Chapter 93 - THE PHANTOM II

Derek howled in relief as he heard his mother's voice. But she wasn't alone. He thought, picking up Maya's scent, some other scent he couldn't place,and then his father.

This realization made him snap his head backward, whining a bit as he saw his father fuming in anger.

"Azeera let them go." Melvina said, leaving her former group, and stepping between her son and the apparition.

"I'm not holding your son captive, Melvina." The apparition stated, still holding on to Emma.

Melvina soughed, then cocked her head towards her son.

"What happened?" She asked, expecting him to shift back to his human version.

Which he did, in a blink of an eye.

Maya walked towards him, dropping his clothes on his hands. She had prepared ahead, knowing how protective her cousin could be , when it comes to the redhead.

Derek muttered a thank you, before rushing to put on the clothes, a little bit embarrassed of the fact he was naked, and also the centre of attraction. But then they were family, except the ghostly apparition and the other woman, near his father, who stared at him blankly. He didn't think that she  would be affected in any way, by his nudity.

"Mom, how did you find us?" He asked, after getting dressed in the tennis polo and shorts.

If he could recall properly, the phantom had cited that they couldn't be found by anyone, especially when it had heard Maya's call.

"When Maya returned home two days ago, and told me that she hadn't seen you both after you guys had gone sight seeing in the forest, wasn't able to even perceive your scents again..I had known something must had gone wrong. That's why I brought my old friend along." Melvina replied.

But Derek hadn't been listening really. His mind had stopped when he heard the 'two days ago.' He didn't think it was up to an hour or two, since he had been conversing with the apparition.

"Two...days??" He finally stuttered out in disbelief. " We hadn't been here that long." He added, looking from his mother, to the apparition who looked bored already.

"You were sucked into a vortex." Maya answered, with a shrug. She had almost gone berserk, when she hadn't been able to find them or perceive their scents. She had shifted, letting Sia out, to run around the forest twice, but nothing. She had howled out in pain, before running back to the pack. She had sworn then to kill her father with her bare hands, if he was the perpetrator of the act.

When she had told Melvina what happened, the older woman had just sighed before asking her to retell the whole story. They had waited a day more to see whether the duo would come back. When they hadn't, her aunt had gone off to meet her old friend she had said,who turned out to be a witch. Her uncle had just kept his anger in check after hearing the news, eager to see the girl who had got Derek tripping. They hadn't told him that the human  was Derek's mate.

"A vortex??" Derek asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah. We are not actually on Earth now. Just in a kinda space in time." Maya replied, shocking Derek the more. He had a lot of questions, but he knew they would have to wait till they got home. All he wanted now was his little witch. He needed to get her out of that apparition's hands.

"Okay." He muttered.

"Okay...what happened?" Melvina asked, prompting him to talk. She still didn't understand what Azeera was doing in their regions. The apparatition shouldn't be here.

"It said it wanted Emma." 

"What!!" Melvina and Maya screamed in disbelief at the same time, startling Alpha Peter. Since he heard the news of his son missing, since he went on the journey with them, allowing his mate to take the lead since this was her turf, he has been in deep thoughts on why a phanthom was interested in his son, and the human that got his son tripping, even into trouble.

He couldn't be happier that the phantom was only interested in the human, which lay like dead in its arms. But he didn't understand why his mate was so concerned about the redhead too, his neice too. Who was the human? He thought, staring at the redhead again. The redness of her hair reminded him of Sheila, but then, she couldn't be her daughter. Sheila was gone, and the girl was a human; a mere human who got his son tripping. He couldn't wait for next two weeks when he would turn 18. Maybe then, his head would be out of the clouds.

"Azeera, what is happening? Why do want the human girl?" Melvina asked the apparition, which startled Derek. He didn't know that apparitions had names.

"You think she is a human too?" Azeera asked, repeating the question it had asked Derek earlier.

"Yes, of course. Or Don't you know? She's not one of us." Melvina stated, still bewildered by the turn of events. An apparition coming for a human? What impossibility! She thought.

"Okay, if you so." Azeera replied, cackling again at the dumbness of the people around her.

No way was the girl in her arms a human. 

She didn't know what she was, but she was sure that Leonarya wouldn't trouble herself because of a mere human.

"Yes. So give her back." Melvina said, indicating with her hands for the being to drop her son's mate down on the ground.

"I can't, Melvina." Azeera replied, holding Emma tighter, as she saw the witch coming closer. She wasn't really scared of the witch, but she couldn't underestimate her. Witches were cunning with all sorts of tricks up their sleeves.

"Why?" Melvina asked, not understanding the matter a bit. Even if it wanted a human, why Emma?

"Leonarya wants her." Azeera replied, causing Melvina, her friend,and Peter to gasp in shock.

"Leonarya??" Melvina's friend asked in disbelief.

"Yes.. Leonarya." Azeera replied.

"Who is Leonarya?" Derek and Maya asked simultaneously, staring at the adults in their midst.

"Leonarya is the queen of the southern witches.." Alpha Peter replied, disbelief still coating his voice.