Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/11094069.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      F/M, M/M
  Fandom:
      Shadowhunters_(TV), The_Mortal_Instruments_Series_-_Cassandra_Clare
  Relationship:
      Magnus_Bane/Alec_Lightwood
  Character:
      Magnus_Bane, Alec_Lightwood, Raphael_Santiago, Jace_Wayland, Clary_Fray,
      Isabelle_Lightwood, Simon_Lewis
  Additional Tags:
      Alpha/Beta/Omega_Dynamics, Mating_Bites, Mating_Bond, Alternate_Universe
      -_Werewolf, Knotting, Mpreg
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-06-04 Updated: 2018-02-13 Chapters: 7/? Words: 18840
****** Last Hope ******
by t0nt0n
Summary
     ABO Werewolf-AU
     After presenting as the first male omega in years, Alec finds himself
     at the mercy of his pack who wants to use his presentation for their
     benefit by renting him out. As if that wasn't enough, he has to dodge
     Sebastian's constant proposals to be his mate. Wanting to escape the
     clutches of Sebastian and the Clave before it's too late, Alec begs
     Magnus Bane, the leader of the most powerful pack, for help.
Notes
     I've had this idea for an ABO/Werewolf-AU story for awhile now and
     finally decided to write it out. I'm aware that ABO stories aren't
     everyone's cup of tea, so please pay attention to the tags.
     Basically, this is my version of the ABO universe. I know that
     different stories have different takes on the ratio of alphas v.
     betas v. omegas. In this story, omegas are beyond rare. Most couples
     consist of alpha-beta or beta-beta pairings, with the occasional
     alpha-alpha pairing. Alpha-omega pairings are of course, ideal, but
     pretty much non-existent due to the scarcity of omegas.
     P.S. I am fully aware that I have three other stories that I haven't
     finished. I find that writing other stories help with writer's block
     because that way, at least I'm writing. I have NOT forgotten about
     Takdir and will try to update it as soon as possible.
***** Chapter 1 *****
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Alpha Bane,” said Malachi, the pack
leader of the Clave pack.
“Save your false manners, Malachi. We both know that you wish you didn’t have
to ask for my help,” scoffed Magnus. “Tell me what you want from me so I can
decline and go back home.”
Magnus Bane was an alpha and was the leader of the most powerful pack in North
America, the Edom pack. Ten years ago, he had inherited it from his father,
Asmodeus who had been killed during a dispute with the Circle pack. The Circle
pack, lead by Valentine, was a group of wolves that had broken away from the
Clave pack. Valentine, who had grown tired of the Clave’s rules, had attempted
to take over all of the packs. Valentine, the honor-less man that he was, had
stabbed Asmodeus with a dagger during what was supposed to be a fair duel.
Because the dagger had been coated with wolfsbane, Asmodeus eventually bled
out.
Magnus, who had only been 16 at the time, had flown into a rage and tore out
Valentine’s throat before the man even had a chance to defend himself. With the
fall of Valentine, members of the Circle pack had returned to the Clave pack
for protection from he Edom pack. While Magnus hadn’t been happy about it, he
knew that the rest of the Circle pack wasn’t responsible for his father’s
death. Valentine had been a master manipulator after all. Despite Magnus’
understanding of the circumstances, the relationship between the two pack had
been strained at best. The Clave pack normally went out of its way to stay out
of the way of Magnus. So when Magnus had received a letter from Malachi begging
for help, he knew he had to at least hear them out.
“Well then, as I’m sure you’ve heard, my pack is running dangerously low on
resources. A forest fire last month caused most of the prey in our territory to
run,” said Malachi, sounding like he’d rather be eating glass then to ask
Magnus for help. “We were hoping you could lend us food and supplies. Winter
will be here soon and if you don’t help us, a lot of wolves will die.”
“The term lending implies that it will be returned. How do you plan on doing
that?” asked Raphael, Magnus’ second-in-command. “It’s going to take a lot more
than a few months to recover from a forest fire.”
“We fully intend on returning every resource you lend us. It may take us a year
or so, but we will,” insisted Malachi.
“Seems like a bad deal to me. I lend you a ton of resources and then hold my
breath and hope that you can return it a year later? You’re going to have to do
better than that if you want my help,” said Magnus.
“We figured you would say that, so we prepared a gift of sorts for you to
sweeten the deal,” said Malachi. When Magnus raised an eyebrow at him, Malachi
continued, “It’s getting late, why don’t you return to your campsite for now?
We can resume this meeting tomorrow morning, after you’ve had a chance to enjoy
your gift.”
Narrowing his eyes, Magnus growled, “Don’t even think about trying anything. We
will finish this tomorrow morning only because my pack has had to travel for
days and needs proper rest. Keep your gift, I don’t want it.” With that, Magnus
walked away from Malachi.
Once they were out of the Clave’s earshot, Raphael said, “I don’t like this
Magnus. We shouldn’t have come.”
“We didn’t have a choice. Like Ragnor said, it would make our pack look bad if
we didn’t at least hear them out,” said Magnus.
“Then they should have come to us!” exclaimed Raphael.
“You heard them Rafa, they’re low on resources. They wouldn’t have survived the
trip,” said Magnus.
“I see your point, but I still don’t like the way Malachi was talking,” said
Raphael, “What gift was he trying to give you? He seemed very sure that you
would like it.”
“Who knows what the idiot is thinking,” said Magnus.
When they reached the campsite, they saw that the rest of their group had
finished setting up the tents. Magnus had only brought a small group of a dozen
wolves for ease of travel and had left his advisor, Ragnor, with the rest of
the pack at home. Looking around, Magnus saw that Elias had already prepared
dinner with the cured meat that they had brought with them.
“Rest up tonight, we will leave as soon as the meeting with the Clave is over.
I don’t want to stay on Clave territory for too long,” said Magnus as he began
making his way to his tent. Before he could take another step however, an
overwhelming scent of sweetness engulfed his senses. Looking at Raphael, the
only other alpha in their group, with wide eyes, he asked, “Is that? No, we
would have heard about it.”
“The Clave pack was always good at keeping secrets,” replied Raphael, while
looking around for the origin of the smell. Before either alpha could say
anything else, three people emerged from the forest. Magnus’ bodyguards
immediately stood in front of their leader in defense. Magnus smelled the air
and noted that the man and woman in the front were betas while the one in the
back was the omega he had smelled.
“Peace, Alpha Malachi sent us to deliver your gift,” said the beta woman.
“I already told him I wasn’t interested,” said Magnus, stepping out from behind
his bodyguards, all the while staring at the omega.
“Are you sure about that? You haven’t stopped staring at it,” said the beta man
smugly.
Magnus’ eyes widened when his mind registered what the other man was staying.
An omega. His gift was a night with the omega. Of the three sub-genders, omegas
were the rarest. Packs were comprised of mostly betas with the occasional
alpha. In the past few decade, omegas had become increasingly rare. Besides the
fact that sex with omegas was intoxicating, pups sired by alphas and omegas
were the strongest. Therefore, omegas were extremely coveted. Magnus’ own pack
only had one elderly female omega left. Magnus’ mother had been an omega before
she killed herself in sorrow after Asmodeus had been murdered. As far as Magnus
knew, there hadn’t been a male omega born in years. Yet here was one standing
in front of him. It suddenly made sense to Magnus that the Clave had kept the
existence of this omega under wraps. What better way to barter for things you
need then to pass around such a lovely creature.
Schooling his features, Magnus said, “Must I keep repeating myself? I’m not
interested in any gift from the Clave. Certainly not their pack whore.”
The omega whined pitifully at Magnus’ insult. Magnus felt guilty about his
words, but couldn’t afford for the Clave to have the upper hand.
“How dare you!” exclaimed the woman.
“Lydia, calm down,” said the other beta, “Alpha Bane, our orders were to
deliver the omega to you. Now that we’re done, we will take our leave.”
Grabbing the woman known as Lydia by her shoulders, the man dragged her back
into the forest, leaving the omega standing alone.
Magnus glared at the disappearing backs of the two betas before turning his
attention back to the omega. The alpha stalked over to the omega who was now
shaking. Magnus lifted the omega’s chin so that he could see his face properly
and gasped when he looked into the bluest eyes he had ever seen. The boy was
absolutely exquisite and it took every ounce of self control Magnus possessed
to not drag the omega to his tent.
“I don’t know about the other packs that Malachi deals with, but I won’t be
swayed by a pretty face willing to spread his legs,” said Magnus, “Go home.”
“Magnus!” exclaimed Tessa, a beta he had grown up with, “You can’t just send
him back alone. It’s dangerous.”
“Fine, Tessa, please escort him back to his pack. And while you’re there,
express my displeasure that Malachi is using such unsavory tactics.”
The blue-eyed omega who had previously remained silent, fell to his knees and
said, “Please, you can’t send me back. You’re my only hope.”
“Only hope for what? I’m not one of those alphas who thinks with their knots
and will do whatever you want,” growled Magnus. The alpha was going to continue
his lecture when he saw that the omega was crying silently. Taking a deep
breath, Magnus realized that he had been wrong in his initial observation. This
omega smelled pure. He hadn’t been used for brokering deals like Magnus had
originally thought. “What’s your name, little omega?”
“Alec,” mumbled the omega, through his tears.
“Short for Alexander?” asked Magnus, as he knelt down in front of the
distressed boy. “Tell me what’s wrong. I will do my best to help you.”
Alec breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Magnus would help him. Izzy’s
plan had worked. When Izzy had told him to beg the powerful alpha for help, he
had thought she was insane. All alphas, besides his best friend Jace, were the
same. They thought with one thing, and one thing only, their knots. But he
hadn’t had a choice. It was either ask the visiting alpha for help, or submit
to Sebastian Morgenstern.
Two months ago, Alec had presented as an omega. He and his siblings had
attempted to hide the truth, but the entire pack had eventually found out. He
had thought that this parents would be disappointed in him, but they were
excited that their eldest son was an omega. They thought they could use him to
elevate their standing in the pack, which had been low since they had sided
with Valentine a decade earlier. He knew that some packs treasured their
omegas, but also knew that unfortunately, his pack wasn’t one of them. As soon
as Malachi had found out, he had started trying to find ways to benefit from
Alec’s presentation. Sebastian had immediately began to petition to be given
Alec as his mate. Alec had been so terrified that he had started planning an
escape. Knowing Sebastian, Alec wouldn’t be better than a whore for him to pass
around with his friends. Jace, who was the grandson of the second-in-command of
the pack, had heard that Malachi was asking the Edom pack for help. Having
grown up with stories about the legendary Magnus Bane, Izzy had suggested that
Alec ask Magnus for help. He had to help. Not only was Magnus known for being a
noble wolf, he still held a grudge against the Clave for Valentine and
Sebastian just so happened to be Valentine’s son.
“Izzy, you’re insane. Even if Bane agrees to take Alec away, we have no way of
knowing how he would treat Alec!” exclaimed Jace.
“Does it matter? He’d still be better than Sebastian. I hate to say it, but
it’s a risk we’re going to have to take,” said Izzy.
“How would I even be able to ask him? I know he’s visiting next week, but
there’s no way I’d be able to get into that meeting,” said Alec.
“If you want to do this, I’ll help you. Malachi is coming over for dinner with
my grandmother tonight. We know the Council has been struggling to find
something to give to Bane in return for resources. I’ll suggest that they give
you to him,” said Jace.
“That’s only if that idea hasn’t already been tossed around,” snorted Izzy. The
way the Council had been speaking about her brother had been utterly
disgusting. She had heard rumors that they were planning to rent out his womb
to the highest bidder and she had decided that she would help her brother
escape if it was the last thing she did.
When Alec finished telling his story, the entire Edom campsite was silent. None
of them could believe what they had just heard. Magnus in particular was
furious. Omegas were supposed to be treasured, not treated like they were
whores or broodmares. The alpha hadn’t dealt with many omegas, but he had been
taught to respect them, just as he would any other gender.
“Wait, if the Clave is considering…renting you out to other packs, why would
they just hand you over to Magnus? As much as I hate to say it, some of the
less reputable packs would be willing to pay twice the amount of resources
Malachi is asking for in exchange for a pup from an omega,” said Tessa.
“I was told in no uncertain terms that I was only supposed to warm Alpha Bane’s
bed and to not let him give me a mating bite,” said Alec, cheeks red from
embarrassment. “The council is hoping that you would be addicted enough to keep
offering more resources in the future.”
