Red

The sky mirrored the orange, whimsical light from the sun and the gray from the clouds. We were at a beach in Gloucester, standing beside the shore. Water met with my paws and I shuddered before moving back and meeting with Annabeth and the witch named Cordelia. I still had my doubts and very strictly believed that she was a pawn of Gretel.

The evilness, the desire to control something, the chase behind an Alpha—it wasn't something new for me.

But my twin sister didn't have any doubts so I pushed mine as well. There was no harm in trying something deadly when you were already dead to begin with. I had nothing to lose as I had lost everything.

"Are you sure about this, Anna." I asked while staring at the flame Cordelia made with the few sticks of wood. Her hands were sharp, and she seemed determined on bringing me back, for a price.

Annabeth turned and gave me a hard stare. "I am. Trust me, I have known this woman for years and she's nothing like what you think she is. She's really sweet and helpful. Just don't get on her bad side or she'll destroy you." She linked me back instead of bringing the words on her lips.

"I'm trusting you..." I trailed off while stepping closer to them and feeling the warmth fade into me from the flame.

Fire was an important part of every major spell and the one Cordelia was going to do was a big one. Bringing someone back from their eternal death. Nothing really surprised me anymore. Charlotte came back from her death, except she was bought by Gretel. My eyes perked up as I heard sparks spurting out of the fire and onto the soft sand.

"We should begin now—before the sun disappears completely!" Cordelia announced, hopping on her feet and going to Annabeth. Her spine was arched, and her neck was almost meeting her chest—she was that old.

"Fine. What do I have to do?" Anna asked, stammering, her heart racing along with mine. "Kill her?"

Cordelia let out a wicked laugh before placing her wrinkly hands over her shoulders. "No. Get her body out of the coffin." She explained and Anna did exactly. She dragged out my rotten, yet quite beautiful body out of the coffin and placed it on the ground beside the flame.

I gasped at the sight of my own self, lying dead, eyes shut closed, impaled and with the Stone of Lycans over my chest, along with my talisman that my Mother had gifted me. I was covered in red rather than white. Seeing myself over again gave me a shiver. It was brutal and horrible to see one's own dead body.

The old witch pulled me out of my thoughts by snapping her fingers at my face. I growled out of instinct and stepped back.

"It's time for your wolf to die." She rocked on her steps and said through a big smile.

"No." I shouted at Anna who was standing beside her. "What if something goes wrong? My wolf is the only body I have to exist. If it goes, I'm dead, completely." I whined at her.

"Come on, Red. Believe me, this once, please. She'll keep her word by bringing you back." Anna said, kneeling down and looking straight at my concerned eyes. "You'll be fine."

I looked over her shoulder and found Cordelia pulling out a bunch of herbs and roots out of the pockets of her jacket and throwing them all over my dead body. It couldn't be that easy. The woman seemed like she had either done this a thousand times or she had no clue on what she was doing and that alone frightened me.

What if nothing happened? What if I never returned? What if something went wrong?

"It's okay." Anna patted me and said. "Nothing will happen. You'll be fine. Just think about your daughter or that cocky mate of yours."

"Luciano is not cocky!" I shouted through the link.

She laughed and continued brushing her fingers through my fur. "I'm joking. Just think about them, all right and this is going to be over in a few seconds. You'll be back, as a human or a witch—whatever, but you'll be here and we can finally throw hands at each other."  My sister leaned in and gave me a small, selfless hug before standing up and allowing Cordelia to take control.

I closed my eyes and silenced down, while hoping for the best. I thought about the things that made me happy and my mind went straight at Luciano and, oh, how excited would he be after seeing me. It was just a few months that I agreed on working with Cordelia but as soon as we got our hands on the dirty little secret Alpha Dillon was hiding, we would be out and our way back to the States.

With the real threat—Gretel—dead, I feared nothing nor anyone.

Cordelia's coldness touched my fur and she repeated an unknown word over her lips a few times while grasping my head. A wild pain shot through me and I collapsed on the ground. My wolf howled and writhed, all the emotions I felt over the past few years went through me and I felt like I lived everything all over again—the pain, the happiness, the grief, the separation, the death—everything flashed and I stopped breathing.

"Please, Red, don't walk away from me. I won't ever harm you,"

"I love you too."

"Everyone here wants you dead."

"I won't kill you, Red."

"To get married."

"I can't lose you."

"I'll let you go if you tell me that you don't love me."

"I have never loved someone more than you."

"Shh."

I felt the stab again, the dagger running deep into my chest, held by Luciano. My throat tightened and I gasped for air, it seemed as if my lungs were gone and I couldn't breathe.

"Stop!" I yelled, opening my eyes wide and awakening from the nightmare I had been forced into. My clamped muscles and nerves soothed down as my eyes dashed over at Annabeth and Cordelia. "Oh," I ran my hands through my body, feeling the cloth and my heart beating hard inside my chest. "I'm alive!"

Read the full book on Patreon; www.patreon.com/miakerr