Mira: Her Alpha, Her Ruin-Chapter 22: Traitor Among Us

(SHILOH)

The crone's eyes blazed purple, and her head snapped back. "I see a darkness rising within the mountains, and it will consume all. The wolves will bind together, but it will matter none if the broken wolf does not find her shadow. Her gift will be his strength."

When she lifted her head, her eyes had returned to normal. I waited a beat, but only silence followed. "I was expecting a little bit more of a song and dance from a prophetic vision."

"You will respect our magic," the crone rumbled, and the house shook. That was more like it.

"Can you provide more details? What the darkness is? What I need strength for?"

"I do not know."

I stared at Mira again. "Well, she found me, assuming that I'm her shadow. So everything will be fine. I promised Mira her freedom. Will she be all right?"

The crone straightened. "Her freedom?"

"Her price for bringing me here. She gets to live her life as a rogue." My stomach twisted.

"Maybe she can stay here with you." Away from whatever darkness was rising.

"You must keep her with you. Keep her safe. Use her."

"Use her?" I stared at the old witch. "Whose fucking side are you on?"

"Mine," The crone said flatly. "If you do not keep her, then we will all die."

The old witch and I glared at each other, and she smiled, revealing her chipped yellow teeth.

"I see the heart in you, Shiloh Wade. You will not fail your pack. Your leadership will always come first."

She wasn't wrong. My pack had always come first, and if they were in danger, there was nothing that I would not do to protect them.

"She is one of mine. I made a promise." "Is she?"

With a frown, I snapped my head up. "Is she what?"

"Enough," the mother snapped.

The crone just continued to grin wickedly. "I don't think it is. The man deserves to know. Surely, he's realized by now that his pack's bond to her is strange. One-sided. Same with his mating bond. He knows what she is. When will he learn that even wolf magic can't touch her?"

My blood ran cold, and I stared at Mira. I'd pushed all my alpha power into demanding she shift, and she'd resisted. I knew then that something was wrong. Then it was how she dispelled the traps. She couldn't have used witch magic to manipulate it. I hadn't wanted to think too hard about it. Hadn't wanted to know what it meant.

"It's not possible," I muttered. "You're wrong."

"The truth," the maiden interrupted while glaring at the old woman disapprovingly, "is that we do not know how it affects her and her wolf magic. The only nulls we've ever come across were witches. She is the first wolf shifter null."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Null. I knew the term. It popped into my head watching Mira slide through those traps after pretending to fiddle them. Magic didn't just slide off her. It died at her touch.

"You feel something for her. After shunning her for years and feeling disgusted that she is your mate, you've taken the chance and gotten to know her," the mother said as she stood. "Even if the mating bond does not touch her, as it touches you, you could find happiness with her. Keep her. Find out."

One witch with the bitterness, and the other with the sugar. Both of them were saying the same thing. Break my promise to her. Break my promise to my mate.

Was she my mate?

My heart thundered in my chest. "And you know nothing of the darkness?"

"It rises from black magic," a new voice said weakly. I turned just as Irene stumbled into the room. I was taken aback by her appearance. Her blonde hair, which normally glowed like moonlight, tangled dully down her back. She was dressed in the coven's robes and could barely hold herself up.

"Irene, what the fuck happened? What did you do to her?"

"It's not them." Irene shook her head. "They've been sheltering me while I recovered."

"Recovered from what? There are phones here. Why didn't you call?"

She looked down and took a deep breath. "Shiloh, I was kidnapped from my home."

The implications hit me hard. There was no way someone infiltrated my territory and then carried my witch out unnoticed. "I have a traitor among my pack."

Her eyes filled with tears. "I did not want to believe it, but I was carried out of my home unconscious. I woke up in a circle of six witches. They were absorbing my magic. That kind of ritual takes a blood sacrifice. It's the darkest of black magic. I managed to escape before it was complete. I came here."

"Strange that everyone comes here for sanctuary despite your reputation," I murmured.

The crone just grinned.

"I'm no good to you, Shiloh. I'm weary. My magic is depleted, and I do not know if the goddess will return it. I am sorry."

"It is not your fault. Magic or no magic, you are still part of my pack. I swore to protect you, and I failed in that. I'll understand if you do not want to return, but if you do, we will have you."

Smiling softly, Irene nodded. "Then I will return, temporarily. It will take some time for me to finish my projects and pack my things. I'll also help you find a new witch."

I had no intentions of finding a new witch. Irene was the best I'd ever seen. She would get her magic back. Of that, I had no doubt.

There was a groan, and the mother and maiden immediately slid off the bench as Mira stirred. "Fuck me," she grunted and put a hand to her head as she stood up. Upon seeing everyone in the room, she stilled and widened her eyes. "Oh."

"Welcome back," the maiden said happily. "How is your head?"

"In pain." Her eyes landed on me. A soft smile started on her face, but then she narrowed her eyes. "You know, don't you? Does he know?"

The room quieted, and my insides twisted as I watched her. A null. Magic died around her. It touched her and then simply turned to ash. Witch magic, but what of wolf magic? She could turn her back on pack magic, could resist it, but the mating bond? Could she really not feel it?

I would never be able to trust her. Never know what she was thinking or feeling. Never know if her words were genuine. I would feel everything for her, and she would feel nothing.

For a moment, it felt like everything had changed between us, but now, I realized nothing had. We were back to the very beginning. Distrust. Pain.

She was going to hate me for it, but the witches were right. My pack came first. Even though I was itching to let her go. Even though I had promised.

"Yes," I said flatly. "I know what you are."

The light dimmed from her eyes. "You're not going to let me go, are you?"

"No. I'm not. Apparently, there's a darkness brewing, and I'm going to be the one with a null by my side."