“You took a very big risk tonight, Alexander,” said Magnus as he helped Alec to
his feet and led him to to sit down by the campfire. “I could have just as
easily had my way with you or given you to the rest of my pack.”
“Magnus!” exclaimed Elias, “Stop scaring the poor boy.”
“I’m not trying to scare him, Elias. I’m telling him the truth. While I would
never do something so disgusting, he had no way of knowing what I would or
wouldn’t do. Legends and reality don’t always measure up. For all he knew, I
could’ve been worst of a monster than Morgenstern,” said Magnus.
“It was worth the risk. You don’t know Sebastian like I do. He’s sick. Do with
me what you will, but I can guarantee it won’t be as bad as what Sebastian
would do to me,” said Alec, staring at his feet.
“I’m not sure how I feel about being the lesser of two evils,” said Magnus,
“But, as I promised earlier, I will do my best to help you. Elias will prepare
a tent for you so you can stay the night.” Wanting to get away from the
intoxicating smell, Magnus got up from his seat. Before he could get far
however, Tessa grabbed his arm.
“Letting him stay for one night won’t solve anything,” said Tessa.
“Magnus, if he returns to the Clave tomorrow without a mating bite, Malachi
will either hand him over to the Morgenstern boy or sell him to the highest
bidder,” said Raphael.
“What will you have me do? Bite him? Can’t you see that he’s shaking in fear
already?” demanded Magnus, exasperated by the situation.
“Haven’t you been listening?” asked Tessa, “He’s more afraid of returning to
his pack than he is of your bite.”
***** Chapter 2 *****
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Magnus closed his eyes to think things over.
On one hand, the notion of mating with the omega was so intoxicating that
Magnus felt himself grow hard just thinking about it. On the other, he knew it
was the wrong thing to do. Alec was scared and deserved better. He looked at
the omega who was once again teary eyed at the thought of returning to his pack
and made a decision.
“Okay,” said Magnus. Alec looked up at Magnus, hope clear in his eyes.
“Okay?” asked Alec.
“If you’re sure about this, I’ll give you my bite. But only if you’re positive.
I’m sure you already know this, but a mating bite isn’t something I can take
back. We’ll be bonded for the rest of our lives,” said Magnus.
“I have nothing to lose. I should be the one asking you if you’re sure. Not
only will you be stuck with me, you’ll also have provoked both the Clave and
Sebastian,” said Alec. The omega knew that he shouldn’t be warning Magnus. That
he should just accept the bite. But the alpha had been so kind and
understanding that Alec couldn’t help but warn him.
Magnus smiled widely, showing his long canines, “I’m not afraid of your pack or
Morgenstern. Malachi won’t dare to do anything more than complain and whine.
I’ll just throw some extra resources at him and he’ll shut up. I wasn’t scared
of Valentine a decade ago and I’m not afraid of his spawn now. As for being
stuck with you, it’s hardly a chore, gorgeous”
Blushing, Alec followed the alpha to his tent, all the while aware that the
rest of said alpha’s pack was staring at their retreating backs. Once Magnus
had shut the tent, Alec began to shiver again. He had known what would happen
tonight. If he was honest with himself, he was lucky that Magnus hadn’t thrown
him across the nearest flat surface and taken him then and there. Hands
shaking, he began to remove his tunic.
“What are you doing?” asked Magnus, reaching out to stop Alec from taking off
his clothes.
“I thought…” said Alec, not sure what else to say.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m not one of those alphas that
thinks with their knot. I won’t take you until you’re ready and begging me for
it. Tonight, I’m only going to give you my bite to protect you from your pack,”
said Magnus.
“Thank you,” mumbled Alec.
“Don’t thank me yet. Mating bites without sex can be excruciatingly painful,”
said Magnus, stepping closer to Alec.
Cupping the omega’s face gently, Magnus leaned in and kissed Alec on the lips.
Letting himself get lost in the kiss, Alec relaxed against Magnus as the alpha
guided him towards the furs. The two landed on the bedding with Magnus on top.
Knowing what was next, Alec bared his throat to Magnus, submitting fully to the
alpha. Magnus began pressing kisses along Alec’s throat, hoping to activate the
omega’s scent gland to distract the omega from the inevitable pain that was to
come. Licking Alec’s pulse point, Magnus slowly sunk his canines into the
omega’s neck, causing Alec to scream loudly as tears sprung from his eyes.
Magnus kept his teeth firmly latched to Alec’s neck as he waited for the bite
to take.
After a few moments, the pain from the bite began to subside as Alec’s now-
activated scent glands caused the omega to feel an intensely pleasurable
sensation engulf him. Magnus, who was extremely hard from all the pheromones
Alec was releasing, began grinding against the omega below him. Desperate for
release, Alec began thrusting his hips with Magnus. When the two climaxed
together, Alec’s vision went blank. Magnus slowly retracted his canines and
gently licked the wound, letting his saliva heal the wound.
Looking at his sleeping mate, Magnus cursed himself. He hadn’t intended to act
like a teenage pup with his mate minutes after promising not to have sex with
him. Magnus got off of the bed and after checking that his mate was still
unconscious, quickly cleaned himself off and changed his clothes. Having heard
about how exhausting mating bites were, he knew that Alec likely wouldn’t wake
until the next morning. Magnus decided against cleaning or changing Alec, and
climbed back onto the furs, pulling Alec towards him..
When Alec opened his eyes the next morning, an arm was holding onto him
possessively. After a moment of confusion, Alec realized that the arm belonged
to Magnus Bane, his alpha. Alec blushed at the thought of the previous night.
The bite had hurt at first but Magnus had been so gentle and careful that it
had quickly become pleasurable. He winced when he realized he was still in the
pants that he had came in the previous night. Looking to the side of him, he
saw that Magnus had changed his own clothes. The omega was grateful that Magnus
hadn’t tried to change his clothes while he had been sleeping; he wasn’t sure
he would’ve been able to face the alpha if that had happened.
“Go back to sleep my darling omega, it’s too early,” mumbled Magnus with his
eyes still closed
“I’m sorry, alpha. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll be still,” said Alec
quickly, afraid that he had angered Magnus so early in the morning.
Magnus’ eyes flew open when Alec began to apologize. Turning to look at Alec
properly, he said, “Alexander, I was merely jesting and wasn’t scolding you.
This is your bed now too. If you wish to wake at the crack of dawn, it is your
prerogative. While I ask that you try to keep the tossing and turning to a
minimum because I am not a morning person, I will not be upset with you if you
do.”
“Yes, alpha. Thank you, alpha,” said Alec, following the manners that had been
drilled into him in the past few weeks.
“You don’t have to do that. We are a very informal pack, so feel free to call
me Magnus,” said Magnus, smiling encouragingly at Alec. “We will talk more once
I handle things with your pack. For now, would you like to wash up and change?
I wanted to get you into a change of clothes, but you were out like the dead
and I didn’t want to do anything without your permission.”
“Thank you, alph..I mean, Magnus. I appreciate the thoughtfulness. And yes, it
would be nice to wash up,” replied Alec.
“Wait right here,” said Magnus, reluctantly letting go of his omega and getting
up. The alpha stepped out of his tent and saw that most of his friends were
already up and preparing for the day.
“If I knew getting a mate would turn you into an early riser, I would’ve tried
to convince you to take one ages ago,” said Raphael.
“Hush, Rafa. Now be a dear and fetch me some water,” said Magnus. His second-
in-command scowled at having to do such a menial task, before heading for the
stream. The alpha grabbed a plate of food that Elias had undoubtedly prepared
and walked back into his tent. Handing Alec the plate, Magnus said, “Here you
go, darling. I doubt you had much to eat last night.”
Alec moaned softly when he took the first bite of meat. Due to the scarce
resources, food had had to be rationed and he hadn’t had such a good cut of
meat in months. Magnus smiled and encouraged the omega to eat more. Raphael
returned with the water shortly after Alec had finished eating. Magnus handed
Alec a fresh set of clothes and stepped back outside to give the omega some
privacy.
“Raphael, make sure everything is packed before we head to the meeting. As soon
as the meeting is over, I want to start making our way home. I’m hoping we can
at least reach the Spiral Labyrinths by nightfall. I’d feel more comfortable
once we are on our own territory,” said Magnus.
“We started packing last night. Tessa and I figured that you would want to get
your mate back to our own lands as soon as possible. As soon as your mate
finishes dressing, we can pack up your tent and head into Idris Forest,”
replied Raphael.
Shortly after, Alec stepped out of the tent dressed in the clothes that Magnus
had given him. The alpha smiled when he saw his omega dressed in his clothes.
The mating bite combined with the alpha’s scent would make it clear to the
Clave that Alec was now his.
Magnus slipped an arm around Alec’s waist when the Council’s tent was in sight.
He smirked when he saw that most of the Clave’s elders were gathered outside
the Council tent. In the corner of his eye, he saw Raphael and Tessa in
defensive stances, ready for a fight.
“Good morning Alpha Bane. I see that you enjoyed your…” said Malachi before
stuttering when he saw the mating bite on Alec’s neck, “You weren’t supposed to
bite him.” Malachi’s tone was both panicked and accusing.
Magnus smirked, “Oh really? Then you should have been more clear. You said he
was my gift. Gifts usually imply that the other person can the item home with
them.”
“For the night! You were meant to have your fun for the night. We had other
plans for him,” exclaimed Malachi.
“So I’ve heard,” said Magnus dryly, “It doesn’t matter anymore what you had
planned. Alexander is now my mate. Touch him and I will consider it an act of
war against the Edom pack and all of our allies.”
“You can’t just take the most valuable thing our pack owns,” spluttered
Malachi.
Gently pushing Alec into Tessa’s arms, Magnus stalked towards the Clave’s pack
leader and said, “Alexander is not a thing that you own. He is his own person
and not some object that you can use to barter with.”
“Be that as it may, a male omega would have still fetched our pack a handsome
mate price which is tradition,” said Imogen.
“So we’re going with tradition now?” asked Raphael, “Then how exactly are you
planning on providing Alec with a dowry? Last I checked, your pack is running
on fumes at it is.”
“This is going nowhere,” said Magnus, “I will provide you with all the
resources you asked for, plus a little more, and you won’t have to pay any of
it back. In return, I don’t want Alexander to hear from your pack again. Do we
have a deal?”
“Yes,” said Malachi grudgingly. He knew it wasn’t a bad deal, just not the one
he was hoping for.
“Good, then my advisor Ragnor will be contacting you shortly to work out the
details of delivery. Have a nice day, Malachi,” said Magnus, turning back
towards his pack. Wrapping an arm tightly around his mate, the Edom pack began
to leave. When they were at the edge of the clearing he heard a woman’s voice
asking them to wait. Looking around, he spotted a beta woman with dark hair and
features similar to Alec’s.
“Alpha Bane, I am Alec’s mother, Maryse.”
“What can I do for you Maryse? I hope you’re not trying to haggle for a better
deal or for me to give you anything,” said Magnus.
“No,” said Maryse softly, “Believe me when I say I didn’t agree with what
Malachi was doing.”
“Save it, mother. You and father were excited that you would be able to use me
to elevate your status,” said Alec, bitterly.
“Through a respected mate, yes. We never agreed for the Council to just..pass
you around as a favor. By the time your father and I found out that you had
been sent to the Edom campsite as a gift, it was too late to stop it. I’m glad
that Alpha Bane mated with you so that you can get away from here,” said Maryse
with unshed tears in her eyes. She knew what she looked like to her children,
but she only ever wanted the best for them. She would never have agreed to
letting the Council turn her eldest son into a whore.
“If that’s the case, then your wishes have definitely came true. Alec couldn’t
have gotten a more respected mate than Magnus if he tried,” scoffed Raphael.
“Believe what you want, I only wanted to give Alec this,” said Maryse, taking
off a ring that she had been wearing.
Alec gasped, “That’s the Lightwood family ring.”
“Like your mate’s second-in-command said, we can’t provide you with a dowry.
This ring has been passed on through the Lightwood family for generations. I
want you to have it. I know it’s not much, but it’s the only valuable thing we
have,” said Maryse.
“Thank you, mother,” said Alec, trying his best not to cry as he slipped the
ring on his finger, “Our family won’t suffer any repercussions, will it? For me
leaving?”
“Do not worry. Your father spent all night at the Penhallow’s last night trying
to figure out a way to get rid of Malachi. With this turn of events, they will
have no trouble getting him to step down,” said Maryse, “Alpha Bane? If I find
out that you’ve hurt my son in any way, I will find a way to end you.”
“Duly noted,” said Magnus, nodding his head, “If that’s all, we really need to
get going.”
