Lady Magic’s Interference

It was supposed to be an orderly day. At least, that was what Alcandor had been anticipating. His day hadn't even begun, yet he was already irritable and had two cups of caffeine pumping in his veins. Had he not been Merrow, he'd look like some unsophisticated vagrant. And an exhausted, caffeinated Merrow was definitely a hazard families warned their children against.

The whole off-realm issue was grating on his nerves. The only thing keeping him from ripping someone's head off was that he actually liked most of the people in this room. It had nothing to do with the fact that his mera, the Queen Reagent,  was in the same room and would most definitely rip his scales off for embarrassing her.

His mother had wanted to reunite with her old friends, hence her presence here. Alcandor had an incessant need to roll his eyes as he watched Queen Esperanza   and Queen Arista gossip like it hadn't been years since they last reconvened. His mera always said the best friendships were those that needed the least work to function.

Alcandor was bound to get a headache with all the insignificant buzzing around him. It was a severe issue when a realm acted up. Alcandor was dreading the absolute amount of paperwork he would have to do tomorrow, and that wasn't including any issues they would have if Earth required an entire creature recall.

Dragels and creatures of all ages would be required by royal decree to evacuate the realm and retreat to Nevarah for safety. 

The amount of work involved made the back of his eyes ache from overuse.

"I don't know if I would prefer there be a recall or not," His mera had murmured to him, looking every bit the Queen she used to be and still was in a way.

Alcandor had held back a cringe at her words. In a manner, she was correct. The amount of overtime he and everyone in this room would have to put in would be overwhelming. He wasn't looking forward to the chaos his soul-bonded mate would ensue if left to their own devices for so long. However, there could be children that needed help. There could be Lost Merrow children in that realm, ones that would renew bloodlines once thought lost to the Merrow courts.

It would be a festivity indeed on the off chance it occurred. 

"Do we know how soon it will take for Madam Gorgens to come back?" The Queen of the Air courts questions. She looked just as prim and proper as the rest of them; however, it was evident from the creases around her eyes that exhaustion was starting to set in. Alcandor couldn't even really blame her, to be frank. Anyone still awake at this hour had issues, in his opinion.

King Edgar pursed his lips in thought, "Maybe a week or so, considering the time difference between the realms," He started to say, but Alcandor wasn't listening because there was a sudden strain on his chest. 

He blinked twice, uncertain but almost sure that the pressure had just tripled. He had an unmistakable soul seal preventing him from being summoned by a soulscream. It was much too dangerous for a crown royal or acting royal to be away from Nevarah. If anything happened to them, there was a severe risk of the realm collapsing. Hence the tight protection detail. It seemed, however, that his submissive had other plans today and was just as stubborn as Alcandor himself. Any submissive with enough power and desperation to blast through a soulscream block to bring him to their side…. well, who was Alcandor to get in the way of fate?

"Dawne?" Queen Arista demands, sitting up to grab at her daughter, who had hunched over, hands clutching at her chest in apparent pain. 

Alcandor could only just stop himself from gaping in shock at the sight of Princess Ebony and Prince Raspen following in her footsteps. 

If he had to be in a circle with all three of them, there was bound to be a couple deaths involved.... his being the first....from overwork. 

It could be an attempt to kill off all the crown royals in some farce of a soulscream. Still, Alcandor knew what soul magic looked like, and the soul magic was summoning four portals almost instantaneously. The Kings and Queens looked faint from worry. 

"Al?" His mother demanded and then burst out laughing when she finally decided to understand what was currently going on. "Oh, this is just precious," She chortles, and if Alcandor wasn't in so much pain right now, he would have growled at her. 

"What is it?" The King of the fire courts demands, trying to grab at Ebony, who had just rushed headfirst into her soul-summoned circle, a look of fierce determination on her features. Of course, the fire type lunged straight into danger without thinking. 

"Soulscream," Raspen rasped out before he, too, was taken by a portal not even a second after Dawne had been stolen. Alcandor was only holding on this much due to his extreme magical prowess. Still, he could tell how powerful his Submissive was, and they were not taking no for an answer. He shouldn't have even tried in the first place. 

Alcandor was swept up in the portal a millisecond later, his mother's cackling face the last thing he saw. 

