Chapter Twelve

As soon as they appeared in Beyer West, Poppy knew they were in the right spot. The crater was exactly like the one the woman had been knitting at. Poppy couldn’t breathe as a terrible ache settled round her heart. The pain, the battle had been brutal and Lewis the alpha hadn’t stood a chance. She collapsed to her knees, Adam going with her.

Poppy sensed the body. The crater was covered over with layers of thick moss, bark and decay.

“He’s here,” she said.

“How do you know?”

“I can sense the death. It was brutal. This wasn’t a fair fight. They murdered him and laughed while they did. One man entered the house initially, but James had a whole pack waiting with him outside. This was disgusting.” She choked on the pain and called her protection to shield her from the unfairness of what she felt. Getting to her feet, Poppy walked over the earth, careful not to make too much disruption in her wake. A banging went off inside her head. So much magic and power had been cast over the land to stop anyone from finding out the truth.

Refusing to back off or settle for anything less, Poppy located the body.

“I suggest you back off, Adam. This is going to get ugly.”

Gazing up at the full moon, Poppy allowed her power to connect with herself among the dead souls. She felt the anger from her necromancer counterpart, but she brushed it aside and forced herself to become one with the dead bitch. Poppy always sensed the evil in her other half and spent so much time trying to fight her that they’d never been able to connect. She had never wanted to take this calling. Her father forced her to be this person.

That small battle was fought and won. Her vision washed in red.

With the power of her necromancy she saw the body lying beneath the layers of decay. The burial was cruel for one so powerful.

“This shouldn’t have been covered so easily.” She spoke aloud to no one.

She reached down to the knife she kept in the inside of her cloak. She whispered the sacrificial words. Staring up at the moon, she offered her blood for the power to bring forth Lewis, the true alpha of the Beyer West pack.

A shock wave hit her in the gut and pushed her away across the crater. Whoever had done this didn’t want Lewis coming forward.

“Poppy?”

“Stay out of this,” she ordered Adam as she moved back to her spot. Poppy offered her blood over and, as she felt the sucker punch of magic about to strike, she lashed out at it. The battle was on. The magic rolled over at each turn, trying in its attempts to send her on her way. The magic was not set to kill but to seriously harm her. Poppy—with each strike—was getting pissed off. Opening the gate between the two worlds while slitting open her other wrist and offering more blood for the sacrifice, she rushed to find the dead soul bound.

“Lewis, the true alpha of the Beyer West werewolf packs, I command you to break free and join me here. Your time has come to fight back and have your death and secrets known.” She gasped as the latest blow sent her to her knees.

Poppy closed her eyes, gathering more strength. Staying on her knees, she stared back up at the moon. “Lewis, the true alpha of the Beyer West pack, I command you to break free, now!” she yelled the words.

The roar was deafening. The magic scurried away as the earth moved under her hands. The body pulled up from the dirt as the invisible chains of his dead soul disintegrated and he pulsed free.

Poppy screamed as his hands latched onto hers and he bit in, taking the blood she’d offered. He was powerful and she couldn’t stop him from taking his fill.

Lewis gasped for breath and released her.

She cradled her wrist against her body and gazed at the man before her. Poppy watched the decay melt away as her blood had the desired effect and brought him back to the fullness of a man.

The clothes he wore were dirty, but the years of decomposing flesh had ceased to exist.

“Thank you,” he said. His words were so unexpected that Poppy chuckled.

“That’s the nicest thing a dead soul has ever said to me,” she said by way of an explanation.

“Not only have I been killed but I’ve been forced to live for centuries in a prison. No one has known of my existence or what happened to me.”

Poppy glanced over her shoulder in time to see Adam approaching.

“I see you didn’t come alone.”

She turned back to the alpha, struck again by his kindness.

“True alpha of the Beyer West pack, I offer my respects and sincerest apologies for not knowing of your existence.” Adam went down on one knee and showed his respect.

“Are you really Robert’s boy?”

Adam nodded.

“Which one are you?”

“Adam, sir,” he said with a laugh.

“Adam? Wow, I remember when you were just a little lad.” The alpha stood and Adam helped Poppy to her feet.

“You knew my father?”

“Me and old Robert went back a long way. Best of friends were we—me, him and Don. How’s he been?”

Adam and Poppy stared at each other. She waited for him to explain, nausea already settling over her.

“My father’s dead. He was killed at the hand of James, the man we believed was the alpha of Beyer West.”

Lewis went down in a heap. “My good friend killed by my own pack.” They watched him pray to the stars. “I take it you’ve got more to tell me and this isn’t a courtesy call.”

“If it makes you feel any better, you will no longer be trapped and after a few months your memory will start to revive in all the people who knew you, including your pack,” Poppy said to him.

“How’s my mate?”

“She’s waiting for you,” Poppy told him.

“Then I guess we’d better get this sorted out.”

