Arranged To The Alpha
Chapter 43

Natalia:

It was a while into the night when Crystal decided to make an appearance. Her eyes avoided mine as she landed on the ground in front of us.

I knew that she was still angry after our earlier fight; however, I was not going to please her over something that the two of us knew was a risk for her. I did not want to be put in a position where I would have to make such a difficult choice, because like my father, I would choose my mate over myself any day.

“I do hope that you’re ready”

“I am not, but we have no other choice than to try” I said, making the temperature drop around me as I started floating. Blake, who was standing one step behind me, crossed his arms over his chest, and I was thankful that we were already entering winter; otherwise, after Crystal’s little stunt earlier on the military base, and this drop, people would really think that Earth was being invaded by aliens.

“Natalia, hold the temperature now, I will be casting the light. It would be a little hectic for you, but the faster we get a response, the quicker it would all end” I nodded, not opening my mouth to speak in fear of losing my concentration. I knew that my husband was depending on me to do this, and I knew that I couldn’t let him down, not when this was one of the few things that he ever asked for.

I smiled when I saw Crystal flying, and had she not stopped under me, allowing me to ride her back as she shot one beam after the other, lighting up the sky with what we call North Lights, I would have fallen to the ground out of surprise; however, I kept the temperature as low as I could, focusing on my surrounding as not to freeze them.

I could feel the people, commoners, humans basically, watch as the lights illuminated the sky. Most of them have never even seen these Northern lights, especially since this was not a city that had them.

Blake looked up at the sky, clearly mesmerized by what he saw, and smiling, I nodded at him, assuring that things were going to be okay. I knew and believed that they would be, and smiling back at me, he nodded, silently thanking me. My eyes widened when a small blue circle opened in our garden in front of my husband, and taking a step away, Blake allowed whoever was coming to get past the portal. Crystal didn’t stop the beams for a while, and it wasn’t until the dragon, a female monk, and a black dragon, flew in front of us, that my own dragon stopped what she was doing.

“I must say that you have done an amazing job considering that your dragon is inexperienced” the monk said, looking at the two of us. The woman looked to be in her mid forties, if not fifties, and her dragon, whose yellow eyes were fixed on us, let out a breath fire.

“My apologies for calling; however, I am in need of assistance, and this is the one way we found to actually get it”

“I am aware, your dragon has already informed my dragon, Raven, and it why I have responded to your call” she said, looking at me “I am Nikita”

“Natalia” I said, nodding at the woman as our dragons landed on the ground, shrinking in size when we got off them. Blake wrapped his arm around me, pulling me to his chest, and looking at the woman, he nodded in respect “my husband, Blake”

“A pleasure to meet the two of you” she said politely “who has been hexed and are you aware of what spell was used?”

“My beta, his name is Ryan, and no we are not. I tried finding out, but we couldn’t find out. He has been sent to my brother and came back to me with dark magic on him” Blake said, explaining the situation.

“Understandable, there have been many witch encounters lately, and that has been forcing us out of our hiding. Most of them are arranging some game, we don’t really know what it is about, but as far as we understood, the game consisted of levels that had only one survival in the end. They have tried doing it before in older centuries and whoever is giving them their power to get out of their hideout lately has been funding this game” she said, making me and Blake frown in confusion. Blake’s heart raced, and tightening his arms around me, I looked at him, shaking my head, not wanting him to get worked up, knowing that the man she was referring to was Drake, my husband’s twin.

“Anyhow, how about we go and see your friend before our time runs out? I believe that the hex shouldn’t be that difficult, and seeing as your little one told us the symptoms, it should take a few herbs to help him heal” Nikita said, looking at my husband who nodded at her. She tied her hair in a bun, revealing a tattoo that matched the one on my arm; however, I didn’t dare speak as we walked into the house, heading toward the infirmary where Ryan was kept to rest.

His heartbeat was slow as the doctors gave him something to keep him asleep so as not to lose himself, and looking at him, I knew that Blake was in more pain than he let out as he saw his best mate in such a state. My chest ached feeling his pain, but making sure to control my expression, I watched as Nikita took his shirt off and had a few plants grow in her hand.

“Do you have a goblet that I can use?” She asked, making both Blake and I frown.

“I am sorry?” I asked “did you ask for a goblet?”