There had been a noticeable delay between hearing the scream and being forcibly summoned to his Submissive's side, hence the long portal that was most definitely taking him off realm. That was worrying. If it was an ambush, it'd take a bit longer for his guards to reach him.

Not that he'd need the extra help. He was a king for a reason. He was trained alongside the current Blood Crimson himself. Alcandor could hold his own. 

He quickly shifts into his half form, leaping out as the end of the portal dawns near. Two of his fellow royals were already scrambling to aid in the battle. It was a harrowing shriek that pierced through his very soul. It stabbed at his chest, causing him to take another stabilizing breath. 

There was a slight figure under a tremendous amount of rubble. It seemed as if the Submissive had been on some sort of ritual table, and the force of their soul scream had cracked the table in half, a phenomenon that had most likely saved their life from being crushed. 

Alcandor was not liking the conclusions he was making as a result. 

A redhead and a blonde were already at the Submissive's side, both of them appearing frantic with worry. They were both lovely, and he couldn't help but admit to himself his Submissive had good taste. 

An Alpha's presence makes itself known to his side, and his eyes flicker to the right to see what was most definitely a Peverell if he ever knew one. He'd never met this particular Peverell, however, and he was intrigued by the slight bow the Alpha gave him, despite the incessant glowing of his otherworldly blue eyes. 

The man appeared halfway to becoming feral, his eyes trained on the figures behind the tree line who were trying to attack their still screaming Submissive. 

Alcandor moves quickly, trying to understand the situation better, and almost has an aneurism when the pretty blonde woman waves her hand and blows up everything in the vicinity to get to her Submissive. 

"Well she'll be a fun one," Ebony murmurs, eyes not leaving the form of the girl that had been just exposed. 

She was tiny- malnourished. It seemed like she hadn't eaten a full meal in months. She was all skin and bones and bruises and breaks. The girl was bleeding, and he could smell the scent of her blood in the air. It was tart but had a zinging smell that seared the inside of his nostrils. The girl had a blood curse on her, most likely. The thought made him grit his teeth in anger, his jaw clenched.

Portals were opening up all around them, and it was simply chaos. 

There were three Pareya attempting to get to the girl, but the blonde wasn't having any of it. 

"Fleur be careful!" The redhead shouts over the noise of fighting, and there is a battle. Their Gheyos were fighting against…. Alcandor had to do a double take because he swore he could see Torvak. 

Had his Submissive been tortured by Torvak? What were they even doing here on this realm?

"I believe this just got a lot more complicated than we expected," Dawne blinks in shock. She had her claws out and was hauling a teenager out of the line of fire of one of the Torvak. 

"I'll say. This whole place is soaked in soul magic and Raspen didn't teleport here," Ebony murmurs, her voice showing her worry. 

"Two soulscreams?" Alcandor drawls, trying not to show how stumped this whole function was making him. Not to mention the number of people actually turning up. This was going to be a large circle.

"Bill, she's ours!" The woman, Fleur, snarled in retaliation, and it seemed like she was growing alight with flames that danced all over her entire body. Those  were not Dragel flames. 

Bill had heaved the unconscious girl up on his lap and was muttering a variety of spells, most appearing healing in nature.

"She's ours too," One of the Pareya, the head Alcandor was assuming, probably had enough of the woman and stormed past to get to her Submissive. The Pareya was very obviously a fae. 

His Alpha had taken to kneeling by the redhead's side, growling at anyone who came too close to his injured intended soulbonded. 

Alcandor has to do another double take because one of the Pareya striding towards the Submissive was his own soulbonded. Merrow Queen Killigan looked enraged as their eyes took on the damage that had been done to their Submissive. Alcandor could very heavily agree with that sentiment. He wanted to rip everything and anyone apart. His mind was a haze of red and rage. And the only thing that broke his bloodthirst was the childish scream that broke through the clearing. And Alcandor -like any sane Dragel- finds himself instantly flying towards the child in question. There was so much magic in the air that the poor girl looked overwhelmed and seemed to be having trouble breathing correctly. The poor child barely looked older than thirteen. 

