Broken Souls
Chapter 23: Enemies

Alpha Aaron’s POV

I put Kay to bed, and I feel terrible that I need to leave her, but I have to meet with Eric. We need to figure out what to do next, and clearly, Kay isn’t safe. I am not too surprised when I get to the office and see Rana and Willow sitting at a table looking at a few of the books and some of the notes Kay had taken.

“Aaron, my boy, how is Kay? I’m sorry I couldn’t get away to check on her.” Eric greets me. This man reminds me so much of my own father. I can’t help but like him.

“She’s resting now, but I don’t want to be away from her too long. I want to know if there was anything new or any leads. Just something, anything,” I say, and I feel all the frustration and fear rushing through me in shock waves. I sit down and try to calm down. The last thing I want is for Kay to feel my fear.

“I know, my boy, we all do,” Eric says, trying to keep his own fears in check.

“Well, we are lucky that Kay is such a clever girl because she was on to something; unfortunately, it’s nothing good. We are looking at something worse the just the Boss, and it’s something I suspected but hoped wasn’t true. The moron Boss has gotten himself involved in something very dark.” Willow has my complete attention now.

“Well, what is it?” I can feel myself almost begging the witch to tell me what she knows.

She lets out a long sigh and relays the story of Hadeon. He was the dark wizard that enslaved and killed; yep, got it, he’s the bad guy. I am trying to be patient, but I really want her to get to the point of how he has anything to do with this. That was over two hundred years ago. He should be dead by now, right? She finally gets to the end of the story by saying how he was banished and locked in the underworld by some witches.

“It seems he has been using the Boss to try and make his escape.” Willow finishes.

“But, how would he do that? He’s trapped there?” I feel dumb, but all this magic crap is confusing.

“I think he’s halfway there and halfway here, thanks to the Boss. He’s got some power here, but thankfully, not all of it. I do know that we are going to need some help of our own, and the sooner, the better. I need to go to my coven and convince them they need to help us. It won’t be easy, but I think I may have some pull with them and some favors to call in. I’ll leave soon. I don’t want to worry Kay too much about this while she heals, but she will need to be told. So, none of your Alpha protecting her garbage. She’s a strong girl, and she needs to know,” Willow says, looking me dead in the eyes like she knew I didn’t think we should tell Kay anything. I just want to keep her protected from all of it.

Willow rolls her eyes at me as she stands up, “Well, we are going to need help, and I need to look up a few more things. Rana, do you think you can give me a hand?” Willow strolls to the door as Rana follows her, silently looking concerned. I know the Luna is a witch. It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around, but she has never been anything except a model Luna in the years that I have known her. I can clearly see the regret that she and Eric have over what happened with their daughter, and I know they want to make it right.

I watch them leave and close the door before turning to Eric.

“So, what do we know? I need to know. Did any of them talk?” I know I sound demanding, but I think Eric understands. He stands up to walk over to some liquor bottles on the far wall. Pouring two glasses of amber-colored brandy and walking back, he hands me the glass and sits back down.

“We don’t know how honest they are being, but if they are being honest, we are looking at all-out war,” Eric says, taking a drink. I follow suit taking a large drink of the burning liquid.

Eric continues: “They say they have thousands of rogues along with wolves from small packs. They also say they have some dark witches helping and a few other dark fay helping. I guess this Hadeon is helping draw in any and all dark creatures he can. We are going to need to get the other packs to fight with us. I don’t see how we are going to avoid this war and losing a lot of lives.” Eric finishes talking and promptly finishes his glass as well.

“I’m going to start calling a meeting with all the Alphas. If you have any that might owe you any favors, this may be the time to call on them to back us as well. I don’t think many are going to want to listen and believe that some dark wizard and crazy rogue leader and out to start a war.”

I stand up and finish my glass. “I can make a few calls, but for right now, I want to get back to Kay,” I say as I move to the door.

“Son, we’ll stop him. I believe in my Rana, and Willow is much more than you think she is,” Eric says, and I just hope he’s right. I give him a slight nod as I walk out the door heading back to Kay. All I know is I’ll kill him myself before he can take what’s mine again.

Kay’s POV

I wake up to the sun starting to set, and Aaron is nowhere to be seen in the room. So, getting up slowly but feeling much better, I figure a shower would be the perfect thing as long as this stupid wound on my chest is closed enough. I make my way to the bathroom, stripping off my tee shirt and tossing it on the counter. I stare at myself in the mirror as I gently pulling the tape off. Honestly, the tape is almost as bad as anything. I finally get it peeled off and take a good look. In just a few hours, Diana has managed to have the whole thing closed up pretty well. There is still a bit of it that was open, being held by a few stitches, but I can tell it really wasn’t deep.

I start the shower, brush out my hair, and undress while waiting for the water to get hot. I’m about to step in when Aaron’s voice makes me jump a little.

