Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
“It’s a long story, but yeah.” I nodded, “Breyona actually came to the rescue.”
“How? Isn’t she hours away with Giovanni?” Zeke questioned.
Nolan hit me with a pointed look, one that said we’d talk about my impromptu mission to the Vampire
Lair later on. With little more than a huff, I pushed myself off Nolan’s lap and held out my hand. He was a bit reluctant to take it and leave the cell, but I knew that Zeke was right about this pack needing
Nolan. Together, the three of us sat at the metal observation table, the ancient book on my family line wedged between us all.
Without wasting any more time, I launched into what happened when Tristan and I left the pack in search of the Vampire’s Bridgette had told us about. Leaving no stone unturned, I recounted everything, from the warning’s the witches had uttered, to the way Breyona seemed to explode from the shadows.
At the conclusion of my story, Nolan’s snarl split the air.
“We’ll slaughter them all before they get the chance to enslave you.” He ground out, his eyes flaring, and jaw clenched. Seeing the look of worry on Zeke and I’s faces, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s alright, I’m in control. The witch said you made Breyona into a shadow creature?”
Zeke chimed in, reluctantly dragging his eyes away from Nolan. “Don’t you have to make deals with them to get them to listen to you?”
I shook my head. “No, lately they’ve been following my commands. Honestly, I don’t think it has to do with my power as the Vampire Queen anymore. I think it’s the witch side of my family that’s allowing me to do this, but with the way those witches were talking, it sounds like there’s a lot more I can do than just control the shadows. Which is exactly why I brought this.”
I gestured to the book in front of me, with it’s leather-bound cover etched in solid gold that arced and swirled in a delicate looking pattern. The spine of the book had the same design and was free of any words that might allude to what’s inside. Nolan’s hand found my own as I cracked open the cover, an everlasting source of comfort I knew I could count on.
He was still battling his own demons, the ones that continued to weigh on him and provoke his protective nature, only now he had to swallow the fact that he himself had almost caused me harm. As terrifying as that still was, separating from each other would only make things worse, that much I was sure of.
The light scent of dust permeated the air, mixing with the slightly sweet and bitter scent of aged leather.
Each page sparkled as I turned it, the thick edges dipped in a gold paint that mirrored the cover and spine. The first fifty pages were nothing but names, dates, and times, each one scratched within its own little box.
“It’s birth and death records.” Nolan murmured, tilting the book towards himself to read some of the names written down. “Celeste Renaldi, Tamara Renaldi, Anastasia Renaldi…they’re all ancestors of yours.”
“Goddess, this thing goes back thousands of years. Look at that, this is from the 14th century. See how many of them died in Europe? Cause of death says ‘sickness. ‘ That has to be talking about the Black
Death. It wiped out millions of humans and werewolves alike.” Zeke murmured, his eyes wide.
Both Nolan and I paused, craning our heads to look up at Zeke at the same time. Seeing the expression on both our faces, he scoffed.
“That’s right, I can be smart and sexy.” He retorted.
It wasn’t impressive that he made me laugh, but that he managed to coax a chuckle out of Nolan, lessening the severe look on his face.
The records of the Renaldi witches continued for another couple of pages. Starting at the earliest point in history was a family tree. There were some dead ends where the names were scratched out or erased altogether, but that wasn’t what we were looking for anyway.
Finally, after flipping through another fifty pages of my family tree, we came across something different.
The page in itself was plain, but it was the words scrawled across the middle that piqued my interest.
‘Magic of the Renaldi Witches’
My heart skipped a beat as Nolan turned the page. At first glance, the layout looked similar to the magical textbook Cordelia and Rowena had me studying from. The various types of magic were laid out in bold handwriting, and I was proud to say that I recognized each one.
The page started with protection magic, before working its way to natural, divination, sigil, blood, spirit, and finally, elemental. Each of the seven types was covered on just a couple of pages. I’d just about given up hope of finding anything new when Zeke turned another page and made a small sound of surprise.
“Oh, look. There’s an eighth type of magic.”
I snapped forward in my seat, Nolan as well. The coffee in my hand was long forgotten when Zeke tapped the page, right where the word Conjuration’ sat in bold, blood-red letters.
“There are only seven types of magic, though. That’s all Cordelia and Rowena said existed.” I shook my head in denial, but the words were printed right in front of my face.
Zeke bit down on his lower lip, his expression morphing into what I liked to call his ‘thinking face.’
“Mm, no it says it right here.” He murmured, tapping the page a second time. “An eighth type of magic known to very few, dangerous and uninhibited in its absolute power, is Conjuration. Apparently, it’s run in the Renaldi line for years, but it’s only given to the first born.”
I stared at the page, wondering if this was the magic the witches were so terrified I’d master. The whole
‘dangerous and uninhibited in it’s absolute power’ bit was worrisome, but that didn’t mean it was the solution we were looking for.
The more Zeke read, the more I began to eat my words.
“What’s this magic do?” Nolan asked, leaning in, and staring down at the book.
I was the only one flush against the seat, my spine rod straight as I watched the two of them. There was something twisting and turning in my gut, growing more impatient as time passed. I had no name for this thing, but if I had to guess, I’d say it was my magic. It knew we were close to getting answers, and somehow I knew that those answers, they would change everything.
Both the guys stiffened at the same time, locking eyes over the withered pages of the book before swiveling their heads in my direction.
“What?” I snapped, my tone harsher than I meant but the two of them were just staring at me, both open mouthed with a mix of awe and worry in their eyes.
Zeke swallowed, “We found out what Conjuration is, and I see why the witches are scared shitless of you learning to use it.”
“What is it? What can it do?” I asked, my heart pounding furiously in my chest.
Nolan blinked, a look of pride softening the harsh angles of his face.
“That’s why they’re so desperate to have you under their control. Conjuration…it can do anything.” He murmured, “it says here that you can quite literally shape reality. Your wants, your dreams-even your nightmares, you can make them happen.”
I laughed, belting out a string of giggles that probably made me look insane, but I didn’t really care.
Zeke glanced at Nolan; his eyes wary. “Think she’s going feral too? Should we run?”
“I’m not going feral, you jerk.” I scoffed, swatting at him. “You understand how crazy that sounds, right?
The power to change reality…that’s just not possible. If it was, why wouldn’t I have just snapped my damn fingers and made the Blood Witch disappear or turn into a toad?”
Nolan spun the book around to face me, but it was Zeke that spoke.
“Probably because it’s not that simple. It says here that Conjuration is the hardest form of magic to master because of how easy it is to slip up. A single thought or desire that’s too strong can become reality, which is both a good and bad thing. This paragraph talks about how conjuring drains the witch’s energy differently and mentions the different types of power the witch pulls from when she’s conjuring.
I’m sure we’ll learn more on the next page.”
He turned the page and paused, his curious expression morphing into a full- blown grimace. I had to hand it to him, Zeke could look downright scary when he wanted.
“There’s pages missing, quite a few from the looks of it.” Nolan grunted, glowering at the book like he was commanding it to regrow them.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?