"She's a Kadel," A voice sounds beside him, and he looks to his left to see a very handsome Shadow user. Dear Kesmar, his circle was going to be mixed elementally, wasn't it. The courts would have a field day with this. A diagnostic spell is whipped at the child, who was seizing in his arms. The man had very warm magic for someone who had such strong shadow inclinations. "She's nameless, has a prophetic gift…magic sensitive," He cringes, and Alcandor couldn't help but mimic the action. The amount of magic in the air right now was actually suffocating. He'd never experienced a soulscream before; however, no one ever mentioned how much magic would be involved. This must be a special case. His Submissive was just a load of surprises, wasn't she? 

"King Alcandor, you need to hold her down for me," The healer interrupts his thoughts. "I need to cast some spells and for that to happen she must be still," 

"No need for formalities," He sighs, gripping the forearms of the panicking Dragel child, "We're all circle mates here," 

Bill Weasley was not having a very good night. He and his wife had been tearing through the ranks of the Torvak one second, and the next, he was being whisked away to aid a Submissive dragel who had soulscreamed him to their side. The panic of being in a circle without his very non-dragel wife was instantly dissipated when Fleur ended up portalling in beside him, her eyes trained on the screaming Submissive, tugging on their souls. 

His panic returns full-stop when he realizes the dragel in question was his brother's fifteen-year-old best friend/sister. "MARI?!" Fleur had screamed, and both of them were tearing through the forest to reach their friend…. fellow soldier…. commander…. bonded?

Maribella was letting out the most painful scream Bill had ever heard in his life, and he stumbles to his knees at her head, hands trembling as he tried to understand what was going on. 

"Death eaters," Fleur snarls, wand in hand, and the two of them were standing, eyes on the Torvak and Bellatrix Black, who were staring at them menacingly. Their eyes were trained on Maribella, and every part of them was hinting at the fact that their target was the girl behind them. 

"You vill die before you touch her," Fleur spits out, accent heavy, her hair dancing with flames that had recently become harder for her to control. 

"Then we are at an impasse," A Torvak at the front snarls. They make way to move towards them, their numbers multiplying as more and more of them portalled in, eyes trained on the dragel who would be able to fulfill their goals.  

"Take care of our submissive," A voice behind them pulls them from their heightened rage. "We'll deal with this lot," Bill's eyes flicker to the figure who'd placed them behind him, and he blinks at how much taller this man was. The man smirks down at both of them as if knowing what Bill was thinking, and Bill couldn't stop the mortified blush from overtaking his features. 

"They are Torvak," Fleur spits the word like a curse, and the man with kind amber eyes and startling red hair (he would know, of course) smiles, a small cruel thing promising punishment. 

"Oh, believe me, we know," He hisses. Then there were multiple people following him into battle, much akin to how Mari, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were able to rally their troops with but a word. 

"I do believe I am supposed to fight with them," Fleur murmurs, nose scrunched in thought. Her instincts were on fire, and all she wanted to do was sink her claws into the monsters who thought it was a good idea to harm what was hers. 

Her husband blinks at her for a second before sighing and staring up at the sky for help, "A Gheyo… of course you'd be a Gheyo," 

Fleur scowls at him, "If that vord means anything other than badass, we vill have a problem," She flips her ponytail over her shoulder like some vengeful angel. 

Bill blinks at her, ignores her, and then moves to try and pull Mari out from underneath the rubble. He then also prays again for patience when his wife decides to  blow everything up. Because why not?

He heaves Mari up on his lap, wand out, and begins to cast a multitude of healing spells. As a cursebreaker, he was required to have a Medi-wizard certification in case of any emergencies. 

He starts to panic when his spells wouldn't work. "Shite, shite… get these off her," He hisses, trying to get the suppressing cuffs off his friend. "Barbaric bastards. I ought to kill them all for this," He seethes, noticing the matching fury in the air around him. 

The chains snap in between his claws, and another pair of arms was quickly snapping the chains on her other limp arm. 

"You are a healer?" A gruff voice belonging to the extra set of arms sounds to his side, and he finds himself in some sort of cocoon when he finally looks up. He remembered reading something akin to this. It was a form of protection a circle's Pareya would perform around an injured or indisposed circle mate. 

"A medic," He answers, eyes meeting a pair of stunning azure eyes. Bill wanted to choke. Mari did have very good taste in her prospective partners. 

Alpha. 

