Chapter 72

Scarlett.

The door creaked, pulling me out of my jumbled mind. I could smell Thiery before he stepped in, my wolf letting out a powerful snarl. We saw him for the traitor he was, needing to be executed in that instant. Whatever sibling love I thought I had for him was replaced by a sinister feeling. I pictured his bloody self-lying on the ground, gagging on his own blood, begging for mercy that I wouldn’t dream of granting.

"Get up,” he commanded, making me snap my jaw.

"Look, you’ll still remain the Luna. Only this time around, you’ll rule a bigger pack, merged together,” he stated this nonchalantly as he worked on untying me. I kept my mouth shut, swallowing saliva to avoid spitting in his stupid ass face.

"Come on,” he instructed me to stand, making my brows furrow.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked gritting my teeth together. I wobbled a bit, my vision becoming a little blurry. I hadn’t had a decent meal for hours, and my stomach kept on churning.

"Move; I don’t want to hurt you." He nudged me with a little force, making me take a forced step to prevent myself from falling face first.

I craned my neck to look at him, shaking my head in the process. Then I let out an obnoxious, loud laugh. “I can already see your bleeding throat, Thiery. The clock is ticking." I cemented my statement by licking my lips in nothing but pure anticipation.

“Silas has the most powerful warlock on his side. With the ring back where it belongs, we will be unstoppable." I whipped my head so fast I almost broke my neck, trying to look at Thiery, who stood behind me, pushing me to get going.

"Did you say the ring?" A curiosity I couldn’t control took over, cooling off the ire I felt slightly. I barely registered as Thiery stuck a needle with a syringe in my neck. By the time I reacted, the entire contents of the liquid had been pushed into my bloodstream. The last thing I heard was a sorry as my body gave out, my eyes shut, and my warlock side took over.

When I came to, the first thing I felt was a cold breeze blowing around me. I could make out at least two men and a woman speaking from a distance. Their voices were, however, drowned out by a resounding roar that had my eyes flying open.

"Jax," I screamed, thrashing around, only to realize I had been tied up to a tree.

"It’s good you are awake; I wouldn’t want the party to delay any longer." Silas clapped his hands, earning synchronized growls from both of us. Jax stood a few steps in front of me, with red ringlets shooting and growing from the ground surrounding him up to his neck. I couldn’t believe my eyes or the magic that seemed to be as clear as day. His feet were bound to the ground, and despite his claws extending, he couldn’t slice them.

“The warlock," I whispered, remembering the vision I saw once again.

"I thought you said your mate would rain terror on me," Silas mocked, sticking his tongue out and pointing at Jax, who was trapped. When my lips curled upwards, he responded by cackling, which was sickening to my ears.

"I’m going to fucking kill you,” Jax growled, the sound reverberating in the space between the dense trees.

Silas responded by casually crossing the distance between them, standing right in front of an enraged Jax. I could feel his wolf burning up in our bond.

“I will be the one doing the killing. Thiery?" he called, making my mate snarl when Thiery emerged, but he wasn’t alone.

He had his hand on Astra’s bicep, pushing her roughly. “I’m sorry, Scarlett. They’ll kill Jax if I attempt doing magic,” Astra whispered, her glossy eyes meeting mine. She looked older, as if that were possible.

"As much as I would love to enjoy your reunion, we have business to finish before I murder these two." Silas pointed at Astra and Jax, his words making my insides burn up.

"Where is it?" The weak alpha turned to Jax. I knew he was talking about the ring, but I couldn’t help but wonder where the warlock was. I could feel her magic surrounding us, creating a bubble around us to avoid penetration from the outside. It was invisible, but I could feel it, just as I could sense a number of werewolves inside the woods. I knew Jax wasn’t stupid to come alone without backup; the problem was, I needed to get the barrier down for them to get an entry.

"Not giving you until you untie her. That was the deal,” he ground out, avoiding eye contact with me. I attempted mind-linking with him, but the magic was blocking communication.

"It’s funny how you think you can call the shots when you’re bound by tendrils." Silas laughed again.

“The ring,” he repeated his voice dipping.

"What’s so special about this ring anyway?" I chimed, stalling to come up with something. I wasn’t afraid; I had no panic inside of me. What I had was power flowing through my veins, buying time for it to accumulate. I could have burned the chains down in the blink of an eye, but I needed to know some things. Like who the warlock was and why the ring was so important.

Silas stepped away from Silas, who was running towards me at a speed I barely apprehended. Within seconds, he drew a knife from his pocket. I swallowed saliva as he pressed the tip on the side of my neck, looking at Jax.

"Now, now, Silas. We agreed that I would be the one to handle the ring personally." The voice, as it sounded behind me, was so familiar. My mouth opened, my eyes widened, and my whole body thrummed with an unexplainable feeling. I couldn’t feel my hands and legs; the blood in my veins had run cold, numbing me.

Astra trembled, her eyes glistening as she looked past me, behind the tree I was tied to. I looked at Jax, whose mouth curled before his jaw dropped open as his eyes alternated between me and the owner of the voice.

"I should have killed you and your mother that day,” she spoke freely, her steps sounding closer and closer.

"You witch!" Jaxon was beside himself, whereas I couldn’t even get a word out of my mouth. I opened and closed my mouth, swallowing inaudible words as my shock finally turned into reality when she finally stood in front of me. I closed my eyes, expelling tears I couldn’t control. My throat worked up, forcing the utterance past my trembling lips.

"Mother," I muttered, swallowing audibly.

"I thought you were dead,” Astra whispered, sinking down on her knees. A look of confusion crossed my face as I wondered how the hell he knew her. The pain in her voice and in her eyes was almost palpable as she stared at my mother.

"No wonder I couldn’t break the spell on the ring." Astra hung her head, two drops of tears falling on the foliage-covered ground.

"You know each other?" Jax asked, a look of betrayal crossing his face. He thought that Astra had betrayed him, but clearly she had no idea.

“She is my sister, whom I thought died many years ago,” Astra answered. A gasp tore out of my mouth as the words entered my ears.

"Yo-u," I shook my head, my throat drying up.

"Ar-e y-ou really the war-lock?" I uttered, mind racing, eyes expelling more salty liquid.

"Yes, Scarlett, I am the warlock who’s been making your life a living hell."