Fated (The Stratton Pack Book 1)

by Stella Blue

  Teddy gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. Angrily, she got out of the car, staring Wyatt down. “I’m here to see Emmett,” she announced. “And you’re not going to get in my way.”

  Wyatt bared his teeth, but Silas laid a hand on his shoulder, calming him. Seph and Andie got out of the car, as well. “And why should I let you see my son?” Silas wondered.

  “Emmett’s gone rogue, hasn’t he? Just like the others? Like Christine?” Andie asked. Silas glared. Teddy waited for one of them to speak, her heart pounding.

  “She can heal him,” Seph assured. “She’s strong enough.”

  “I’ve seen what your ‘healing’ powers can do. Hazel tried with Christine, and it didn’t do anything,” Silas reminded. The other wolves tensed as if preparing to attack.

  “But I’m his mate,” Teddy argued. “You can feel it just as much as we can, can’t you?” Silas was quiet. “I can use that to reach him, to bring him back.”

  Silas was still for a moment, his eyes searching her face. “Fine. You get one chance,” he announced. Teddy breathed a sigh of relief, looking to her aunts. As they made their way to follow him, Silas held up a hand. “Guard the other two,” he ordered the wolves, gesturing toward Andie and Seph. Teddy started to protest, but Silas’ glower was enough to silence her. She shot a hopeful glance back at her aunts as they were surrounded by wolves.

  Teddy followed Silas through the woods toward what must have been an old barn. As they neared, she could smell the scent of blood thick in the air. The energy surrounding the building was rank with violent tones, and Teddy understood why when they entered. Inside the building, the Stratton pack members had imprisoned the rogue wolves.

  Silver chains restricted the rogues’ mobility, burning them at each attempt to run free. At the smell of Teddy’s blood, the rogues whined and snapped viciously. She faltered for a second, knowing the sight that was awaiting her as they neared the end of the barn.

  Emmett rested in the corner, his hair matted with sweat. The silver chains left violent, crimson burns across his chest and arms, and he shuddered with each breath. Teddy watched in horror. “Emmett,” she breathed, every muscle in her body sending her toward him. Silas held up an arm to block her from getting too close.

  At the sound of her voice, Emmett’s eyes flew opened, and he glared at her. His eyes were a glowing shade of violet, the poison having taken over his system. A snarl left his lips, and Teddy steeled herself. “I can still help him,” she promised Silas. “Just let me go.”

  Silas hesitated, still holding her back. “He attacked Kitt last night,” he warned her. “His own brother. What makes you think he’ll still recognize you in this state?”

  Teddy watched Emmett carefully. “Wolves always know their mates,” she whispered. Slowly, Silas released her, and she removed the healing charms from her pocket. Carefully, she approached Emmet under Silas’ watchful eye.

  Emmett’s eyes watched her frantically, and he strained against the chains to get close to her. “Emmett,” Teddy called evenly. “It’s me. It’s Teddy. I’m going to help you.” She mustered every bit of Vigor within her, sending her energy to him.

  The purple began to fade from his eyes, and Teddy could see traces of blue returning. “Teddy,” he struggled, reaching for her. Gingerly, she reached for his hand. As they touched, she felt him growing stronger, and she smiled, collapsing into his embrace. “You’re here,” he whispered, nuzzling into her neck.

  She chuckled, tears sliding down her cheeks. “You’re going to be okay,” she promised, taking his face in her hands.

  “I know,” he replied, a smirk spreading across his lips. Teddy stared in confusion as he began to stand, the silver burns on his body now healed. Still holding Teddy, Emmett released a piercing howl. The other rogues responded, their chains jangling as they grew restless. “I have to thank you, Teddy,” Emmett spoke, breaking free of the silver chains. “I wouldn’t have had the strength if it wasn’t for you.”

  She pushed away from him, panicking. Behind her, Silas growled. “I knew you were nothing but trouble,” he spat, throwing her out of the way as he began to shift. Emmett shifted, as well, turning into a snarling version of the big, goofy wolf Teddy had grown to love.