Every cell in his body was screaming that this man was a higher rank than he was. He bares his neck slightly to him, a mark of submission, and the Alpha's tense shoulders ease a bit, a delicate smile on his lips. Bill most definitely didn't get dizzy from the proximity of what appeared to be a male Adonis. Fleur would readily agree to jumping this man's bones immediately with him.

"Is she alright?" The Alpha asks, eyes tracing over Mari's features. Bill swallows heavily, a heavy feeling in his chest. 

"She was tortured," He whispers, hands gripping the girl tighter in his arms. 

Everyone around him goes rigid in outrage, and Bill desperately wants to hit something- or maybe cry. Because Mari had the heart of thousands piled into one tiny girl, and she felt  too  much and sacrificed much more. The only way anyone would have been able to get the drop on someone as powerful as Maribella McKinnon Lefay was if someone she cared about had been held, hostage. And if there had been a hostage situation, then they must have known beforehand about Mari's intentions with the ritual. There was a rat in the Resistance, and Bill was going to rip them apart limb from limb when he figured out who exactly hurt Maribella. Because she was apparently now his, and no one harmed what was his and got away with it. 

Killigan was currently extremely moody. Their mate had been summoned in the dead of night, leaving them exasperatingly awake. They despised being handled with kid gloves, and the insinuation that they couldn't handle themselves was always a pain. They knew that as Alcandor's soulmate and the Merrow court's chosen Royal significant other, they were expected to be much more protected than anyone else in the realm. It was, however, a very tedious process. 

And after being awake for hours upon end, caffeine in hand and a scowl permanently etched upon their face, they were ready to call a healer over for a sleeping potion. Krymsen had spent the entire time staring at them, highly amused, and Killigan just wanted to punt him in the face. Well, they would've if it wouldn't have broken a couple bones in their arm.

That wasn't even the worst part of their night, however, because all of a sudden, he was having a heart attack. Not really, though- but there was a tugging at their chest. A sharp pull that demanded their presence. One they knew Alcandor had sealed against. A soulscream happening to a royal of all things was practically unheard of, considering most crown royals were sealed against such a thing using the most powerful mages one had on hand. 

Their aqua-blue eyes flared as they listened to a heart-wrenching scream only they could hear. They only had time to mutter a croaked out "Soulscream," to their ACE, who also seemed to be in a state of stunned shock, before they were engulfed in a whirlwind of soulmagic and they were staring at something from out of a horror movie. 

Killigan's senses were overwhelmed with how many scents there were in the vicinity, and they couldn't help but blink when Krymsen ended up almost sprawled to his side. 

"Well this is convenient," The Blood title had muttered under his breath, and Killigan scoffed out a laugh somewhat hysterically. Well, his worries about being in a circle without his soulbonded had certainly been resolved. It seemed their submissive had the same taste as they did.

"Did you not smell Al here as well?" The Merrow Queen snickers at the dumbfounded look on their ACE's- Killigan blinks again, staring at their bonded. "Did you just become a Gheyo King?" 

Because if the Crimson Tide himself had been deemed a Gheyo King by the soulmagic in this vicinity, then Killigan was almost fearful of who exactly their ACE would be.

Krymsen scowls and nods to the redhead who was making his way towards their screaming submissive. 

The sounds of battle pierced through the air, but there was a desperate, haunting wail that forced a lump in Killigan's throat and a vice to thread around their heart. Their instincts were raging at them to move towards their submissive.  

"Krymsen, is that the Blood Flame?" Killigan asks faintly as their wings snap out, and they surge forward towards the group surrounding the submissive. Their voice was laced with surprise, and Krymsen winces slightly before nodding. 

"Al is going to find this hysterical," They breathe, and then the magic was demanding their presence. 

They find themselves staring down an almost feral beautiful blonde. She wasn't dragel, nor was she any creature Killigan seemed to recognize; nevertheless, she had a very prominent allure. Her eyes were glowing in her anger, and she stood defensively in front of her submissive, who, if Killigan was reading into things correctly, had been nearly crushed to death under what appeared to be a whole boulder. 

