For the next week I spend every waking moment with Hecate, honing my craft and learning every spell I can. It proves to be far more difficult than even I anticipated and even Hecate is growing confused at my lack of progress. Even worse is my growing anxiety as each day passes.

Aiden has been radio silent and according to Maddox, everything back at the pack has been peaceful. It's hard to believe that Aiden has just been... laying low. He threatened an attack and it doesn't seem like him to not follow through.

Every second that we spend here, my fear of Aiden's retaliation grows. Who would he go after next? Basil? My mom? His own mother?

"Focus," Hecate's melodic voice hums in my ear.

"I can't," I snarl in response, chucking the glass vial in my hand against the wall.

It shatters, leaving a trail of whatever Hecate had me making streaming down the bricks.

"Well, that certainly isn't going to help anything."

"I'm fucking useless, Hecate. How am I supposed to protect my coven and my family when I can't even do the most basic fucking spells! I'm a-a... I'm a dud!"

Hecate's expression softens as she turns her attention from my mess to me. She gives me a heavy sigh and places a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"First of all, my darling, I don't make duds. Witches are born of my magic and you are some of my very best work. You are so, so powerful, but admittedly, you've lived a sheltered life. Sometimes the best way to tap into your strongest self is to push yourself past your limits."

I thought that's exactly what I've been doing. Hecate has pushed me to what feels like my breaking point more times than I can count in this past week. I've never worked this hard on spells and incantations and yet, I'm starting to realize that we haven't even cracked the surface.

What I can do is parlor tricks in comparison to what truly powerful witches are capable of.

"I just- I don't know if I..."

"Hey, I hate to interrupt your lesson in breaking shit, but we've got a situation out here," Maddox calls from the front door.

We both follow him out, my heart plummeting further and further to my stomach with each step I take. What could have happened in the hour that we've been inside Hecate's cottage? My eyes take a moment to adjust to the afternoon sun, but when I look past Maddox, I see two bulky figures standing behind him.

"Basil!" I squeal as I barrel towards my big brother.

He leans in to catch me and folds me into a bear hug.

"I've missed you so much," I murmur into his shoulder.

He gives me a light squeeze in response, his own quiet, uniquely Basil way of saying "I've missed you, too."

When I finally pull away, it dawns on me. Something's wrong. Basil and August wouldn't leave everyone behind just for a friendly visit. I pull away to look up at him, but his expression reveals nothing.

"What happened?" I whisper, my voice shaking.

"Does something have to be wrong for me to come check up on my little sister?"

He tries to laugh it off, but it sounds forced. Something is definitely wrong and his mental blocks are up so I can't even use our mind link to find answers. My only option to get it out of him is to be the annoying baby sister I've mastered being and start pinching his bicep as hard as I can.

"Fuck, Poppy! Relax!"

Basil tries to swat me away but I duck under his arms and pinch his neck.

"Tell me, fucker!"

August and Maddox are smart enough to step aside and let us battle it out, but it's short lived. Basil is too tall and too strong for me to defeat. He manages to get behind me and pins my arms to my chest.

"You're a demon," he growls at me.

"Ash just became my favorite brother!"

Basil's only response is to stick his finger in his mouth and then in my ear. I squeal and struggle against him, but he maintains his iron grip on me.

"Alright, now that we've got that out of the way," August begins sarcastically. "There is something we need to talk to you about, Poppy."

The grin is wiped from my face instantly and I can feel my breath quicken.

"Must be pretty bad if the person currently in charge of the pack is here right now instead of protecting them," I whimper.

I turn my gaze to Maddox and he looks surprisingly calm. Surely if one of our own had been hurt he'd be a lot more murderous right now. The thought is enough to calm my nerves slightly and August's next words are confirmation.

"Everyone back home is okay. Maddox's dad is handling everything while we're here and there have been no attacks since you guys left. In fact, things have been suspiciously quiet back home, but that's what we want to talk to you about."

I nod and Basil finally lets go of me.

"Okay, but let's do it inside."

We all sit on the floor around the fire while Hecate makes us all some tea. Her cottage is small enough as it is, but the three massive boys next to me manage to make it feel even smaller. Hecate's cat, who she calls Ghost, crawls into my lap and purrs deeply as I rub behind her ears.

I smile softly when I notice Maddox is doing the same with Hecate's Shepard, Warden, who is happily sprawled out on the floor in front of him.

"Okay, spill the beans, guys. What's going on? I don't think my anxiety can handle much more anticipation."

August thanks Hecate quietly as she passes him a mug before turning his attention back to me.

"Obviously we've been prepared for another attack since you two left. We've been expecting it, but there's been nothing- not even so much as a threat. We've also been tracking Aiden and his rogues since you left, but the trail went cold a few days ago. We tried everything, but it's like they disappeared completely."

I know as soon as August tells us this that Maddox was right before and that my fears were true.

"You were right," I tell Maddox grimly. "They're working with witches. I-I don't understand why though. Hecate, isn't there anything you can do?"

Rogue witches and wolves teaming up is the worst case scenario. Even if we had strength in numbers, they lacked a mate bond that could tether them to their humanity. They were unpredictable, but Hecate's intervention could pull the witches back to reality.

She shakes her head in response, despair in her eyes. She felt the loss of each witch as if she had lost a child and it's obvious by her expression that she considers these rogues lost.

"It was mine and Selene's agreement when we created the mate bond that we wouldn't interfere from that moment on. We did what we had to do to help our people survive, but we agreed that we wouldn't intervene in mortal lives beyond that. I can't touch her wolves, just as she can't touch my coven. Divine intervention would be an act of war."

"So how do we fix this?"

"We're going after them. We're going to the address the rogue at the diner gave us and we're going to put a stop to this."