The Alpha's Gamble - Chapter 111: Chapter 111

NOAH
After a one-hour drive, we entered a town I’d visited on numerous occasions with my dad on official business. It was one of the few human towns that bordered a pack. They didn’t know it, of course, but they’d lived in neighborly peace for decades, crossing each other’s borders whenever they pleased.
During a meeting with Alpha Donavan of the Hill Pack, he told me how he’d managed to keep humans from buying homes and setting roots in his territory.
“I told them we’d reached maximum housing capacity and it would cost hundreds of millions for permits to build.”
We had a good laugh, especially when he revealed that once a month, he’d send a few wolves over the border at night to scare the local kids from going into the woods. A rumor started that the town next to theirs was haunted, and anyone who stayed overnight wouldn’t return. That lore alone kept the humans at bay.
Part of me was surprised the witch had chosen this town to set her nest in. It was modern and heavily populated, but I guess that made it the perfect cover. If she looked like Freya, she’d blend right in. Maybe I should ask around and see if any kids have gone missing lately—just to find out how much of her mother’s DNA she inherited.
“Turn right,” Malania said.
I drove up a narrow street, and we passed rows of big, clean-cut villas. Humans were out in their gardens, kids ran around parks, and shiny cars pulled in and out of driveways. It looked like a movie set. Perfect. Peaceful. Safe. The kind of place no one would expect a witch to be hiding.
“It’s the second-to-last house on the left. That’s number sixty-six, right?”
“Yeah.”
We parked outside. I killed the engine and took a deep breath. The house looked completely ordinary. The garden was trimmed, the flowerbeds were full, and a birdbath in the front yard sat under the watch of two stone angels. It was the kind of detail that almost made me turn around.
I knocked on the red-painted door. Malania stood a few steps behind me, silent and alert.
The door opened, and a woman in her thirties answered. She had soft auburn hair that fell to her chest, and she wore a pink sundress that swayed around her knees.
“Hi there. Can I help you?”
“We’re looking for someone who visited the Greenwich area about a month ago,” I said, letting Onyx come closer to the surface, just in case.
The woman frowned and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I haven’t been outside of this town for over a year.”
I watched her closely, her heartbeat was steady, her tone calm. She wasn’t lying.
“Do you live alone?” Malania asked, peering over my shoulder to glance inside.
“I do.”
“This is the address we had for her,” I said. Malania had hacked the town’s records and filtered through women aged thirty to forty with no immediate family who moved here within the last year. This address matched. Maybe we were wrong, or maybe Freya had been.
“I’m sorry, I wish I could help. But I think you have the wrong house.”
She was telling the truth.
Malania nodded slightly, acknowledging the dead end. “Thank you for your time.”
The woman smiled again and looked past my shoulder. “Emerelda!” she called out cheerfully, waving to someone behind us. “Do you know each other?”
We turned.
A woman with sleek black hair, dressed in a fitted grey suit and heels, stood by the car, staring right at us.
“No,” I said, and slammed my hand forward to shove the auburn-haired woman back inside—but before I could move her, Emerelda raised her hand and flicked her wrist.
A loud crack echoed behind me.
I turned in time to see auburn hair hit the floor. Her eyes and mouth were open. Her chest was still.
“What an honor to have the almost-Alpha on my doorstep,” Emerelda said, smiling. “I was wondering when you’d come.”
“You were expecting us,” I said, moving Malania behind me instinctively. She could hold her own in a fight against wolves, but witches? Neither of us had faced one before.
Do you have the Donnabella on you?
Yes.
Good.
“Of course I was,” she said. “I made the gameboard. And you played perfectly—going to good ol’ Mathias, getting him to call that daughter of his. How’s her mother, by the way?”
“I need you to remove the wolf you placed in Madeline’s head,” I said flatly.
“Why? Is she causing too much trouble?” Her grin spread wider as she stepped closer.
“She’s dying.”
She stopped.
Her smile faltered, the amusement slipping from her face. That was real confusion.
“You’re lying.”
“What reason would I have to?”
“It’s not possible. I know that spell like the back of my hand—it was a success.” She looked offended.
“Except you failed to recognize the vessel you put the wolf into. She’s the daughter of an Alpha.”
That landed. Her face shifted, just slightly.
“No matter,” she said quickly, straightening herself and taking another step. “You really should’ve come alone.”
A burst of air slammed into my stomach and launched me through the open doorway. I crashed into the wall and slid down, gasping.
Malania dropped to her knees beside me, panic in her eyes as the sound of Emerelda’s heels clicked up the steps.
“What’s the plan?” Malania hissed.
Should’ve come up with one.
“My mother protected me well,” Emerelda said as she entered the house. “Shielded me from those nature-worshipping whores. Even in death, she made sure I couldn’t be found. Her cloaking spell hid me until I turned eighteen. After that, I was on my own. I taught myself magic from her grimoires. Every sacrifice, every chant, I did thinking of this moment, taking from Jack what he took from me.”
“He took your mother, not your son.”
“He took the person I loved most in this world.” Her voice cracked for a second, then hardened again. “And now I’ll take something from you.”
I reached into my pocket and grabbed the tin with the crushed herbs.
A sinister laugh rang out, echoing off the walls. She flicked her fingers—and my leg burned like it was on fire.
“Oh my god—” Malania swatted at my jeans as smoke started to rise. A small flame crawled up the thread.
“Shit!” I pulled my hand out as the tin started to glow red. Every time I reached for it, the heat forced me back. When I finally managed to pinch it between two fingers, I flung it across the room.
Malania yanked her own box from her belt and threw it to the floor. We watched it shrivel like a dying leaf. The herbs smoked, their scent heavy in the air—but it didn’t touch Emerelda.
“Did you really think that was going to work a second time?” We hoped.
But it was all we had. And now it was gone.
“At least find peace in this,” she whispered, and I gasped when the air left my lungs.
My feet lifted from the floor.
The wall behind me caught my back like a pin on a corkboard.
“You will die today,” she said. “And your little girl will follow in a few days. A fighter without a wolf.” She clicked her tongue and shook her head. My vision blurred. I looked down to see Malania, frozen in place, her body trembling as she fought to move.
I’ll say it again—I fucking loathe witches.
“It’s not fair,” Emerelda said softly, her eyes gleaming. “But at least you won’t be apart for too long.” Her fingers twitched. “Goodbye, son of Jack.”