“Mind if I join you?” Aaron says, looking me over with hungry eyes. I give him a sly smile, stepping into the shower. I start washing my hair, and it doesn’t take long before I feel Aaron’s hands in my hair washing it. I can feel Diana in my mind, and she’s already purring completely in love with our mate. He still gives me butterflies, and I think being marked only made it worse.

Once my hair is washed, I replace myself staring into the most wonderful honey eyes that are getting darker the longer I’m looking at them. I can feel him washing my body, but all I can do is stare into his eyes.

“I love you.” I can’t even stop the words from falling out of my mouth. Aaron only pauses a moment before he’s wrapping his arms around me.

“I love you, Kay. So much.” He breaths in my ear before crashing his mouth on mine. I wrap my legs around him as our kisses become needier. I don’t even notice when we leave the shower. I simply replace myself on the bed.

I feel my back hit the soft mattress, and our kisses never break. They only grow more desperate. It isn’t long before I feel Aaron slip himself deep inside me, both of us moaning at the contact. Rocking hips in perfect time with each other, both of us need to be close to each other in every way. I can feel my own climax steadily building as Aaron starts kissing down my jaw and neck, replaceing my mark, making me lose my mind completely as my legs begin to quake. I know I won’t last much longer. I don’t even completely register as my lips replace his neck biting and sucking. I know his own release is building. I replace the place where his neck and shoulder meet, and I feel my canines extend as I bite down. I’m overtaken with my orgasm as Aaron lets out a roar replaceing his own release. Both of us panting, Aaron falls to the bed next to me and pulls me close to him.

“I love you, sweet Kay. Don’t ever leave me.” Aaron almost whispers, nuzzling his face into my neck and hair kissing my neck softly.

“I love you. I’m not going anywhere.” I say, cuddling close to him. Soon we are both falling into blissful sleep.

I wake up with the early morning light streaming in the window and Aaron’s soft breathing. I can completely believe that I marked him last night. It just felt right. Now he’s mine just as I am his. That thought is warm and happy, and I feel myself clinging to that. I know something bad is coming. I don’t know how I know. I can just feel it. I know the Boss or Seth, rather, is behind it. I don’t think I want to think of him as the Boss anymore. He’s not my Boss. But he is alive, but this feels worse than just him. I don’t know what it is, but I plan to replace out. I don’t want to get up, and I know it’s incredibly early, but I need to go to the library. I need to replace that book. Something is pulling me there.

I feel a little bad as I slip out of bed, get dressed quickly, and throw my hair up in a messy bun. I hate to leave Aaron, but the pull I’m feeling is getting stronger, and I have to go. I slip out of the door and down the hall. It doesn’t take long to replace the library and the stack of books that are still there. I start looking through the stack of books, and the book isn’t there. I’m starting to feel desperate when I hear a cough at the door. I turn to look and see Grandma standing there holding the book.

“Well, I can see you are determined,” Grandma says, giving me a smile.

“I just felt like I had to. I didn’t really have a choice. It was like something was pulling me here.” I tell her as she starts moving to the table. She sits down in one of the chairs and puts the book on the table. I sit too and start flipping the pages. It’s like I know exactly where I need to look. I stop when I replace the story of the dark wizard, skimming it quickly. I remember every word of it already, but I had to see it for some reason.

Then it hits me. “He’s back, isn’t he? This darkness I feel is him, isn’t it?” I ask, looking Grandma in the eyes. She looks at me and blinks a few times before answering simply, “Yes.”

“But why? Why would he be helping Seth? It doesn’t make sense.” I say, feeling panic. If this wizard is as evil as it says in this book, we could be looking at something worse than just Seth.

“I don’t think Hadeon is helping Seth. I think he’s using him, and the poor stupid man is just a pawn in Hadeon’s end game,” Grandma says, looking very worried.

“What do we do, Grandma?” I ask, praying to God or the Goddess or anyone that might listen to help us. I don’t know why I know this is so bad; I just know it.

“I’m going to speak to my coven and a few others to see if I can get them to help us. I’m sure Aaron hasn’t had the chance to speak with you yet, but you should know there is a war forming, and Hadeon is a driving force in that. We will need the help of magic. I don’t believe Hadeon is completely in our realm, but I think he’s close. I need to figure out what needs to be done to fully release him, so I can form a plan on how to reseal him where he belongs.”

“Why can’t we just kill him?” I ask.

“To kill him, he would have to be in our realm, and I don’t think we want to risk that. He has so much power. He spent a lot of time collecting magic from those stupid enough to give it to him believing his lies.” Grandma’s words are laced with bitterness. I can’t help my next question.

“Grandma, how old are you?”

She gives me a smirk, “Old enough to not answer that question, my clever girl. Now let’s get you back to your mate before he wakes up and worries,” she says, standing and walking to the door. I follow her, but I still want to know more. I also know she’s not going to give me a straight answer ’til she wants to, but I know I’m right. She’s the witch from the story, and Hadeon is the lover that fooled her. Grandma must be, and she must be the one to save us again.