The Tiger Prince's Witch
Chapter 36 - New Alliance

"What can we do for you, Gary?" Randal asked. He wasn't familiar with the Black Mist Pack.

"I'm here to tell you that your brother Santi is planning an attack on you." Gary looked up, thinking he was revealing something they didn't know, but he didn't see any reaction from the other four. He assumed they knew someone was going to attack them, but he didn't think they knew who that person was.

"Yes, we know. We've already uncovered a few of his spies. How do you know this?" Randal asked, trying to figure out what the alpha's intentions were.

"He hired us to spy on Spirit Energy and some of the outside workings of the palace. When I say he hired us, he blackmailed the pack. He had taken one of our unmated she-wolves and refused to return her until we helped him. We recently learned that he killed her, so now there is nothing he can hold over our heads. Santi is evil, and we don't want to see him win. He needs to be defeated. I wanted to speak out here because I know he has spies within the palace, but I don't know who they all are. I didn't want anyone telling him that I was here." Gary felt relieved to be finally getting this out.

"Do you know what his plan is and when he's going to strike?" Stanley asked.

"No, but I know he plans on doing something with the witch Elsie. He had us find her and try to bring her to him. We told him that she no longer was a witch and had no memory, but he didn't care. He intends to get her out from under the spell holding her in place." Gary answered.

Stanley and Caprice looked at each other in shock. What could Santi want with Elsie, especially with her having no power anymore? It concerned them that he may somehow have learned a way to tap into her Spirit Energy power even with her not being able to use it. Anna may have stripped her from being a witch. However, it was still in her, just dormant.

"Do you know anything about Santi other than he's my brother?" Randal asked.

"I know he was looking for sacrifices, and he says he has them all. I also believe there is someone above him pulling the strings, but he has never confirmed it." Gary had talked to Santi enough to know he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. There had to be someone telling him what to do.

"Would you be willing to pretend to still work with Santi, but let us know what his plans are? It will be the best way for us to defeat him if we know some of his intentions." Randal asked, hoping the alpha would say yes.

Gary thought about what the king had asked. He'd hoped to share what he knew and get away from the evil brother. However, he knew Santi wouldn't let him off the hook so easily. It would be better to help the palace so they can put an end to Santi for good.

"Alright, we'll help you. Also, when Santi attacks, he plans to bring an army. When I questioned him about it, he said it was none of my business. I know he expects my pack to fight with him. If you want us to, we'll show up with him, but when the fighting starts, we'll fight against him. We have one of the best warrior packs in the area." Gary said proudly. Randal held his hand out, and Gary shook it with a small smile.

"Thank you for helping us. You and your pack will be welcome at the palace any time. Please let me know if there's anything you need." Randal said wholeheartedly. He was glad there were still some decent people in the world. "Thank you, king. I'll let you know as soon as I have any information." After saying their goodbyes, Gary ran into the nearby forest. He shifted into his wolf Cyril so they could quickly get back to the packhouse.

Gary sighed to himself as his wolf ran. He was a young alpha at twenty-five and had yet to meet his luna. He chuckled to himself. How crazy would it be if his luna was a weretiger or witch from Spirit Energy? Cyril let out a long howl. Gary didn't care where their mate was from; he just hoped they met her soon.

"Well, that was an interesting meeting," Lynn said as the four of them still stood outside the gates. They wanted to go over a few things before going back into the palace.

"I agree. At least now Santi's not the only one with spies. I like the alpha. He has a good heart, and it says something about him as alpha if they would go to these extremes for a she-wolf from their pack. Some packs we've dealt with could care less about losing a wolf unless they're important." Stanley said, and the others agreed.

"Let's meet with everyone to give them an update, and then I have something official I want to do." Randal looked to Lynn, who nodded her agreement.

They went inside the palace and rounded up the two young couples and Jazlyn's parents. They all went to the conference room, where they updated everyone on what they had learned from Gary.

"Did he want something in return?" Kamryn asked, automatically suspicious of anyone that showed up out of the blue.

"No, he only wants us to defeat Santi, so he will stop taking advantage of his pack," Randal answered.

"We picked up good energy from him. He was scared about meeting with all of us, but he was being honest." Stanley answered, looking at Anna.

"If we know he's trying to get Elsie for some reason, is there something we should do about it?" Anna asked, looking between her parents and the royal couple. She didn't want to get Elsie from the cabin, but she also didn't want Santi using her for his evil plan.

Jaz looked at Micah, and he smiled at her. Elsie was his first mate, and she wanted to make sure he had no leftover feelings for her, even though she had shown no interest in him.

*"Don't worry, Jaz. I only love you. Elsie means nothing to me."* He could feel her worry and wanted to reassure her but thought it was better to mindlink. After rejecting Elsie and marking Jaz, he no longer felt anything for Elsie. He put his arm around his mate's shoulders. She was all that mattered to him.

Jaz took a deep breath feeling relieved. Micah was everything to her, and if Elsie was brought back to the palace, she didn't want any chances of him deciding to be with her. However, his words had eased the fear in her heart. "We may need to bring her out of that area, but we'll talk about it later. We could lock her in a cell here. She doesn't know who or what she is, but I don't know if I want her here." Stanley said. She may be his niece, but she'd hurt Anna and almost jeopardized the relationship between Spirit Energy and the tigers. Her parents were overseas, and he wasn't looking forward to telling his sister what had happened.

"Alright, just let me know, and I can send her wherever we need to. I told Kamryn I think Santi has someone more powerful than him making the decisions. So I think Gary is right in his assessment. I don't understand how Santi suddenly got the power to do black magic. I also want to increase our training. Not just the four of us with our new powers, but everyone that's going to be part of the fight. I want the least amount of casualties as possible." Anna said, looking around the table. She noticed everyone smiling at her. Randal and Lynn had the biggest smiles of all.

"Spoken like a true queen," Lynn said, causing Anna to blush slightly. Randal stood up, and everyone looked toward him.

"This brings me to the next topic I wanted to discuss. We already have a lot of bad going on, so let's do something good. Tomorrow night we will have a feast with only a select few guests. I will officially crown princess Anna and princess Jazlyn."