Silence filled the room after Alicia's response. Eden and Glen fully understood the situation and the, now, could measure its seriousness. The dominant turned to his mate and covered his hand with his palm. Eden lifted his head and their eyes met.
"I have something to do. Wait for me a moment." Without waiting for the omega's response, he placed a kiss on his forehead and rose from his chair, leaving him with the two Servants of Talamh.
He walked to a distant corner of the house and reached into his pocket from where he pulled out his phone. Glen turned on the device and several notifications appeared. He frowned when he saw one of them, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He scrolled through his contacts and dialed the number under Connor's name.
The phone rang for a long time but no one picked it up. The werewolf hung up, waited a moment, then tried his luck again. Again the tones followed for a long time. Finally, he heard a click but silence answered him on the other side of the line.
"Connor?"
He heard the sounds of muffled voices, but his supernatural hearing allowed him to distinctly hear what his best friend was saying to his fiancé and he chuckled.
"Don't tell me that while I'm neck-deep in the biggest mess ever, you two are happily fucking around?"
"We're not!" The response was fast. Too fast and Connor's voice was way much higher than usual which made Glen snort because he knew he was probably right.
"Ok, maybe we're fooling around a little but I swear it's still an all-ages show."
Glen chuckled again when he heard that, on the other end of the phone, Greg didn't want to stop his moment of intimacy and he was making it obvious despite Connor's vainly muffled protestations. The all-ages show wouldn't stay that way for long if the agent let the doctor take over. The dominant knew he had to be quick to let them be.
"Where are you?" He asked.
"Wow. I never thought you would turn into such a creepy dude after a few weeks without any bed action. You wanna know what position we are in?"
"Don't say such a gross thing or I'll puke! I just want to know if you're free to talk."
"Oh... that." A long silence settled down and Glen took the phone away from his ear to check that the communication was still going on. He brought the device back to his ear and frowned.
He heard noises and several muffled moans before Greg's voice took over and finally answered him.
"We are in the empty room in Nube's house. Sora is sleeping with her mother and Cliff stayed by Nube's bedside to let me know if there's a problem. Nobody is around. We can talk but you have thirty seconds."
Another muffled moan reached his ear, and Glen didn't need the doctor to give him an update on the situation. He ignored the gasps and other lewd sounds that were undoubtedly coming from Connor and spouted the purpose of his call as quickly as possible.
"We need plane tickets. We'll be back at your location around midnight. It's impossible to drive back to Red Creek and be at the academy in time for morning classes. We need a flight that allows Eden to attend his classes tomorrow morning."
"Got it… We'll take… tickets for… everyone... I'll ask…Green Lake's Alpha…if Sora and Nube…have papers…that allow them to travel…without any problem." The doctor's voice was jerky, his breathing heavy, and the alpha was biting the inside of his cheeks to keep himself from smiling because he had no trouble guessing what was causing Greg out of breath state.
There was another silence, and suddenly a loud moan made Glen pull the device away from his ear.
"Night flight!" Greg said after a groan and the communication cut off.
Glen stared at the smartphone for a moment, shocked by what had just happened, and shook his head, a smile on his lips. The careless behavior of his friends had made him forget for a moment what he had learned tonight.
"I should move out of Connor's quickly. They're getting too much wild for me now that they're engaged." He shook his head and went back near the table where Eden was still talking with the two witches. His smile lasted as he gazed into the two golden orbs.
Unfortunately, the levity break didn't last. When he took his gaze away from Eden and met Alicia's dejected and depressed ones, the alpha again felt all the danger that awaited them weigh on his shoulders.
"Everything is okay?" Eden asked with a concerned tone.
"Yes. It's ok, we can keep going." He sat down next to his mate who instinctively pulled his chair closer so that their bodies stuck together.
The omega needed to be reassured by his presence and his pheromones. Glen could feel his emotions were under control but their extreme negativity was almost overwhelming. Even for the dominant who felt them only through their Fated bond.
"We were waiting for you to come back. I asked Alicia what was that spell she used on you earlier because I heard Gaby talking about analysis… I would like to know about the system. If it is a gift or an enemy."
"Do you think it might pose a threat?" Glen asked. "So far, it has only helped us. Me to get rid of my curse to regain my strength, and you to regain the memory of your pack and gain power. It's thanks to it that we know who you are and what role you have to play for the werewolves."
Glen had added the last sentence, his eyes deep in the golden irises. He gently stroked his temple then tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. The younger werewolf leaned against the caress as if he was craving the contact and his gaze was lost a little in the void.