“Good bye, Alec,” said Maryse, pulling Alec into a hug, “Be safe.”
By the time the Edom pack reached the edge of Clave territory, it was late in
the afternoon. They were making preparations to cross a stream into Graymark
lands when Magnus heard the sound of a wolves running towards them. Thinking
that the Clave was attacking them, Magnus shifted into his wolf form, a large
black wolf with piercing yellow eyes. Magnus growled as two wolves raced out of
the forest and stopped in front of him. The alpha male in the front with light
yellow fur and mismatched colored eyes growled back just as fiercely.
“Stop!” exclaimed Alec, wrenching his arm free of Raphael’s grasp and running
to Magnus, “He’s my parabatai.”
“Since when did omegas have fighting partners?” asked Raphael. It wasn’t that
omegas couldn’t fight, because they could. It was just that parabatai were
forbidden from being together and having an omega in the mix complicated
things.
“It’s not like we knew Alec was going to be an omega,” said the blonde, who had
shifted back into human form. The beta wolf behind him shifted to reveal a
beautiful girl with long wavy hair.
Sensing that there was no imminent danger, Magnus too, shifted back. “Can I
presume that these are the siblings you spoke of, my dear?” asked Magnus, still
keeping himself in front of Alec.
“Yes, they’re the ones who helped plan my escape,” replied Alec, “Jace is my
parabatai and Izzy is my sister.”
“Wasn’t much of a plan. More like a shot in the dark combined with a prayer to
the moon,” scoffed Raphael, “As a matter of fact, it was probably the dumbest
thing I’ve ever seen anyone do.”
“Rafa!” exclaimed Magnus, “Don’t speak to my mate like that.”
Rolling his eyes, Raphael said, “I’m just telling him the truth. He needs to
understand that what he did was very stupid.”
“We know it was stupid, but it was the only thing we could do,” said Izzy.
“What would you have done to protect your omega brother?”
“I would have not sent him to the campsite of an unknown alpha,” retorted
Raphael.
“That’s enough, Raphael,” said Magnus, fixing his second-in-command with a
glare, “I’m sure they meant well.”
“We did, not that we have to justify ourselves to you,” said Izzy, “Alec, are
you okay? We couldn’t show up to the meeting this morning without giving
ourselves away and rushed here as soon as we could.”
“I’m okay, Izzy. Really, Magnus has been nothing but kind to me,” said Alec.
Jace snorted and said, “If he’s mistreated you in anyway, tell me, and I will
destroy him.”
“I’d like to see you try, pup,” said Magnus, sounding more amused than
insulted, “Besides, you have nothing to worry about. I haven’t nor will I ever
hurt your brother.”
“You better not. Because if you do, Edom pack leader be damned, I will find a
way to tear you to pieces,” said Izzy.
Magnus laughed at his mate’s sister. While other alphas may have taken the
words as a challenge, he was glad that Alec had someone like his sister to
watch out for him. It was comforting to know that his mate’s entire pack wasn’t
against him.
“What are two doing here? Jace, if Imogen finds out that you came to see me,
she’ll be upset,” said Alec.
“Not much she could do now. Both Malachi and Imogen have been asked to step
down. Jia Penhallow is the new pack leader and your father is her second-in-
command,” said Jace.
“So mother wasn’t lying,” said Alec, “Is that what you came here to tell me?
“No. We came here to warn you about Sebastian. He was furious when he found out
last night that you had been delivered to another alpha, but this morning he
went ballistic when Robert announced that you had mated with Bane,” said Jace,
“He’s sworn that he would take you back.”
“Thank you for the heads up, but I won’t be letting anything happen to him.
Alec is my mate now and will be well protected,” said Magnus, grabbing Alec’s
hands and squeezing it in an attempt to comfort the omega. “Do not fret,
darling. I won’t let that demon spawn anywhere near you.”
“Yeah, Alec. Now that the council is out of the way, we can focus on getting
rid of Sebastian,” said Izzy.
“We?” asked Magnus, “You want to join my pack?”
“Yes,” said Jace, “I won’t stay with a pack that was willing to sacrifice my
brother. I don’t care if there is new leadership. I go where my parabatai
goes.”
“And you think Magnus is going to let another alpha with that much devotion to
his omega join his pack?” scoffed Raphael.
Alec laughed, causing the group to stare at him, “Magnus has nothing to worry
about. Jace is obsessed with courting a beta girl from the Graymark pack. And
besides, Jace and I are brothers in all but blood.”
Magnus looked thoughtful for a second before agreeing to let his mate’s
siblings join his pack. It wasn’t like he had an actual choice. He knew if he
refused, Alec would resent him. In the short amount of time that Magnus has
known Alec, the alpha could tell that the omega treasured his relationship with
his siblings.
“If you boys have finished with your alpha pissing match, we should get out of
here. Sebastian could be right behind us,” said Izzy.
“Agreed,” said Jace, “This creek isn’t exactly defensible.”
Magnus nodded his head and said, “Come on then, we should get to the Spiral
Labyrinth. He won’t be able to get in no matter how hard he tries.”
***** Chapter 3 *****
Chapter Notes
     I'm loving this summer. I have so much time to write!! I really hope
     you like this chapter.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
By the time the group reached the entrance to the Spiral Labyrinth, it was just
past nightfall. Alec looked up at sky-high stonewalls that seemed to wrap
around acres of land completely mesmerized. The entrance, however, was a simple
archway with no guards.
Seeing Alec’s questioning look, Magnus said, “There is no need for guards.
These walls stretch across the entire southern border of my lands. Nobody can
get to the rest of my territories without being guided through the labyrinth
and only a select few knows the correct path. The result of decades of paranoid
Banes. Trust me, wolves better than Morgenstern have tried and they have all
ended up dying inside.”
“You mentioned earlier that we were staying in the labyrinth for the night. It
doesn’t exactly look like an ideal place for setting up camp,” said Jace
skeptically, observing that the path inside the labyrinth was extremely narrow.
“That’s because we’re not sleeping in tents tonight,” replied Magnus, grinning
widely, “Follow me.”
Alec followed behind Magnus as his alpha began leading them through a winding
path. Every turn looked the same to Alec and after nearly an hour of walking,
the omega was starting to wonder if his mate was lost. As Alec was debating
whether he should ask, he looked up and saw a tower. The double doors opened
just as the group approached the daunting tower.
“Dot!” exclaimed Magnus, “It’s good to see you.”
“You have perfect timing, old friend. I just finished preparing dinner,” said
Dot, ushering the group into the tower.
“Actually, why don’t you and Raphael show everyone to their rooms so that they
can get some rest? We can all eat in our rooms and meet for breakfast tomorrow
morning,” said Magnus. When his friends and mate’s siblings began heading to
the guest rooms, Magnus led Alec to his room at the top of the tower.
“There should be some fresh nightclothes in the wardrobe and you can change
behind the partition while I change on this side,” said Magnus, pointing to the
side of the room.
When Alec was done, he nervously stepped away from the partition, looking
around the room, his eyes settling on the bed. The alpha sighed and walked over
to sit in one of the armchairs, motioning for Alec to take the other one.
“Now seems as good a time as any to have that talk I promised you,” said
Magnus, “Alexander, I know that you don’t know me. But you have nothing to fear
from me. I promised you that I wouldn’t touch you until you were ready, and I
will keep my word. We may have done thing slightly out of order, but we are
going to take our time getting to know each other first.”
“We don’t have time. I haven’t had a heat since I presented and according to
the pack physician, I’ll have it sometime within the next few weeks,” said
Alec, sounding almost resigned to his fate.
“Alexander, I already told you that I do not think with my knot. I am perfectly
capable of resisting an omega in heat. If need be, I can put you in a secluded
part of the manor during your heat. And I can station beta guards at your door
to insure that nobody, including myself, can get in. Maybe your sister won’t
mind staying with you?”
Alec stared at Magnus, eyes wide. He hadn’t imagined that Magnus would go so
far to accommodate him. “Thank you.”
“It’s not a problem, darling. I know you and your siblings chose me as the
lesser of all the evils, but I promise you, I am not a monster. Now, if you are
uncomfortable sharing a bed with me tonight, I can have Elias prepare a
separate room for you. Or rather I’ll sleep in a separate room and you can have
this one. I want you in this room as it’s the hardest to get to.”
“It’s not necessary,” mumbled Alec. Magnus had been going out of his way to be
considerate and Alec had no reason not to trust the alpha. After all, if Magnus
had wanted to take advantage of him, he would’ve done so the previous night. It
didn’t seem right to inconvenient the alpha any more than he already had. “And
I know you’re not a monster. I’m just…scared.”
“Frankly, I’d be worried for you if you weren’t. You’ve had a rough couple
months,” said Magnus. At that moment, a knock on the door interrupted their
conversation. “Come in!” Dot walked in with a tray filled with various kinds of
food. Placing the tray on the table between the mated pair, Dot quickly excused
herself to give the two privacy.
Seeing that Alec wasn’t going to start eating on his own, Magnus picked up
Alec’s plate and began filling it with a piece of meat pie, cheese, a large
slice of bread, and pieces of fruit.
Alec was nearly salivating when Magnus handed him the plate. Even when his pack
hadn’t been rationing food, they never ate like this. The Clave pack wasn’t
exactly poor, but they had never been anywhere near as wealthy as the Edom
pack. The omega took a bite of the meat pie and had to stop himself from
moaning at how delicious the pastry tasted.
Magnus chuckled as he watched Alec devour his food and said, “Take your time,
there’s plenty more.”
Alec stopped eating and mumbled, “Sorry.”
“Oh don’t apologize, silly omega. I know your pack has had limited resources in
the past few months. Dot for one will like how much you seem to be enjoying her
food,” said Magnus, “Do continue, you look far too thin.”
“Is there anything else you’d like to ask me about?” asked Magnus.
“What’s going to happen when we get back to your home?” asked Alec, “I know you
didn’t plan on bringing anyone back with you.”
“I’ll make an announcement to the entire pack that I’ve taken a mate. I imagine
Ragnor, my advisor, will want to make a huge deal and try to plan an official
bonding ceremony for us. I’ll tell him to hold off on it as I don’t want to
overwhelm you,” replied Magnus, “As for your siblings, it’s up to them. We are
a self-sustaining pack for the most part so there were will be plenty of work
opportunities for them. The estate could always use a blacksmith or stone mason
if your brother is interested. And I know that the pack physician is looking
for an assistant if that’s something your sister might consider. Or she could
help out in the kitchens. ”
“No!” exclaimed Alec, startling Magnus, “Sorry, it’s just, you don’t want Izzy
anywhere near your kitchens. She poisoned half the pack once with her
porridge.”
“Oh my, I will keep that in mind then,” said Magnus, “Anything I should know
about your brother?”
“Uh he had just been promoted in the pack’s army when I presented. He was to
lead his own team. Do you think he could maybe join your army? I feel like I
caused him to lose all of his hard work,” said Alec, “But I understand if you
don’t want an outsider among your troops.”
“He’s your brother, not an outsider. I generally leave those decisions to
Raphael, but if your brother is as capable as he sounds, it shouldn’t be a
problem,” replied Magnus. Raphael was probably going to kill him for this but
who was he to say no to his mate? He’d make it up to his second somehow. “And
what about you?”
“Me?” asked Alec, confused.
“Would you like to continue training with your brother?” asked Magnus.
“Oh, I assumed I would be helping around your house,” replied Alec. It wasn’t
that Alec wanted to, it was just what his pack had told him was expected of
him. His alpha would provide for and protect him while he stayed home with the
pups. Personally, Alec thought the entire notion was stupid. He could fight
just as well as any alpha.
“I have staff for that, my dear,” said Magnus gently, “Just because you’re my
omega doesn’t mean I expect you to stay locked up inside the house. I mean, as
my omega, you’ll still technically run the household, but if you wish to
continue training with your brother, I won’t stop you. What weapon did you
favor?”
“Bow and arrow,” said Alec, grinning.
“Then that’s settled. While I’m in pack meetings and such, you can train and
spar with Raphael’s team,” said Magnus.
“Thank you, Magnus. For everything,” said Alec.
“It’s my pleasure. Now, I think it’s time to turn in. We have at least two more
days of traveling and should take advantage of the soft bed while we can,” said
Magnus, picking up the candle and blowing it out.
***
Two days after the pack left the labyrinths, they finally reached Magnus’
estate. Walking past the village, Magnus took the Lightwood siblings to his
manor. When they stepped inside, Magnus was greeted by a stern looking man.
