Amanda brushed her fingers along the books as she passed them individually. She could feel the connection of each one pulse against her fingers as she touched them. Amanda's eyes glowed with excitement. Her ancestral grimoires. They all called out to her, wanting to be opened and read—so much untapped power waiting to be used.

She continued touching each spine until she found a black book wrapped around gold trim. Amanda stopped and looked at the curious book before pulling it away from the others. A sad whine was heard around the room.

Amanda walked over to the desk in the room and placed the book in front of her before sitting down. She turned the hardcover over and looked at the front. There was no title, only letters, maybe initials. It was raw power whispering to her, pleading to open it. The book wanted to share its power and knowledge with her; all she had to do was open it. She took a deep breath as her fingers touched the edge; it whispered to her, "I have the answers you seek."

Amanda hesitated for a moment but then opened the book. She leaned over to read it, but the words were a blur. She couldn't make anything out.

She could hear a voice faintly calling out to her.

"Amanda"

"Amanda"

She tried to shake the voice out of her head.

"Amanda! Wake up!"

Her eyes popped open as she looked around the familiar room and saw a handsome face looking down at her.

"Amanda, are you alright?" Hudson asked as he looked at his mate with concern.

Amanda pulled herself up in the bed and leaned against the headboard. It was just a dream. She took deep breaths and sighed. "Yes, I'm fine. It was just a weird dream I was having."

"You're telling me. You were saying some weird stuff in your sleep."

Amanda cupped her hand over her mouth; she didn't know she talked in her sleep. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you," she told him.

"I don't care about that; just as long as you are okay is all that matters to me. I love you," he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her.

Amanda's wolf Willow purred with excitement. Willow loved any affection from Hudson.

"I think your wolf likes me," Hudson said playfully.

Amanda laughed. "I think we all know that."

Hudson ran his fingers through her hair and gently tugged her head back to look at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I might go to Deak's house and check out the family's grimoires. See if I can find anything this Merga woman we should be afraid of," she suggested.

"Do you want some company?" he asked as he leaned into the side of her neck.

Amanda smiled as she tilted her head to allow her mate to kiss the mark he gave her. "If you would like."

Hudson growled as he kissed his mark and smirked when he felt his mate shiver.

***

Gretchen knocked on the door to her grandmother's hotel room. Zachary breathed a sigh of relief when he opened the door and saw Gretchen and Colson before him.

"I'm glad to see you are both okay. Did you get caught in the rain?" he asked as he moved back and allowed them to walk in.

"We got out of it just before it started to rain hard," Gretchen answered.

Gretchen looked around the room to see who was all there. "Where are Tabitha and Marco?"

"They are on their way back. They shouldn't be too long," Ruby told her.

Gretchen noticed an unfamiliar woman standing in the corner on the phone. Gretchen approached her grandmother and hugged her, "How did the meeting go?"

"Not the way we hoped it would," Madeline confided.

"Why not?"

"According to what the faction council knows, there were omens that were foretold before the return of Merga. We don't know what those omens are to predict if she is, in fact, coming back."

"Alright, keep me informed," Felicia said into the phone before she ended the call. She walked back over to where everyone else was sitting and waiting. "Looks like this has hit the entire city. But it looks like it's starting to let up and hopefully will be over soon."

"Does it usually rain like this here in Silver City?" Gretchen asked.

Felicia shook her head. "It's never rained anything here for as long as I have lived here."

"So, what do you think caused it?" Vita questioned.

Felicia shrugged. "We don't know; a few are speculating that some witches were causing trouble after the meeting this morning with the council. We are looking into it. Now I have to go before someone starts to wonder where I've been."

Felicia walked over to Madeline.

"I'll keep you posted on what I find out. In the meantime, see if you can figure out the omens so we can be ready."

Madeline nodded.

Zachary opened the door and looked into the hall before letting Felicia leave. He closed the door behind him and walked back into the living room. "How will we figure out the omens they are talking about?"

Madeline looked at Vita. "Do you have any of the covens grimoires in your library?"

Vita nodded. "I have a few of them, but nothing that mentioned anything about Merga. I've read almost all of them and would have remembered that."

Deak stepped forward. "I have a large library of grimoires dating back a century. I can call small girl and see if she'll go looking through them." he offered.

"No, we must leave Amanda out of this as much as possible. She just got mated and is still learning her role with the pack." Ruby said defensively.

"I agree; I don't want to involve Amanda unless we absolutely have to. I can astral project myself to Deak's house and look through the library; if I see something promising, I will ask for Amanda's help." Vita suggested. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," Ruby told her.

Vita took a seat in an oversized chair and made herself comfortable. The last time she had astral projected was when she was trying to get help while being held captive. A shiver went through her as she was reminded of that terrible time.

Deak walked over and rubbed Vita's shoulders to help ease her tension and calm her.

Vita sighed as her body calmed, and she could close her eyes and focus. With Deak standing close, she could use him to know where exactly to go. She felt her body shift as her mind traveled through the veil and guided her to Deak's house. Vita found herself inside the house in front of a door. She put her hand on the handle and started to turn the knob. She felt a shiver go down her spine. Vita, without control, turned in her place and was pinned against the door with a hand on her throat.

"You're not supposed to be here," a husky voice said to her.