6. A Deal with the unknown

Henry

I headed to the border of the pack and took a plane to England without looking back. Father was wrong; I wouldn’t come back begging, I was an Alpha and I wouldn’t ever go down to my knees. If I was to go back to my pack, it would be to claim my birthright as their Alpha, with my fated Luna by my side. Knight barked in agreement in my mind.

When I arrived in London, I knew things wouldn’t be easy and it would be hard to find her as unfortunately, mate-bonds didn’t work like GPSs.

“If only I knew her scent, I could track her to the end of the world,” Knight chimed in.

“You are over-confident even for an Alpha! You are a good tracker, but your nose can’t cross oceans,” I replied, if I was to give too much credit to this wolf, he would become unbearable.

How could I find her? I wondered looking at the grey skies of London.

“Maybe we need some help from magic, get one witch or two,” my wolf suggested.

“Good idea, Knight!”

“I know; I am the brain, the claws and the muscles between the two of us,” he said, pointing his snout up in a … attitude, in my mind.

“But you definitely aren't the funniest one,” I snickered back.

“Keep telling yourself that!”

Witch buildings aren’t very hard to find when you are familiar with their symbols. They have some specific signs on the top of their doors, normally druid symbols or some of their sacred creatures such as ravens, and phoenixes.

Witches seem to be the same everywhere, here and in Alaska. After a few hours roaming around in one of the most empty and discreet neighborhoods I could see in town, the energy of an old stone building, with a raven crest on the top of its door-frame, almost dragged me in. It was surely a witch building, and probably the residence or workplace of a rather powerful creature.

“It feels like it’s calling for us. This means bad news, Henry!” My wolf chimed in.

“We don’t have a better choice, we won’t find any magic platform or a direct way in. If we don’t take this opportunity and try it, we will keep wandering around this huge and noisy city, while our mate is probably in danger!”

“Fine! But if I see any sign of danger, I will take control, shift and launch at them. I don’t like these sneaky creatures, we can’t see their power; it’s not like having muscles or big claws, they can be small and frail, yet destructive and mighty,” he added.

“You are too wimpy for an Alpha.”

“I am only cautious and wise!”

I dismissed him and knocked on the wooden door. Soon, a young woman with jet-black hair opened the door.

“Welcome, Sir. Do you need any assistance? Perhaps, to seek something in your future or in your past?” she asked, looking intently at me, trying to read my face as if I were an open book.

Knight’s ears stirred up: he was wary, and so was I.

“This is our business,” she explained, gesturing to a collection of tarot decks placed on a side table in the hall. I looked around the dim-lit area, it looked old and had minimalist and dark decorations, as well as some lit candles. My eyes trailed the narrow corridor until the end, spotting an open door to a room in which a table full of crystals of different sizes, colors, and shapes were placed. The witches and wizards living near my pack tried to make their identity less evident.

“I have to find someone, can you help me with that?” I furrowed my brow at her.

“Of course. Do you have anything from the person you want to find, any belonging?”

I exhaled sharply at her reply. I didn’t know anything about her, I didn’t have anything from her, besides this feeling of longing.

“The only thing we have from her is a bond that unites our souls, I guess it’s better than having her bra or thong, at least for the tracking spell,” Knight chuckled in my head, his eyes closed and his snout wide open— he thought he was hilarious. I hope, once we find her, our mate could bring him down a peg, and he would get over himself.

“She is my fated mate, can you work with that?” I asked.

“Certainly,” the young witch grinned, as she walked through the hall, and motioned to me to follow her.

“If she tries anything, I will launch at her. I won’t feel good about it since she is a small girl, but we never know how strong these short ladies really are.”

I ignored the grumbling wolf within me and entered the room with the witch.

“Give me your hand, and think about your connection with your mate,” she instructed as she took a small blue crystal in her hand and crushed it on the table almost too aggressively, surprising me a little.

“I told you,” Knight remarked annoyingly.

After placing my hand on her cold and pale one, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the feeling of my mate, the stirring in my soul. I could feel that Knight was also doing his best to concentrate on her wolf, her words, and the mental image she sent us.

After a couple of minutes, the young witch became stiff and pulled my hand abruptly.

“I can see her, she is on a bed, sleeping deeply. It’s warm, salty, and I can hear the waves breaking on the beach, it’s home… Through the window my eyes see from, I see the facade of the house, a huge house, number nine, three palm trees by the front door. Roaming over the streets in a path by the beach. In blue there is a sign, Marbella is what I read.” She opened her eyes and gasped.

“She is in Marbella,” I murmured under my breath.

“Indeed, now pay for your fortune, Alpha.” My eyes met with her serious lilac ones. I should have asked for her price before, but my desperation to find my mate screamed too loud, silencing my reason.

“What is your price?” I asked.

“The most valuable thing you have with you right now. I am not talking about value in gold, money, or even power. What do you have now that is closest to your heart?” Her expression was stern.

“This is a strange request, she must be playing some sort of trick and will do something bad to us,” my wolf voiced my concerns. But it was too late; this witch had given me something precious and now I had to pay the price.

“You don’t have a choice, Alpha. All business done under this roof is bound by ancient magic, I’ve told you my price, now pay it,” she told me, stretching her open hand in my direction.

I’d imagined so, I knew it wouldn't be easy to trick her, not even if I wanted to.

“I still can jump on her!” Knight growled and I felt him trying to take the surface. He was afraid of the consequences of her magic.

I exhaled sharply and reached for the small iron medallion in the shape of a crescent moon I had on a leather chain around my neck, hanging on the level of my chest. It was the only thing I had from my mother—the mother I never met—although I couldn’t sell it to buy a cup of filtered coffee, it was my most precious belonging.

Forgive me, mother!

My jaw locked and my heart became heavy as I gave her the medallion. The witch smiled before she guided me out of the house and closed the door behind me without saying any further words.

Knight was furious, he was as attached to the medallion as I was, but I also could feel his relief; now we were one step closer to finding her, the reason my life became this much chaos.

**I had no time for regrets, I had to find out where Marbella was and go for my mate. **

~ * ~

Meghan

Shazza came upstairs after the werewolf left, the reek of wet dog was still all around her, but it was a rather small price to pay.

She smiled as she showed me the simple moon-shaped medallion in her hands. She seemingly did everything as I instructed her.

“I am glad you could see the White Alpha coming, Shazza. Our luck is about to change, did you get any information on them?” I asked.

“Yes, if they are indeed with the she-dragon, I know where they are. It will work, we will finally be free, Meghan,” Shazza flashed me a small smile. She was so new in all of this but was already sinking, even though not as deep as me.

A smile curled on my face and my eyes went darker with greed.

**This time, I would finally succeed. **