Mated in Mist (Talon Pack #3)(44)

Ryder wanted to throw his head back and howl at her words. She didn’t sound broken or defeated. She sounded strong. She sounded wolf.

Leah raised her chin, her hands at her sides. “You killed Roland. I know you had something to do with my mother’s death. And now you’ve risked the lives of your people, the lives of the wolves who wanted to help the witches in the Unveiling. All so you can end my life.”

“You heard the evidence,” a female witch told Luis. “We all heard it. I don’t know about every word this young woman is saying, but I know the way you work, Luis. Why would you do this? Why would you cooperate with the enemy?”

Luis stood tall, his eyes dark, spittle forming at the corner of his mouth as he shouted. “This piece of trash shouldn’t be here. She has no right to be in our proceedings. I did what I had to in order to protect our line, our people.”

Ryder’s claws slid from his fingertips, his body shaking with rage. “You almost killed my Pack. That makes you an enemy of the Talons.”

“And the Redwoods,” Finn added.

“You’re nothing. Just a bunch of ill-bred dogs. You’re the reason we’re forced to come out of hiding to begin with.” Luis opened his arms and pushed them forward. Magic shot toward them, a wall of water that didn’t seem to touch the witches came out of nowhere.

Ryder turned to protect Leah, but should have known better. She slid her arms up, a wall of water of her own forming from the glasses of water on the tables and the small pool on the other side of the open door. He hadn’t noticed it before, but his Leah had.

Leah’s magic pulsated as she clenched her jaw. Luis’s water slammed into Leah’s before spreading out as if it were a wave smashing into the rocks. The water drenched the witches nearest to the wolves, forcing screams from them.

“Stop what you’re doing, Luis!” One of the witches called out. “You’re through. You risked all of us for your own vendetta.”

Luis held one hand out toward that witch and sent a spiral of water over the man’s body. The other man screamed, trying to use his own magic, but Luis was too strong.

However, he wasn’t as strong as Leah.

Every single witch began to use their magic, throwing fire, earth, water, and gusts of wind toward each other. Their own civil war erupting in front of them.

Ryder turned toward the spirits in the room, his body stiff from holding back. He wanted to shred Luis’s face but refrained because it was not his duty. Leah needed to fight, needed to stand up and be the warrior she was. It didn’t help his wolf, though. The spirits floated right below the celling, pain and rage evident on their faces.

Leah was the only witch protecting the wolves, as the other witches were too worried about themselves and their own battles. While the wolves would be able to care for themselves, he knew something else had to happen in order for them to truly win.

“Help,” he whispered toward the spirits closest to them. The spirits looked sharply at him, surprise showing on their features.

He’d only asked for help once from them and that was for Leah. Now he did it again for her and would keep doing so. He lied to himself daily when he said it would be easy to walk away from her. He lied to himself when he’d said he didn’t want her as a mate. He loved her, damn it. Loved the way she fought for herself, loved the way she tried to hold herself back because he was the f*cking idiot hurting them both.

And yet, he knew he’d have to keep doing it.

Because of things like this.

The spirits came toward him, slashing at his skin, pulling energy from his wolf in a way he hadn’t thought possible. He went to his knees, his body shaking.

The others around him came to his side, Finn at his back as he tried to fight off what he couldn’t see.

Only Ryder could see them.

Only Ryder could hear them.

Only Ryder could feel them.

Only Ryder…

He didn’t know what was going on. He’d never used the sprits like this, had never had them use him. Each spirit touched him and then went back to where Luis stood, forming a circle around him.

Ryder took a deep breath and looked toward Leah. She had her arms up, protecting the Pack, but her eyes were wide. She kept her attention split between him and what was in front of her, and he knew she’d get hurt if she kept doing it.

“I’m fine!” he called out over the rush of screams and magic. “Keep up the wall.”

She didn’t look like she believed him, but turned away, her attention fully on her magic once again.

Ryder stood on shaking legs, refusing to look weak. The wolves around him were on edge, wanting to fight an enemy they couldn’t see. The witches were focused on hurting one another, a war amongst themselves brewing.

The spirits that had taken some of his energy continued to swirl around Luis and his wife Darynda before finally attacking. The couple screamed as they fell to their knees, the unseen enemy doing their jobs. He wasn’t sure why the spirits were doing this, why they were helping, but they were.

He hadn’t known he could ask for help like this, and he knew damn well the cost had been his energy. He hoped nothing more. He wasn’t the one controlling them, and he knew only a spirit witch had the ability to even try that. But he had asked, and they had helped.

You’ll pay for that, useless pup.

His uncle shouted in his ear, and his wolf growled. Ryder ignored it; instead, coming to Leah’s side. The witches in front of him were either down for the count or fighting their final battles of the day. Smoke wafted in the room, and puddles of water dotted the floor and mixed with earth to make mud that spoke of magic and death.