“A glass would be fine. Something that wouldn’t break under the heat of fire as I would need to heat the herbs in water. It might burn him when he drinks, and the herbs that I am going to be rubbing on his chest might burn him; however, they should help him heal. Give him the drink twice per day, he would be throwing up, and whatever poisonous spell he has in his system should be leaving along with the vomit” she said, looking at Blake who nodded. I watched as one of the nurses brought her a tempered glass cup. Nikita nodded in thanks as she took it, and I watched as it started filling with water before a few herbs started growing inside them.

“I take it that you haven’t been trained, Natalia?” Nikita suddenly asked, breaking the silence in the room as the water in the glass started boiling.

“No, a little self trained, but that was as far as I went. I never had the chance to train at the temple or alongside our kind…”

“Usually it is the family who trains you. Which one of your parents was the manipulator?” She asked, stopping me.

“My father, but he is no longer a manipulator” I said, and she frowned, her eyes darkening for a second before she nodded.

“You are the grandchild of the Grand Manipulator, aren’t you?” She asked, and taking a step back, I couldn’t help but gulp as I felt my heart race in fear “you don’t need to fear me, child, I have nothing against your grandfather; however, I cannot say the same about many of the manipulators. The man’s dark heart was known across all manipulators. He would do anything for power, and the two sacrifices that he had made, to himself, and had his son do, only proved it. His deeds were against the council’s approval and that is why he was banished from the council into the forest of secrets…”

“The what?” I asked, frowning in confusion “wait that is not what…”

“I know, he calls himself the grand manipulator and has those that are like you, alone and unprotected, believing that he could protect them. Your Crystal would be feeding his forest as she grew older while he used her powers, and you, if you were there, would also be a source of energy; however, should you choose to betray him, or at least, choose a different side, he would ensure that you regretted it with everything that he had” Nikita said, making Blake and I frown.

“Your father was one of the examples. He had him killing his dragon to believe that he and his love were safe when in reality, he only hurt himself. The man didn’t think twice nor did he think of the consequences of his actions, but that only gave your granddad more power as the dragon died, he fed of his power, thus growing stronger”

“Exactly what he wanted” I said, watching as she made Ryan drink from the herbs. His eyes shot open and it didn’t take long for him to vomit; however, Nikita didn’t seem to move or care despite the man vomiting on her shoes.

“Yes, and you would have fallen a victim to him too if you were there, but it seems like you chose a different path or side” she said, and I nodded.

“I was scared, I have to admit that. When he told us that he had a father killing his dragon, I feared what he could do to me or could have me do in the future; therefore, I chose to let go and leave” I said, wrapping my arm around myself.

“That is the best thing that you did, and you needn’t worry about training. There are many like you, and as I said, some tend to fall victim to him, others, like you, have saved themselves” she said, putting the glass down when Ryan was done with drinking the next few sips, this time, he didn’t throw up.

“How am I going to train then? How does a manipulator survive if not trained?” I asked, relaxing when my husband wrapped his arm around me, sensing my sudden worry. He looked at me and nodded, his wolf purring in assurance in hope to make me relax. Nikita took the herbs that were inside the glass that Ryan was drinking from and took his shirt off, she gently rubbed them on his chest.

“I’ll be the one training you, provided that your husband allows it, and that you are willing to learn” she said, getting up from the edge of the bed. Herbs grew on one of the empty metal bowls, and looking at them, Blake frowned in confusion “give him these to drink, just boil them in water and make him drink it, the residue is to rubbed on his chest to comfort him a little. As for you, Natalia, I will leave now, but should you decide to change your mind about training, confidently, along my side, your little Crystal would know how to call me, and you wouldn’t need to use the dragon’s call this time. My Raven is familiar with her, and now the two of them would be able to communicate across continents”

“You’re leaving now?” Blake asked and she nodded.

“My time here is done, if you need anything, I would be more than happy to help; however, for now, I need to head back to my family” she said, smiling at us “my offer stand whenever you are interested, and no, you can ask around, I am not in association with the manipulator you call grandfather. The man is my sworn enemy for many reasons, and I do not associate with men like himself for any possible reason. However, if you want to ask around, you can ask for the Great Assassin, or the Great Warrior, and they let you know of who I am”

I nodded, choosing to stay quiet, mostly because I didn’t know what to say, and watching as the woman walked out through a portal that she opened in the middle of the infirmary, Blake and I froze for a second.

“What the bloody hell was that?”