“I apologize Alexander, Ragnor’s not going to let up until we speak. Elias,
take my mate and his siblings to their new rooms. I will come find you when I’m
done, darling,” said Magnus, giving his mate an apologetic smile.
Magnus walked in silence to his office, purposely ignoring his advisor. When he
shut the door, he said, “Go ahead, lecture me.”
“Have you done something to warrant a lecture?” asked Ragnor.
“I know Raphael sent you a message when we were at the Labyrinth. You know
about Alexander,” said Magnus.
“I do. And I think you did the right thing. You couldn’t just leave the poor
boy to his fate,” said Ragnor. He then smirked and said, “And I’ve been trying
to convince you to take a mate for years. Why would I complain about you doing
the right thing for once?”
Magnus shook his head and said, “I should’ve known that’s what you would focus
on.”
“Your father would be proud of what you did,” said Ragnor.
“Of me infuriating another clan or stealing an omega from under the nose of a
Morgenstern?” asked Magnus, smiling.
“Knowing Asmodeus, probably both,” replied Ragnor.
***
“The bedrooms in this hallway are all empty, feel free to pick the one you
like,” said Elias, looking at Izzy and Jace. Turning to Alec, he said,
“Consort, Magnus’ bedroom is in the west wing. If you follow that hallway over
there, you will see a set of stairs after you pass the kitchens and the dining
room. Go up the stairs and it will be the first door to your right. I’ll leave
you to get settled in.” The beta bowed his head slightly before walking away,
leaving the Lightwood siblings alone.
Izzy and Jace looked at each other before darting down the hallway, poking
their heads into each bedroom, trying to find the “better” room. “I want this
one!” exclaimed Izzy, pushing Jace out of the way.
“Hey! I found it first,” said Jace, as he attempted to pull Izzy out of the
room.
“Yes well, I’m a lady. You should be a gentleman and let me have this one,”
said Izzy, making a point to stand with perfect posture.
Jace snorted, “Says the one who lectured the Clave elders when they tried to
stop you from training with us.”
Alec shook his head at his siblings’ antics, “Jace, just let her have it.
Remember the last time you tried to take something from her? How long did it
take for your hair to grow back again?”
Jace shuddered and agreed reluctantly. “Fine, I’ll take the one across the
hall.”
“Good choice. Now, let’s go see Magnus’ room. If these are anything to go buy,
I bet it will be huge,” said Izzy.
“I’ll walk with the two of you to the door. I don’t think Magnus will like the
idea of another alpha in his bedroom, sibling or not,” said Jace. He had seen
the untrusting looks the older alpha had been giving him. The only reason he
let Jace stay was because of Alec and Jace didn’t want to do anything to
jeopardize his brother’s relationship with his mate.
As the three walked pass the kitchen, they heard a plate shatter followed by
what sounded like a slap. Curious, Alec walked into the kitchen and saw a young
girl, not much older than his own little brother, Max, crying on the ground.
Alec rushed over and attempted to help the girl to her feet. Focused on helping
the crying girl, Alec had failed to notice the woman standing over the crying
girl until said woman grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?” hissed the blonde woman, “Get out of my way. This little
idiot just dropped one of my plates.”
“So you slapped her?” asked Alec, horrified. Was this how Magnus ran his
household? The alpha had seemed so casual with the members of his pack. He
couldn’t imaging the gentle man being upset with something so trivial.
“It’s the third one this month. I can’t have my kitchen staffed with imbeciles.
And who are you to question me?” asked the woman as she gave Alec a once over.
“Your kitchen? Isn’t this Bane’s kitchen?” asked Izzy, unimpressed with the
other woman, “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Camille. I should be the one asking you what you’re doing in my house,”
snarled Camille, “I wasn’t aware we had taken in any rogue or visiting wolves.”
The girl on the ground picked herself up off the ground and said softly, “Thank
you for trying to help me. But most of my family works here and we can’t afford
to anger the person Alpha Bane lets run his household.”
Alec shared a look with his siblings. Magnus hadn’t mentioned having anyone
back home when he agreed to bite Alec and that would be the only reason for
letting someone run an alpha’s household. Was the alpha planning on keeping two
mates? It was rare, but not taboo to have two mates. If so, what position did
that put Alec in? Taking a deep breath and deciding to go with his gut, Alec
said, “Yes well, I actually am his mate and I won’t let you get kicked out for
dropping a plate.” The kitchen staff around him immediately began whispering
and pointing at his mating bite.
Camille stared at the omega, fists clenched, and said, “Lies. Magnus wouldn’t
do that to me.”
“Are you blind or is your nose broken? Can you not see the mating bite on my
brother’s neck? Can you not smell Magnus all over him?” asked Izzy.
Blinded by rage, Camille lunged at Alec before anyone could react, causing the
two of them to crash to the ground. Having had the element of surprise, Camille
managed to slap Alec before he was able to throw her off of him. Jace and Izzy
immediately went to their brother, ready to fight their way out if necessary.
“What is going on here?” roared Magnus as he walked into the kitchen, followed
by Raphael and Ragnor.
 
 
Chapter End Notes
     Don't forget to leave a comment! =)
***** Chapter 4 *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
“You’ll need to make an announcement at the pack run next week. And of course
we’ll have to plan an official bonding ceremony.  Tessa and I will work on
inviting all of our allies to come witness this momentous occasion,” said
Ragnor.
Shaking his head, Magnus said, “I’ll make the announcement, but I don’t want to
do the ceremony yet. I promised Alexander time to adjust and a ceremony would
just overwhelm him. His heat is also due to start anytime in the next few
weeks.”
“Fine,” sighed Ragnor, “But don’t think you’re getting away with it entirely.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, my little cabbage. I just need time for Alexander and I
to get to know each other. Call it courting if you will,” said Magnus.
“Isn’t that a little out of order? Considering the fact that you’re already
mated?” asked Ragnor.
“I gave him my bite, yes. But we haven’t actually had sex, so I want to take
things at his pace,” said Magnus.
“You’re such a romantic,” teased Ragnor.
“You think this is bad? You should have seen him when we were traveling back,”
said Raphael, walking into the room.
“My own advisors are conspiring against me,” said Magnus dramatically,
“Raphael, did you send the message to Luke for me?”
“I did. Though I still don’t get why I needed to. We have carpenters and
weaponsmiths here. I’m sure they could make a perfectly fine bow.”
“Wait, why are you sending Luke a message about weapon making?” asked Ragnor.
“Alexander’s weapon of choice is a bow. He left everything behind when he made
the decision to ask me for help, so I wanted to get him a new one,” replied
Magnus.
“Which brings me back to my original question, why do you need Luke to make
it?” asked Raphael.
“Luke’s carpentry skills are unparalleled and I want to get Alexander the
best,” said Magnus, “I don’t want my courting gift to be subpar.”
“Well it’s not like he could change his mind after he already accepted your
bite,” said Raphael.
“Yes, but I don’t want him to regret his decision. I want to show him that he
means something to me. Now if you’re done interrogating me, we should go find
my mate,” said Magnus.
The three walked down the stairs, heading to the guest wing where the Lightwood
siblings presumably would be. As they approached the kitchens, they heard
things breaking and the sound of furniture being moved. When he reached the
doorway, Magnus saw Camille pinning Alec to the ground. Before he could react,
Alec had thrown the blonde off of him.
“What is going on here?” roared Magnus, as he walked into the kitchen, followed
by Raphael and Ragnor.
Magnus immediately ran to Alec to check for injuries and saw that his mate was
now sporting a set of scratch marks on his face, presumably from Camille’s
nails, “Darling, are you alright? Does it hurt? What happened?”
“Of course he’s not alright. This crazy bitch just attacked him!” exclaimed
Izzy.
“I did not!” cried Camille, attempting to give Magnus an innocent smile.
“Do not lie to me, Camille,” cautioned Magnus, “I saw you pinning Alexander to
the ground when I walked in.”
“I was defending myself,” stammered Camille.
“Alec didn’t touch you. You’re the one who attacked Alec without provocation,”
said Jace.
“Camille, is that true?” asked Magnus, glaring at the blonde woman.
“He was spreading lies. Saying that he’s your mate,” replied Camille, “I was
just setting him straight.”
“He is my mate and you had no right to attack him,” snarled Magnus, looking
like he wanted to throttle the woman.
“But..but, I’m supposed to be your mate!” screeched Camille.
“What are you talking about? You’re like a sister to me!” said Magnus.
“No, you’ve been treating me like your intended mate for years. I run your
staff for you. I deal with the day to day matters in the manor for you.
Everyone knows that I’m your intended. How dare you embarrass me by bringing
home this whore,” said Camille.
“Camille!” gasped Magnus, “What is wrong with you today? You’re not usually
like this.”
“Yes, she is,” said Raphael, “She’s just very good at looking good in front of
you.”
The kitchen staff all nodded their heads, agreeing with Raphael. Magnus looked
at the woman he considered family as if seeing her for the first time. He had
heard rumors about Camille’s attitude, but had always thought it was because
she was misunderstood. Asmodeus had brought Camille into the manor several
years before his untimely death. Camille’s parents had been killed during a
hunting expedition and had no where to go. When Asmodeus was murdered and
Magnus had had to take over as alpha, Camille had supported him through it all.
So when she began offering to help with running the manor, he had assumed she
was doing it out of sibling affection. Now, it was looking like Camille had
planned everything and had been encouraging the idea that she was his intended
mate.
Knowing that he couldn’t let this go, Magnus said, “Raphael, please escort
Camille to her room. I’ll deal with her later.”
Smirking, Raphael roughly grabbed Camille by the shoulder and dragged her out
of the kitchen despite her protest.
“Alexander, I am very sorry about this. Camille was essentially adopted by my
father after her parents died. She has been and always will be just a sister to
me. I don’t know where she got the idea of me wanting her as my mate from, but
I assure you it wasn’t from me,” said Magnus.
“Well, it was kind of from you,” said Ragnor.
“Ragnor!” scolded Magnus, “I did no such thing.”
“You enabled her. I told you it was a bad idea to give her so much control over
your affairs, but you insisted that she was just being a good sister. Raphael
warned you that she was being cruel to the staff and you blamed your father’s
spoiling of her. Face it, you never heard any of the negative things we told
you about her. Why do you think Raphael and I were pushing so hard for you to
take a mate?” asked Ragnor.
“She’s my last connection to my father,” replied Magnus. “I guess I didn’t want
to see what was in front of me.”
“Well your stubbornness caused my brother to get attacked!” exclaimed Izzy.
“You don’t know how sorry I am about that, Isabelle,” said Magnus.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know she was going to slap me. It’s just a scratch,”
said Alec.
“Alec! You shouldn’t just let it go like that,” said Jace.
“Really, Jace, it’s fine. It was just a misunderstanding. I don’t want to cause
any trouble,” said Alec, trying to gesture to his siblings to let it go.
“No, it’s not fine, but we can talk about that later. Right now I want to get
you to the pack physician and have her take a look at that scratch,” said
Magnus.
“I don’t need to see a physician over a scratch! I’m not that fragile,” said
Alec.
“Humor me, Alexander. I was actually coming to find you so that I could bring
you to her anyways. I want Cat to take a look at your mating bite and make sure
it’s healing properly,” said Magnus.
“Fine,” said Alec grudgingly.
***
Alec sat on what was now his bed, contemplating the events that had happened.
After seeing the pack physician, Magnus had once again been called away on pack
business. The alpha had suggested that he return to their rooms to get cleaned
up. They had travelled for days and after his altercation with Camille in the
kitchen, Alec needed a bath and a fresh change of clothes. A soft knock started
Alec from his thoughts.
“Come in!” said Alec.
A young beta wolf walked into the room with a tray of food and said, “Consort,
Magnus wanted me to tell you that he’ll be busy for a while longer and asked
for supper to be brought to you.”
“Oh, uh, thank you. You can put it on the table,” said Alec.
“Is there anything else you need, consort?” asked the girl.
“No, that’s all. Thank you…uh what’s your name?” asked Alec.
“Maureen. If that’s all, I’ll leave you to your supper,” said Maureen.
***
“I hope you have a good reason for calling me away from my mate. I was about to
have supper with him,” said Magnus.
“You can eat later. Camille’s missing,” said Raphael.
“What do you mean Camille is missing?” asked Magnus.
“I locked her in her room like you told me to and stationed a guard in front of
the door. When I returned to check on her, Alexei was dead and Camille was
gone. We’ve searched the entire manor, she’s not here,” said Raphael.
