by Sam Crescent
A shock wave hit her in the gut and pushed her away across the crater. Whoever had done this didn’t want Lewis coming forward.
“Poppy?”
“Stay out of this,” she ordered Adam as she moved back to her spot. Poppy offered her blood over and, as she felt the sucker punch of magic about to strike, she lashed out at it. The battle was on. The magic rolled over at each turn, trying in its attempts to send her on her way. The magic was not set to kill but to seriously harm her. Poppy—with each strike—was getting pissed off. Opening the gate between the two worlds while slitting open her other wrist and offering more blood for the sacrifice, she rushed to find the dead soul bound.
“Lewis, the true alpha of the Beyer West werewolf packs, I command you to break free and join me here. Your time has come to fight back and have your death and secrets known.” She gasped as the latest blow sent her to her knees.
Poppy closed her eyes, gathering more strength. Staying on her knees, she stared back up at the moon. “Lewis, the true alpha of the Beyer West pack, I command you to break free, now!” she yelled the words.
The roar was deafening. The magic scurried away as the earth moved under her hands. The body pulled up from the dirt as the invisible chains of his dead soul disintegrated and he pulsed free.
Poppy screamed as his hands latched onto hers and he bit in, taking the blood she’d offered. He was powerful and she couldn’t stop him from taking his fill.
Lewis gasped for breath and released her.
She cradled her wrist against her body and gazed at the man before her. Poppy watched the decay melt away as her blood had the desired effect and brought him back to the fullness of a man.
The clothes he wore were dirty, but the years of decomposing flesh had ceased to exist.
“Thank you,” he said. His words were so unexpected that Poppy chuckled.
“That’s the nicest thing a dead soul has ever said to me,” she said by way of an explanation.
“Not only have I been killed but I’ve been forced to live for centuries in a prison. No one has known of my existence or what happened to me.”
Poppy glanced over her shoulder in time to see Adam approaching.
“I see you didn’t come alone.”
She turned back to the alpha, struck again by his kindness.
“True alpha of the Beyer West pack, I offer my respects and sincerest apologies for not knowing of your existence.” Adam went down on one knee and showed his respect.
“Are you really Robert’s boy?”
Adam nodded.
“Which one are you?”
“Adam, sir,” he said with a laugh.
“Adam? Wow, I remember when you were just a little lad.” The alpha stood and Adam helped Poppy to her feet.
“You knew my father?”
“Me and old Robert went back a long way. Best of friends were we—me, him and Don. How’s he been?”
Adam and Poppy stared at each other. She waited for him to explain, nausea already settling over her.
“My father’s dead. He was killed at the hand of James, the man we believed was the alpha of Beyer West.”
Lewis went down in a heap. “My good friend killed by my own pack.” They watched him pray to the stars. “I take it you’ve got more to tell me and this isn’t a courtesy call.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you will no longer be trapped and after a few months your memory will start to revive in all the people who knew you, including your pack,” Poppy said to him.
“How’s my mate?”
“She’s waiting for you,” Poppy told him.
“Then I guess we’d better get this sorted out.”
Poppy looked at Adam and gestured for him to finish it.
“We need to know what exactly happened on the night you died.”
“How about I show you?” Lewis offered.
Adam and Poppy were transported back. The crater was suddenly covered over by a wooden house with a small white picket fence surrounding it. They held hands as the scene played out as the mate had said. There was a knock on the door and the mate let James in. They watched as James killed Lewis’ mate.
There were screams from a baby in the corner. All of it was exactly as the woman had described…
“You bastards!” Lewis yelled and charged for the body of his dead wife. One of the wolves caught him and dragged him outside.
James took over, grabbing Lewis.
Lewis began to turn into his wolf form. The rage at having his own pack turn on him and kill his mate consumed him.
A silver blade was thrust into his back, taking him to his knees on his front lawn.
“What is this?” Lewis demanded.
“Consider it a change of power.” James kicked Lewis in the ribs.
The alpha fell back to the moss, laughing. “You think you can take my place as alpha?” Lewis asked. His tone mocked the wolf in front of him. James lashed out and smashed his fist in his face.
“Your time is over,” James said.
Lewis laughed and kept on laughing even as James began to beat him. The other wolves stood back and watched the torture of their alpha.
James struck him repeatedly and stabbed him with silver. Blood dotted every surface, washing the green lawn in red. Then James struck the killing blow…
Poppy and Adam came out of the distant memory, both pale and looking at the alpha as he watched the scene.
“Why did James have so much dislike for you?” Adam asked.
“With great shame it grieves me to admit the truth. For many years I rejected my rightful place as alpha among my pack. Robert and Don convinced me to return to my mate and my pack. But I did something stupid and without honour. One night I encountered a human female and I fucked her. I was mated and I shouldn’t have done it. The night had the consequences of a baby. Human women cannot give birth to half-wolf babies without bringing death to their door. She came to me and my mate, and I nursed her until she gave birth then buried her without shame. It wasn’t her fault for my mistake. James was the consequence of my one night of mistake. I raised him but with the knowledge that he would never be alpha of my pack.”
