. "Before the attack, she used to argue with our mother about it constantly. Said we were wasting our power by hiding. That we should be using our bond manipulation abilities to control supernatural politics. To make the packs and covens answer to us."

"What did your mother say?" Sebastian asked.

"That power without wisdom is tyranny," Victoria said. "That our gift was meant to heal, not control. Thalia disagreed. Violently." She looked at Lilith. "If she’s been alive all this time, if she’s had fifteen years to nurse her rage and plan her revenge..."

"She’ll come back," Lilith finished. "She said as much before she retreated. That this wasn’t over."

Victoria’s hands tightened on Lilith’s shoulders. "Then we need to leave. Right now. Before she returns with reinforcements."

"I can’t," Lilith said.

"Yes you can," Victoria insisted. "I have Henrik here. He’s the best bond-breaker in the territories. He can sever your connections to the Alphas. It will hurt but you’ll survive. And then I can hide you somewhere Thalia will never find you. Somewhere...."

"No," Lilith interrupted.

Victoria blinked. "What?"

"I said no." Lilith pulled away from her aunt’s grip and took a step back. "I’m not running. Not from Thalia. Not from the curse. Not from any of this."

"Lilith..."

"They found the witch," Lilith said. "Morgana Ashford. The one who gave the original prophecy. And she told them there are options besides my death."

Victoria’s expression shuttered. "What options?"