Chapter 5 - Alliance

An alliance with a powerful person is never safe. - Phaedrus

Sapphire's POV

I could feel the leaves crunching beneath my feet. My heartbeat quickens, and I can feel it palpating loudly against my chest.

I don't know how I got here; I just know I couldn't let him get to me. I must keep running. I am in the woods again. I can hear a deep growl in the distance as it gets closer and closer.

My legs are getting tired as my body feels strained, but I don’t stop. I was so close to getting away. I can hear it snapping its jaws behind me, and I make the mistake of turning around.

I look at its vast jaws and fierce yellow eyes and scream loudly. I didn't watch where I was going and tripped over a rock as I tumbled.

I close my eyes, bracing myself for the fall but open them again when it never comes. I furrow my eyes at the fact but look up in surprise to see the same man again.

He growled loudly as he bared his teeth at the beast. He pushed me behind him in a protective stance, and I was left frozen in my spot as I watched their quarrel.

I don't know what to do as I stare at them blankly. The beast charges toward the man and snaps at his face. But he grabs him by the neck and pulls him away.

The beast manages to get a scratch on him, and I watch as he screams loudly. My heart aches at sight, upset by what is happening in front of me.

I know I should help him, but with how the beast gazed at me, I wasn't sure I was strong enough to do that. Like a coward, I made the last-minute decision to run into the woods and move far away from them.

I could hear a loud howl behind me, but I didn't dare turn around this time.

I could see the edge of the forest ahead and a road in front of me, and my eyes widened with excitement as I moved toward it. My excitement was short-lived, though, as just before I reached the forest's edge, I was met with the man coming to stand in front of me abruptly.

"Trying to run away from me?" He said with a smirk, and I felt my body fluster as I shook my head from side to side.

"No, I wasn't." I stuttered out.

He raised an eyebrow at me before asking, "Then where are you going?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I tried to think of the words to use to answer him. "Home."

I watched as his eyes glowed red, and I gasped as he came up to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"Actually, you are staying with me. You are too precious to me for me just to let you go." He said firmly. I huffed at his words.

"This isn't even real. So I physically can't stay with you. Now I am self-actualizing in a dream. I think I am losing my mind." I said, clutching my head.

‘Wasn't the first rule of dreaming that you don't know that you are dreaming?’ I thought to myself.

"You aren't going crazy, love. You are mine, and this is real. It will make sense to you soon enough". He said to me.

"What are you talking about-" I started to say before I heard the loud growl of the beast behind me again. I screamed, and he used the opportunity to push me behind him again as he growled loudly as the beast's claws pierced his skin.

I watched as he fell to the ground in pain and went over to touch him. I felt worried come over me at the sight of him. As I reached out to grab his hand, I woke up.

I shut up in bed, gasping for air.

********

James’s POV

I had been watching the Moonstone pack from a distance since my exile. I saw how distorted and distorted the pack became without its Alpha. They had assumed that I had killed him. Seeing them search for him frantically while he was right under their nose the whole time was funny. Naturally, the title was handed down to Alexander. Although he hadn't trained for the role, he was the pack's favorite son. He had learned a lot from observing his father. I watched how the pack continued to grow in my absence.

No one even remembered me, the legacy I had built, and the liberation I intended to provide them. I watched as Alexander and his mate had their first child together. They named him Greyson, the future Alpha. Another person that was set to steal my title.

After his birth, I felt as though something inside me had snapped. I could no longer bare to watch from the shadows as the pack continued to thrive without me. My time in the woods made me focus more on surviving than exacting revenge. I had weakened Alexander’s powers to where he was barely alive. Still, his powers weren’t going to be enough.

My mother had witch blood in her veins, and if any group hated werewolves more than I, it was the witches. She was raised in the coven Saturn located in between the Southern Mountains. I traveled for months to reach them. My magic was limited, but after spending months training with them, I could master my abilities. Even amongst them, I was isolated and seen as a threat, but I proved myself a worthy member of the coven through the power I acquired. As in every leadership, power was what got your respect.

They practiced ancestral magic and channeled it from their ancestors. They taught me elemental spells and allowed me access to their grimoires to increase my knowledge and help me master nature spells. They were peaceful coven and only used magic for farming and to defend themselves.

After fifteen years of training with them, I had learned everything they offered me and was ready to head back to the pack. I no longer had to hide in the shadows. I was in plain sight and could blend in undetected with my camouflage abilities.

I watched one of the darkest days for the pack as their Luna died and their Alpha became weakened. The river pack had finally crippled them and brought them to their knees with the Intel I sold them. The old me would have taken the chance to move in and take over, but I knew I needed to wait for the right moment. Alexander's son: Greyson, was picked as the temporary Alpha until he found his mate, when he would take the title officially.

But it would be almost impossible thanks to my witch's spell cast on him as a baby. I realized that he wasn’t even aware of his curse. It would be interesting to watch when he found out.

I knew getting to him was the key to taking back the pack. I observed him during the day and how he coordinated and carried out his activities.

One night I cloaked myself and could slip into his chambers and tap into his mind. A part of him had been unblocked by the witch's curse. The one that wouldn't allow him to locate his mate.

But I was a powerful witch as well. I could untangle the knot and open his mind to the mate bond. I could find an image of who she was, and I had to admit that she was quite beautiful.

I tracked her down across the human plane and found out exactly who she was. I gained access to her remotely through her dreams and was able to unlock her thoughts.

I knew she was innocent, but to get to Grey, I had to go through her. And if I got to him, I would finally have the pack under my control. With the power of the necklace of Salazar, I could obtain the power of two generations of Alpha, which would inevitably make me unstoppable. I planted dreams of her being chased through the woods by a wolf while I searched her brain.

I hadn't expected the repercussions. I should have known that nature always found a balance. Before I could get a hold of her, Greyson would find a way into the dream and save her.

That wasn't possible as mates weren't supposed to have such interactions before the meeting. I knew that I would have to take it a step further.

I would have to go to the witch, Samera, who had promised me everything and had been the one who started it all. The dreams weren’t working well enough. I needed to get a hold of the girl.

I traveled through the forest with my mindset and a new sense of determination. I stopped in front of Samera’s small cottage at the border of River pack before stepping onto her porch and knocking on her door.

There was a commotion on the other side before I watched as Samera came around to pull open the door slowly. Her face fell when she saw me as she said, "oh, it's you. What do you want?"

"I need your help," I said simply. Samera scowled as she moved to close the door in my face, "I am done helping you." She seethed.

"This is the last time, and if you do this, the necklace will be yours," I said to her; slowly, she turned to face me as she raised a single eyebrow.

"I am listening."