Karizma: Reborn
Chapter 7: Ryleigh

Ryleigh walked in the woods about three miles from Lukas’ pack and rolled her shoulders while she walked. She wore a white tank top with a pair of blue shorts, her crimson hair free against her shoulders. It had been one week since the night of her first hunt, and the night of countless love-making sessions with Kristopher. She had been both fascinated and repulsed that the act of the hunt had aroused her but impressed with how much endurance she had to satiate her arousal. Kristopher had succumbed to fatigue sooner than she had.

Lukas had been distant when she met with him the following day. She had assumed that something was wrong, either with her, or with how her hunt had commenced. She remembered him grabbing her and licking her throat, but neither of them had spoken about it. Maybe the blood triggered his own hunger. She had informed Lukas of the conversation that she had with Naomi and Nathan, about how they wanted to keep her alive for the next fifty years to mature her blood and her magic. To use her as the weapon in this war against humanity, how they wanted to use her to keep this war last longer than it will now. Lukas grew colder after that conversation, but they had agreed to training sessions to prepare for the war. Ryleigh had denied that initially, but Lukas reminded her that training her wolf was different than training her magic.

Ryleigh and her wolf seemed to be adjusting rather well. Her wolf surfaced enough to allow Ryleigh to hear the birds chirping one mile east and to smell the grass beneath her feet as if it was directly in front of her face. Her wolf had not fully emerged since the night of the hunt, but the two had begun to understand each other. Drawing her claws and her canines still hurt, but Ryleigh knew that the pain of breaking skin and bone would never stop hurting. She had expected her first time shifting into her wolf to hurt more than it did, but Lukas had told her that she was lucky; the wolf emerging for want, rather than necessity, was always gentler. He assured her that he would help her train for that as well. Ryleigh knew that her wolf would emerge out of necessity against Naomi and Nathan, and she had to be ready for that.

Ryleigh stopped walking and turned around. She faintly heard Lukas’ pack and sighed. She needed to be out of range from his pack to utilize her magic the way that she wanted to. She turned and continued, farther from the pack. She wanted to stretch her magic and search for Naomi, but she could not jeopardize the pack. Ryleigh would reinstate her cloak first, but the slightest mistake could trigger the surge in her power, and Naomi would be able to track her. Ryleigh needed to be cautious because Lukas was right; she was their secret weapon. To the rest world, the last Karizma had died. She could not reveal herself to the world, not yet.

Bailey still had not woken. Ryleigh had communicated with Bailey again, and Bailey assured her that she was fine. Ryleigh had heard Bailey’s heartbeat strengthen and knew that Bailey was speaking the truth. Ryleigh wanted Bailey to awake more than anything; her sister would not be able to understand Ryleigh’s transition with lycanthropy, but Ryleigh so desperately wanted to talk to someone who understood her. Kristopher understood her well and said that these new cravings and desires were normal for her, but Ryleigh felt like something was missing. In her repeated lust-filled sessions with Kristopher, while satiated, she felt hollow and empty. She had always felt both full and satiated by Kristopher, addicted to him; now, she was addicted to the feeling, and left empty. It scared her. She loved Kristopher so much, but it was like her body did not reciprocate those feelings. Until the hunt, she had not even been aroused by Kristopher; after the hunt and her arousal fully diminished, it never came back. She and Kristopher would kiss and touch, but it fell in a void on her skin. Daily, she told herself that the feeling would pass, that it was her wolf’s response to being around a vampire so much, and daily, the feeling remained.

Ryleigh sighed and stopped walking. She tilted her head up to the sky and closed her eyes. The sun bathed its warmth over her skin, and she was greeted with pure silence. She was far enough way that she could no longer hear Lukas’ pack. My pack. She opened her eyes, rubbed a hand over her face, and sighed. These are my people. She pushed herself to continue walking. I need to be farther than just not being able to hear them anymore. Naomi is not stupid. She will track the closest living beings and interrogate them viciously. I cannot do that to them.

Lukas had introduced Ryleigh to the pack after their conversation. For a pack of wolves, they were all rather compassionate and concerned for her, especially with the knowledge of her friend being unconscious. Ryleigh had anticipated her meeting with the pack to go over worse, but she was a witch; Lycans and witches were allies for centuries. While the alliance had diminished, the care that they had for one another did not, and it showed. Lukas and Ryleigh had both agreed on omitting Ryleigh’s bloodline until after the war; the war was with the vampires that had just killed the last of the Karizmas, an enemy bloodline for centuries. Lukas and Ryleigh both worried about the retaliation of the pack if they knew that the Karizma was not actually dead, but alive and well amongst them. The only Lycan that knew of Ryleigh’s true heritage was Lukas’ Beta, Jackson.

Ryleigh had contemplated asking Bailey if she would agree to being a Lycan as well, but immediately pushed the thought out of her mind. While it would cure Bailey and she would wake up, she would be asking her for the wrong reasons. Bailey did not need to truly go into hiding yet; she had two more years of freedom before that became an option. Allow her to remain human. If we can prevent this war from happening, maybe she can remain human for the duration of her mortal life.

