Chapter Fifteen: Bad Habits

~ Marie ~

Omegas were similar to Alphas. They both had the power to pressure others within the pack and force them to bend to their will but there was one thing that made Jesse more dangerous. Omegas could exert the same kind of pressure on those outside their pack. Only an Alpha could counter the kind of pressure they put out. Any other wolf would be forced to bend to their will.

Since Omegas were rare, not many books on werewolves discussed the subject. The ones that did had only one thing to say.

They were the end of a pack.

Having one in a pack made it easier for a leader to be replaced outside of the Ride of Accord. When an Omega was found, it was recommended to remove the wolf once they were of age.

Marie opened up the notebook and flipped through several pages before she came to the one she was looking for. She looked over each entry and noted that five of the names had a small letter ‘A’ next to them. The letter was beside four names on the list. There was a letter beside Jesse’s markings. If the sorcerer ever figured out that Jesse was an Omega, they would have gone after him first. She frowned at the page before she closed the book and put it back on the top of the pile.

Marie crossed her arms as she glared at the bathroom.

There was no point in thinking about the divination now. She needed to give him something equal to what he was giving up. Her divinations gave people a possible path to reaching their desires. It wasn’t guaranteed but that didn’t matter to most people. She sighed as she stood up. Since Jesse’s divination had been time based, he’d left as soon as she finished placing protections on him. They wouldn’t last forever but they should last long enough for him to leave. The sorcerer shouldn’t go after him since there were several other alphas for them to control.

She stopped in front of the coffee maker. Divinations tired her out but did she have time for a cup of coffee? There was time for coffee later. She needed to find Peter and discuss the current situation. Another sigh escaped as she left, taking the notebook with her.

Since the wedding was over, he shouldn’t be out running errands. None of the wolves were in the clearing or in front of the house. He’d either be inside the house or out in the forest. Hopefully, he was inside the house or she’d have to come back later to find him. Marie entered the kitchen and headed for the living room. There were several pack members sitting on the floor, chatting. The conversation stopped right as she entered the room.

“Where’s Peter?”

“He’s upstairs in his office.” If it was the same room that he took her to last time then she knew what they were talking about. The pack member that answered stood up and walked towards her. “Come on.” The woman gave an exaggerated sigh before leading Marie upstairs. The pack member stopped in front of the door and knocked on it. “The Guardian is here to see you.”

“Come in.” A tired voice reached her from the other side of the door. The pack member gestured to the door before she left. Marie opened the door and found Peter leaning against the desk. He was reading from a paper he held in one hand. Peter sighed before he dropped the paper on the desk behind him. His expression turned serious as he looked her over. “Are you okay?” His gaze lingered on her hands and knees before he looked back at her face. She’d forgotten about the scrapes. They weren’t worth wasting magic on right now. She could heal them later when she was back in the room.

“Fine.” She looked back at the door and turned the lock before placing a spell on the door against eavesdropping. Better to be safe just in case. “Is there anything in here that smells like lilacs?” Peter’s brow furrowed as he looked between her and the door.

“No.” He didn’t sound quite sure of his answer. Was it because he didn’t know what lilacs smelled like?

“Did anyone put any flowers or herbs in here?” He shook his head this time. “I need to check you for magic before I explain.” She walked over and stood next to him. If it turned out he had a spell on him then she’d need to leave it alone until the last possible moment. That way the sorcerer wouldn’t try to run. She’d have a hard time with the wolves tomorrow if that turned out to be the case but since some of the wolves were still free of mind control, she wouldn’t have to worry about fighting all of them yet.

“Does this have to do with the magic you felt before?” Marie nodded as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Her magic spread throughout his body, checking for any abnormalities. She didn’t find any. Marie opened her eyes ready to tell him everything.

Peter was stiff, his jaw clenched as he leaned away from her.

“That felt weird.” Weird? Her magic? Marie placed her hand against her chin as she thought. She’d never asked anyone how they felt after she’d checked them. Did everyone feel this way or was it only with her magic? Something to look into later. She looked back down at the notebook she’d brought and flipped through it, searching for the relevant page. “Did you come across anyone…unusual while you were out?” Marie wasn’t sure how much the old pack leader had told Peter. She wasn’t sure how much to talk about when Peter continued. “My father rented the land out to a… certain person. I made sure to inform them of what was going on but I didn’t know if you came into contact with them. If you do, I just wanted you to know that a man named Leon is not a trespasser and has permission to be here.” Marie nodded before she handed the notebook over to Peter.

He read it with his head slightly tilted to one side. She could tell when he realized what he was reading. Peter leaned forward, his body went rigid as he clenched his jaw.

“What the hell is this?” He looked at her with anger in his eyes. “And why are there prices next to some of these names?”

Marie gestured for the notebook but he didn’t look ready to give it up.

“I need it back.”

“Why?”

“I need to hand this in when I turn the Sorcerer over.”

“And what if we catch them first?” His eyes narrowed as he watched her.

“It would be best if the Order takes over the investigation. There are several places that need to be investigated.” Peter looked down at the notebook before flipping through several pages. His frown deepened before he sighed. He went back to the page regarding his pack. Peter looked over the information again before he closed the notebook and handed it back.

“So what is their goal? Why are they here?” Peter sat down across from her.

“Someone is using magic on the werewolves here.” Marie went over to the sofa and sat down. This was going to take a while.

“What kind of magic?”