Poppy looked at Adam and gestured for him to finish it.

“We need to know what exactly happened on the night you died.”

“How about I show you?” Lewis offered.

Adam and Poppy were transported back. The crater was suddenly covered over by a wooden house with a small white picket fence surrounding it. They held hands as the scene played out as the mate had said. There was a knock on the door and the mate let James in. They watched as James killed Lewis’ mate.

There were screams from a baby in the corner. All of it was exactly as the woman had described…

 

“You bastards!” Lewis yelled and charged for the body of his dead wife. One of the wolves caught him and dragged him outside.

James took over, grabbing Lewis.

Lewis began to turn into his wolf form. The rage at having his own pack turn on him and kill his mate consumed him.

A silver blade was thrust into his back, taking him to his knees on his front lawn.

“What is this?” Lewis demanded.

“Consider it a change of power.” James kicked Lewis in the ribs.

The alpha fell back to the moss, laughing. “You think you can take my place as alpha?” Lewis asked. His tone mocked the wolf in front of him. James lashed out and smashed his fist in his face.

“Your time is over,” James said.

Lewis laughed and kept on laughing even as James began to beat him. The other wolves stood back and watched the torture of their alpha.

James struck him repeatedly and stabbed him with silver. Blood dotted every surface, washing the green lawn in red. Then James struck the killing blow…

 

Poppy and Adam came out of the distant memory, both pale and looking at the alpha as he watched the scene.

“Why did James have so much dislike for you?” Adam asked.

“With great shame it grieves me to admit the truth. For many years I rejected my rightful place as alpha among my pack. Robert and Don convinced me to return to my mate and my pack. But I did something stupid and without honour. One night I encountered a human female and I fucked her. I was mated and I shouldn’t have done it. The night had the consequences of a baby. Human women cannot give birth to half-wolf babies without bringing death to their door. She came to me and my mate, and I nursed her until she gave birth then buried her without shame. It wasn’t her fault for my mistake. James was the consequence of my one night of mistake. I raised him but with the knowledge that he would never be alpha of my pack.”

“Wait? James, your murderer, is in fact your son?”

“Yes.”

“Is that how he’s able to control the pack into thinking he’s the true alpha?” Poppy asked.

“No. James may have alpha blood running through his veins but it’s mixed with the blood of a human. He’s a mongrel and because of this, he would never be able to control the pack.”

“Well, someone is.”

“That night, James took my second son, the true alpha of Beyer West. Lewis Junior is the son of me and my mate—a full-blooded and pure alpha. James must be using him to control the wolves by opening a direct link to him,” Lewis told them.

“A direct link?”

“Yes, if Lewis believes James is his alpha or his leader then his actions are what the pack follows.”

“What happens if we break this connection?” Adam asked.

“Break the connection and Lewis would see the true monster and mongrel that James has become. He was always a hungry, mad child. I should have seen the jealousy in him. I paid the price of my blindness with the death of my mate and myself.”

“Wait—how can we be sure to break this link?”

“Lewis is the true alpha at heart—he’d be able to sense the unease through the pack. He can feel what his pack feels. Lewis would never be able to read their minds, but through his actions he’d be able to know if his decisions are ones the pack respects.”

Adam and Poppy stared at each other, understanding how James was able to manipulate the pack.

“What about creating wolves from humans?” Adam added.

“Only the strongest of humans would be able to survive the transition and they wouldn’t have a direct link to the pack as they weren’t born but made.”

As Adam was about to ask another question, Poppy was thrown in the air and landed on the other side of the crater. Her body twisted as bones began to break.

Adam and Lewis ran to Poppy, who was covered in thick red blood and screaming out in agony.

“What’s going on?” Lewis asked.

“Hell if I know.” Adam crouched down about to touch her arm, but she screamed and was tossed over. Adam grabbed her then pressed her down. He ripped open her shirt where the worst of the scars lay.

The scar was an open wound caving into her chest.

“Holy shit,” Lewis said.

“What?”

“The necromancer is rejecting Poppy. She’s essentially a vessel. The ceremony that split her heart in two split her soul down the centre. A necromancer is made up of the living and the dead,” Lewis told him. “She’s the one who can control the souls of the dead while Poppy walks amongst the living.”

“Fucking great.”

Suddenly Poppy slumped and he heard a tearing sound and watched as a person who replicated Poppy stepped out of her body.

Adam stepped back.

He saw the evil in her eyes. She looked like Poppy, only she didn’t carry the scars or the kindness Poppy had.

“So you’re the problem,” she said, stepping up to him.

Adam looked at Lewis, who explained, “Poppy has rejected her true power for too long and because of this her dead part has manifested with the intention to cause destruction. Necromancers have a history of being violent. They are two halves of a whole but they need to become whole and accept each other. Poppy has never done this. I’ve only seen this from one other necromancer when I was younger. She died.”

Great—just fucking great.