“Wait? James, your murderer, is in fact your son?”
“Yes.”
“Is that how he’s able to control the pack into thinking he’s the true alpha?” Poppy asked.
“No. James may have alpha blood running through his veins but it’s mixed with the blood of a human. He’s a mongrel and because of this, he would never be able to control the pack.”
“Well, someone is.”
“That night, James took my second son, the true alpha of Beyer West. Lewis Junior is the son of me and my mate—a full-blooded and pure alpha. James must be using him to control the wolves by opening a direct link to him,” Lewis told them.
“A direct link?”
“Yes, if Lewis believes James is his alpha or his leader then his actions are what the pack follows.”
“What happens if we break this connection?” Adam asked.
“Break the connection and Lewis would see the true monster and mongrel that James has become. He was always a hungry, mad child. I should have seen the jealousy in him. I paid the price of my blindness with the death of my mate and myself.”
“Wait—how can we be sure to break this link?”
“Lewis is the true alpha at heart—he’d be able to sense the unease through the pack. He can feel what his pack feels. Lewis would never be able to read their minds, but through his actions he’d be able to know if his decisions are ones the pack respects.”
Adam and Poppy stared at each other, understanding how James was able to manipulate the pack.
“What about creating wolves from humans?” Adam added.
“Only the strongest of humans would be able to survive the transition and they wouldn’t have a direct link to the pack as they weren’t born but made.”
As Adam was about to ask another question, Poppy was thrown in the air and
landed on the other side of the crater. Her body twisted as bones began to break.
Adam and Lewis ran to Poppy, who was covered in thick red blood and screaming out in agony.
“What’s going on?” Lewis asked.
“Hell if I know.” Adam crouched down about to touch her arm, but she screamed and was tossed over. Adam grabbed her then pressed her down. He ripped open her shirt where the worst of the scars lay.
The scar was an open wound caving into her chest.
“Holy shit,” Lewis said.
“What?”
“The necromancer is rejecting Poppy. She’s essentially a vessel. The ceremony that split her heart in two split her soul down the centre. A necromancer is made up of the living and the dead,” Lewis told him. “She’s the one who can control the souls of the dead while Poppy walks amongst the living.”
“Fucking great.”
Suddenly Poppy slumped and he heard a tearing sound and watched as a person who replicated Poppy stepped out of her body.
Adam stepped back.
He saw the evil in her eyes. She looked like Poppy, only she didn’t carry the scars or the kindness Poppy had.
“So you’re the problem,” she said, stepping up to him.
Adam looked at Lewis, who explained, “Poppy has rejected her true power for too long and because of this her dead part has manifested with the intention to cause destruction. Necromancers have a history of being violent. They are two halves of a whole but they need to become whole and accept each other. Poppy has never done this. I’ve only seen this from one other necromancer when I was younger. She died.”
Great—just fucking great.
Chapter Thirteen
Her chest was on fire but the aching in her body had gone. The battle was no longer hurting her. Rolling to her side, she glanced over to see the woman she saw whenever she had to accept and use her power. The woman was beautiful and striking—however, she was also evil because she walked amongst the dead. The darker power was inside Poppy in order for her to survive this world. Poppy knew that and understood it.
This was the warning she’d received in the bedroom back at the Valentines’ mansion. She’d have to make a choice between good and evil. In that moment, Poppy knew there was something a lot bigger than her going on.
“Until you came along we were doing great. She was starting to accept what she was and even bring forth the connection allowing me more and more control.”
Had she been doing that? Poppy coughed and stared up at the stars. The correlation reminded her of that fateful night so many years ago. She’d lain there on the table while they’d killed her and brought her back with their blood. For a few seconds, she’d been dead.
Adam—I want him. I love him.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about him. She loved him so damn much and he loved her.
Life is so unfair. I want him.
Closing her eyes, she heard her mother’s voice from the following morning after she’d been transitioned.
“You’re a true necromancer now. You’re in control of your own fate and destiny.”
“I don’t want this, Mum. I just want to be me,” Poppy said.
“Honey, accept who you are and you’ll never be different. Being a necromancer is a gift, not a curse. You can love and let love into your heart.”
Poppy opened her eyes. Why had she forgotten her mother’s words? Days after her ceremony, the remaining necromancers had been wiped out in an ugly battle, leaving only Poppy alive. Fearing for her life, she’d severed herself from death only joining the connection when absolutely necessary.
Poppy gazed at Lewis then back at Adam, her other half coming into view behind him. She watched as her necromancer half took hold of Adam and held a knife to his throat.
