"No, my love. No one is intentionally listening to our conversation. I know that you are alert of our surroundings. However, I do not want anyone to even accidentally hear us. We have just come over a huge war where one of our own might be a traitor."

I slightly nod, completely understanding where this is going.

Someone strong enough to implant such toxins in the werewolf royal's bloodstream would have their own strengths and power. There will be an uproar if this information leaks amongst the pack members or to any other pack.

It might even put Fenris's position as the Alpha King in jeopardy. Everything that my brother has worked for can go into the drain if this person succeeds to achieve their goal in harming or manipulating Fenris.

Is it a reason behind his erratic behavior?

And his behavior towards Sierra, too. Especially towards Sierra. As much I know, when I met Sierra and Fenris for the first time, his love for his mate, equaled to that of an ocean. However, as days passed by, his behavior started becoming little weird. Slowly, I was able to observe his distant attitude towards Sierra and then his negligence towards her. Lately, he didn't even respect her as his mate, even going so far as disrespecting her in front of me, or any close relatives.

I look at Dominic, sensing him in my mind, as he waits for me to get closer to the clue.

"You are very close, love."

His hushed statement in my mind gives me a boost and it also confirms that he has already connected a few dots more than me, being much closer to the clue than I am. I do not let that demotivate me and focus on the main link behind Fenris's attitude towards Sierra and then his lack of usual levelheadedness.

And then as if a light bulb goes off, the image of Alcina flashes in my mind.

Yes!!

She can be the one to plant such toxins in Fenris's blood. Being so close to Fenris and Sierra, they must have never suspected Alcina's ulterior motive. It is also a possibility that Alcina was innocent before, but her mate clouded her judgement.

However, I never saw that innocent side of Alcina. Maybe because the first time I had met her, she had already crossed over to the other side of magic, accepting the darker side. Maybe she had already met Wulfric then.

"That's completely correct, love. It all started the moment Alcina met Wulfric, who's her mate. She was blinded by his love and therefore, crossed over to the darker side under his influence. He manipulated her, just like he manipulated my brother's mate in jeopardizing my throne."

"What??"

Now, this is news!

It's that what's happening in Dominic's life?

And I don't even know about it. How bad does that rate me as a mate?

"We can talk about it later and I will tell you everything. Please can we focus here, now. Your brother is getting antsy with every passing moment."

I look over at Fenris and then at Cayden, who are looking at me, their confusion and fear completely visible in their gaze.

"Are you both done with this? I understand that he is your mate, but is it necessary to talk telepathically in front of me. I try very hard to tolerate that he is your mate, out of all the supernatural people out there-"

"Okay, you need to shut up," cuts in Dominic, effectively stopping Fenris from saying something that he doesn't really mean. And all of a sudden, I feel sad for my brother.

He is fallen victim to such a magic where whatever he says makes him look like the villain where actually he's just fallen prey to whatever sick game the magic is playing with his mind.

"Fine! I'll stop but please, Nikita. Just do something, get this thing out of my body. Is there something like a cleansing or something?"

"I am not sure," I say and think hard, trying to uncover if it's really possible? Till date, there have been instances where I didn't know the magic, but it just flew inside me. Maybe this time, the same happens.

We are all distracted by a soft sound outside the door, causing me to turn towards it. Dominic walks closer to me, standing right beside me, making me somehow feel cocooned in his presence. It's oddly soothing.

I let my magic flow around me and gauge the presence outside the door.

Ah!

So that's why Dominic moved beside me.

The person standing outside is none other than Nora, who is neither friend nor foe at this moment. Her intentions are unclear and that makes her a threat to all of us. We don't know if she'll use similar magic to that of Alcina, trying to alter our thoughts, as well.

"Fenris! Please let me inside the room. I promise, I come in peace," he whispers from the other side and her anguish is clear in her voice.

I look up at Dominic, who's almost a hair's breadth away from me. I am not sure if he's nervous or angry but he's visible vibrating with energy.