“First she attacks Alexander and now this. I can’t believe I didn’t see her for
who she was before,” said Magnus, shaking his head. He had trusted Camille and
loved the woman like a sister. It hurt to find out the type of wolf she
actually was.
“I’ve already ordered for all the villages to be searched. We need to find her
before anyone else gets hurt,” said Ragnor.
“She’s already gotten away. You really think she’s going to hurt anyone else?”
asked Magnus.
“Not just anyone, no. That’s not Camille’s style. While you’ve been blinded by
her act, I’ve gotten to know her pretty well. I’m pretty sure she’s going to go
after your mate. She’s spent the last decade convincing herself and the pack
that you would take her as your mate. Now that Alec has destroyed that dream,
there’s no telling what she will do,” said Raphael.
As much as Magnus wanted to deny it, he knew it was true. Camille had been
spoiled from the moment Asmodeus had taken her in. Magnus had never seen any
harm in her behavior, partially because he was blinded by his affection for
someone he considered a sister, but now that there was a chance his mate could
be harmed, he had to acknowledge it.
“Come, let’s go speak with Alexander. I want you to assign a couple guards to
him and I think it will help coming from you. Alexander doesn’t like accepting
help or protection,” said Magnus.
***
Alec had just started drinking a bowl of broth when Magnus walked in with
Raphael. Seeing the look on his alpha’s face, Alec asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Camille escaped. And she killed a guard to do it,” said Magnus.
Alec gasped. “Why? I mean, you had her locked in her room, but she’s your
adopted sister. You would have let her out eventually. Why do something like
this?”
“Because Camille is an impatient person and she no longer has to act like a
good person thanks to you. She put up an act to try to become Magnus’ mate, but
now that you’re here, she can’t have what she wants. So she can act without
consequence now. We actually came up here to tell — Magnus, I thought you said
you hadn’t had a chance to eat supper,” said Raphael, looking at the tray of
food with a frown.
“We didn’t. Alexander, where did you get that tray from?” asked Magnus.
“The girl said you sent it because you were busy,” said Alec, confused.
“I didn’t send you any food or messages. Who was the girl?” demanded Magnus as
he picked up the tray to inspect.
“I think she said her name was Maureen,” replied Alec shakily. He was starting
to feel dizzy and couldn’t stand properly.
“That’s Camille’s handmaiden,” said Raphael, “Magnus, she must have done
something to the food.”
Magnus picked up the bowl of broth and froze. “Wolfsbane,” said Magnus, panic
clear in his tone.
“Magnus, you need to get him to Catarina now!” exclaimed Raphael.
“Do not worry, Alexander. Catarina will fix this,” said Magnus. Seeing that
Alec was struggling to keep upright, Magnus picked his omega up bridal style
and sprinted towards the infirmary.
“Cat!” screamed Magnus, “Alexander has been poisoned with wolfsbane. Do
something!”
“Put him on the bed sitting up and fetch a bowl,” said Catarina as she ran to
her medicine cabinet. Taking out a handful of bayberry root, she immediately
began crushing them in a mortar. After adding water to the root powder,
Catarina poured the mixture down Alec’s throat, “Keep him sitting up right
while I hold the bowl. He’s going to start throwing up soon.”
As if on cue, Alec began retching and vomiting. Magnus placed a soothing hand
on Alec’s back, attempting to comfort his omega. After what seemed like hours,
but was likely only minutes, an exhausted Alec fell backwards into Magnus’
arms.
Setting aside the bowl, Cat got up from the bed and said, “Try to keep him
sitting up while I go prepare the antidote.”
“Will he be okay?” asked Magnus.
“Only time will tell, but I’m hopeful. You got him here minutes after he
ingested the poison and we were able to get him to throw most of it up. It
helps that he only had a few sips of the soup. And the antidote we’ve been
working on since Asmodeus’ death should neutralize the rest of the poison,”
said Cat. She then turned around and began preparing the antidote. As she was
boiling the water for the tea, Jace and Izzy ran into the room with Raphael
trailing behind them.
“Alec!” exclaimed Izzy, running to her brother.
Seeing his parabatai in such a condition angered Jace. “You promised that you
would protect him.”
“I know my words don’t mean anything right now. But believe me when I say I’m
sorry. If I could switch places with him, I would,” said Magnus.
“Jace, we can argue with him about this later. Alec doesn’t need this right
now,” said Izzy.
“You’re right. How is he?” asked Jace.
“We got him to throw up most of the food he ate and Cat is preparing an
antidote,” replied Magnus.
“Antidote? I wasn’t aware there was an antidote to Wolfsbane. I thought you had
to fight it off on your own,” said Izzy.
“Normally, yes. But Cat and Ragnor have been researching an antidote since my
father’s demise. They discovered that mulberry leaves boiled in vinegar can
neutralize wolfsbane,” said Magnus.
Caterina returned shortly later with the tea and handed it to Magnus. After
Magnus managed to coax Alec to drink the antidote, the omega fell into a fitful
sleep. Magnus then gently slid Alec onto the bed and moved to sit next to him,
all the while still holding his hand.
***
One Week Later
“Alexander, I really think you should stay and rest some more,” said Magnus.
The alpha had spent all day trying to convince his omega not to attend the pack
run that night. While Alec had recovered spectacularly well from the poison, he
was still a bit weak.
“Magnus, I thought you said you wouldn’t try to control me,” said Alec.
“You know that’s not what this is,” said Magnus.
“I know. But, you’re starting to get a bit overbearing. I appreciate you taking
care of me for the past week, but I’m fine now. Catarina released me from her
care several days ago and she agreed that fresh air would do me some good,”
said Alec.
“Fine,” said Magnus dramatically, “But you get to tell your siblings you’re
planning on running around in a forest a week after being poisoned. Blondie is
definitely not going to like it. Catarina had to kick him out of her infirmary
nearly as many times as she did to me.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. They’re almost worst than you! And since when did the
two of you become friends? I know you didn’t say it in so many words, but I
thought you didn’t want him around me. How did the two of you end up taking
shifts to guard my bedside?”
“Well, I tried to keep him away, but when he started reciting your parabatai
oath, I gave up,” said Magnus, recalling the conversation.
“Go back to bed, Herondale. I will take care of Alec myself,” said Magnus.
“I’m not leaving my brother when he’s fighting for his life,” said Jace.
“It’s late, and you’ve been here all day. Even Isabelle has returned to her
chambers,” said Magnus.
“Only because she’s tired from spending the whole day in the kitchen trying to
cook for Alec,” said Jace.
“Wait, I thought Alexander said she was a really bad cook,” said Magnus.
“She is. Luckily, your staff refused to serve any of the food she made. Or we
would all be poisoned,” said Jace.
“Thank goodness for small favors,” said Magnus, “You should still go get some
rest. You’ve been here all day.”
“So have you! We both have, because we want to protect Alec. And frankly, this
would be a lot more efficient if only one of us was here. That way, we’re not
both exhausted all the time,” said Jace.
“You want me to leave my sick omega with another alpha, alone?” asked Magnus.
“It’s not like that, and you know it. We’re parabatai. ‘Entreat me not to leave
thee…For whiter thou goest, I will go, And where though lodgest, I will lodge.’
Alec has always been my brother and always will be. I will protect him until my
dying breath. You have nothing to worry about in terms of my relationship with
Alec,” said Jace.
“I’m glad you’re getting along. I was really worried that you would —”
“That I would force you to pick between the two of us? I wouldn’t have done
that even if I didn’t particularly trust him.”
“At any rate, I’m glad you worked things out with him. Now stop changing the
topic and tell me more about the run that I will be attending tonight.”
***
“Before we start our pack run, I’d like to make a few quick announcement. As
I’m sure many of you have heard by now, I have taken a mate. Alexander is an
omega from the Clave pack. This goes without saying, but I expect each and
every one of you to treat Alexander with the same respect that you show me. I
will not tolerate any disrespect or harm aimed at him. Which leads me into my
second announcement. Camille Belcourt is hereby banished from the Edom pack for
the murder of a guard and the attempted murder of my consort. She has escaped
and deemed to be very dangerous. If anybody has information on where she is
hiding, I expect to be notified immediately. Now, let’s begin!” said Magnus.
The crowd gathered around Magnus began to disperse and head towards the forest.
As people around him began to shift, Magnus turned to look at his omega and
said, “I know it’s useless to try to convince you to not go, so I want you to
promise to stick close to me. Raphael has insured that the forest is safe, but
Camille is still lurking free.”
“Fine. But only this time,” said Alec, before shifting into a white wolf with
deep blue eyes and making his way into the forrest.
Chapter End Notes
     The Graymark Pack will be showing up next chapter. Let me know if you
     prefer Sizzy or Saphael.
***** Chapter 5 *****
Chapter Notes
     Wow, thank you so much for all the comments. I'm overwhelmed with all
     the positive feedback. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I loved writing
     the Malec moments.
     P.S. I haven't quite decided if I want to go with Saphael or Sizzy
     yet, but I've read each of your comments. I didn't expect such a
     split. I'm going to keep writing and just see where it takes me. (For
     those of you that asked for Rizzy, sorry, I probably won't be doing
     that. As much as I like the show and can appreciate the direction it
     went with Rizzy, I can't actually see the two of them getting
     together.)
     To address another concern, fear not, Malec will continue to be the
     main plot and any other ships will pale in comparison. =)
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Alec trotted after Magnus as his alpha led him along a creek, finally stopping
when they reached a small waterfall. Alec’s breath caught when he saw the
moonlight shine on the cascade of water, which in turn caused the rocks to
glisten. Seeing Magnus shift, Alec followed suit, all the while admiring the
scenic view.
“It’s beautiful,” said Alec.
“My parents used to take me here during pack runs. They would lay over by the
trees while I played in the creek. See those flat rocks over there that
resemble steps? I used to climb up those rocks to get to the top of the
waterfall whenever my mother wasn’t paying attention. The view is amazing up
there. She would get so upset with me when I came back soaking wet,” said
Magnus, “I’ve never taken anyone here before. It never felt right bringing
anyone else here because it was a special place for my parents. I thought maybe
you’d enjoy it.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me,” whispered Alec.
“Of course, darling,” said Magnus, as he made his way to his parents’ favorite
tree. He turned back around when he heard a light splash. The alpha’s heart
almost stopped when he saw his omega climbing the first boulder near the
waterfall. “Alexander!”
Looking innocently at him, Alec said, “Come on, Magnus. You can’t tell me you
climbed to the top and expect me not to!”
“Absolutely not!” exclaimed Magnus, running towards the waterfall.
“Don’t worry, I used to do stuff like this all the time with Jace,” said Alec,
as he hoisted himself onto the second rock.
Magnus climbed up the rock and immediately grabbed Alec around the waist,
keeping the omega close to him.  “Alexander, this is too dangerous.”
“Because I’m an omega?” asked Alec, clearly unimpressed with Magnus.
“No, darling. Because you were poisoned with one of the deadliest herbs ever
discovered. Just yesterday you were telling Cat you still had dizzy spells,”
replied Magnus.
“It was just a minor one and I haven’t had any today,” said Alec.
“And the first day of being symptom free after being poisoned is not the time
to be climbing slippery rocks. Please, Alexander. Give it a few more days. I
promise not to stop you next time we’re here,” said Magnus, jumping off the
rock and extending a hand to Alec.
“Fine. But for the record, I would have been fine. Jace and I used to climb the
cliffs behind Idris Forest all the time,” said Alec, taking Magnus’ hand and
stepping off the rock.
“How comforting,” said Magnus sarcastically, “Perhaps you shouldn’t tell me
about your shenanigans with your parabatai. I’d hate to have to regret taking
in another Herondale.”
“Another Herondale?” asked Alec.
“I meant to tell you earlier, but with everything that happened, it slipped my
mind. One of Tessa’s mates, Will, is a Herondale. Imogen’s youngest son
actually. He and his parabatai, Jem, fell in love and had to run away from the
Clave for fear of what would happen to them. They sought refuge here a year
after I became alpha. They fell in love with Tessa and the three of them have
been together ever since,” said Magnus.
“They ran away? Imogen thought they had been killed by wild animals,” said
Alec. He knew Jace would be happy for his uncle. Alec didn’t remember Will, but
knew that Jace had missed his uncle when said alpha had disappeared with his
beta parabatai in the middle of a hunting mission nearly a decade ago.
“That was sort of the point. Anyways, I’m telling you this for another reason.
Jem is a beta and is going to be your bodyguard,” said Magnus.
“Bodyguard? I don’t need a body guard!” exclaimed Alec.