"Killi, get to our Submissive. There are Torvak here," Krymsen orders him, face stern, and the Blood title disappears to join the battle beside his ACE. Killigan had yet to learn how that pairing was going to work, considering the contradicting elements involved. Their submissive had to be nameless; otherwise, this circle was going to end up with a multitude of deaths. Alcandor definitely being one of them- death of stress, no doubt. 

"Fleur be careful!" The redheaded Beta shouts at the blonde only seconds after the ludicrous woman almost blows everyone's heads off. 

"Is she insane!?"  A stunning woman snarls from beside him. Killigan probably had too little sleep because he was seeing goddesses and gods everywhere. 

"She's going feral," The pareya beside Killigan drawls. His tone indicated boredom, but his hazel eyes were sharp, eyes lasered in on the girl their Beta had hauled onto their lap. 

"Bill, she's ours!" The woman snarls, and the stunning woman with skin as black as a moonlit night flashes her fangs right back at the blonde. 

"She's ours too," She snaps and strides past the blonde woman, each of them glaring at the other. The three Pareya snap their wings up instantaneously, cocooning their Beta and submissive in a protective enclosure. Killigan's eyes, much like the rest of his apparent circle mates, were lasered in on the pretty little thing in their Beta's arms. 

The Beta, Bill apparently, was desperately trying to heal the submissive with a massive arsenal of impressive healing spells. Killigan would have put the man as a Medic rank had his presence not been so overwhelming. Killigan didn't even want to begin with discussing the sudden alpha  scent that made everyone flinch in surprise. Their alpha was obviously a part of the wind courts and his distinct teal eyes were unwaveringly trained on the distressed girl in the dead center of their safe space.

Killigan knew the submissive had been tortured, but it felt like a sucker punch to the gut to have it confirmed. They kind of needed to have a good cry after all of this and a ton of ice-cream. Their ACE- Killigan, shook their head- their Gheyo King (Kesmar have mercy, that was strange) better have stocked the freezer. 

"Fleur!" The Beta snaps, and a sharp whistle from outside the cocoon could be heard. And then he was speaking in a completely different language. "Hunak Khain. Abhathe anhum," (There's a traitor. Find them). Killigan was most definitely not drooling at the foreign language. They were not. 

Fleur lets out another sharp whistle, and Killigan wasn't the only one looking at the Beta with questions in their eyes. 

Bill clenches his jaw, and Killigan isn't so sure he'll answer their unspoken questions. The Beta holds the girl infinitely closer and almost bites the head off of the healer, that swoops inside to assist. 

"Calm," Their Alpha orders, a hand on the back of his Beta's neck, stopping Bill from effectively murdering one of their circle mates.

Killigan allows his wings to ease slightly at the healer's aura, asking to be allowed entry into their circled wings. The healer grimaces at the sight of their submissive as he furrows into the protective Pareya postured fold. 

Their alpha blinks at the healer and a small smirk forms on his lips. Killigan could admit their satisfaction at seeing such a stern face go red in a flustered blush. "Xander....hello," The alpha greets, amused, and Xander hisses a multitude of profanities under his breath, glaring at the man. 

"Of course you're the alpha," Xander grumbles, moving hesitantly towards their submissive. He did not wish for the handsome Beta to murder him for breathing in her direction wrong. "I am a master healer. Let me help her." It was certainly strange to see a beta so affected by their submissive's state as opposed to the alpha. Usually, in soul screams, alphas went feral ninety percent of the time, and the betas were the ones that aided in calming them down. It seemed like the opposite was true here. 

Xander started firing a long range of healing and diagnostic spells at the submissive, all the while scowling harder and harder until he was nearly vibrating with rage. 

"Why haven't you attempted to heal her, Theoden?" His hisses and their alpha motions to Bill with his chin. 

"We have a medic already," 

"Beta trained as a medic you mean," Xander grumbles, "Arielle help us if this tiny dragel actually requires two master healers and a medic in her circle," 

Bill snorts, nosing the submissive's hair, a fond smile on his face. "Oh she'll need us. I guarantee you that at least," 

"Lovely," Xander's voice was as flat as his gaze was, and Killigan had the weird urge to laugh. 

Only the laugh got stuck in his throat as their submissive startled awake, her magic pulsing around her like it was a second heart. Her eyes were stark white, almost pearlescent in their color. 

Killigan was a hundred percent certain none of the people around them had seen such eyes before. 

