When Dallas stalked into his office, throwing the door open with more force than was probably necessary, he found the room already occupied.
“Whoa!” Quill, his Beta and second-in-command, yelped as Dallas surprised him with the sudden entrance. He quickly regained his composure. “You scared me.”
“What are you doing here?” Dallas growled, not in the mood for any of his Beta’s playful teasing.
Quill was the only one allowed to get away with that sort of thing, but Dallas was still his Alpha, his King, and that meant that Quill knew his place. Sure enough, the other wolf stood at attention for a second before easing back again.
“I just came to talk to you about the attack. We suffered no casualties on our side, only minor injuries.” He paused. “The other wolves are wondering why you called off the attack so suddenly, though.”
“It was strategic,” Dallas muttered, throwing himself into his desk chair.
He didn’t want to explain himself, and he didn’t have to explain himself, especially not to lower wolves.
“Uh, huh,” Quill said, not sounding very convinced. “Would it have anything to do with the girl you brought back to the castle?”
“What?!” Dallas exclaimed, jumping up from his desk. “How do you know about that?”
“Bella saw you coming in,” Quill explained, and Dallas nearly groaned. There were no secrets between Quill and his mate, even if Dallas sometimes wished there would be.
“What were you thinking? You kidnapped a witch?” Quill shook his head. “Dallas, have you lost your mind? That’s going to come back to bite you in the a**.”
“It’s fine,” Dallas snapped. “I am completely in control.”
Quill looked dubious. “Are you sure? Because no wolf in their right mind would bring a witch back to the inner part of our city, much less—”
“She’s my mate!” Dallas snapped, and Quill’s mouth shut so quickly his teeth clacked together.
“Oh,” he said. “Oh, sh*t.”
“Yeah,” Dallas said darkly. “So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t keep making comments about my lack of control.”
“Sh*t,” Quill said again. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m not going to do anything,” Dallas muttered. “She can stay locked up for the rest of her life for all I care.”
“That’s not fair,” Quill said. “I don’t care for witches, just as much as any other wolf, but you can’t just leave her to rot in one of the towers. For one thing, your bond won’t like it.”
“All I have to do is keep her in close proximity,” Dallas said. “I don’t have to like her. I don’t even have to be nice to her.”
Quill gave him a doubtful stare. “Which one of us is actually bonded? Trust me, now that your bond has been activated, if she’s not happy, you won’t be happy either.”
“I’m never happy,” Dallas said under his breath, but Quill still caught the words.
“Yeah, okay,” his Beta said. “Come and find me when you figure out what you’re going to do about this. I’ll help you however you need.”
“I’m not going to do anything!” Dallas exclaimed, but the words bounced off of Quill’s shoulders as he headed out the door. “I’ll never fall for a witch like her!”
His Beta ignored him, shutting the door to Dallas’ office as he left.
Dallas growled at the empty space Quill had just occupied.
Normally, his Beta’s willingness to speak his mind was something Dallas appreciated; it had helped him more than a few times, and was a refreshing change from all the other wolves, who were sometimes cowed by Dallas’ authority. Today, though, it was just annoying.
Quill knew more about Dallas’ past than anyone, but even he couldn’t imagine the turmoil that was running through Dallas’ head.
Even as Dallas thought about his complaints, he knew that it was just a ploy to keep his mind off of the very big problem that was currently residing in one of his upstairs rooms.
He exhaled shakily, running a hand through his hair, and trying to ignore the ghostly sensation of the witch girl’s lips on his. It had barely been more than a slight touching of their mouths, but it had sent electricity zinging through all of Dallas’ nerves, his body feeling as though it had been injected with adrenaline.
He had wanted nothing more than to pin the girl down, to explore every line and curve of her slender frame, and it had been incredibly difficult to hold himself back from doing just that. His inner wolf wanted so badly to make her his. He could almost imagine his mark on her neck, as though branded into her skin, and it was driving him insane.
He wanted to kiss her again, to feel their bond strengthen, to know that she was his in mind, body, and soul. The feeling of desire was so overwhelming that it almost left him mad, half out of his mind with a feral, lustful energy that he had no idea what to do with.
Dallas stood, trying to drive out some of the feeling through his fists, whirling around and punching a hole into the wall. When that didn’t make him feel better, he tried again, and then kicked at the globe on his desk, snapping the support struts and sending it crashing to the ground. It still wasn’t enough; the thoughts in his head were becoming so loud that it was hard to breathe.
He needed to get out.
Dallas dropped to all fours, shifting as he did so. All of the human emotions he was feeling compressed into a smaller part of his brain, one that would keep them safe while he ran.
He burst through his office door, which was push-to-open for this reason exactly, and tore through the halls of the palace, dodging corners and servants as he did so. Once he reached the grounds, he put on even more speed, dashing into the forest, the muscles in his legs propelling him forward.
Even if he couldn’t rely on the world, on fate, on his bond, he could at least rely on his own strength.
***
Bree wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the man had left her in her room, locking the door behind him.
She had paced for a while, shouted at the top of her lungs to be let out, and then worn herself out trying to find any scrap of magic that she had left inside her, but there was nothing.
It was starting to freak her out, actually. A witch’s magic was inherent to them, almost like a voice, and if her magic was missing for some reason, it meant that something was very wrong. Her anxiety was setting her nerves on edge, and every noise that she heard outside of the door sent her scrambling.
Bree heard a key turn in the lock, and she immediately stood up from her bed, lowering herself into a defensive stance so that she would be ready when the man entered.
He never did. Instead, a young woman, about Bree’s age, came into the room, carrying a tray with dishes on it.
She blinked in surprise when she saw Bree standing there, and then gave her a small smile. She looked nervous, as though Bree were some sort of dangerous creature, but she came further into the room anyway.
“You don’t have to attack,” she said, her voice melodic and gentle. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She shut the door and went over to the vanity, setting the tray down on top of it.
“I’m Siri. I work here, and I’ve been assigned to wait on you by the Alpha.”
“The Alpha?” Bree asked, wondering if that was the man who had come into her room before.
Siri nodded. “You’re his personal guest.”
Bree scoffed a little, sitting back down on the mattress. “I don’t feel very much like a guest,” she said. “Who treats guests like this?”
“It’s not that bad,” Siri said calmly. “It might be a little uncomfortable at first, what with the—”
She cut herself off suddenly, eyes widening as she realized that she had been about to say something she shouldn’t.
Bree narrowed her eyes. “What were you going to say?”
“N-nothing,” Siri stammered. “Just that I thought you might be feeling a little out of sorts, with your powers missing and all.”
“How do you know that?” Bree demanded, standing up quickly and moving forward towards the servant. “What did he do to me?”
Siri swallowed nervously, taking a step back, but she hit the edge of the vanity and couldn’t go any further. “H-he j-just—”
“Tell me,” Bree demanded. “Now. How did he take away my powers?”
Siri looked fearful for a moment, and then said, so quietly that Bree almost couldn’t hear her, “D-drugs.”