  Father and son prepared to battle. Silas was a giant black wolf, his jaw powerful and threatening. Teddy flinched with every snap of the wolves’ teeth. She spotted the other rogues breaking free from their chains. They circled the fighting pair, as if waiting for the kill. Silas was supposed to be the Alpha, the most powerful wolf in his pack, but it appeared as if rogue Emmett was too strong and too fast for him.

  Emmett threw Silas against the wall, knocking him unconscious. The other rogues, some in human form, some as wolves, wrapped him in the silver chains and dragged him out of the barn and into the woods. Teddy shakily stood, searching for a way to stop them. “Emmett!” she screamed, chasing him as he darted into the woods. He glanced back at her, and she saw the pain in his eyes. Then, he was gone.

  Feeling drained, Teddy staggered after them. She lost her footing and fell amongst fallen leaves, passing out where she lay.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The late evening sun shone outside as Teddy’s eyes fluttered open. She was still in the barn, sitting in the same corner where Emmett had been. Something bound her hands and feet, and her body ached. As she tried to stretch, she realized that thick ropes had been tied around her wrists and ankles. She struggled against the ropes, but they didn’t given.

  Teddy groaned, still groggy. She wondered how long she’d been unconscious, and what had become of her aunts. Feeling hopeless, she collapsed against the wall, and tears began to slide down her face. The memory of Emmett, her Emmett, poisoned and battling his father still throbbed in her mind.

  “Theodora.”

  Despite the voice calling her name, the air in the barn was still.

  “Theodora, my darling girl.”

  There was no denying it. She recognized the voice immediately.

  “Moms never really go away, right?”

  She blinked, her mother’s voice washing over her like water. “Mom. I messed up,” she whispered. “I just wanted to help, and I messed everything up.” A sob tightened her throat. “I should have never come back.”

  Her mother’s energy surged around her, enveloping her in warmth. Teddy basked in it, feeling like her mother was right by her side. When she opened her eyes, her gaze fell upon the moonstone ring. Maggie’s ring. It had a faint glow to it, and Teddy realized that the full moon had begun to rise. As she felt the power of the moon restoring her Vigor, she heard the voice offer final words of encouragement.

  “This is not the end, Teddy. You are stronger than you.”

  Teddy smiled. “Thanks, Mom,” she whispered, as her mother’s energy faded away.

  “Who are you talking to?” a voice mumbled somewhere else in the barn. Teddy watched as Kitt strolled into view, a set of scars trailing across his cheek.

  “Kitt,” she breathed, taking in his scars. “Did he do that to you?”

  He shrugged it off. “Tried to rip my throat out,” he explained, leaning against the wall. “Luckily, I got off with only a few scratches.”

  Teddy sighed. “He didn’t mean it. Emmett’s not himself right now,” she warned.

  “I know, Teddy” Kitt agreed. “Mom was the same.”

  “What happened? How long have I been out?” she wondered.

  “All day,” he answered. “Wyatt didn’t want to take any chances of you or your aunts hurting anyone else, so he ordered us to lock you up.”

  She rubbed her head. Emmett must have taken all of her power before he disappeared, leaving her unconscious. Remembering the rogues’ disappearance, she looked to Emmett. “Have you found the rogues? I think they took Silas,” she told him.

  “Wyatt took some of the others and went after them. But we think the wolf’s bane masked their scent, so we’re searching blind,” he admitted.

&
nbsp; Teddy shook her head. “Where are my aunts? Andie, she might be able to help,” she suggested.

  Kitt hesitated. “They’re being guarded back by the house.”

  Teddy’s mind raced. Her ring glowed a little brighter with each passing minute as midnight approached. “Kitt, I know I can help,” she promised. “I think that’s why I was brought here. Why I was meant to come back to Eaton. Ella’s magic left a curse on your family, and I think I have to help heal it.”

  He offered a sly smile. “Your aunt said you’d say something like that,” he revealed.

  “Andie? What? How did she know?” Teddy inquired.

  “She said that your mom told her,” he explained, taking a step closer. “Said that you were the only hope we have for saving our pack.”

  A smile spread across Teddy’s face as Kitt knelt and reached for the rope. “Kitt. What made you trust me?” she wondered. “Your dad, Wyatt, the rest of the pack…They hate me and my family.”