Maribella felt as if she had just been beaten with a sledgehammer. Everything hurt. She wasn't sure if she was in pain due to -you know- the torture…  or if it was due to the actual scream that had torn through her vocal cords. Her magic wasn't listening to her and seemed to have a mind of its own, flooding outwards wave after wave. 

The scream had actually burned her. 

Magic seemed to sear her very veins apart, and her eyes watered. 

"Mari…" A familiar voice murmurs, and she whirls around, eyes wide and breathing erratic. Why was Bill here? Kind, strong, wonderful Bill who could countercurse someone faster than they knew what curse they'd even be using. Bill's warm, worried eyes stare back at her, and a sob breaks through her throat. 

He seemed to break in front of her, arms wrapping around her tightly. Arms reached out comfortingly, hands tangling with her lanky limbs and holding tight. She wraps around him like a limpet, legs and arms holding him as close as humanly possible, sobs wracking through her throat, more from the shock of things than the actual pain. The pain had been long ago turned numb. 

The pressure was nice. These people were hers, after all. They felt like hers and their souls bled out into her own. She could tell…. She could see them. 

She wasn't exactly sure why that was the case. It was a new development. She was beginning to think this whole day was going to bring new developments . 

A light trill rang through the space around her, it was meant to bring comfort to her, but all she could think of was the ritual and little Dennis who was still running in the woods, alone with Torvak everywhere. 

Maribella's eyes met Bill's, and incredible Bill understood her instantly. 

"Who was it? Who did they have?" He asks for her and she opens her mouth to speak but a confused warble escapes. 

Bill couldn't help but grin at the sound despite the situation they were in. And Mari glares at the strange people around her - her people- when they start to snicker. She was pretty sure someone cooed and she wanted vengeance on said person. Instead of her disputes, a very mad chirp was all that came out of her mouth and her nose scrunches in confusion.

"Come on, cute thing," A very, very warm and safe pair of arms steal her from her Beta and she gazes up into wickedly sinful teal eyes that keep softening the more she gazes into them. 

Alpha…. Her Alpha. Safe…. warm.

Theoden couldn't very much think straight anymore the second those devastatingly unique pair of eyes met his. It did  not  help that his Submissive was too cute to handle and apparently she was now cuddled into his side, head stuffed into his neck. She evidently felt too safe to move and kept making little sounds of distress whenever he attempted to displace her. 

It was doing weird things to his heart. 

"Is she alright?" The head Pareya murmurs, her heart appearing to break as she gazes at their Submissive. 

His Beta unwaveringly stared at their Submissive, eyes troubled. It was as if the girl breaking down was something totally unexpected. It was worrying and intriguing to Theoden. He wanted to know how they knew each other and how well. He wanted to know all their little ticks and habits. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch.

It didn't help when his little twinkly sub sank her fangs into his neck all of a sudden, making him blink in surprise. She seemed to be gnawing on his neck, wanting to bite and be bitten.

She only relaxed after his fangs sunk into her neck, her whole body going lax.

He picked her up, moving to stand, eyes not missing the way his Beta leapt to be at her side. He was eyeing everyone warily, his eyes flickering between Mari- the submissive's name if he heard correctly- and the magic-thick environment outside.

Their Pareya had moved from their protective cocoon, and Xander was hovering heavily, trying to heal and glare at Theoden at the same time,

Theoden wanted to sink his fangs in the brat's neck, but his submissive needed him more and his instincts refused to part from his new bonded. The claim marks thrummed between them, her claim on him eternal- as long as she'd have him.

Her eyes peered blearily up at Xander before her neck craned a little and she bit him in the shoulder. He hadn't been expecting it and flinched slightly before softening, his arms quickly taking her from their alpha.

Theoden watches, amused at how quickly she seemed to have wrapped most of their circle around her finger.

Her claim mark on him burned as it seared its way into his very soul. Theoden takes a shuddering breath. He had always prided himself on having impeccable control over his emotions and instincts; nevertheless, this night was severely pushing his limits. His control slipped another notch beyond his reach and he had to grit his teeth to stop himself from going absolutely feral. 

"Theoden, I need to heal her. Her ribs are shattered," Xander hisses at him, causing a swell of concern to flood his senses. 

