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"Bartholemew is here, your greatness."

"Send him in immediately."

The old servant bowed his head to his master's back and left the room to let the guest in. The room was quiet, except for the crackle coming from the fireplace, and after the old servant had left, the sound of light flapping filled the air.

The dark figure that had been leaning against the mantel of the fireplace turned around slowly to meet the source of the fluttering. He raised an eyebrow and snorted softly, "Really, Bartholemew? A seagull?"

The seagull moved from its perch on the couch and landed on the floor before transforming back to its original form of an elderly man.

"It was the only practical form to take, Malcolm," old Bartholomew chuckled, "Any other and Alpha Alrik or Jaslynn would have gotten suspicious."

"As long as you got the information I wanted, I don't care if you turned into a hippopotamus. Now, what do you have to report? Your last note told me that they had reached the island."

"Today they made it to Ester's cottage, and if all goes well, they won't come out."

Malcolm nodded as he headed to his liquor cabinet, "Or we have to commence Plan B."

"Yes. Has Ester agreed to give you the whereabouts of the book yet?"

"No, the witch drives a hard bargain. I'm not paying her two million and a buying her a new house," Malcolm muttered, guzzling down his glass of scotch, "That's why I like Plan B. I don't have to pay her, and everything becomes easier for us.

Bartholomew cocked his head, "You never exactly explained what Plan B is. No one I asked knows either so how are we supposed to set it up?"

Malcolm let out a brief, wicked laugh, "Plan B has been ready to fire since the moment I paid Jaslynn and her little group of imbeciles a visit."

"All you did was mess with that Commander's head. How did you even find her mate?"

Malcolm threw his head back, laughing madly as the scotch made him tipsier. Bartholomew looked on in confusion as the young leader of their klan choked on his drink and gulped another fourth of the bottle down as a way to soothe his irritated throat.

"Must I explain everything?" He hiccuped, his voice getting lower as he stumbled over the older wizard, "It's all a sick psychological game. A game that Jaslynn cannot even win against me."

"You mean to say–"

"Yes!" Malcolm exclaimed, waving the empty glass, "I had Ester use an ancient love spell that closely matched the feelings of the mate bond. It worked precisely how it was supposed to, and now the Commander and her wolf are convinced that their weak little mate has been killed. And do you know what that means?"

Bartholomew swallowed hard, "Her mind will start to deteriorate."

"Not will start. It already has started. Soon she'll be in a vegetative state and–" Malcolm paused to kneel by the chess game set up on the coffee table, "Just like that, the second line of defense is down."

He flicked the rook, causing it to fall.

"And soon," he rasped, "The third line of defense will come down without the Commander or the Alpha there to rule."

He knocked over the row of pawns and the two bishops and horses.

Bartholomew crouched beside Malcolm and pointed to the second corner piece, "The other rook is still there. What happens to it?"

Malcolm raised his bloodshot eyes to old man Bartholomew's face, "Where one plan ends, the other one begins."

And he flicked the rook, leaving it to waver in place and topple over.

***

"Cassandra! Cassandra!"

The Moon Goddess sat up from her deep state of thought and watched her mate enter their chambers angrily.

"Have you seen what has been happening? Why aren't you doing anything to stop it?" He asked, gesturing to the viewing sphere.

She sighed, "If only I could. The Laws of Nature prohibit me from doing so."

"You were able to break the ship. How about breaking Malcolm's skull?"

"Again, this is a battle between supernatural beings. It's against the law for me to interfere. I have to trust Alpha Alrik and Jaslynn to lead justice to victory," she said, a surge of confidence swarming her as she saw the progress the couple had made.

"And how about what happened to Commander Reece? You're going to leave her to suffer because it's against the law? Malcolm manipulated her wolf!" Her mate stated furiously.

"The Fates have something planned, and it is not in my power to change what happened or will happen. It hurts to watch everything happen, but the only thing we can do is try to indirectly influence the outcomes of each battle."

Her mate shook his head sadly and stared at his feet, avoiding the gaze of the Moon Goddess. She leaned over and raised his chin, "I know you are worried, especially about the Commander. But fear not, I haven't abandoned her. I'm using my abilities to influence once more."

And just as she said that, the doors to the chambers opened and two fairies flew in, buzzing with excitement.

The Moon Goddess smiled, watching as her mate's face lit up in realization. She grabbed her staff and stood up,

"Otis. Bertram. What have you found for me?"