  “Phee trusts you, and she’d kill me if I didn’t help you,” he admitted, holding up a hand to show sharp claws. He carefully slashed at the ropes until Teddy was free. “Besides, if it came down to Wyatt or Phee, I think we both know who I’d be more afraid of.”

  Teddy rubbed her wrists, and Kitt helped her to stand. “Thank you, KItt,” she said, smiling up at him. She placed a hand on his cheek, and the scars began to fade.

  When she finished, he admired the healed skin. “I think I should be thanking you,” he admitted. “Now, how do we save the pack?”

  “I need to get to my aunts. I think Andie can help us find out where the rogues went,” she explained.

  “Follow me,” Kitt beckoned, jogging out into the woods. She followed him back to the house’s backyard, where three pack members guarded the two women. Seph had a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth, and Andie looked as if she was meditating.

  “We need a distraction,” Kitt announced, studying the pack members.

  “I have an idea,” Teddy told him. “I’ve read in some books that witches with powers like mine can make themselves faster and stronger. I’m pretty sure I could do the same, especially under a full moon.”

  “Sounds perfect,” he remarked. “You can slip in and out without getting noticed. Have you done it before?”

  “Not exactly,” she admitted, taking a breath. “Wish me luck.”

  She channeled the full moon’s power, her ring glowing brighter. When she opened her eyes, she darted toward the backyard, heading for her aunts. Before the shifters could realize what was happening, she freed Seph and Andie and made her way back toward Kitt. Her focus broke, and her speed was lost in a second. The wolves turned on the three witches, surprised to see Teddy.

  “Oh, no,” Teddy hissed.

  “Leave this to me,” Seph warned, holding a hand out to their captors. With a wave of her hand and a few words, the ropes morphed into snakes. The slithering creatures wound themselves around the wolves’ ankles, injecting venom with a single bite. The shifters fell to the ground, paralyzed.

  Teddy watched in awe. “Not bad,” Andie praised, continuing toward the front of the house.

  “It’s not going to kill them, right?” Teddy confirmed.

  Seph shook her head. “Just paralyze. And since shifters heal at a faster rate, it won’t keep them down too long. We need to get going now,” she emphasized. Teddy led them to the Beetle, where Kitt was waiting.

  “Where exactly are we going?” Kitt wondered, as they climbed in the car. Teddy turned the keys in the ignition and sped away from the Strattons’ home.

  “We’ll go back to our house,” Andie answered. “I can use my runes to help us figure out where the rogues are. Then, Kitt, you can summon Wyatt and the others, and maybe we can stop them before things get any worse.”

  Teddy nodded and drove them through the night toward the Kane home. A silence fell in the car, and Teddy dissolved into her thoughts. The buzzing of a phone shook her out of them. Kitt was glancing down at his phone, messaging someone. “Is that Wyatt?” she asked nervously.

  “No,” he answered. “It’s Phee. I told her to stay home with her parents until this is all sorted out.”

  “Did she get to see Cora? Is she doing any better?” Teddy wondered.

  “Cora was dismissed from the hospital this morning,” Kitt explained. “They doctors said she was in perfect health.”

  “Has Phee heard from her? Maybe she can tell us something about the rogues,” Seph suggested.

  Kitt relayed the message to Phee. When she responded, he frowned. “She hasn’t heard anything all day.”

  Teddy tapped the steering wheel, glancing down at her moonstone ring. It shone brighter under the light of the rising full moon. “Mom spoke to me, in the barn, when I was unconscious,” she announced. “How did she do that?”

  “The moonstone,” Seph replied. “A mother witch typically gives her moonstone to her firstborn daughter. It keeps a piece of her spirit with you.”

  “Since Hazel adopted the four of us, she made moonstones for all of us,” Andie added, gesturing to the moonstone stud in her left ear. Teddy remembered seeing the moonstone bracelet that Seph often wore.

  “What about Ella? What moonstone did she have?” she wondered.

  “A necklace. Hazel gave her a moonstone pendant,” Seph answered. “It had a small streak of blue in it. Ella said it was her piece of the night sky.”

  Teddy tensed. “Cora has a moonstone necklace,” she remembered. “She wears it all the time. I’ve never seen her without it.”

