Alpha Queen (Claimed by Wolves #4) - Callie Rose Page 0,35

lingers around me as I levitate the last bottle, shatter it with a second spell, and then turn the pieces into puffs of smoke. Three sigils, three spells, back to back, and the bottle vanishes entirely. I stare at the empty air, my fingers tingling.

The street is a battleground of cans, bottles, and broken bits. Adrenaline pumps through me, and my heart is beating hard from excitement. This is what I’ve needed. What I’ve been waiting for.

To be fully witch and fully wolf.

I’m so lost in my own disbelief that I don’t see my mates until they’ve engulfed me. They’re all talking at once, kissing my face, wrapping their arms around me. I get pulled into their tidal wave of celebration, laughing giddily when Dare picks me up and twirls me around with an unintelligible shout about my powers.

When he sets me lightly back on my feet, Archer throws an arm around my shoulder and indicates the street with a sweeping gesture. “That was incredible. I mean, phenomenal. You were in the zone.”

Trystan points at the air over our heads, his blue-green eyes wide and gleaming. “That last bit of magic was intense. That bottle is just gone.”

“You did what I told you, right?” Dare catches my gaze. “You let the witch take over.”

I nod. “She really knows what she’s doing.”

He laughs and picks me up again for another twirl.

We have another round of fast talking as the guys shoot questions at me. But now that I’m not tracing sigils, exhaustion settles in. It’s been a long couple days, and by the look of the sky, I was out here today a lot longer than I thought. Once I let myself fall into the magic, I lost all track of time.

When I can finally get a word in edgewise, I say, “I think I should probably take a little break.”

Ridge nods. “How about we call it for the day? You made a huge breakthrough. You deserve the night off.”

Relieved, I lean up to kiss him on the cheek. “That would be wonderful.”

Archer slides his arm around my waist to lead me back to Ridge’s cabin. “You can rest and recuperate, then we’ll get back at it tomorrow.”

“Do we have to?” I whine, but it’s just a joke and my mates laugh. Magic doesn’t seem so daunting right now. A few more days like today, and I might actually start to believe I know what I’m doing. Maybe a few more days like today, and it won’t drain me so thoroughly either.

I lean into Archer’s side, my other hand clasped in Dare’s grasp. Ridge and Trystan give a play by play of my magic, laughing, and I just soak it all in. Archer’s hard muscles beneath my fingers. Dare’s warm palm pressed to mine. Ridge’s gruff voice filled with happiness. Trystan’s laugh, more carefree than I’ve ever heard it before.

I did it. I reached a new level with my magic and unlocked something inside me. My mates are proud of me. Nothing could bring me down from the high I feel.

“I feel like grilling,” Ridge remarks as he holds the cabin door open for the rest of us to pass through. “Brats? Burgers?”

“Both,” Trystan says with a grin. “And maybe some of Sable’s homemade potato wedges?”

I laugh and step over the threshold. “Sure. You wedge the potatoes, I’ll season them.”

The words are no sooner past my lips than a wave of dizziness slams into me. I gasp and stumble into the doorframe, grabbing it with both hands so that I stay upright.

My head swims, and I recognize Cleo’s magical signature immediately. She’s breaking down the barrier and coming for me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I cling to the doorframe, all of my senses dulled by my desperate need to fight her off.

But the magical assault so close on the heels of my practice training is too much.

I don’t know if I can fight her off this time.

14

Sable

I push back against Cleo’s attack with my own power. Still gripping the doorframe, I envision a protection sigil in my mind, hoping it will give me just enough room to build my wall back up. For a second, I think it works. Cleo’s essence backs off minutely, and I can breathe. I snatch desperately at the last threads of my energy and attempt to weave my barrier back into place in my mind.

But my efforts at fighting the witch off are in vain. I know it before she wins, but I try anyway, throwing every