Ryleigh sat down on the grass and crossed her legs. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She was truly in the middle of nowhere now. She exhaled as she felt her magic pool into her palms, as her magic stretched the length of her body. She cracked her neck and resurrected the cloaking spell that had died with her. She felt the barrier erect around her body, a shield firm in place against all threats. It sealed itself tightly, ensuring that no one could penetrate it, and that she would be cloaked as her own magic explored. She inhaled slowly, and her magic began to levitate her body off the ground.

Ryleigh kept her eyes closed but communicated with her magic to not lift her past the trees. If this backfired and Naomi tried to track her, Ryleigh hovering above the trees would be a target, and a danger to anyone nearby. Her magic acknowledged and ceased her ascension after a few feet. She thrust her arms out in front of her with her palms facing forward, then pulled them out to her sides directly. Her palms remained exposed facing the woods at her sides. Ryleigh exhaled slowly, and her magic began to seep out of her hands.

Ryleigh’s magic explored the woods slowly. She found Lukas’ pack and quickly shifted her magic in the opposite direction. His pack was far enough from the city that the rest of the woods were silent; other than wildlife, there were no other human-like creatures. She felt her magic levitate her slightly and begin drawing her forward as it worked its way toward the city. Black auras attempted to cloud her magic’s vision. Vampires. She pressed farther into the city, and black auras thickened the buildings. She found some light violet auras of witches in the city, but the city was primarily vampiric. None of these are what I am looking for. She pushed further into the city, reaching the outskirts. There.

A large building on the outskirts of town radiated a stunning, rich black aura, and a strong, dark violet aura. Naomi and Nathan. Ryleigh chewed on the inside of her cheek. She found them, but entering the building was dangerous. Naomi would sense Ryleigh’s magic once inside of the building, despite Ryleigh’s cloaking spell; she just would not know whose magic it was. I would put a target on the other witches’ back that live inside of the city. Her magic hovered inside of the city, away from the building. She contemplated withdrawing her magic back into her when her wolf nuzzled beneath her skin gently. Ryleigh nodded slowly, and her hearing intensified.

Ryleigh heard Naomi and Nathan speaking, but she could not understand what they were saying. She craved to bring herself closer to the building, but she knew that her distance was not the problem. She needed to focus on what was being said, not just the noise. She exhaled slowly and began to focus. She began separating their voices from each other, rather than just the blurred speech. She heard eagerness in Naomi’s voice, and hesitation in Nathan’s, but they sounded like they were underwater. Ryleigh inhaled and attempted to focus her hearing again when she heard a loud crack underneath her body.

Ryleigh gasped as her magic flooded back into her body and she dropped out of the air. Strong arms caught her before she could hit the ground and her eyes shot open. Lukas was gripping her tightly, his jaw clenched. Ryleigh felt her wolf purr lightly, but she scolded her wolf. “What are you doing all the way out here?” Ryleigh asked as Lukas set her on her feet.

“Me?” He snapped, his jaw clenched. “What the fuck are you doing out here? Your magic vanished. I thought something happened to you.”

“How did you even find me?” Ryleigh asked in surprise. “I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. I didn’t even know where I was going.” Her magic had been muted; there was no way that Lukas could have found her. She was far enough away from the pack that no one should have been able to smell her or hear her.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Lukas growled. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Ryleigh sighed in frustration. “I was tracking down Naomi.”

“What?” Lukas asked slowly as his gold eyes surfaced. “That can go both ways. Did you even think about her tracking you?”

“I’m not an idiot, Lukas,” Ryleigh snapped as she rolled her eyes. “I’ve been a witch my entire life, remember? Why do you think my magic vanished?”

“You were hiding yourself to track her,” Lukas said softly. The realization melted his gold eyes back into his blue ones. Ryleigh sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. She had not told anyone what she was doing, for this reason. She did not want to worry anyone, because she knew how crazy this was. One wrong move, and Naomi would find her and try to kill her again. Or worse.

“You can’t…” Lukas growled through gritted teeth. “You have to tell me when you’re going to do something like this.” Ryleigh looked at Lukas curiously. She opened her mouth to argue with him, but she could hear his heartbeat. He was not mad at her; he was genuinely worried for her. Almost afraid for me. Ryleigh had the urge to touch Lukas suddenly, to reassure him that she was unharmed. Her fingers twitched at her restraint. She ran her hands through her hair instead. “I found them.”

“What?” Lukas asked, snapped out of his trance of fear. She heard his heart rate change to intrigue and worry. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened. I found where they were hiding, and I heard them talking, but my concentration was broken before I could understand what they were saying. My wolf allowed me to hear them without going inside of the building.”

“Would you have gone inside without her?”

“Probably not,” Ryleigh sighed. “Not even for my own safety, but for the others.”

“Others?” Lukas asked with confusion. “What do you mean?”

Ryleigh smiled softly. “Lukas, Lycans and vampires are not the only entities that live in Vancouver. I found other witches as well. I had hidden my magic so that she wouldn’t be able to know it was me tracking her. But if she felt my magic with that cloak—”

“She would assume it was another witch tracking her,” Lukas finished for her.

