William (The Valentines) - By Sam Crescent Page 0,40

releasing the energy of all she had just witnessed.

Everyone in the room gasped as they saw everything she had seen, every image of slaughter deadly and brutal within their minds. Most of them didn’t know what was happening, who they were seeing or what it meant, but each person saw it in their head.

William held Katie as the welt disappeared and she became calm as if nothing had changed.

“What the fuck?” Adam growled.

Don came into the room to look at Katie. “You’ve got her power. Abigail—Emma’s sister?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Katie mumbled.

“Yes, she has.” Tara appeared in the room as an unclear shadow.

“How is this possible?” Don asked. He’d seen some crazy shit in his time but this had taken the lead.

“Katie had to come back—it was destiny for her to take her role in this coming battle. As Emma killed all the witches of her bloodline, she absorbed their power. That power had to go somewhere when she died. Katie is the bearer, now, and as such she will need to get control; to gain stability,” Tara said.

“She’ll die with that much power,” Robert said.

“Only when William dies will Katie die. Let’s hope Katie has a child before then…” Tara started to leave but turned back. “Oh, and that little vision—that was a premonition of what’s to come.”

Tara disappeared, leaving behind a lot of questions.

Silence surrounded them as they looked at each other.

“This shit is real, isn’t it? We’re in a war where uncertainty reigns?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” Don answered.

“What have we just witnessed?” William questioned.

Don ran his hand over his face. He looked as though he had aged, just within the last few minutes.

“Every war has a point where it began—like a tipping point. That was the tipping point. Me and your father. Fuck. The entire council missed it.”

“Donald!” Mary said, disgusted with his language.

“Don’t, Mary. We fucking missed it and because we did, Robert is in the ground.” Don yelled. Mary stormed out of the room.

“Anyone who is not older than fucking sin please tell me what the hell is going on,” Adam shouted at the group.

“James killed the true Alpha of the Beyer West Pack. That was the tipping point. James is not a true werewolf. He’s a mongrel. Part werewolf, part human. By killing the true Alpha, he appointed himself the throne. Problem is, balance is everything. Without a true Alpha, the war begins.” Don took a breath, running his hand through his hair.

“How could you and Dad have missed this?” Robert asked.

“Because we thought Simon had appointed him, stepped down and died in battle.” Don yelled. He stormed out of the room, the others following.

Robert took Sophie by the hand and looked at William. “Study. Half an hour.”

William nodded.

As they left, Katie looked at the door.

“So much for our privacy.” William smiled, trying to bring some laughter to her eyes.

Katie looked at the door and chanted a small spell. Seconds later, the door was back in place as though nothing had happened.

“I knew you’d come in useful,” William said.

Katie laughed, hugging him to her.

She didn’t know where she would be if she didn’t have his arms wrapped around her, protecting her.

Chapter Fourteen

Poppy and Adam stood together in the study as they all waited for William to appear.

Everyone was stressed and it could clearly be seen. Don was on the hard whisky, slugging it from the bottle. Robert was pacing like a madman. Jason just looked out of the window, all of his anger locked up.

“Where the hell is he?” Jason burst out, losing control of his anger.

Poppy smiled. He obviously wasn’t holding it together very well.

Robert tried to calm his erratic brother. “He’s earned his time with his mate.”

“The one thing I’ve learnt as a necromancer is that the dead will stay where they are. Be patient,” Poppy said, attempting to reassure him.

“Listen to me, you filthy little necromancer…” He charged towards her and Poppy was ready to strike.

She was shocked when Adam stepped in, defending her.

“I’m sick of your pathetic whining. Get over it and get used to her being here.” Adam pulled him towards him by the scruff of his shirt before pushing him away, standing in front of her to protect her.

“What, are you going to mate with her?” Jason sneered.

“If I did, you’d show her some god damned respect,” Adam retorted.

William walked into the room.

“Where’s Katie?” Robert asked.

“She doesn’t want to be part of this and she’s tired.”

William closed the door behind him, acknowledging Poppy as he did