"It's certainly not nervousness, Nikita!"

"Then what?"

"I am a vampire. I hate witches. It's not in my instinct to be friendly with them."

"What?"

Again, this is news! Vampires and Witches are not friends? I mean, neither are werewolves and vampires, but still, they tolerate each other well. Then, why not Witches and Vampires.

Then how come he tolerates me?

"Querida!" He chuckles in my mind, making me look up at him in question. "I do not tolerate you. You are my mate. I crave your presence as much as I crave blood, or even more. It's just a nature's fact that witches and vampires are not friendly towards each other but there are always exceptions to everything."

I simple nod my head and at the same time, Fenris asks Cayden to open the door. He does, revealing Nora's presence on the other side of the door but she doesn't enter. She removes her cloak's hood and shows her entire face, which appears to be slightly tear-stained, anguish flowing in waves around her.

She looks exactly like how my mother did the day, she died. The same kind of anguish and despair flowing around her, making me sick in my gut and I clutch onto Dominic's hand. He instinctively, pulls me closer under his arms, protecting me from my own memories.

Trying very hard to put a lid over my emotions, I look at Fenris through my tear-filled eyes, not allowing them to fall. I can't lose my composure, especially when I am so close in avenging my parents' death and my exploitation.

I just need to know if I need to end anymore conspirators and then I would be free to start my new life.

"Please allow me inside, Princess Nikita. I come here in complete surrender and to provide every assistance in finding my traitorous daughter."

That triggers me and I realize that I have locked this room magically, so that no sound or any physical object can go out or enter this room without my express permission. Again, I didn't know about this knowledge before but it just came to me as if it was waiting to be unleashed. Maybe that's the gift my mother.

Quickly unravelling the spell, I allow Nora to enter the room, and then Fenris quickly walks toward her, engulfing her tall yet petite frame in his strong and supportive embrace. And that's when, Nora let's go of her control and sobs as if her world is falling apart.

She wails and weeps and weeps, until all that is left in her is an ocean full of despair. She's hurt and lost. It's like, she's completely given up on life.

This image of her is completely opposite to that of my mother, who even in her last breath was fighting to protect her legacy. The thought strikes me out of nowhere and I wonder the reason behind it.

"You unknowingly compared your mother and her twin sister. Remember, my love, that they are completely different beings. Your mother was the Queen of both Wolves as well as Witches. By her legacy, the Witch throne belongs to Nora but only on interim basis. It truthfully is yours as you are the Queen's true Witch daughter but yes, it is equally true that Nora is not made to lead and therefore, she does not have the Will to fight even when all her life's odds are against her."

Again, a new information. And by this information, it feels as if the land beneath my feet has shifted, making me take support from Dominic with both my hands.

"WHAT?"

No need to shout. I can hear you clearly, Querida.

"What Queen? And why now. I am no Queen. I want live a normal life."

"Well, even Fenris wanted to live a normal life at one time, but looks like Fate has other things planned for you Vlček children."

This time, I glare up at Dominic, not really liking his usage of the word "children". It makes me feel unbearably immature in front of him.

Dominic however ignores me and then looks at a now silently crying Nora. She is now sitting on the couch in Fenris's office while Cayden offers her a glass of water. She takes a huge gulp and then hands back the glass to him. And then, she puts her head in her hands and weeps.

Not able to bear her anguish, I pass on a soothing wave toward her, cocooning her in the warmth that she desperately seems to be needing.

She jerks up in her seat, the moment my magic touches her and then gets up, walking toward me.

"I am so sorry for all the trouble that Alcina has caused to you and yours," apologizes Nora while glancing at Dominic who's now standing stiffly beside me. I ignore him and then, willingly take Nora's shivering hands in mine.

She's harmless.

"You don't need to apologize, Aunt. Just as we don't hold a child responsible for their parents' actions, similarly, we can't hold a parent responsible for their child's actions. You have fallen prey to her actions as much as we have. So, why don't we work toward locating her and end this?"