“Exactly, and I will have just put a target on the backs of every witch in Vancouver,” Ryleigh said. “I need to try this again. I need to find out when they are planning on moving forward with this war.”

“There is another option to obtaining their timeline.”

“Which is?”

“Kristopher,” Lukas said.

Ryleigh froze and stared at Lukas. “No. Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”

“Ryleigh, think about it for a second. He told me that Nathan has requested that he be a part of this war. Nathan wants him there. The infamous Karizma Killer, bringer of death on the rest of the world. We have the perfect double agent,” Lukas said.

“It’s too dangerous,” Ryleigh repeated with a growl.

“It’s more dangerous for the rest of us if it’s you,” Lukas snapped suddenly. His gold eyes returned as he continued. “We need you for this war, Ryleigh. The Lycans and the humans need you. If you are discovered before this war even begins, or we are ready to fight in it, they will try to kill you. If they try to kill Kristopher, it’s not a huge loss.”

Ryleigh’s fist instantly connected with Lukas’ face. His large body never even moved; his head did not even flinch at her contact or shift backwards at the contact. Ryleigh’s gold eyes burned as she felt her canines descend. “We are not sentencing Kristopher to death for me,” she snarled.

“I did not say that we were,” Lukas spoke slowly, his gold eyes bright as he struggled to contain himself. Ryleigh could hear his heartbeat, and he was pissed. She took a few steps back from him, her magic drawn. She knew that striking a Lycan was idiotic, but she was irate at the thought of throwing Kristopher at Nathan. Kristopher was only spared because Ryleigh died; if he gets caught working with the Lycans now, there is no excuse that would spare his life a second time.

Ryleigh’s back hit a tree suddenly as Lukas pinned her against it. She raised her hand to hit him again, and he immediately pinned both of her wrists above her head. Her magic struck him across the face, yet he remained unphased. Alphas are stronger than the rest of their pack. She would need to want to hurt him to hurt him. Right now, she was just trying to send a warning. Apparently, it was working. “You don’t want to be fighting me, little wolf,” Lukas growled lowly, his gold eyes bright. Ryleigh’s breathing grew faster as her gold eyes met his. He dropped his head into the crook of her neck and trailed his lips to her ear. “I would rather enjoy fucking someone who fights.”

Ryleigh’s breath hitched as her wolf nuzzled against her skin. Her wolf greatly approved of his threat, or promise, whatever his words were meant to be. Her magic gently pressed into his chest, and he removed his lips from her ear. She studied him curiously as her heartbeat increased under the intensity of his gaze. She bit her bottom lip, and his eyes were instantly drawn to the motion. “This is your warning,” Lukas said lowly. “If you think you can fight your Alpha, you’d better fucking hope you can win.”

“I don’t do well with people I care about being threatened,” Ryleigh breathed.

“I was not threatening your precious leech, love. I was simply stating a fact. He is the missing piece of this puzzle; we use him the way that the vampires are expecting him to act, that is all.” He is not wrong. Sooner or later, Kristopher will need to report to Nathan. He was invited to join this war, and it is expected of him. Using Kristopher would be the safest, and the smartest, advantage for us to win this war.

“What if I lose?” Ryleigh asked suddenly, surprising herself as the words left her throat. Her mind jumped from Kristopher’s safety to Lukas’ threat so fast that it almost gave her whiplash.

Lukas smirked and his gold eyes glowed playfully. “Then I fuck the win out of the loser.”

“That isn’t possible. I never lose,” Ryleigh whispered.

“Then you’ve never truly been fucked, have you?” Lukas challenged. “A true fuck, you’re left without fight, without the energy to continue fighting. After a true fuck, you lose.”

“So, you’ve never truly been fucked, either,” Ryleigh retorted. “You seem to always want to win.”

“No one can fuck the win out of an Alpha, love,” Lukas purred as he brought his face inches from hers. His lips brushed over hers briefly, and her heartrate spiked. “Alphas never lose, so the win cannot be fucked out of them.”

“If fucking you makes the woman lose, then you’re not much of a winner,” Ryleigh whispered playfully. “What do you walk away with after making the woman lose? Loneliness?” Lukas’ jaw clenched suddenly, and he pulled his face away from hers. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. Ryleigh watched him curiously. She never thought that someone as powerful as an Alpha Lycan would be affected by something so trivial as emotions. He had to calm himself down before he reacted to her threat.

“I need to get back to the pack,” Lukas spoke softly as he opened his eyes. His blue eyes were dimmed as he released her from his grasp. “I never said winning was perfect, but it works,” he added. “Until I can truly share a victory with someone, I would rather win in solitude than lose in company.” Ryleigh’s gold eyes vanished as her emerald ones gazed into his blue ones. She stretched her hand to touch his cheek, but he took a step back. “We will talk later tonight about Kristopher. I’m certain that he will agree if it keeps you safe,” Lukas whispered. He turned around and quickly stripped from his basketball shorts. He transformed into his wolf, then grabbed his shorts with his mouth and ran back to the pack.

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