“You were told you’d have to make a choice. This is your choice. Either accept who you are and stay among us, or Adam dies.” She watched Adam struggle in the monster’s hold. The person she’d kept inside herself ever since the sacrifice had occurred and all those men had given her the power of the necromancer. She couldn’t allow this bitch to kill the only man she’d ever loved. Adam was not going to die because of her.
Lewis placed a hand on her shoulder.
“This is your choice. She is as much a part of you as you’re a part of her,” Lewis said.
“But giving this calling up—”
“What exactly are you giving up?”
His words penetrated her confused brain. What was she giving up? The only life she’d been living was a life without love and of constantly walking through the world alone. This life meant she’d never know what it was like to love. Poppy stared at Adam. She loved him. She had from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him. He loved her. They wouldn’t be able to have a traditional blood bond, but their bond would be unbreakable. She felt it in her heart and soul—Adam was meant for her.
“Can you accept me without a bond?” she asked him.
“I accepted you the moment you followed me down the alley.”
Opening the gate to her soul and heart—which she’d kept closed for so long—Poppy gazed at the dead soul of herself.
The woman dropped the blade as she stared at Poppy with shock and fear in her eyes. She knew the power she was using was scary and the energy pulsing off her was hard to resist.
“How dare you threaten me?” she said.
The men moved out of the way while Poppy faced her fear. She’d been scared of this woman for too long. Poppy knew her fear was based on being pure evil. The woman before her was the true necromancer. This was what she could become if she lost control.
She used her power and sucked the energy of her fear back. With every path between each other open, Poppy accepted her fate. She accepted her fate with love in her heart. She thought about her parents and the dead, everyone and everything that affected her. Poppy opened her arms and welcomed every sensation and emotion with warmth. This was her life and from now on she’d do what she thought was necessary. No longer would she be controlled by her fear of her other half. The true power was her—it had always been about her.
Poppy opened up and the evil soul disappeared. She gazed down and looked upon her chest where the criss-cross scar lay. The vicious cuts had vanished, leaving only one scar down the centre. This was the true divide between the living and the dead. All this time she could have accepted her other half and the scars would have gone. She had been the cause of her own pain by refusing her other self. The darker power filled her. Poppy felt it and it tasted bitter on her tongue.
You can control this darker power. You don’t need your other half to control it.
Adam charged for her and swung her up in a bear hug. Lewis hugged her too.
“I’m guessing you have much more to do on your travels and I’ve got a mate to go and find.” Lewis shook their hands.
“I can call James and you can finish what you started, but I need you to ask me to do it,” she said, wanting him to have his say.
“Yes, you could, but my mate would forever walk the dead alone. She has no one to fight. I left her once and caused so much heartache. My body, my heart and soul shall walk and lay with her in the ground.”
Poppy went through the motions to settle down his body. She pulled his soul from within it, giving him a proper burial with his mate. The darker magic made it easier for her to deliver a proper burial without draining herself. She was stronger than ever before and the power pulsed beneath the surface.
Adam caught her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “You had me scared for a minute there.”
“I scared myself. At least now I’ve put something right. Lewis and his mate deserve to be together.”
“They deserve so much more.”
“I agree, but we must remember that James will have his judgement and then justice will be served for them.”
“Are we in Beyer West?” he asked.
“Yes. Your house is only over there.” She pointed in the direction
of the south.
“Before we go back and tell them the news, can we return to our motel and have some time for us?”
Poppy laughed. He laid a line of kisses along her neck.
“Are you sure you don’t want to give the news straight away?”
“What will another day matter?”
Poppy giggled and transported them back to the motel they’d been staying at.
The wolves were lying low and she had accepted her darker power. What was the harm of another day to deliver the news?
* * * *
In Beyer West
Rose was humming to the mirror when the first blast ricocheted through the house. The low, angry growls made her hair stand on end. A brutal scream followed by one of agonising pain sounded down the hall. In seconds, she was out of her door and to the staircase in time to watch Sophie being flung over the side. Sophie’s cry filled the air. The startled cry made Rose freeze in place.
The baby! She charged for the railing, intent on following her.
A hand caught her around her stomach and pulled her away. The arm was trapping her.
“Let me go!” she screamed, her fists flaying out, trying to hurt her attacker.
“Rose, stop.”
No. It couldn’t be. She gazed up into Lewis’ eyes and her world fell apart. The human man looking back at her was no longer human but feral—the change had already started in him. Before she could do anything, he tilted her head to the side and ripped into the flesh of her throat. She screamed out for help.
No one came. Her limbs became heavy and her eyes began to droop.
“I’m taking this one,” Lewis snarled to another man-wolf. He picked her up and all she wanted to do was fight his hold.
He carried her through the chaos. She watched through the slits of her eyes as Sophie lay sprawled on the floor. Her sister-in-law was not moving. Dawn was fighting but her attackers outnumbered her. Lewis left with her over his shoulder. The last thing Rose saw was Katie going down. Dead, they were all dead.
This was all her fault. She had led them here because she had trusted a man whom she’d thought cared about her.