When Visena turned in for bed the next night, she felt sick. Her heart refused to calm, and her lungs couldn't seem to take a full breath. They should have received the results from the witch about her blood samples, but she was radio silent. Visena had a bad feeling, but Gideon wrote it off as nerves.

Prim knew better. "Alpha, with all due respect, Fae are notorious for excellent intuition... I think we should send someone to go check on Rosemary."

Rosemary lived at the intersection of three different packs; Invictus, Malum, and Praelia.

She was the nearest witch that willingly worked blood magic for the packs in return for her safety. Gideon had said blood magic was extremely dangerous and frowned upon by most covens, including the witch council. But, in Visena's case, blood magic was a necessary evil.

Gideon listened to his Delta and asked for both Orion and Prim to find out what the hold-up was the following day.

That was why she was now lying sprawled across the bed, mouth dry and heart pounding in her ears. Visena heard light footsteps sound past her room towards Gideon's despite the rain and distant thunder. But it didn't smell like him.

It didn't even smell like a wolf, but there was a familiar odour she couldn't quite place initially. She rose from her bed in silence and tiptoed to the door. The scent was more potent, and a memory fluttered through her mind. It was just floating on the precipice of awareness.

Petrichor and fungus.

Visena peeked from her doorway and saw a hooded figure drift into Gideon's room silently. The eerie sensation in her gut amplified as she crept down the short hall and stared through the opening.

To her horror, the person stood over Gideon's sleeping form with an intricately patterned dagger hovering above his chest.

"Gideon!" Visena screamed, rushing headlong into danger. His eyes snapped open and a half-shifted fist wrapped around the intruder's forearm, crushing bone. Low growls tore from their throats as Gideon wrenched the weapon from the person's grip and threw them against the wall.

Visena's scream alerted the rest of the house, and Liam and Jed ran through the door as their Alpha pinned the cloaked figure against the window. In their haste, Jed knocked Visena over, and she yelped slightly.

Gideon's eyes flashed back at Jed, and he cringed before helping her up. With Gideon's head turned, he didn't see the intruder gripping another blade in his fist. Visena reached out to them, and with a cry of desperation, she imagined pushing the intruder as far from Gideon as possible.

The water in their blood appeared to follow her directions, and they flew from Gideon's grip, through the window, and to the sodden earth. Three stories below.

She looked at her hands in shock while Jed went to chase after the injured intruder. Gideon grabbed his little brother by the scruff before he jumped out of the window too and threw him towards the door.

"Use the stairs." He growled low in his throat.

Eve, Prim, and Orion arrived as Jed was racing out of the bedroom. "Eve, follow him."

Invictus' Gamma didn't even question it; she just pivoted on her heels and sprinted after Jed.

"Go check on the pack, please." He rubbed an ache forming over his eyes. The three remaining wolves left quickly. Only Prim offered a consoling smile to Visena as she ran from the Alpha's room.

Visena was still looking at her hands fearfully. Her body quivered. She wasn't afraid for herself at that moment; all she could think about was Gideon. If she hadn't been awake, he would have been killed by that thing.

Her thoughts were halted by forefinger and thumb gripping her chin and tilting her head up. Visena looked into Gideon's eyes with relief.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm glad you're okay."

They both spoke simultaneously, and Visena's lower lip trembled. She reached her arms out to Gideon, and he froze as they snaked around his waist. Visena pushed her face into his warm chest and breathed deeply. After a pause, Gideon's arms draped over Visena's shoulders and wrapped around her head. She felt so safe in his tight embrace.

The only hint of his emotions was a rapid heart.

Heavy thumps up the stairs alerted them to Eve and Jed's return, and they quickly untangled from each other.

"There was no sign of them, Alpha." Eve panted.

"The rain washed away the scent and their footprints," Jed added with a scowl. "Who was that anyway? I thought it was her," Jed jutted his chin out at Visena, who stood next to the smashed window.

"Don't know yet, go get some rest. We'll talk in the morning." Gideon stepped into his role of big brother and Alpha so naturally. Visena could see why he was the leader of the Invictus pack, and her heart grew watching him send his Gamma's to bed. Paused at the door, a slightly glazed look crossed Gideon's eyes before he closed it quietly.

"Packs all safe." He confirmed, talking more to himself than the woman by his bed.

"I'm glad," Visena whispered. Her body relaxed slightly despite being pelted by rain pouring through the gaping hole she inadvertently made. Visena wrung her fingers and headed for the exit when Gideon stepped in her path. She lifted her face to meet Gideon's when his lips descended.

It was the softest brush of a kiss across her mouth, but it left her breathless.

She felt a pang of disappointment when he pulled back but finished the walk to his door in a daze. When she closed it behind her, she didn't look back. The scent of the intruder assaulted her nose again from the hall.

A flash of recognition hit her, and Visena blanched.

She walked down the hallway and kept walking until wet soil coated her bare feet. Nobody followed her as she walked down the dirt path towards the forest. Nobody knew the guilt pooling in her abdomen, making her stomach ache.

Petrichor and fungus. She had lived with that scent all her life. The cloaked intruder was her mother.

~~~

A/N

Thanks for reading loves

Who doesn't love a thwarted assassination?

Until next time,

Byeee xx