“Says the one who was poisoned a week ago,” said Magnus.
“I don’t see how a bodyguard would’ve prevented that. Or is he going to be
taste testing my food too?” asked Alec.
“No, but he would’ve recognized Maureen,” said Magnus, pulling Alec into his
arms.
“Magnus, you promised you wouldn’t be like the alphas the Clave was trying to
sell me to. Yet you want to have one of your men follow me around,” said Alec,
breaking free from Magnus’ embrace.
Magnus sighed, “Alexander, I’m not anything like the alphas your pack wanted to
sell you to. Jem’s job will be to protect you, not spy on you. He will only
report to me in regards to your safety. I won’t ever dictate how you wish to
live your life, darling. But I also won’t budge when it comes to your safety or
health.”
Alec knew he was being slightly unreasonable. Magnus had been incredibly
generous so far and if Alec was honest with himself, he knew he was lucky. No
other alpha would’ve given him this much freedom. Most other alphas would have
filled him with a pup already. And Magnus was the only alpha that would allow
him to not only stay in contact with his alpha parabatai, but also invite said
parabatai to live with them.
“I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself. I was the Clave’s best marksman
before I presented,” said Alec stubbornly, still not quite willing to relent.
“I know. And this has nothing to do with your status as an omega. With both
Sebastian and Camille coming after you, I would feel better knowing there’s
someone to protect you at times that I’m not around. I would insist on this
even if you were a beta,” said Magnus.
Seeing Magnus’ reasoning and knowing that the alpha wouldn’t change his mind,
Alec grudgingly nodded his head. Magnus smiled and pulled the omega back into
his arms.
“Sorry about what I said. I know you’re nothing like those alphas. I just don’t
like the thought of being followed around,” mumbled Alec.
“It’s okay, darling. We have a ways to go before you can trust me,” said
Magnus.
“That’s the thing, I do trust you! I’m just having a hard time with all of
this,” said Alec.
“You can have all the time you need, Alexander. I told you that we would go at
your pace,” said Magnus as he sat down with his back against a large tree.
“Thank you,” said Alec, sitting down next to Magnus.
Alec woke up the next morning with his head resting on Magnus’ shoulder and
said alpha’s arm wrapped tightly around his waist. Blushing, Alec slowly
started moving Magnus’ arm off of him. Just as he thought he had succeeded in
moving his mate without waking the other man, Magnus slowly opened his eyes.
“I’m never going to sleep pass the crack of dawn again am I?” asked Magnus,
grinning at his mate to show that he was only jesting.
“Sorry, I’ve always been an early riser,” replied Alec, still afraid that he
would accidentally offend Magnus.
“It’s okay, we should probably get up and meet with the rest of the pack
anyways. Besides, Ragnor is going to love this. He’s always harping about me
oversleeping and being late to meetings,” said Magnus, getting up and
stretching before offering a hand to his omega.
The mated pair shifted and made their way back to the town square. When they
arrived, a handful of wolves had already made it back before them. Shifting
back into human form, they sat down to wait for the rest of the pack to return.
While they were waiting, a voice yelled out Magnus’ name. Looking around, Alec
recognized the owner of the voice as Luke Graymark, alpha leader of the
Graymark pack. He was trailed by his second-in-command, his stepdaughter, and
her friend. Alec had become familiar with the Graymark pack after Jace set his
sights on Luke’s stepdaughter, Clary. 
“Luke!” exclaimed Magnus, getting up to greet his friend and ally, “I didn’t
know you were arriving today.”
“With all the confusion, Dot probably forgot to send you a message,” said Luke.
“Confusion?” asked Magnus, frowning.
“After I got your message about Camille betraying you, I thought it better to
travel with just me and Maia. One of Dot’s men guided us to her tower and we
stayed the night. As Dot was leading us out of the labyrinths the next morning,
I realized that these two idiots had attempted to follow me into the maze.
Luckily, Dot was able to locate them,” said Luke.
“Biscuit! You know better than that. You and Stuart could’ve died in there,”
scolded Magnus.
“But we wanted to see you!” whined Clary.
“Clary, we both know you only wanted to come because you heard that the
Herondale boy had joined Magnus’ pack. And you dragged poor Simon with you,”
said Luke.
“Wait. You’re the girl that blondie is obsessed with? Should I be offended that
you didn’t risk your life to come see me?” asked Magnus, grinning.
“Magnus!” said Clary, pouting.
“Does that pout actually work on anyone besides Jace?” asked Alec.
“Alec! Still grumpy as ever, I see,” said Simon.
“Probably more so now that the two of you are here,” said Izzy, as she and Jace
walked towards the group.
Jace ran towards Clary and pulled the beta into a hug. When Luke cleared his
throat, Jace quickly let go and took a few steps back. He couldn’t risk
offending the other alpha, he was still in the process of courting the man’s
daughter.
“Magnus, I didn’t know you were on such good terms with Luke’s pack,” said
Jace, uncharacteristically nervous.
“I’ve known Magnus for years. When I took over the Brocelind pack, he was the
one who helped me find my way. I don't think our pack would've survived our
first winter if Magnus hadn't lent us a hand,” said Luke.
“Is that not awkward?” asked Izzy, voicing the question she knew both her
brothers were wondering about. Everyone knew that Jocelyn had been Valentine’s
wife and that Clary was Valentine’s daughter. How could Magnus be so friendly
to the daughter of the man who killed his father? And what about Sebastian?
“Magnus doesn’t hold what Valentine did against me or my mother,” said Clary
hotly.
“Of course not, biscuit. I would never harm you or your mother,” said Magnus.
After a thoughtful moment, he continued, “Your brother on the hand, I will be
killing on sight.”
“Magnus!” exclaimed Luke.
“You told me once that Jocelyn took Clary and left her son behind because she
thought he was too much like his father even as a pup. That she had caught him
torturing woodland creatures. And now that demon spawn wants to take my mate
from me, Luke. I won’t let that happen. I hope that’s something you and Jocelyn
can understand,” said Magnus.
Luke sighed, “Jocelyn figured that’s what you would say and she’s accepted it.
I think a part of her accepted that she lost her son a long time ago.”
“Good, I’d hate to lose the two of you as friends,” said Magnus.
“You have nothing to worry about. Now, I have what you asked for,” said Luke,
pointing at a large box in Maia’s hands.
Taking the box, Magnus handed it to Alec who looked at him in confusion. “I
should probably wait and give this to you privately, but I know you’re going to
want to take advantage of the daylight to use it. Open the box, it’s your
courting present,” said Magnus.
“Courting present?” asked Alec, “Uh, Magnus, we’re already mated.”
“Yes, with no courting, no ceremony, and no traditions. I told you that you
were worth more than that. So I sent Luke a message to make this courting gift
for you. Open it!” said Magnus.
After a moment’s hesitation, Alec set the box on the ground and carefully
opened it. He gasped when he saw the contents of the box. Inside was the most
beautifully crafted bow and quiver set that the omega had ever seen. Taking the
bow out of the box, Alec weighed the bow on his hand and admired the balance of
the weapon. The recurve bow was carved from rosewood and the leather quiver was
stuffed with perfectly crafted arrows.
“Magnus,” whispered Alec, “This is beautiful. Thank you! You didn’t have to go
through so much trouble.” Placing the arrow back in the box, the omega hugged
his alpha tightly.
Laughing, Magnus said, “You’re very welcome, darling. Just seeing your reaction
alone makes it worthwhile. And besides, my omega deserves the very best.”
Chapter End Notes
     To clarify, after Valentine was killed, Jocelyn took Clary and ran.
     Luke took over the Brocelind pack so that he would be able to protect
     Jocelyn from the Clave. The Clave left Jocelyn and Clary alone
     because they didn't want to start a war with another pack.
***** Chapter 6 *****
After breakfast, Izzy suggested that Alec test out his new bow. Remembering
that he still needed to talk to Raphael about training the three new pack
members, Magnus said, “Go ahead and set up on the training grounds.  I need a
quick word with Raphael and will be right out.”
“What did you want to talk about? I want to see how Luke’s bow shoots,” said
Raphael.
“This will only take a second. I need you to train Alexander and his siblings,”
said Magnus.
“No,” said Raphael, ignoring the look Magnus was giving him.
“Rafa, don’t be stubborn. I already promised Alexander,” said Magnus.
“Magnus, you shouldn’t have promised him something you couldn’t deliver. Nobody
gets on my team without working for it. Everyone knows that only the best of
the best gets on. I can’t just let your mate and his siblings join. Put them on
Will’s team,” said Raphael.
“I can’t put blondie on a team that his uncle leads. The pack will suspect
favoritism,” said Magnus.
“If you insist on adding the three of them on my team without testing them, it
is favoritism.”
“That’s not true. Blondie was just given his own team to lead when Alexander
presented. Alexander was the best marksman the Clave had. And Isabelle is
skilled in combat.”
“I don’t recall seeing proof of any of that when we were traveling and I’m sure
they haven’t had a chance to show off their skills to you in the past week. So
that means that everything you just said, you heard from your mate. Giving them
spots on my team without even verifying their skills would be nepotism. And I
know that’s not how you usually do things.”
Magnus sighed, “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I promised
Alexander that you would train him. But I can’t go back on my word. He’s so
skittish as it is. I don’t want to destroy what little trust I’ve managed to
earn.”
“I think you’re blowing this way out of proportion. You promised them a spot
amongst your fighters, so what if someone else trains them? I’m sure he won’t
hold it against you,” asked Raphael.
“Fine, I’ll put them on Will’s team. But if my mate becomes angry with me, I’m
blaming you,” said Magnus.
“If you want,” said Raphael, shrugging.
Magnus and Raphael arrived to the training grounds just as Jace finished
setting the targets. Raphael raised an eyebrow when he saw that the targets had
been set at 100 yards. Only his most experienced archers practiced at that
distance.
“Don’t look so skeptical Santiago. My brother can take that shot with his eyes
shut,” said Jace.
“Exaggeration won’t get you anywhere, Herondale,” said Raphael.
“He’s not exaggerating. My brother is the best archer around,” said Izzy.
“Iz!” exclaimed Alec, embarrassed by the complement.
“Alec, just take the shot and prove him wrong,” said Jace impatiently.
Alec swung the quiver over his shoulder and picked up the bow. After testing
out the bow string with a few pulls, Alec took an arrow out of the quiver and
notched it. Taking careful aim, the omega pulled back the string and released
the arrow. Everyone watched with bated breath as the arrow soared across the
field and hit the red circle, just barely missing the yellow bullseye. Izzy
cheered loudly while Jace gave Raphael a smug look.
“Don’t look so triumphant. He didn’t hit the center,” said Raphael, even though
he knew that hitting the red circle was already a difficult feat.
“He’s using a new bow after not practicing for months. I think Alexander did
very well,” said Magnus, smiling at Alec who was staring at the target with a
frown.
“No. I can do better,” said Alec, notching another arrow. His face broke into a
grin when the arrow hit the bullseye.
“That’s very impressive, Alec. It usually takes my archers a lot more than two
arrows to get used to a new bow,” said Luke.
“It’ll take a little longer for me to break it in. I think it’ll take at least
a couple days of training,” said Alec.
“Speaking of that, there’s been a slight change in plan,” said Magnus.
Looking at his alpha warily, Alec said, “Don’t tell me you changed your mind
about me training.”
“What? No. Of course you can still train. Why would I give you a weapon if I
didn’t want to let you use it? The issue is the team you’ll be on. Raphael
reminded me that his team is made up of the most elite fighters in the pack and
that he couldn’t let you and your siblings join on my word alone. You’re going
to be training with Will’s team first.”
“Oh, is that all? I don’t really mind which team I’m on as long as I can still
train,” said Alec.
Giving Magnus a look that said I-told-you-so, Raphael said, “Actually, I think
your mate has more than proved that he deserves a spot on my team. I look
forward to training with you Alec.”
“Really Rafa?” asked Magnus, rolling his eyes.
“You saw those shots. Who am I to deny such talent?” said Raphael.
“Fine. Alexander, if you don’t mind, you can train with this idiot and your
siblings can join Will’s team,” said Magnus.
“I hope this Will person is ready. I’m going to be handing him his ass in the
sparring ring,” said Jace, smirking. He didn’t care what team Magnus put him
on. He knew that he’d be getting his own team again in no time. He just felt
sorry for the team leader he was going to have to humiliate.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea Magnus? Your territory is large, but I don’t
think even you have the room for the egos of two Herondales competing against
each other,” said Luke.
“Two Herondales?” asked Izzy.
