“You’re not going to feed, are you?” Talonis asks me.
“No,” I say, turning toward where he and Brax are standing.
“But we’re going to go watch, right?” Brax asks, with a mischievous look in his eyes.
“Hell yes, we are,” I say.
Riven has gathered the Moonlight pack members in my backyard. It’s shocking seeing them in my own territory, let alone my backyard. If you had asked me a year ago whether this would ever happen, I would have said that hell would have had to have frozen over for it to happen. And yet here they all are.
Ambrose leads Lumi to a grass spot at the edge of the circle while he makes his way next to Riven.
Brax, Talonis, and I stay on my covered deck that protects me from the fading sunlight while still giving me a good view of them. Kael and Sylara are standing near the edge of the circle with a few other Bloodmoon pack members. Sylara nods at me when she sees me, like she’s happy I came out.
“So what’s the plan?” Ambrose asks Riven.
“I believe that every one of your pack members has a small piece of your magic. Despite you being granted your magic, you are the strongest between the two of us. So I want all the magic to pour through you. All of the pack members will try to channel their magic to you. Once they have, I’ll add mine. And then you have to concentrate on breaking your curse.”
Ambrose just stares at Riven like he thinks he’s insane, and there is no way that this will work. But then Ambrose turns to his pack members, and I know he’s going to try what Riven suggested.
“How can we send you magic? We aren’t witches?” one of his male pack members asks.
“Magic is mostly about your intentions and energy. There is some finesse and practice to wield it properly, but you won’t need much to channel what magic you have back into me. Especially since that magic was mine to begin with, and you becoming a pack member distributed some of my magic to you,” Ambrose says.
The Moonlight pack members look at Ambrose in bewilderment, but they trust him. It’s a wonder to watch his leadership. My pack has become a family to me. More equals all playing our own parts than me being their leader. But Ambrose—he is a true leader. A true alpha deserving of the title.
“I’ll start,” Emeric says, stepping forward.
“Concentrate on me,” Ambrose says, his voice steady, giving them more confidence.
Emeric chuckles. “Easy enough.”
I know each member of this pack has an individual witch curse because of who Ambrose is; they were all cursed.
As Emeric concentrates on Ambrose, I pry into Ambrose’s mind and get hit with Emeric’s curse.
Fuck, Emeric can feel all of Ambrose’s pain. Fucking hell.
I pull back out of his head, needing a break from the intensity between them.
Others slowly gather closer to Ambrose as they start channeling their magic into Ambrose. I can tell from how Ambrose is sweating that it’s working. Their magic is pouring into him. The problem will be whether he can harness and control it long enough to break any of the curses.
Lumi steps up, ready to take her turn. She closes her eyes, and I automatically slip back into Ambrose’s mind when she starts to send her energy to him.
I don’t know what I expect to see or feel, but I gasp when I’m inside his mind. Because I feel her—that familiar coolness, flurries of snowflakes kissing my nose as they fall over my eyelashes, feeling. She’s in his head as she sends him the small kernel of magic she must have from belonging to his pack.
For a moment, I feel complete again. Like the piece that’s been missing has been returned. But it’s only for a moment. And then, it’s gone.
Her magic is in him.
She retreats from his mind.
And I’m empty once again.
She was the last of the Moonlight pack members to give Ambrose her magic. As soon as she’s done, Ambrose turns to Riven. Without a word, Riven pours his magic into Ambrose.
Ambrose braces as Riven’s magic hits him. Since Riven is half witch, the magic he has far exceeds the magic the pack members have. They hold the connection for what feels like an eternity until Ambrose absorbs as much magic as he can, and then a blast shoots out of Ambrose.
Everyone hits the floor, ducking under the explosion of magic that flows out of Ambrose.