I am shocked with my own levelheadedness. Fenris seems to be proud and also relieved by my statement. Perhaps he didn't believe that I would be forgiving towards Nora.

I continue to look at Nora who's nodding her head, holding onto my head and then looking at Fenris, before turning back to me.

"I want to help. And I also want to punish her. She has deeply hurt me and our witch clan by her deeds. It is not acceptable for her to go unpunished."

I nod my head and ask her to sit on the couch. She looks painfully frail.

Fenris pulls out a chair for me and Dominic as well. We both sit, while Cayden and Nora sit on the couch and Fenris sits in his chair, turning towards us.

"Do you remember Fenris, that Alcina had gone black for a short while after you rescued Sierra and your pack members from the ruined castle near Sierra's maiden pack?"

"Yes, I do. She had last teleported to hand over the knife to Sierra which helped us to kill Xavier. And then, for almost a month she was missing. We were tracking her but she couldn't be traced and then one day, she just appeared at our doorstep, looking all fresh and unnaturally bubbly. At that time, relief was all that I could feel and then due to Sierra's unique pregnancy, I neglected to ask about that 1 month of disappearance."

"Yes, exactly, that time frame. A month. That's when she met Oman Wulfric. He was then searching for Sebastian, the son of the previous Alpha Female before Sierra. Alcina was deeply injured due to Xavier's attack on her when she trespassed into his territory in search of Calum. When she sought shelter to recover from her injuries, it was that time when Wulfric found her. In her weak state, he brainwashed her into believing that he's a good wizard.

"He left out the fact that he was a hybrid supernatural being and then helped Alcina in her recovery. Alcina was purely in love with her new mate, feeling blessed that she found her mate so soon. She was, however, unaware of the fact that Wulfric was equally happy, not because he found his mate, but because he had hit a jackpot. Destiny had handed him his mate, who turned out to be a Royal. A princess, daughter of the interim Queen of the Witches and cousin to the reigning King of Wolves."

"How do you know all this?"

Nora stops at the interruption from Dominic's question but doesn't comment on it. Instead, she softly answers, "I am her mother. Through Blood Magic, I found Alcina that day, the night when Calum returned home with his pregnant mate in shackles. I couldn't tolerate that my child committed such a crime against her own sibling, so I broke the Ancient Law and sought Blood Magic to find Alcina and I found her."

A gasp escapes from me, making Nora look at me before she continues.

"Alcina only told me her side of the story, which was actually Wulfric's sad story to cover his actions. Alcina at this moment completely wasted. She's gone over to the other side and it's not possible to bring her back. I fought her, but I asked her to surrender, which she didn't and then escaped from my clasp."

"She told you all this?"

"Yes, she told me her side of the story however, I was able to connect the dots and identify the blind spots in her story. She has become cunning and she knows all my moves. It helped her escape from my grasp," sighs Nora, appearing unbelievably sad.

"So, what do we do now?" asks Cayden, who's looking at Fenris for his next order.

"We wait for Alcina."

Fenris's statement is very vague and seems to be highly unpractical to me at this moment.

"We wait for her to make her next move? And till then, what will you do?" I ask, being a little impatient now.

Fenris looks over at me, his eyes now black as his wolf peeks out through his eyes. "I have a mate to convince and you have a mate to start your life with. With this new knowledge, we are now aware of Alcina's threat. I will take necessary actions to eradicate her evil existence from our lives. However, I am not going to waste my time in searching her. She's a witch and she will hide."

I look at Dominic, my eyes speaking about this impractical yet logical solution by Fenris. Dominic nods his head as if convinced with Fenris's strategy and then turns to look at my brother, while I am left behind thinking that there's something that I am missing here.

I do not think that we should let Alcina hide like that. We should track her, before she stealthily manipulates someone else form our close circle.

"We can think about it later, Querida. For now, would you like to meet my brother?" asks Dominic telepathically.

"Yes."

~~~

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