Chapter 47 Chapter 47

Chapter 47 Chapter 47
Aliza POV

I thought this little fascination Kieran had with Kaelani would go away.
I told myself it was temporary. A phase. Something he'd get over once the excitement wore off. Instead, every day he seems to find another excuse to be around her, another reason to look at her the way he used to look at me.
But it's gotten worse.
Then he broke up with me.
How dare he break up with me.
I was supposed to be the one walking away. Me. Not him. Kieran has spent years by my side, and now suddenly I'm expected to believe my sister is worth throwing all of that away?
A week ago she was an invisible nobody to him, and now he's sniffing around her ass everywhere.
"Aliza, what are we going to do?" Stephanie asks as we walk toward the locker room.
"I have an idea." I lower my voice, making sure no one walking past can hear us. "Lena's aunt is friends with a dark witch. She can get us a spell that can make them want us again."
Stephanie immediately slows her steps.
"Wait... but my mom always said dark magic is dangerous and always comes with a price. Are you sure that's smart?" she asks, worry lacing her voice.
"She has a point, Aliza," Sera says quietly.
"Shush, wolf. You want him too," I snap.
Sera falls silent, but I can still feel her unease. She doesn't like this. She didn't like it the moment the words "dark witch" left my mouth.
"Look, my sister is a witch. She probably put her own spell on them to have them falling at her feet like that," I say.
Stephanie's brows furrow.
"Do you really think she would do that?"
I suck my teeth.
"Of course she would."
The words leave my mouth easily enough, but deep down I know they aren't true. Kaelani is a lot of things... stubborn, quiet, annoyingly perfect... but she's never been manipulative. If she'd wanted Kieran, she could've had him years ago. She just never tried.
So why now? Why is everything changing now?
What is it about her?
She got the magic.
She got the special training from Daddy.
She got Ezra's love and attention.
And what do I get?
Leftovers.
No matter what I did growing up, it always felt like I was chasing something she already had. If I got praised, Kaelani got celebrated. If I did well, everyone wanted to know how she did. I spent years trying to be enough, and somehow I still ended up standing in her shadow.
It was always little things. Daddy checking whether Kaelani made it home from training before asking about my day. Ezra disappearing into her room instead of hanging out with me. I kept telling myself I didn't care, but after a while... you start noticing who people choose without even thinking about it.
Kieran was the only thing I had that she didn't.
I heard how he embarrassed her freshman year, which gave me the opportunity to swoop in and claim him.
For once, she wasn't the girl everyone admired. She was the awkward older sister who got rejected, and I hated myself for it, but a part of me was relieved. It finally felt like there was something that belonged to me.
I was the pretty one, the girly one, the fashionable one.
Then she woke up Monday morning and wanted to be a fucking girl.
Now everyone acts like she's always looked this way. Like they didn't spend years ignoring her until she stopped hiding behind oversized hoodies and cargo pants. It's infuriating how quickly people forget.
The moment Lena steps into the locker room, I'm on her.
"Hey, does your aunt still know that dark witch you told me about?" I ask.
She stills.
"Yes, but Aliza... dark magic is dangerous," she says, walking further toward her locker.
Stephanie and I follow closely behind her.
"I don't care about that," I snap.
Right now, I don't care about consequences. I care about getting my life back before my sister takes the last thing I have left.
"Why do you need a dark witch?" she asks.
"I need to get Kieran back," I say, as if it should be obvious.
She sighs heavily.
"Aliza, I think you should just let it go. His birthday is coming up. Maybe she's his mate. He's an Alpha. Their wolves can sometimes sense their mates early."
My anger rises instantly.
"NO!" I shout.
"She can't be his mate. She can't have him too."
The words echo off the locker room walls, and for a second nobody says anything. Even Stephanie takes a small step back, like she's never seen me this angry before.
“Yeah, and what's Zaire's excuse? And Liam's?” Stephanie asks.
Lena shrugs.
“Maybe she has three mates. My mom said your grandma was a very powerful witch, and seemingly so is she. Maybe the Moon Goddess blessed her.”
“Shut up!” I snap. “That is not what's happening here. She stole him from me.”
Even as I say the words, something twists in my chest. I know Kieran made the choice to leave. I know Kaelani never asked him to. But accepting that means admitting I lost him all on my own, and I'm not ready to face that truth. Blaming her is easier. It always has been.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.
“Just get me her information, okay? I will deal with whatever happens after that.”
Lena studies my face for a long moment before letting out a slow sigh.
“Fine, Aliza. But please think about this. Once you do this, you can't go back, and you never know what the price of it is.”
There's no judgment in her voice anymore. Just concern. Like she's already watching me step onto a path she knows she can't pull me back from.
“Yeah, I hear you. Thanks,” I say, turning to walk out.
“Stephanie,” Lena says before we reach the door, “I'm not sure what happened with you and Zaire, but if you do this... you can't go back. Whatever you do will never be real.”
Stephanie turns toward her, and for the first time since we started talking about the spell, I see genuine hesitation in her eyes.
“Are you sure about this, Aliza?” she asks quietly.
I already know what she's thinking. She wants Zaire back, but she still has a conscience. She's hoping I'll give her a reason to walk away from this.
“I've never been more sure of anything in my life. Either you're in or out. Either way, I'm doing this,” I say before pushing the door open and walking out.
If I have to be the villain in my sister's story to get my life back, then so be it. She's taken enough from me already. I'm done standing by while everyone chooses Kaelani over me.
Nobody was going to stop what was coming.
Kieran will be mine again...
One way or another.