Malakai hit the city limits and could smell the strong scents of a large crowd forming. As he walked farther into the city, he picked up on his favorite aroma, Vita. Malakai shook his head; why would he smell Vita's scent mixed with so many others? His chest pounded as he began to worry about his mate. He continued to follow the smell until he approached a large group of people surrounding themselves in front of a large building. Malakai stretched himself high to see over the crowd looking for the one person he cared about most, and then he found her.

***

Vita looked around as she watched the factions space themselves away from the center, exposing her and their group as they stood before the council.

Felicia was shocked at the news of her fallen friend; she couldn’t believe someone from their community would kill Madeline. “These are some harsh allegations you are accusing us of. What proof do you have it was one of us?” Felicia questioned.

Vita stepped up and stood next to Zachary. “She was poisoned by two flowers combined, Bella Donna and Wolfsbane.”

A loud gasp was heard throughout the crowd. Felicia turned to her fellow council members and eyes one in particular. She could see the member begin to fidget and try to step back from being in view. Felicia closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. Those flowers had been banned from being used in the city for the last ten years. Anyone who had a stock of those flowers was arrested and banned from living in the city. Felicia turned back to the crowd as she tried to calm them down so that she could speak. “I will personally look into this further, but we need your help right now.”

“That won’t be necessary,” they heard a voice speak out in the crowd.

Everyone turned toward the Vampire faction as they moved aside and made a path for their king to walk through. Reece was walking behind him with a woman in shackles and her head covered by a sack. The members of the Vampire faction bowed to their king as he passed them on his way to the front of the congregation. Emil walked up to the podium, brushing the female wolf aside so that he may speak.

“Members of all the factions, recently, we have been experiencing unsettling things since our outside friends visited us. A few days ago, they came to the faction council, threatening that the return of Merga was coming. When the members decided not to help them, it was then we began to see weird oddities occur throughout our beloved city,” Emil informed them. He motioned for one of his members to bring Vita up to the podium and stand next to the other female. “This girl and her friend have been conspiring against our loving city, creating false omens to lead us to believe that Merga was returning. It started with the acid rain, to the death of the crows dropping from the sky, and now our once glittering city is going dark. But fear not, my fellow factions, we have caught them before they could do any further damage. I have been told that they have been communicating with Merga from the beyond, and when I found out the identity of one of the women, I was shocked. As much as I want to shield you all from the truth, I know it would be better for you to see the truth with your own eyes.”

Emil yanked the bag off the woman’s head, revealing Rita bound and gagged.

Vita sighed with relief. She thought for a moment that Amanda was the woman that was going to be revealed. Vita had never seen this witch before and had no idea what Emil was talking about.

“That’s not true,” Vita yelled as she tried to explain herself. “I had nothing to do with the omens that are occurring here in Silver City. But I will tell you that he’s lying to you. He’s been lying to you for over a century. Merga is a fabled name that he came up with to scare you into submission so that you allowed him to rule over you.”

There was talk amongst the crowd as doubt and speculation filled the air.

“My people, please, are you going to listen to a naive young girl who knows nothing about us or your King, who has stood up for you for decades?” Emil asked.

There was an intense amount of growling heard from the small group in front of the crowd. Colson, Ruby, Tabitha, and Marco growled defensively for their friend.

Emil raised his hand up to the crowd to gain their attention once again. “I have proof that what I have said over the years has been true. These witches brought back the woman we feared all those years ago, the woman who swore she could take our abilities away with a snap of her finger,” Emil announced as he snapped his finger for effect. He motioned for Reece to bring forward their special guest. “Now, many have heard about a woman classified as the hybrid. Half wolf and half witch, with abilities no one has seen since Merga was banished.” He pointed to the two witches standing close to him. “These witches uncovered a way to bring back Merga from banishment and merge her soul into the body of the hybrid,” he yelled out as Reece pushed forward a woman bound in manacles and chained to a large wooden wall.

Amanda opened her eyes slowly as she started to regain consciousness. Her eyes widened as she looked out at the angry crowd. She attempted to push herself away from the chains that held her against the wooden wall. After a short amount of time, she fell back onto the wall allowing her head to hit against it repeatedly.

Vita gasped and tried to move quickly to get to her friend but was blocked by the members that were loyal to Emil.

A howl and a snarl were heard in the distance as Vita turned and watched Hudson and Malakai, Deak’s wolf come charging up to the front.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the cavalry coming to the rescue,” Emil taunted.

“Release my wife NOW!” Hudson ordered.

Emil laughed at the young wolf that was standing before him. He could smell the Alpha’s anger radiating off him, but he didn’t care. He had fought plenty of Alphas and still lived to tell the tale. This one was no different.

“Listen, little wolf, if that Lycan right there coming at me doesn’t scare me, what makes you honestly think I would be scared of you?” Emil questioned.

Hudson turned back to see the large Lycan wolf make his way to the front and smirked before he responded, “That’s because you haven’t fought against a Lycan and an Alpha fighting for their mates,” he snarled before shifting into his large wolf.