“Wait a second. Will…Uncle Will?” asked Jace.
“Yes. He and Jem joined my pack shortly after leaving the Clave. He’ll be at
the training grounds on the opposite side of the estate if you want to talk to
him. As a matter of fact, you and Isabelle can go introduce yourself and get
started today,” said Magnus.
Jace and Izzy looked to Alec, who nodded and said, “Go ahead. I’ll see you two
later.” When Jace and Izzy began walking to the other side of the estate, Clary
made to follow Jace. But a look from Luke told her she was still on thin ice
with her step-father, so she sat down against a tree with a pout.
“Darling, Luke and I have some things to discuss with Ragnor. Have fun with
your new bow,” said Magnus. Alec grinned at his mate before turning his
attention back to the target and making another perfect shot. Luke gave Clary
another warning look before following Magnus towards the manor.
“Let’s move those targets back. I want to see what your limit is. You over
there, make yourself useful and help me move the targets,” said Raphael,
pointing at Simon.
***
“Thanks for making and personally delivering the bow Luke. I appreciate it,”
said Magnus.
“No problem. I owe you one, remember? And plus, I would’ve had to make a trip
out here eventually,” said Luke.
“Clary?” asked Magnus.
“Yeah. Jace was courting Clary before all of this and I had been in talks with
Imogen about it. Now I guess I get to talk to you instead,” said Luke,
smirking.
Shaking his head, Magnus said, “Oh no you’re not. You can talk to Will about
it.”
“About the timeline of the courting and other traditions, yes, I plan to talk
to Will. But Jocelyn and I think that it would be best for Jace and Clary to
spend more time together before making any final decisions. So I was going to
ask if I could send Clary here for a few months, but then she followed me, so
now I get to ask if she can stay,” said Luke.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Magnus is too busy to chaperone a
courting,” said Ragnor.
“I know, which is why I want Simon to stay as well. The two of them grew up
together, I trust him to have Clary’s best interests at heart,” said Luke.
“That’s fine by me. I wouldn’t mind having biscuit here,” said Magnus.
***
“Slow down, darling. There’s plenty,” said Magnus, laughing at the way his mate
was acting.
“Sorry, I’m just really hungry,” said Alec between bites.
“That’s what happens when you skip lunch to train,” said Magnus, giving his
second-in-command a scathing look.
“Like you said, I wanted to take advantage of the daylight,” said Alec,
reaching to grab another piece of bread. Magnus frowned when he saw how red his
mate’s fingers were.
Anticipating what Magnus would say, Raphael said, “Uh uh. You know how I run
things and it won’t change just because your mate happens to be on the team.”
“I’m okay, Magnus. It was really great to be training again and I don’t want
special treatment,” said Alec, looking at Magnus imploringly. The last thing
Alec wanted was for Raphael to go easy on him. He needed to prove himself.
Prove that he could be a fighter and an omega at the same time.
Magnus sighed and said, “Fine, I won’t interfere. But do me a favor and try not
to skip meals too often.”
“Magnus!” exclaimed Ragnor, as he ran into the dining hall.
“What’s wrong?” asked Magnus, getting up.
“We just got a couple of messages that you need to see,” said Ragnor. The
advisor tapped Raphael’s shoulder to signal that he was needed as well.
“I have some pack business to take care of. I’ll be right back, darling,” said
Magnus. Alec gave Magnus a wary look but nodded his head. The three then rushed
out of the dining hall and into Magnus’ office.
“Okay, what’s happening and why couldn’t you tell me in the dining hall?” asked
Magnus.
Without saying a word, Ragnor passed a letter to Magnus.
Alpha Bane,
My youngest son, Max, has gone missing. He was last seen yesterday playing with
the other pups by the creek. The council believes that there was an animal
attack. But since the forest fire, there hasn’t been any wild animals in Idris
forest, so it couldn’t have been an animal attack. There was also no body or
signs of a struggle. My hope is that he has gone looking for his siblings. If
he has, please inform me at your earliest convenience.
- Maryse Lightwood
“Alexander is going to be devastated. I know he cares deeply for his little
brother,” said Magnus, “Send a message to Dot and make sure she keeps an eye
out for the pup.”
“There’s no need,” said Ragnor, “This message arrived shortly after the one
from Maryse.”
Alec,
I have your precious little brother. Meet me at Lake Lynn in four days time if
you don’t want me to tear your brother from limb to limb.
Your Soon-To-Be Mate,
Sebastian
Magnus closed his eyes briefly to stop himself from throwing something at the
wall. Once he was calm enough, he said, “He’s bluffing. He has to be! He
probably heard about what happened and wants to use it to lure Alexander out.”
“I don’t think so. This wooden toy was included with the letter. I’m guessing
that if we were to show this to your mate, he would recognize it as his
brother’s,” said Ragnor, holding up a small wooden carving of a wolf.
“He could’ve stolen that from the boy,” said Raphael.
“I certainly wouldn’t put it pass him,” said Magnus.
“You have to consider the possibility that Morgenstern actually does have the
youngest Lightwood,” said Ragnor.
“And what could we do even if he does? Obviously, we won’t be making any
exchanges,” said Raphael.
“Of course not!” exclaimed Magnus.
“I wanted you to see it first, but I think we need to show these to your mate,”
said Ragnor.
“If Alexander sees this, he’s going to try to sacrifice himself,” said Magnus.
“So…we’re going to pretend we didn’t see this and leave a pup to die by the
hands of a psychopath?” asked Ragnor incredulously.
“No, I just meant that we need a well thought out plan before we tell
Alexander,” said Magnus.
“What if we set a trap for Sebastian? This letter is addressed to Alec, so he
must’ve thought Alec would get it directly,” said Raphael.
“Luckily for us, the pigeon flew to the sentry post with all of the other
mail,” said Ragnor.
“Okay, so Sebastian doesn’t know we know. We can plan an attack and rescue,”
said Magnus.
“I’ll gather my men, while you inform your mate of what’s going on. We don’t
have much time if we want to get there on time. It’s going to take over three
days just to get there,” said Raphael.
“We’re going to need more than just your team for this. I don’t want to
underestimate Sebastian. Who knows what kind of support he has. Let’s go back
to the dining hall. Everyone we need is probably still in there,” said Magnus.
When Magnus walked back into dining hall, he could see his mate talking happily
with his siblings. The alpha suddenly wished that he didn’t have to burst their
bubble. Regardless of whether Sebastian actually has Max, it would be bad news.
“Alexander, if you and your siblings are done eating, I need the three of you
in my office,” said Magnus. Turning towards his friends, he said, “Will, Tessa,
Jem, Catarina, Emma, and Julian, I need you to come with me too.”
The entire dining hall fell silent. Magnus was not usually one of those alphas
who ran their pack on rank and secrets. So seeing Magnus ask for a meeting with
so many people was unsettling.
***
“What’s going on, Magnus?” asked Alec worriedly.
“I need you to remain calm,” said Magnus.
Jace rolled his eyes and said, “Because that’s not the universal way of getting
someone to panic.”
The alpha glanced at the door to confirm that Raphael was blocking the exit and
took a deep breath before saying, “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m
going to spit it out. We received a message from your mother. Your little
brother has gone missing and your mother believes that he has come looking for
the three of you.”
Alec gasped. Max was too young to be traveling by himself. That and the little
boy wouldn’t be able to get through the Spiral Labyrinths without a guide.
Magnus held up a hand and said, “That’s not all. If it were, it would’ve been
much simpler. There was a second message, from Sebastian. He claims that he has
your brother.”
Magnus passed the two letters to Alec. The omega’s eyes widened as he finished
reading Sebastian’s letter. He should’ve known that Sebastian would do
something like this.
“Maybe he’s bluffing. He could’ve found out that Max was missing and decided to
take advantage,” said Jace.
“This was sent with the letter,” said Ragnor, handing the wooden toy to Jace.
“This..I made this for him for his birthday last year,” said Jace.
“So Sebastian does have Max. I have to go,” said Alec. He rushed towards the
door and frowned when he saw that Raphael was standing guard, ready to stop
him.
“What exactly is you plan? Turn yourself over to Sebastian? Or do you think you
can take down Sebastian and save your brother by yourself?” asked Raphael.
“Magnus, please. I have to save my brother,” pleaded Alec.
“I know, darling. And we will. Why do you think I called everyone in here?
Sebastian sent you that message so that you’d sneak out alone. So he won’t be
expecting much of a fight. We’re going to surprise the bastard with an attack
and save your brother. I won’t let anything happen to him,” said Magnus.
“Look, I’m grateful that you’re trying, but you don’t know Sebastian like we
do. If we go in with a couple dozen wolves, Sebastian will kill Max before we
have a chance to blink,” said Jace.
Magnus narrowed his eyes at Jace and said, “So what do you suggest I do? Hand
over my omega to a maniac?”
“I just meant we need a better plan! I would never suggest handing my parabatai
to Sebastian,” exclaimed Jace. The blonde alpha angrily stalked up to Magnus,
daring the other alpha to continue his accusations. Seeing that things would
get out of hand, Will inserted himself between the two alphas that were now
growling at each other.
“Both of you need to take a step back and breathe. Your alpha posturing isn’t
going to save the pup,” said Will.
Alec walked over to Magnus and tugged at his arm to pull the alpha away from
his parabatai. The last thing needed right now was for two of the two of them
to fight. He was going to need both of them if he wanted to get through this.
“Wait a second, I think I have an idea,” said Raphael, gesturing at Alec.
When Raphael didn’t continue, Magnus said, “We don’t have all day, Rafa.”
“You don’t see it?” asked Raphael. When nobody answered, he said, “Alec and
Will look very similar. At a distance, they could probably pass for twins.”
Magnus looked at his mate and then at his friend. Shaking his head, he said, “I
don’t see it.”
“Neither do I,” said Jem.
“You two don’t count, you’re biased,” said Emma, “I see what Raphael means. You
two do look alike.”
“You’re totally right. Same build, same hair color, and same colored eyes. The
only difference is that Alec is slightly taller,”said Julian.
“See? We could have Will distract Sebastian to give the rest of us a chance to
save the boy,” said Raphael.
Rollin her eyes, Izzy said, “Even if they did look alike, I’m pretty sure
Sebastian can tell them apart.”
“Raphael might be onto something. We don’t need them to look identical. We just
need Sebastian to see someone with Alec’s features at a distance. He’ll think
that he’s won and won’t be ready for an ambush,” said Magnus.
“This all sounds good in theory, but I’m pretty sure Sebastian will know
something is wrong when he smells alpha,” said Alec.
“We can mask his scent. And if you give him some of your clothes, I bet we
could make him smell like an omega. At least for a little bit,” said  Catarina.
“Well then, it seems we have a plan. Rafa, Will, and Emma, gather your troops
and meet outside in an hour. Catarina and Tessa, I need you two to gather
supplies for us. Make sure you pack plenty of that wolfsbane antidote. Ragnor,
Cat, and Tessa will be in charge while I’m gone. Jem, I need you to stay behind
and guard my mate for me, ” said Magnus.
The protests were immediate. Alec immediately expressed his wish to take part
in the mission to save his brother. Jem and Tessa complained about not being
allowed to go when their mate was being used as bate. And Izzy and Jace whined
about being left out of the plan entirely.
“Maybe you should just let everyone go,” said Raphael, laughing at how the
predicament Magnus was in.
“Absolutely not. I’m not letting that psychopath anywhere near my mate,” said
Magnus.
“Magnus, you can’t leave me out of this. I have a right to go save my brother.
You promised you wouldn’t stop me from being a soldier. And I’m on Raphael’s
team. I should get to go,” insisted Alec.
“Alexander, you can’t expect me to let you near the alpha trying to steal you
from me,” said Magnus.
“Just because I’m an omega doesn’t mean I can’t help save my own brother,” said
Alec.
“Darling, this has nothing to do with you being an omega. Think about it,
Alexander. If someone was trying to harm Jace, would you want him anywhere near
the place we’re trying set a trap?” asked Magnus, as he pulled Alec into his
arms.
Alec looked into Magnus’ eyes and said, “Magnus, please. You can’t expect me to
sit back while you’re all out there.
***** Chapter 7 *****
Chapter Notes
     *Warning: Long Note Alert. Feel free to skip to the actual chapter*
     I'm baaaaaaack!!
     Or at least I'm going to try. First things first, I'm so sorry it's
     taken so long. A lot has happened since I updated any of my stories.
