Page 49 of The Wolf's Captive
Shrugging, I plastered a smile on my face, squeezing my words between my teeth. “I have no idea. Let’s hope so.”
“Della, Malone,” Heather greeted. “Let’s go and join the others.”
Inclining my head, I agreed, more than ready to get the witches on our side. If they refused, there was a chance I’d spell them to agree, just so we could all have our freedom.
“It’s incredible to be back after all this time,” Victor told Heather as she led us to her office.
Her gaze danced to him and then away, her cheeks turning a light shade of red. She didn’t reply as she pushed open the door and stood back to allow us inside. Victor hesitated, his usual confidence dropping.
“I’ll go,” I whispered, pushing past the pair.
My heartbeat increased when I emerged into the office. Sitting on every available surface was an elder, all watching us as we entered. I tried to smile at them, but they were too busy studying Victor as he came in behind me.
“Hello,” he said awkwardly.
Well now. I had never imagined I’d see the great Victor Roberts cower under the pressure of his fellow kind. It was very slightly satisfying. Only because he’d intimidated me so much when I’d first met him.
“Victor Roberts,” one of the older warlocks muttered. “It’s been a while.”
Chuckling, my new friend nodded vigorously. “It has. I bet you’ve missed me.”
Almost sucking his bottom lip into his mouth, the warlock fought a smile. Ah, so Victor did still have friends in the coven. Good, that would make our case go a lot smoother.
“You disobeyed a direct order from Ertha all those years ago.” A witch with jet back hair raised her eyebrows. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Malone shuffled on his feet beside me, clearly uncomfortable at the witch politics. I got it. In fact, I wasn’t quite sure why we were at the meeting. Surely, we were just a by-product of all this?
Turning serious, Victor stood still and looked the woman directly in the eye. “I did. I was young, full of ego. I knew I could do what was asked of me.”
“Yet you failed, did you not?” Heather’s words were quiet, almost apologetic.
Victor licked his lips. “Yes. At first I did. Once I’d been banished, I carried on practicing and never harmed anyone again. I can now separate familiars or bonded wolves with as little pain as possible.”
“Why?” one of the younger witches asked. “What made you so determined to defy your coven?”
I watched Victor as he glanced at the ground. I was just as fascinated to know the answer, even though he’d kinda already told me.
“When word got out about what I was trying to do, I had so many requests from wolves and witches, I was inundated. None of them were malicious, they were desperate. One witch had a cat familiar who was dying of cancer but she couldn’t release her from her body because of the connection between them. I cut the tie and not long after, the cat was able to walk over Rainbow Bridge, happy and out of pain. There were several wolves in the same predicament. The mate who was about to die wanted to free their lovers of the wrench when they went.”
“And what do you think of this?” the woman asked Malone.
The alpha straightened his spine and cleared his throat, caught completely off-guard. “I...” he stuttered, glancing at me. “…understand. I’m a proud alpha and if Della tried to do it to me, I’d stop it. However, if I was the one with a terminal illness, I’d think about setting her free to live the rest of her life without mourning me.”
My chest squeezed and I had to hold my breath in order not to blurt out a negative reply. Jeez, what a morbid discussion. One that was making my stomach weak and my hands shake. I didn’t even want to contemplate such a thing.
“The point is, it’s not something I do every day,” Victor interrupted. “It’s only in desperate circumstances. I stayed away for so long because I knew Ertha would never forgive me. I’m sorry about what happened to her, but I just… I just want to come home.”
Heather sighed, her eyes welling up with tears. The others looked at her, some pursing their lips, some smiling gently.
“You have to prove yourself,” the harsher elder lady said without looking at Heather. “We’ve spoken amongst ourselves and feel that if you’re able to help our witches now, you’ll be welcome home. And there’ll be no more experimentation.”
Victor clenched his hands into fists as his cheeks heated pink. He tried not to smile as he nodded enthusiastically. “No, those days are over. I’ve perfected that part of my craft. My magic is normal otherwise. And I’d be honoured to help the witches of this coven.”
A zing of excitement made me clenched Malone’s hand. If we had been alone, I would’ve cheered and jumped up and down. Instead, I had to appear calm and collected. Their decision might just heal my life.
“Do we all agree?” Heather asked the group.
Every witch and warlock muttered an affirmative and nodded in agreement. Victor allowed his pleasure to show, a beaming smile lighting his face. He glanced at Heather, who was also smiling from ear to ear. The pair would reunite and become a couple once more. How must that feel after all this time?