Vita walked quickly into the hotel room. She was getting anxious; Amanda wasn’t answering her phone.

Deak tried to calm his mate but was having a difficult time. The pain from the bracelet started to increase. Gretchen noticed the burn on his wrist and suggested a cream to help with the burn, but she knew better than try to rub it on the skin for him. He was happy that Colson and Gretchen had gone to their room. The tension in the air on the ride home was intoxicating and made the trip uncomfortable.

Vita paced as she tried to get ahold of Amanda again. “Nothing, it’s still going to voicemail. Maybe I should….” She chose not to finish her thought.

“What, what do you want to do?” Deak asked as he rubbed the cream on his skin.

Vita shook her head. “Nothing, it’s not a good idea.”

Deak could sense that his mate was freaking out and wanted to check on Amanda. Which meant she wanted to astral project to his house again.

Deak shook his head. “You’re right; it’s not a good idea.”

Vita stopped pacing and turned to look at Deak. “But we need answers, and Amanda could be a big help in finding those answers. The wolves are at your house. I wouldn’t be going into a bad situation like last time,” she protested.

Deak continued to shake his head and rejected the idea. He was losing his patience; why was she so stubborn about this? Deak told her it was not a good idea and didn’t want to discuss it further.

Vita put her hands on her hips and looked sternly at him. “Are you going to try and pull a Colson on me and be a dominating wolf toward me?”

Deak looked up and narrowed his eyes at her, “Don’t test me, Vita; it’s been a long morning, and I don’t want you to get hurt,” he warned her.

Vita walked over and poked at his chest, “Deak Duvall, you listen to me and listen to me well. I am a strong, capable woman who excels in magic. You do not own me or possess me. I am not your property; I am your mate—the girl you have chosen past all that to love. So I suggest you keep your possessive side in check and save it for when I’m actually in trouble.”

Deak’s wolf Malakai growled menacingly in his chest. Deak looked at his girl with anger and desire. He respected her strength, but he was just worried about her and wanted to ensure her safety. “Fine,” he snarled and walked out of the room.

Vita felt vindicated for defending herself and standing up to Deak. But a part of her wanted to make sure he wasn’t mad at her and they were okay. Vita shook her head as she had in the padded chair. All that would have to wait after she checked on Amanda. Vita closed her eyes and rubbed her necklace.

“Take me to Amanda,” Vita whispered.

She felt her body lift from the plush armchair as her magic astral projected a part of herself to wherever Amanda could be.

Vita opened her eyes and looked around; something about the spot felt familiar to her.

“Amanda?” Vita called out as she moved past the endless shelves of books.

Amanda popped out from behind one of the openings. “Vita?” Amanda called out, surprised and confused to see her friend standing before her.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. You weren’t answering your phone.”

Amanda turned, ran back to where her phone was, and bit her lower lip. She hadn’t realized her phone was on silent. There were several missed calls; Vita wasn’t the only one trying to get a hold of her.

“I’m so sorry. We’ve been searching the room; we only recently found the book and were looking for the pendant,” Amanda pointed out.

Vita was excited to hear that Amanda had found the book. She needed to know if it had the answers they needed.

“Have you found anything from the book?” Vita asked as she tried to move closer to Amanda but was blocked.

“The room is bound by magic. I was able to step into the circle because of the blood spell you had me use to locate the book,” Amanda verified. “And no, I haven’t found anything yet in the book because I haven’t taken it out of the case it’s protected in.”

Vita noticed the line that prohibited her from crossing. She moved around the room on the other side of it and tried to get closer to the case. “What do we need to do to open the case?” Vita asked.

Amanda turned back and looked at Luna Cynthia, who was still in the room with them. “Luna, do you mind returning to the library and letting Hudson know we are okay? He’s been worried and going wild with concern?”

Cynthia smiled and nodded at Amanda, “Come on, Pemberly, let’s give the girls some space. I’ll introduce you to my son,” she told him.

“Of course, your majesty,” he answered.

Vita’s eyes widened as she noticed the pixie flying behind Luna Cynthia as they left the room. She looked back at Amanda and questioned, “Your Majesty?”

Amanda waved her hand. “ I guess the pixie used to work for Luna’s family as she was growing up. I don’t know why he says 'your majesty' to her.”

“Okay, so back to the book. Does it say what we need to do to open the case?”

Amanda shook her head. “That’s not the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was able to open the case. I just haven’t looked through the book yet,” Amanda answered hesitantly.

“Okay, so what’s stopping you?” Vita asked. She couldn’t understand what was stopping Amanda from seeking the answers they needed.

Amanda walked over to the case and lifted the lid. “I need you to remember that all this is new to me. I didn’t grow up in the coven, just like I didn’t grow up with the pack. Only recently, I thought I was a plain human girl with no special abilities; my biggest problem was putting up with my high school bully.” Amanda laughed at the last part.

Vita smiled at her. She didn’t mean to put so much pressure on Amanda. Vita was impressed by Amanda’s desire to learn about her lineage. Vita forgot how overwhelming this was. “I’m sorry,” Vita whispered.

Amanda shook her head. “You don’t have to say you’re sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just…” Amanda paused.

“What?”

“I wish you were here with me to fully understand how much power I feel radiating from this book,” Amanda explained as she placed her hand on the book.

Vita stared widely at the book. “Amanda, step back away from the book.”

Amanda looked down at the book, and her brows furrowed as something was circling out from the book. Amanda removed her hand slowly, but the swirl was getting more prominent, and it attempted to reach out and grab her.

Vita lunged forward to pull Amanda back; instead, an electric current shocked them both, causing them to collapse to the floor.