Nicolette woke up on the ground and Lucas still on top of her. The fire in Lucas' eyes had died down but he still looked furious.

"Reject him," he told her. She broke eye contact with him and looked away. He relaxed the amount of force he put on her shoulders and a moment of realization happened. "You're not going to do it."

"It'll kill me and him. I debated it if i reject him, the power that went from my body to his wouldn't come back to me but practically eat him alive. That's what happens to she-wolves when they get rejected."

"It's toxic Nicole you don't deserve to be in a relationship like that. Your wolf will become more depressed if you don't reject him. And don't give me that bullshit about your morals because this is abuse," Lucas growled.

"You know rejection only works if the other agrees." Nicolette turned her head to see Malcom standing there. She lets out a growl and shoved Lucas off of her.

Malcom looked at her as her eyes started to flash to black. Lucas let out a growl of frustration and snarled at Malcom.

"What kind of Alpha King are you?" He asked. "Ever since that attack by the witches you've been different. Your pack is falling apart and you gave up the most perfect mate you could have ever asked for."

Nicolette realized something as Lucas yelled at Malcom. 'Ever since the attack' made something click in her mind. The royal guards said that he wasn't affected by the witch attack, but what if he was?

It was a far fetched theory but it was worth a try. She'd seen it before. Witches' dark magic implements into people's heads and take over their body. Usually, the witch controls people with their dark magic.

"Shut up," She growled to Lucas. Malcom's and Lucas' heads both snapped over to her. It was like they had forgotten all about her while they bickered.

Nicolette pressed her hand into the damp earth and vines sprouted from the ground around Malcom. The vines wrapped up his leg and torso until he couldn't move anymore.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lucas growled. Nicolette rolled her eyes as she walked slowly towards Malcom.

Nicolette walked behind him until he couldn't see her anymore and placed her palm into his head. She closed her eyes as she surged her manic through him.

She searched for the lost answer she was looking for. There was a mask covering the magic hiding in Malcom. Her magic courses through his body, looking for any other signs of magic.

Her magic came across them small amount of power given to him from the mating process. She pushed her magic deeper into his mind, searching.

Finally, she reached what she was looking for. A swirling pit of black magic was infesting his mind. She watched it eat away at his conscious. It was far more progressed than the royal guards' magic.

It was like the dark magic sensed her magic. It began to get restless and surrounded Nicolette magic. She gasped as she stumbled backwards. In those short moments, the magic felt powerful.

Malcom began to struggle in the vines. Nicolette closed her hands into a fist which tightened the vines around his body. His eyes became black with fury. She could feel the black magic struggling through the vines. Now that it had been discovered, it couldn't hide anymore.

Nicolette held her hand out while keeping the other in a tight fist to keep Malcom in place. She quickly recited a spell as the black magic creeped through the veins and into her.

You could practically see the black magic escaping from his body and into Nicolette's body. She dropped down to the ground, letting Malcom go.

"Nicolette," he breathed. The way he said her name was filled with sorrow. "Oh gods."

She fell to the ground as the black magic ate away at her conscience. When Nicolette took away the black magic from the royal guards, it affected her physically, but the magic put on Malcom affected him mentally.

"Oh well isn't this sad, poor Nicolette passes out after saving you. How funny is that! She's not controlled by the dark magic that was previously yours" Henry walked out of the forest with a smirk on his face.

"If only she found out your mind was taken over sooner, it would have caused her a lot less pain. Maybe you would even had a chance of being mates," he laughed. "But unfortunately, it's time for Nicolette to die."

They had waited too long to get Nicolette off of pack lands. Malcom let out a snarl and pounced. Lucas shifted and charged at him.

A wall of stone emerged from the ground blocking off the two of them from Nicolette and Henry. He let out a laugh and picked her up and carried her off.

"What the hell did you do to Nicole," Lucas growled at Malcom. Malcom just stood there. "Say something damn it."

"I wasn't in control," Malcom whispered.

"What?" Lucas questioned impatiently. He growled and started to walk off.

"The day of the attack of the witches on our land," Malcom announced. "That's the last clear memory I had. I've see small images of what was happening since then. All I saw was Nicolette though. Those moments where she would smile and then my mind went dark."

Lucas turned around and just stared at him. "You remember nothing? That attack was months ago."

"Oh my god you've been controlled this whole time. That's why Nicolette took the magic from you. She knew that you weren't in control."

———

Nicolette woke up groaning and in pain. There was silver balls clasped tightly around Nicolette's hands and feet. Her back laid on a wall and everything was dizzy.

The last thing she remembered was Malcom. Whatever black magic that was in him had affected his judgement, but how much of the black magic affected what he did to her?

"Ahh you're finally awake." Nicolette lifted her weak head to see Henry's grinning face. She looked around and saw, what looked like, an old basement. Nicolette struggles against the chains but it only burned her further.

She tried to blast the chains off of her hands but her magic didn't work.

"Well the powerful Tribrid has been caught and no one knows where you are," Henry laughs. Nicolette let out a growl as she tried to jump at him. "I've been given permission to torture you for a bit."

"I see no weapons," she growled in response. Nicolette started to cough violently as blood started dripping from her mouth.

"I felt like the witch hazel and wolfsbane was enough torture. I rather talk about your mate. It was hilarious to control him for months," he chuckled. Nicolette stared at the ground and growled. "I thought you were a tribrid. Aren't your senses supposed to be heightened?"

"Although there were moments we didn't control him but you may never know what he did and didn't do under our control."

Nicolette struggled through the pain, trying to pull her arms and legs out of the cuffs. She gasped as a sharp pain pierced her right wrist. She looked up and saw a silver knife imbedded into her wrist.

"If you don't stop struggling, I have more knives," Henry grinned. He pulled some out of his pocket and laid them on a table next to him.

"No one will be able to find you, and when you are dead, no one will remember you existed."

———

👀