“Mind control. The sorcerer is putting several of the wolves under their control. Once they are ready, they’ll take the wolves they have and— ”

“Sell them.” Peter’s eyes went golden for a brief moment. “Damn them.” He leaned forward and rested his head against his clasped hands. There was a knock at the door. He took a deep breath and sighed before speaking. “Come in.” His voice showed his frustration. The door jiggled and Marie remembered that she locked it. She stood up to unlock it but Peter beat her to it. He opened the door and greeted whoever was at the door. The man stepped back to reveal Adrian standing at the door. He gestured to the sofa she was sitting on before he closed the door. Peter locked it before taking his seat. “Marie was filling me in on what’s been going on.” Adrian smiled politely at her but she noticed he also glanced at her hands and knees. Marie felt a frown tug at her lips. A few scrapes weren’t a big deal. “Please continue.” Peter took his seat and waited for her to speak.

“From what I can tell, the sorcerer is waiting for the moment when the pack is unified. As things stand right now, you are only a temporary leader.” Peter nodded as he frowned, his body tense. “If the sorcerer can control half the pack as well as the pack leader, they won’t have any problems placing the rest of the pack under their control.”

“Can anything be done?” Peter’s eyes flashed golden again before going back to blue. Adrian shifted next to her. She shook her head.

“Not right now. I just wanted to catch you up on everything and place protections on you.”

“If you can protect me, couldn’t you protect the pack? Or take off the spell?”

“Without the original bottle they used to perform the spell, I would have to go from person to person. Doing that would alert the sorcerer. Any wolves still under their control could disappear before I’m able to undo the spell on everyone.”

“Why place protections on only me then?”

“Whoever becomes the pack leader will be in danger. That is if they’re not already under the sorcerer’s control.”

“Out of our current pack, only two of us are alphas.” Peter sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose briefly. “You're saying that if I don’t win, my pack is doomed.”

“There’s only two others listed that are alphas and they’re both outsiders.” Meaning they were already under the sorcerer’s control. Jesse would have been another but he was no longer here.

“And if they use magic to win?”

“I can take care of any magic they try to use.” That’s why she originally came. To prevent things like that from happening. “That isn’t the biggest issue.”

“What would that be?”

“During the Rite of Accord or right after you win—”

“You make it sound easy.” Marie ignored him and continued.

“— the sorcerer will likely choose that time to attack. They’ll probably create a diversion using the wolves they control. In order to stop the sorcerer, we need to keep those wolves from running away and stop them from causing you or themselves any harm.”

“For how long?”

“Until I’m able to take care of the sorcerer. As long as they have the spell going, they’ll be able to force the wolves to do whatever they want.” Even kill those close to them or themselves.

“What if the sorcerer runs away?”

“Then the sorcerer won’t be able to issue new orders. They have to be close to use the spell.” The sorcerer didn’t have the magic required to use this kind of spell long range. Even with the medal, they had been staying in the area.

“Can you place protections on two other people?” The less people that knew about the plan, the better. There was still time before the Rite of Accord. Too many things could happen between now and then. “I need people that can help me manage the situation and contain it.”

“Fine.” Peter looked down for a moment before he turned his attention to the door. Pack telepathy was a special ability of the wolves that was similar to the vampires but only worked with those within the pack and not within families. Soon there was a knock at the door. Two men entered, closing the door behind them. One of the men locked the door before they headed over to Peter. The two men quietly listened to Peter as he explained what was going on and what would be happening tomorrow. Once Peter got to the part where she would be unable to protect the whole clan they turned to her.

“Why can’t you use your magic?”

“Isn't this why you came here?”

“Enough! We have a plan in place. I called you here because you’re important to the plan. If we act prematurely, then anyone they have under their control will disappear. We need to keep everything that’s said in this room a secret.” They grit their teeth before bowing their heads. “I’m sorry for that. Please go ahead, Guardian.” Marie stood up and checked the first man. He was clean. The man had the same unconformable look on his face Peter had earlier. She paused for a moment.

Did it really feel that strange?

Marie glanced at Adrian but he had his polite smile on. She wasn’t going to get anything from him. It wasn’t important to know anyway. Marie focused on her task and checked the second man. Since they were both clean, she went ahead and applied their protection. Afterwards, she made sure to thoroughly explain. It was important that they understood the side effects and that they would still need to be careful. This didn’t protect against everything. The men frowned but nodded.

Peter swore them to secrecy before telling them the rest of the plan. The men agreed, though they still looked reluctant. They were dismissed and Peter waited until they were gone before he turned to her.

“Please let me know if anything changes.” Marie nodded. She stood up to leave when Peter stopped her. “Claire had to leave early this morning or she would have told you herself. Thank you. Not just from her but from all of us. You gave my sister something priceless. Thank you.” Peter gave her a smile. Marie nodded and left. She went back to the room and put the notebook down on the table.

“How did you get hurt?” He pulled the chair out and sat down.

“Fell.” Though it was on purpose.

“And here?” He pointed to his collar. Marie tilted her head to the side as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. An amused smile crossed his face as he elaborated. “There’s blood on your collar.” She pulled her shirt out as she looked at her own collar. There was blood on the edge of the t-shirt. It must have been from her cheek wound. Examined the rest of her shirt. That was the only place with a stain. She closed her eyes and cleaned her shirt. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I got attacked.” His smile disappeared as his eyes narrowed at her.

“Where?”

“Near the house.” He leaned forward as he looked her over again.

“We should go back to the house and you can show me what happened.” Adrian stood up and held his hand out toward her. She pressed her lips together. He was getting too used to her using her teleportation. Marie wanted to refuse but then she’d have to walk all that way. She held in her sigh as she put her hand in his. Marie closed her eyes. Maybe this would work in her favor. He might be able to sense something she couldn’t.