  Her aunts were quiet. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” Kitt pointed out.

  Andie sighed. “When it comes to the Kane women, it’s never a coincidence,” Seph warned him.

  “How old is Cora?” Andie asked Teddy.

  “Twenty-eight, I think,” Teddy recalled.

  Seph gasped. “Ella left Eaton about twenty-eight years ago. After Silas left her for Christine,” she remembered. “What if she was pregnant?”

  “Then, when she died, she would have given the moonstone to her daughter,” Andie realized.

  “Wait,” Kitt interrupted. “My dad would never have left any of his children.”

  “Unless he didn’t know about them,” Seph pointed out.

  Teddy pulled up to the house and parked before making their way toward the house. Seph opened the front gate with a wave and led the group inside, but Andie paused. Her pupils had turned as pale as her eyes. “She’s seeing something,” Seph realized, running to her sister’s side.

  Kitt watched the entire interaction, entranced. He’d seen the Kane women work their magic more times in one night than in his entire life. Teddy watched as the color returned to Andie’s eyes, and she released a deep breath. “What did you see, Andromeda?” Seph asked, stroking her sister’s hair.

  “Hazel’s tree. It was on fire,” she whispered.

  Seph’s eyes widened in panic. “You don’t think…” she murmured.

  Andie nodded. “A Revival.”

  Teddy and Kitt stared, confused. “What’s a Revival? What does the tree on fire mean?” she wondered.

  “There’s a spell called a Revival. An Enchantment witch can revive another witch, but only by sacrifice,” Seph explained. “The sacrificed witch has to have the same Gift as the revived.”

  “A piece of Hazel lives on in the tree at her grave. If someone were to burn the last living piece of her, it would count as the sacrifice for the Revival,” Andie continued.

  “Meaning that someone could revive Ella if they burned Hazel’s tree,” Teddy realized. She turned to Kitt. “We need to get to Hazel’s grave. If Cora or anyone is going to try anything under the full moon, that’s got to be where they’d go.”

  Teddy started off toward the woods, but Andie grabbed her arm. “Teddy, there was howling in my vision. The rogues will be waiting for us,” she warned.

  Kitt cleared his throat. “Don’t worry. Leave it to me,” he offered, throwing his head back and relea
sing a howl.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kitt’s howl summoned the remaining wolves in the Stratton pack to the Kane home. After arguing with Wyatt for a while, he’d explained the connection between Ella and Cora, the Revival spell, and the location of the rogues. Grudgingly, Wyatt agreed to lead the wolves under the witches’ direction, and the group set out toward the Kane gravesite.

  The woods were eerie at night. Andie and Seph led the way, followed by Wyatt in wolf form. Kitt had shifted, as well, but he stayed close to Teddy’s side. They steeled themselves for whatever might find them by the gravesite, knowing that whatever awaited them would not be pretty.

  Andie held up a hand as they approached the gravesite. The wolves fanned out, checking the perimeter. The moon shone down into the clearing, where Emmett stood with his back turned to the group. Teddy’s heart skipped a beat, and she started toward him. Kitt stopped her, shaking his head in protest.

  The air grew still and quiet, as they waited. “Teddy?” Emmett called, turning around. Blood was smeared on his face. “Please. Help me.”

  Andie and Seph appeared by her side, each taking her hand. With Kitt following close behind, they slowly emerged from the woods, approaching Emmett. Teddy watched Emmett carefully, her heart pounding. “Emmett, you’ve been poisoned. You’re under Cora’s spell right now,” she explained. “But I can fix it. Just take my hand.”

  His eyes flashed purple, growing sinister, and laughter filled the air. Cora emerged, sneering at her cousin. Rogues flanked her on every side. “Sorry, Teddy. Emmett’s not here right now,” she teased.

  Teddy glared. “Why would you do this to him? To all of them?” she demanded.

  Cora narrowed her eyes. “These wolves killed the only family I ever had,” she spat. “I’m only returning the favor.”

  “Ella was our sister, Cora. She was our family, and you’re our family, too,” Seph said calmly.

  “We can help you master your magic,” Andie offered. “Just like Hazel did for Ella.”