Chapter 123 - Maggie says - Part 2

Maggie frowned as she looked at the clock, realizing it was nearly ten o'clock at night. The melancholy was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a tinge of irritation. She crossed her arms and tapped her feet impatiently on the floor. 

"What else do you want from me, wolf?" She queried, her eyes sending daggers. "I swear if I don't get home by ten, I'll turn you into a dog." She kept talking about getting her beauty sleep, telling me that it was the most important thing to maintain her youthfulness which I didn't care about. 

"I'll rip you apart before you do so," I retorted, glaring back at her. "All those efforts won't even hide the fact that you're an old lady inside, so why bother—"

"Say another word, and I'll really turn you into a dog," she fumed, using her magic to flip the table before us as she stood. All the plates and cups on the table fell, and the servant I'd called earlier jumped, taken aback by the anomaly. It was then that he realized the woman was a witch, prompting him to finish cleaning and scurry away. 

"Try me, witch," I smirked, knowing she'd never do something like that. She wouldn't dare. "Let's see who's faster." 

She bit her lower lip, clearly annoyed, but knew how to back down. I could see how her mouth twitched as she tried to keep the curses from escaping her lips. Maggie didn't like the fact that I knew her real age, and I'd used it to annoy her just because she always did the same to me.

Even though most witches lived relatively long lives, they would still require the ȧssistance of their magic to maintain their youthful appearance and a healthy body. As a result, many witches are like Maggie, who still appears to be in her late twenties despite being in her late seventies. 

Hearing her threat from before, I couldn't help but return the favor. It was almost natural for me to do so.

"Tch, I'm only staying because of the money," she grumbled, plopping her body back onto the sofa. "Let's hurry and get this over with." 

Though I'd planned to stop the villagers from getting any more food from the witch, there was still a possibility that she'd proceed with the ritual. Considering their ultimate plan was to start another war, those villagers were definitely of importance to them. There would be no war to win if they didn't have the right force to back them up. 

Stopping the food flow would certainly impede their plans, but I don't believe it would be enough to derail them. We have two days to stop them. 

"I want to know about the ritual," I said, drawing her attention back to me. "About how the ritual will run and also how to stop it." 

Maggie crossed her arms over her ċhėst, seemingly deep in thought after my question. Knowing that her sister was a blood witch, Maggie had a good chance of being one of those blood witches as well. Despite the fact that she'd been staying on my land for years, I hadn't felt the need to get to know the witch any further until today—or the day I found Violet was a white witch. 

I almost killed her for trespassing on the pack's territory the first time I met her. It was nine years ago, a year before I became the Alpha of the pack. I was going on my daily run, wanting to make sure nothing was going on around the pack. I'd made my way to the forest, going through the thick trees when I smelled something unfamiliar. 

I ȧssumed that it would be a rogue, as rogues were notorious for trespassing at the time. But when I followed the scent, I didn't come across any rogues. Instead, I found a young woman. The woman appeared to be younger than me, and one of her legs was bloodied when I found her. She was limping her way straight to the pack's territory, and her face was as pale as death itself when she noticed my presence.

I didn't know how she got there, but I ȧssumed she was harmless. There was no way she could afford a fight with her current state, let alone harm the pack, so I decided to let her go. I quickly came to the conclusion that she was a human who'd lost her way.

Despite her injury, I was not so kind as to offer her my ȧssistance. I only gave her directions away from the pack, not wanting her to go further into the territory. I still remember the relief on her face when she saw me leaving, but the relief quickly turned to dread when her young appearance turned into that of an old lady. 

Her long black curls turned white, her skin turning a little saggy. Her straight back became a bit crooked, making her overall height shorter. Except for her appearance, everything about her remained the same. She was still dressed in the same gown, with the same bloodied left leg. But in a matter of seconds, the young woman had transformed into an elderly lady, and I quickly realized that what stood before me was not a human but a witch.

A witch was trespassing on a wolf's territory. 

When she realized what had happened, she tried to make a run for it, but her injured legs thwarted her efforts. Her now weaker body fell after stumbling over the tree roots around her, making her chance of escape non-existent. Seeing how there was no way out, she attempted to use her magic to create another chance to escape, but she was too slow. 

Before she could unleash her magic, I threw her against a tree trunk, my hand strangling her neck. Desperate to breathe, she finally surrendered herself. She then admitted to being a black witch but stated that she held no ill intention towards the pack. She was being chased by someone and didn't know she'd crossed the werewolves' territory. 

It was difficult for me to believe her words, as she had almost fooled me by pretending to be a normal human if not for her broken facade. But after a few persuasions, she swore to be useful to us—werewolves—should I prolonged her life. 

A few years have passed, and here we are—always bickering because we despised each other's guts. I'd long killed her if it hadn't been for the fact that she'd proven herself useful over the years. 

"We'll need your little white witch to do that," replied Maggie.