"I'll help," The apparent Merrow Queen muses, and Xander undoes her hold on him slightly, only for her to whimper. "Shhhh dear heart," Xander croons softly, a very vast difference from his actual personality in Theoden's opinion. He made his thoughts on that quite clear, only to receive an angry hiss in return as Xander piled the submissive into the Merrow Queen's arms, who held her like she was the most precious thing they'd ever laid eyes on. It takes the submissive three seconds to latch her fangs into the Pareya's collarbone. 

Everywhere he could gaze upon, he could see his Gheyos tearing apart the Torvak that had apparently been holding his submissive hostage. 

"Alpha, there are traces of more Torvak in the area, not to mention Fabrine," 

Theoden turns slightly to stare at his ACE and almost does a double take when he stares into the chillingly amber eyes of the Blood Flame. High Noble Zandian Rosewolde was staring straight at him, head angled in respect, and Theoden raised an eyebrow in slight surprise before nodding at his ACE. 

"Are there any more in the immediate vicinity?" He asks making the ACE shakes his head. 

"Everyone involved has been slaughtered," His tone was cool and the man probably wasn't going feral with bloodlust due to the impromptu murdering session that had just occurred. 

“And Bellatrix Lestrange?” Bill demands, "The human one of the bunch?" He seemed worried about her, but Zandian simply smiles, a grin that promised blood and gore. "Dead," 

The Beta inhaled twice, eyes flickering from the submissive to the blonde Gheyo, who was dragging over a child who looked seconds from bursting into tears. 

"It vas Dennis," She says, holding the child towards Bill like a trophy. 

Bill exhales through his nose. Theoden had a feeling this was an everyday occurrence with this woman. 

"Fleur, my love, how many times have I told you, people need context," Bill hisses at her, and the woman simply blinks. "People are stupid, Fleur. Not everyone can understand everything at a glance," 

Fleur scowls, "C'est dommage," (That's too bad). She deadpans before poking the child, "Dennis tell them," She demands, shoving the kid forward, and his Beta seemed as if he required a drink… or two. 

"Uh-" Dennis stares at them, mouth open in shock. 

"Speak child," Theoden's patience was running thin. He listens intently as the kid begun to speak, and none of them end up liking the story painted at all. 

"I'm- I'm sorry Bill. I left her alone," The kid whimpers, and Bill sighs before engulfing the youngling in a hug. 

"You're a kid Dennis. Mari probably told you to leave her because she knew she had a better chance without you there to protect."

"I agree," Fleur muses, eyes flicking around her. They looked like war veterans. The way their eyes moved and their bodies tensed and the bone-deep exhaustion they wore. Theoden was getting more concerned by the second.

Fleur cast a quick spell at the boy and started to snarl under her breath, her language abruptly shifting to her mother tongue. 

By the stiffening of both his Beta and the child in front of them, Theoden knew her words couldn't mean anything good. 

"Would you care to inform us of your findings?" He growls out. It was a warning he was being kind to give due to the high tensions and his raging instincts. His claws were fighting to be released and all he desired was to snatch up his submissive again and never let her go. 

Fleur seemed in no way shape, or form  sane enough right now to give a report and judging by the amused look the Blood Flame was giving her, he seemed at least humored by her reactions. It appeared to take a lot for the Blood Flame's control to break.

"Dennis was placed under a heavily invasive spell that basically mind controlled him to appear in this spot." His Beta explains, his voice tense. "That means-" 

"It was a premeditated attack," Zandian muses, his eyebrows furrowing. He peered sideways at the submissive. 

"Everyone better GET FUCKING READY!!" Someone screams out of nowhere, and Theoden ends up unsheathing his sword in shock. He stares at a black man racing towards Theoden. Two women sprinting behind him. He was wearing a golden wristlet, a staff in hand, his eyes alight with magic, which made them the brightest gold Theoden had ever seen. 

The man heaves to a stop beside him and Theoden had to do a double take due to one of the bloody women transforming into an actual Owlbear. "Someone fucking started an ancient ritual and we are all minutes away from DYING!" The mage roars, and Theoden simply inhales deeply, trying not to get a headache. 

"Ohhhh dear Merlin, we are screwed," Bill breathes.