"Anne, are you ok?" MJ sits down next to me in the kitchen.
I warm my hands with the coffee cup in my hands, curtesy of the Luna. I've learned all of their names now. The Luna's name is Edna, the Alpha's name is Mario, their son is Carlos, their daughter is Athena, and their Beta is Anthony.
They are all waiting in the other room for everyone to show up. I called my dad to tell him we were ok as they were on their way here.
"I'm ok," I half lie. Yes, I am ok physically, but mentally I'm not. Well, my mental instability isn't as bad as it usually is after using magic, but I still feel the toll it takes on me. I think I'm growing accustomed and my mind is growing used to my use of magic.
I'm hoping this coffee will some how calm my nerves and at least keep me in reality.
"Really? Because that's like your fourth cup of coffee and you can't stop tapping your feet," he says looking at me with worry.
"There's no need to worry about me. I'll be fine," I reassure him. He pulls me in for a hug by surprise.
"I'm glad you're ok. There wasn't much I could do to help during the fire. I wish I could've done more to help." MJ looks down at me with a slight frown.
I punch him playfully on the shoulder. Not sure if it's just to put some distance between us or to loosen some tension, but it makes him chuckle.
"It's fine. We're not all meant to be amazing." I tease him.
"Very funny, Anne. I'll let you have that one because you were amazing out there," he answers with a smirk, making long eye contact with me. I stand awkwardly, not knowing what to answer to his blatant flirtatious responses.
The door bell rings, interrupting the silence between us.
"That must be my dad and everyone else at the front door," I say as I make my way out of the kitchen. MJ follows behind me.
"Wow. There's a lot of you," I hear Alpha Mario say as he opens the door for my dad, Alaric, Don, Cassandra, Kora, Emily, and Vinney to come inside.
"Yeah. Can't seem to get rid of any of them. They just seem to stick," my father jokes with the Alpha. "I'm Greg. We are glad we can get a chance to speak with you."
Mario shakes my father's outstretched hand and his wife steps up beside him. There children are busy handling some business else where.
"How about we all get settled in the dining room where we can discuss everything." We follow behind Luna Edna as she leads us to their dining room. Before I can step in I'm pulled to the side by strong hands.
My back hits the wall behind me and I look up to the meet Alaric's eyes. Before I can let out a word I'm pulled into a warm hug.
My body loses its' tension and I lean into Alaric. I hadn't realized how tense I was. His scent calms my mind.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what's this for," I ask him.
"I just needed to hold you after everything that just happened. I'm glad you're ok," Alaric says, breathing a sigh of relief. He holds my face in his hands.
"I'm even better now that you're here and I see you came with this." I pull out the bottle of pills that was stuffed in his pocket.
"I figured you'd need them after that heroic act of yours." I watch as Alaric pauses for a second. "I hate to say this but you stink of human male and it's been bothering me. Do I need to tell MJ to back off? He's been really close to you lately," Alaric points out.
"Thank you for the pills but you can relax. MJ is just very friendly. He's just here to help."
Alaric rubs his forehead but wipes his face clean of any overthinking.
"Okay. Let's go join everyone." I put the bottle of pills away to test out if I can handle using magic without being dependent on medication to balance my mind. Maybe I can balance myself on my own.
We take a seat as we join the conversation.
"So, you're saying that you've been tracking this witch for a while now and you believe she is behind these attacks that have been happening?"
I'm guessing they've already gone into detail as to why we are here.
"Yes, we found out she was coming to have a meeting with you and we had to see why because every decision she makes can lead to a much bigger destruction. She's a danger to everyone and she needs to be stopped," Chris chimes in.
The Alpha and Luna seem to be in deep thought as they consider what they've heard so far.
"How about we come up with a deal." We all turn to the door as we hear a little voice. Carlos and Athena stand at the door from the kitchen entrance. The critters were listening in to the conversation.
"Considering you guys came to scout out the witch in this small group, I'm guessing you have no one else to help you or even a pack behind you," Athena questions.
"You'd be right in assuming that. It's hard to gather up support when there's obstacles in the way," I answer her, thinking of a certain Alpha named Arsenio and many other individuals along with him. "What's your plan," I ask, knowing that their technical brains have probably already thought something up.
"How about we support you? We back you up with our pack. It's only fair after you helped us with the fire, but you have to promise something to us in return." Carlos sets the tone to make a deal and his father looks at him proudly.
"What promise," Alaric asks, curious. He seems amazed at the little people in front of us.
"I can tell you're an Alpha or at least soon to be Alpha," Athena points out, observing Alaric. "You join forces with us. My father and mother can work out the details with you but we can draw up a reasonable contract and we can become allies for many generations. It can benefit both of our families."
"That sounds like it could work, and of course, as members of the higher court, we would hold either side countable of anything that needs to be settled," Kora states.
"Sounds like we have a deal," Luna Edna says, beaming with joy.
"Now we just have to think up our next actions and we have to make them accurate and precise. No mistakes can be made." Everyone looks at me to nod and agree.
"Let's take the bitch down." We all turn to see a livid Hanna.