The Alpha's Unwanted Luna (by Miss L) novel Chapter 439

90 - Ben

“What the hell are these crazy witches doing?” I whisper out as we edge closer to the treeline. If my sense of direction is right, we are directly south of Elara’s packhouse, but far enough away that it might be considered neutral territory. I don’t smell the patrol wolves' scent marking.

This area juts out towards the waterfront, like it’s a little peninsula, and full of thick, closely set trees. What is odd though is beyond the first couple trees, the rest are black. Black trunks, black branches, black leaves, black needles, black pine cones. But they aren’t burnt. Copyright ©️ 2025 Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions

Jason reaches his hand out, “Don’t touch anything. We don’t know what’s on them.”

“Do you feel magic here, then?” He asks, looking over his shoulder as he carefully walks forward.

“Not like with the Shadow Markers, but something is here. Can you feel it?” I never thought about it before now, but he might be a better beacon than I for magic now that he’s mated to a witch.

“I don’t know. It’s not like what it felt like when Brianna, Marietta, and the healer were doing spells on Juliette. That was like a buzz or static in the air. It felt alive. I think magic was here, or maybe it’s asleep. Can magic be dormant?”

“No idea, but another question for our visitors. I think you an I need some extra lessons. Do you still smell whatever caught your attention?”

“You don’t smell that?!” He keeps walking carefully. There is a fog that’s rolled in off the water and settled around the base of the trees. The last thing we need is to step into a trap.

“Can you be more specific about what that might be?” I roll my eyes, he’s walking with a purpose, something has his tracking instincts locked in.

“It’s burnt…” He stops suddenly looking up.

I step up behind him, following his line of sight, and suck in a breath as I am smacked in the face with the smell, “Flesh.”

“Elara, we have a major problem. Knock Drake out and get out here. He’s a distraction. Marietta and Brianna should see this too.”

“Your concept of natural order, Walt, is that you have all the say and want to control your Alpha. If you have nothing productive to add to the conversation, kindly stay out of the way while we investigate this crime on the pack lands you so desperately want to maintain.” I lead Elara forward towards Jason, keeping her next to me. These elders read too much into little things like who walks in front of or behind another.

Jason and I walk through how and what we found when we got here and the fact that he could smell it from half a mile away and I didn’t smell it until I could see it. Brianna gave us all assignments, each of us looking for specific ingredients or remnants of them. We were also tasked with looking for specific symbols. She seems to have an idea of what happened here, but isn’t saying much.

“What happened here?” Jax asks after doing his own sweep for magical elements and Brianna hasn’t spoken for over an hour. She’s been kneeling in front of the poor kid, still strung up, muttering under her breath. “Was he magical? He’s not a wolf, I can smell that much.”

Marietta moves behind Brianna, almost protectively, “We believe he was a hybrid. A witch and a wolf, and he was used as a conduit.” The wind whipped around us as if the forest is confirming.

“Why can’t we smell that he was a wolf? Even a rogue born wolf has a scent after death.” Elara questions, and Walt scoffs again, like she missed an easy question on a test. She stiffens next to me, but gives no other indication that she heard him. Copyright ©️ 2025 Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions

“I think that was the part that was used in the spell, his wolf blood, his connection to your Goddess and the forest.” Marietta confirms, Brianna is still muttering, completely blocking out the conversation going on around her. “Your wolves have a deeper connection to the forest, which is part of your magic. Whoever did this is looking for something. Something hidden to our magic, but connected to yours.”