     Fear not my lovely readers, I fully intend on updating and finishing
     each and everyone of my stories. I realize it's been over a year
     since Takdir has been updated, but I can't help it. That story in
     particular is my baby and I haven't been able to get over severe
     writer's block for it. In the meantime, I'm hoping that writing other
     stories will help with that.
     I know it's been months, but I didn't want to post an "author's note"
     just to tell you that I wasn't updating. I have an irrational hate of
     those and don't seem the point in disappointing my readers even more
     than they already are. Originally I had been busy preparing for a ton
     of interviews I had in early August. I had over a dozen interviews
     and didn't get any offers. It hit me hard. You know the saying "the
     higher you climb, the harder you fall?" Well that was me. Everyone
     told me I'd get a half dozen offers at the minimum and when I
     couldn't get even one. I broke. I've worked extremely hard these last
     few years in law school and have maintained top grades. I watched my
     classmates, most of which had much less impressive resumes get offer
     after offer. All I wanted was one. I didn't care which firm, I just
     wanted one offer. One offer to justify all the time and effort I've
     put into it. But of course life doesn't work that way. I've learned
     the hard way that life just isn't quid pro quo sometimes. I fell into
     a downward spiral of what I'm pretty positive was minor depression. I
     couldn't bring myself to care about anything and writing was out of
     the question. I tried. I honestly tried to update. But I would stare
     at the document and couldn't think of a single word to write. And to
     top it all off, Hurricane Harvey happened. In case my usage of
     "y'all" hasn't tipped everyone off, I live in Houston. I spent a
     solid 10 days locked in my house fell on the line of the mandatory
     vs. voluntary evacuation zone. Luckily, my family was okay and the
     house was okay. After that, work and school was beyond hectic. Losing
     a couple of weeks threw an already crazy semester into a tailspin.
     I'm starting to feel a lot better now, and yesterday, I managed to
     start writing again. It's only 2,000 words, but I figured it's better
     than nothing. And it was a good stopping place. I'm not going to lie,
     I don't know how frequent I can update. Besides school and work, I'm
     also trying to salvage my career, so I've got a ton of things to do.
     All I can say is I'll try my best. Thanks for sticking with me. Y'all
     are the best!!!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Magnus didn’t know what to do. He knew that it would be too dangerous to let
Alec go on the rescue mission with them. It would be playing into Sebastian’s
hand. But he also knew that if he forbade his mate from going, the omega would
take it the wrong way and think he was trying to be a controlling alpha.
“Okay, you and your siblings can come along,” said Magnus. When Alec started
thanking him, he put up a hand and said, “Don’t thank me yet. I know that if I
don’t let the three of you come with us, you’ll try to follow us and end up
trapped in the Labyrinths. So instead of making the three of you stay here,
I’ll save Dot the trouble of finding you and allow you to travel with us all
the way to Luke’s territory where you will stay. I won’t have you anywhere near
Sebastian. And this way, you would be relatively close. Consider it a
compromise.”
“That’s not a compromise!” exclaimed Alec.
“It is and I won’t budge on this. Luke’s territory is nearly a full day away
from Lake Lynn, but it’s a hell of a lot closer than if you stayed in Edom. I
know you want to help, but you being there will only make things worse for your
little brother. So either the three of you stay here or in Brocelind Forest,”
said Magnus.
Alec stared at his alpha. He hadn’t known Magnus long, but he knew his mate
well enough to know that he wouldn’t change his mind. So Alec grudgingly agreed
to stay with Luke’s pack.
Magnus let out a breathe he didn’t know he was holding and said, “Well then,
let’s change the plan a bit. Ragnor and Cat, you two will be in charge while
we’re gone. Tessa and Jem, I need you two to stay with my mate and his siblings
in Brocelind Forest. I know you want to be with Will at Lake Lynn, but having
the two of you there could tip Sebastian off. I promise I won’t let anything
happen to Will. Everyone else, go get the troops ready. We’ll meet outside in
an hour.”
***
2 days later in Luke’s Estate
“Alec!” exclaimed Jace as he and Izzy burst into the room.
“Damn it, Jace. A little warning next time? I barely just got redressed,”
replied Alec, motioning to the pile of clothes he had taken off.
“Is that for Will?” asked Izzy.
“Yeah. They’re leaving soon, and Emma wanted me to be wearing it until the last
possible second. Hopefully my scent will help to fool Sebastian,” replied Alec.
“What if it doesn’t work? How can we just sit here and twiddle our thumbs while
everyone else is out there? While our little brother is in danger?” demanded
Jace.
Alec shook his head when the blonde began pacing around the room impatiently.
Alec was actually impressed that Jace had waited this long to confront him. He
thought for sure that Jace would’ve been tried to start something with Magnus.
“There’s no use arguing with Magnus. He won’t change his mind about this. We
can’t go with them.”
“What happened to the independent omega who wanted to do more than spread his
legs and take orders from his alpha? A month ago, you would’ve gone to Lake
Lynn with arrows blazing and not a care about what anyone else thinks. And now
you’re going to stay here while Max is in Sebastian’s hands just because your
Alpha said so? If you won’t go save our brother, I will,” said Jace before he
swiftly turned around.
“Jace, that’s not fair and you know…,” said Izzy.
Alec held up his hand to cut off his sister and said, “If you go right now,
Magnus will just have Raphael bring you back. That will only cause them to be
short on people and mess up their plan. It won’t help Max.”
Jace turned back around and looked at Alec inquisitively, “…Right now?” asked
Jace.
“Yes, if you try to join the group, Magnus will send you back. But if we wait
until they leave and then follow at a distance, they won’t know. We don’t have
to join the group to be helpful. We can back them up if something goes wrong,”
replied Alec.
Izzy smirked and said, “I knew you had to have a plan. Unlike that idiot over
there.”
Jace rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly replied, “I’m sorry Alec. You
know I didn’t mean what I said. I just want to save Max.”
“It’s fine. I know you didn’t mean it,” said Alec dismissively.
“So how long do we wait?” asked Izzy, changing the subject. She recognized the
brooding look on her brother’s face and knew that her brother was bothered by
what Jace had said. But now was not the time to address it. Max had to take
priority.
“We’ll go meet Magnus and the others right now. I have to get those clothes to
Will. We’ll wait for a half hour before sneaking out and following them. We
should be able to get to Lake Lynn just after nightfall. Sebastian will
probably be waiting by the clearing,” said Alec.
***
“Be safe,” whispered Alec, as he broke away from Magnus’ hug.
Magnus smiled and said, “Don’t worry darling. This time tomorrow, I’ll be back
with your little brother.”
“I’m serious Magnus. Don’t underestimate Sebastian,” said Alec. The alpha had
already done so much for his family. Alec would never forgive himself if
something were to happen to Magnus while said alpha was trying to save yet
another member of his family.
“I’ll be okay as long as I know you’re safely on Luke’s lands and nowhere near
that psychopath,” said Magnus. The alpha then turned to the aforementioned
alpha who had been waiting by the side and said, “Thank you for watching over
my mate and his siblings while I’m away.”
“Don’t mention it. You go do what you have to and I’ll make sure they stay
here,” said Luke, giving a knowing look to Jace.
“Wh..what are you talking about?” asked Alec, looking between his mate and
Luke.
“Nothing my dear. Just making sure that you and your siblings don’t try to
follow us after we leave. It’s not that I don’t trust you -” said Magnus.
“But we don’t trust you,” Raphael cut in, “At least not when it comes to not
being reckless. You and your siblings do seem to have a history of coming up
with half though out, dangerous plans. Your last “plan” is part of the reason
we’re all here in the first place.”
“Rafa!” exclaimed Magnus, “Look Alexander, we won’t be gone long and I promise
we’ll bring your brother back to you. But I can’t do that if I don’t know
you’re safe. Luke is just going to help Jem and Tessa keep you safe.”
Alec narrowed his eyes at his alpha. He hadn’t realized that Magnus would
figure out his plan before he even had a chance to execute it. “Magnus, you
can’t keep me here. Please!”
“I’m sorry Alexander. I know I promised you that I wouldn’t order you around,
but I need you to listen just this once,” said Magnus. The alpha stared into
his mate’s eyes, hoping that this wouldn’t backfire on him. He knew how fragile
his relationship with the omega was. Alec barely trusted him as it was. This
was not going to help the situation any.
“Magnus, if we don’t leave now, we won’t be able to get there before dark,”
said Will, looking at the mated pair cautiously.
Magnus nodded and motioned for his pack to leave. With one last apologetic look
at his mate, he turned around. When the Edom pack soldiers had disappeared into
the forest, the remaining group returned to the house.
“Jocelyn made an excellent stew for breakfast,” said Luke as he attempted to
lead the group into the dining area.
“No thanks, I’m not hungry,” said Alec, “I think I’ll just go back to my room.”
“Of course. But just so you know, I’ve got wolves at all the exits,” said Luke.
Alec glared at the alpha and nodded before walking back to his room, closely
followed by his siblings.
Once the door was shut, Izzy asked, “What are we going to do?”
“There’s nothing we can do if all the exits are being watched,” replied Alec,
“And I’ll bet Tessa and Jem are nearby too.”
Before anyone could say anything else, somebody knocked softly on the door.
Frowning, Alec opened the door to reveal Clary holding a tray of food and Simon
standing behind her.
“My mom’s stew is the best. I thought you all would be hungry,” said Clary,
walking into the room without an invitation.
“We’re don’t have much of an appetite right now,” said Alec, motioning towards
the door.
“Clary, now’s not the time,” said Jace. He knew his parabatai barely had the
patience for his intended mate on a normal day. A day when tension was already
high was not the time for the two of them to be crossing paths.
Clary ignored Jace and looked at Simon, who immediately shut the door. Once the
door was safely shut, Clary smiled brightly and asked, “Would it help your
appetite any if I told you I know a way out of here without alerting any of my
father’s men?”
Alec’s eyes widened and said, “How?”
“The window in my room. There’s a giant oak next to it that we use to climb in
and out without anyone knowing,” replied Simon.
“Are you sure it would work?” asked Izzy.
“We’ve been using that tree to sneak out since we were pups. Trust us on this,”
said Clary.
“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” exclaimed Jace.
“Wait, we have one condition,” said Clary.
“You can have whatever you want after we save my brother,” said Alec
impatiently.
“Nuh-uh,” said Clary, “We want to go with.”
“What?!” asked Jace.
“Come on Jace, I’m not going to stay back while the rest of you are out there.
I want to help,” replied Clary, as if it was the most sensible answer in the
world.
“No, Clary. It’s too dangerous,” said Jace.
“So what? It’s okay to take someone else’s omega on a dangerous mission, but I
have to stay back?” demanded Clary.
“That’s not what I said Clary. Sebastian is insane. I wouldn’t let anyone I
care about near him if I could help it. But he has Max, so I know I can’t stop
Alec or Izzy. You have no relation with Max,” said Jace.
“No, but I have a relation to Sebastian! I’m his sister. He’s written to me a
few times asking for me to meet him. If something goes wrong, I could help,”
said Clary imposingly.
Jace looked at Alec who shrugged. It was Jace’s decision. As much as Alec
wanted to save Max, he couldn’t put someone else in danger to do it. Not anyone
else anyways. He was worried enough about Magnus and his team as it was.
“Fine. But you and Simon stick close to us. Don’t do anything without me or
Alec’s say so,” said Jace. He knew he didn’t have a choice but to agree. He
didn’t want Sebastian near Clary, but he had a sneaking suspicious that Clary
would go after Magnus with or without his approval.
“It’s settled then. We’re all going. Now we just need a plan to get into
Simon’s room,” said Alec.
Chapter End Notes
     I hope this lived up to your expectations after such a long wait. =)
     P.S. So around this time last year, I wrote a 24,000 word Malec AU
     story when I was supposed to be writing Takdir. It got a bit out of
     hand, and is frankly pretty dark in the beginning. If I recall
     correctly, I wrote it around the same time as I did the Sihir Chapter
     1 outtake. In fact, it started off as a sort of spin-off from Sihir.
     I never posted it because while things got better for Alec in the
     story, I felt it was a bit stockholm syndrome like. And I wasn't sure
     I liked it. But I couldn't stop writing it. Hence, 24,000 words.
     Would anyone be interested in reading it? It basically takes place in
     an AU where Malec is literally the Prince of Hell. He's not a savior
     like he is in Sihir. He has questionable morals. He's also been at
     war with the Clave for a decade. And our favorite blue-eyed
     shadowhunter ends up being the price for a truce. If y'all are
     interested, I'll post it. It's been sitting on my computer for a
     year, so I figure I might as well post it?
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