"My role," He mumbled, uneasy.
Glen pressed his palm against Eden's cheek and held eye contact for a moment. Without a word, he turned away and addressed the two Servants of Talamh.
"I don't want to do something that will put you in danger but if you can help us then I leave it to you."
His gaze was straight, and as Alicia stared back at him, for the first time in a while she didn't seem overwhelmed with fear.
"You're the Warrior of the Moon Goddess, right?" The old witch's tone showed that she wasn't expecting an answer. The remark was more to herself.
"I don't know so I can't answer without a doubt. To be honest, I spent my life with my werewolf powers blocked by Light's curse. I'm still learning what it's like to be a werewolf. I may be a fraud, but I know one thing.
I found with my mate, my very reason to exist as a werewolf. I don't intend to let an angry witch and a greedy spirit this feeling away. If that means I have to stand up and fight to stop them from threatening everything I can't live without, I won't falter for a second. I'll fight with all my might."
Next to him, Eden was blushing furiously at these words. He thought back to what the dominant had declaimed by link the night he had marked him and that he more than anything wanted to hear aloud.
He peeked at the alpha who at this moment exuded a strength he longed to rely on entirely. But he knew he couldn't. Even though he was an omega, he had to keep growing strong, so he can stand, not behind his mate, but beside him in all the battles that awaited them.
Alicia stared at the couple and smiled at the glint in their eyes.
"In that case, let's hope the Moon Goddess has made sure you're strong enough to defeat Black." She stood up and motioned for the male omega to do the same.
The young man got up from his chair and followed the woman who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and patted the free place in front of her.
"Are you sure it's safe for Eden?" The alpha was worried when he saw his mate sit cross-legged in front of the witch.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to your mate. I would have said good flu since the wind used by Caraid is quite cold, but with a werewolf, I don't even have to worry about that kind of thing. She smiled to show Glen that he can trust her and the Dominant relaxed.
"And for you?"
Gabriella put a hand on the man's shoulder and Glen lowered his head to look at her.
"I got her."
She joined her grandmother on the floor and sat down beside her. The young Servant called out a spirit that took the form of a rabbit made with bright red energy. When Gaby after drew a symbol on the old witch's back then uttered a word, it leaped twice to move closer to Alicia and jumped into her chest.
A red halo, first intense then diffuse, enveloped the body of the old servant, and the next moment the voice of the witch rose to call her spirit, Caraid.
Even though Glen knew he had to be wary right now, he couldn't help but open the system to observe the scene with its help.
[Alicia Red Maple, level 97.
Race: Human.
Type: Servant of Talamh
Class: Spirits Master
Code name: The Scholar
Stats: Magic: 25,000/25,000 (WARNING: This stat can no longer level up)
Do you want to read the explanatory notice? YES/NO?]
Glen glanced at his mate who was sitting on the floor, eyes closed and still. He didn't know how, but he was sure that at that moment, Eden and the witch were in the White room. He frowned and answered in his head. 'Yes.'
In the white room, Eden walked and the sound of his footsteps filled the empty place. Beside him, Alicia spun around, her head raised to see the boundaries of the place that didn't seem to have any. Eden approached her and put his hand on her shoulder to attract her attention.
The old witch noticed his intention, but what she was looking at was so incredible that she didn't want to take her eyes off for a moment.
"We are inside this system, right?" She asked without turning to look at the omega.
"That's right. I call this space The White Room."
"The White Room?" She chuckled. "A bit simplistic but I can understand why." She walked a few steps and when she saw that she couldn't see any walls, she bent down to touch the ground.
Alicia strokes the ground with her fingertips and Eden sees her face light up. She traced a rune on the floor, and after a while, the whole room reacted to the spell she had just cast.
The floor which was immaculate white began to glow and an almost perfect blend of gold and black appeared. The real appearance of the room was mesmerizing. It was as if hundreds of millions of golden and black crystals were embedded in the ground and alternated in a regular pattern.
Alicia's hand kept infusing her magic into the rune which soon was surrounded by a circle of smaller runes. The smallest runes started to spin on an invisible axis and Eden stared, fascinated, at their dance. As they stopped and returned to their original position Alicia's voice rose.
"Mac-samhail"
The same combination of runes appeared in several places of the White room as lines were connecting all the circles. The blond lifted one leg when he saw he was in the way of one of his lines and stepped away.
The light glowing of each circle of runes intensified, and Alicia's eyes closed. When she opened her eyelids a few seconds later, Eden's gaze locked with two white gems that were shining along with the runes.. The Servant of Talamh was connected to the system.