And Then There Were Four novel Chapter 210

Chapter 210: Finding Purpose

Evil comes in all shapes and sizes.

The thought crossed my mind more than once as I stared at the figures within the room. There was no telling who Ashley had her claws into, and the more I stood there evaluating what was going on, the more I had a feeling my brother and Alpha Carlos weren't the only ones. Which of course, was problematic. I had to be more careful with what I did.

Otherwise, there was a chance things could backfire on me.

Looking across the room, I caught Hale's gaze, waiting for the moment that he would give me the okay to handle what needed to be handled. Yet, his acknowledgment never came. Instead, he raised his brow and shook his head no.

“Are you okay?" Finn asked me as he approached. “You look like something is wrong."

Keeping my voice low, I sighed. “I'm not sure. Hale is telling me no, but I don't understand why. Something has happened…"

My father must have sensed my confusion because before I knew it, he was crossing the floor towards us with a smile on his face as the rest of the people in the room talked amongst themselves. No one here in this room reeked of magic but Ashley. It was clear she had been using for a while, and if no one else could sense that, I didn't know how to explain to them that she was the cause of all their problems.

“Walk with me," Hale muttered softly, keeping a smile on his face as he passed through the doorway behind me, back out into the hall. Knitting my brows together, I looked to Silas and Finn, who matched my confusion, but both nodded for me to go with him.

The moment I stepped out of the room with Hale and the doors closed behind us, I had a feeling he was going to tell me something was terribly wrong. The look upon his face gave way to the concerns he must have felt about this entire situation. I hadn't spoken with him since we had talked the day before, so I didn't have a single clue as to what he had found out when it came to the coven of the Wiccan.

“What's wrong?" I asked with hesitation, making sure to keep my voice low so that it didn't draw attention to where we were standing. The last thing I wanted was for anybody in that room to overhear the conversation my father and I were about to have, especially if it was going to be about Ashley.

“I spoke with the Council and they are supposed to come out here, but the problem is they said that Ashley doesn't belong to their coven."

His words stunned me, but only for a moment. But it actually was a good thing she didn't belong to them because if I retaliated against her, then it would mean that things wouldn't go up in smoke when it came to the main coven of the Wiccan and our pack.

“Well, that's good. That means I can handle her…"

My father shook his head at my comment, causing me to stop in mid-excitement. I didn't understand why he was saying I couldn't handle her if the coven had nothing to do with her.

Nothing made sense, and I was tired of waiting on others to take care of business.

“It isn't that easy. Ashley is a part of something else, something that they too want to find out. They had been getting calls all over the coast saying that there was magic in the air. That occurrences were happening and they couldn't figure out what was linked to. But I told him the situation with Pollux, and they think she may be behind those other attacks. So they want to come here and take her away."

My world felt like it was falling apart. I wanted to destroy her. Perhaps that was the vengeful side of me, but I just couldn't stand the fact of her getting away with what she was doing. There was no telling if she was actually going to be punished, and there was no telling if Alpha Carlos was going to allow them to take her. She was, after all, part of his pack now.

“Dad, we have to break the connection she has with Alpha Carlos and Pollux. It's the only way to ensure that they are free. Alpha Carlos doesn't look like the kind of man who's going to just let his supposed mate go." There was a moment of clarity that registered in my father's eyes as he realized what I was saying.

If the coven came in here and took Ashley from Carlos, it could cause big problems for us. Carlos would think we had set all of this up, and that could start an unnecessary war between our packs that we didn't need. Even if we, technically, did set it up, if he wasn't in the right frame of mind, he wouldn't know the truth.

“I don't know, kiddo. I'm really at a loss right now at what we should do." My father looked absolutely defeated about the entire situation, and I could understand that, but for some reason, I didn't feel the same defeat that he did. Instead, I felt a clarity; a calm, warming, buzzing feeling that floated over my skin, telling me exactly what I needed to do.

Lifting my hand, I placed it gently on my father's arm and gave him a warm, reassuring smile. “Everything is going to be okay." I may not have belonged to this pack anymore in the sense that I wasn't a wolf. But no matter what had happened in the past, they were still my family. Every single pack member was still part of my heart, regardless if the connection was there or not.