{Alpha Tyler}

I've been noticing lately that Mary has a tendency to wake up around about noon especially if she's trained with Justin the day before. That's understandable to me because she's been on edge about the hunters that her mom is going to send out after her soon.

So seeing that I've been getting up early in the morning to train and take care of business dealing with the pack. After I do that I usually head back to the guest house to find Mary awake and eating lunch with Sasha and Justin. Sasha keeps insisting that she at least eat lunch with Mary even though Mary has clearly shown Sasha that she doesn't like her. I kind find it hilarious that Sasha can't take a hint that going after Mary is a lost cause.

Today after training and taking care of pack business I headed back to the guest house. When I got close to the guest house I heard Sasha squealing in joy. I ran as fast as I could because even Sasha was squealing I could sense from the mate bond that Mary was pissed. I burst into the guest house and saw Mary's wolf standing there glaring at Sasha.

"Oh my god I can't believe it!" Sasha squealed. "I can't believe it! Mary shifted into her wolf!"

I blinked and stared at Mary in shock. Once I got over my shock my shock turned into excitement. Mary's wolf is the same beautiful wolf that I saw over fifteen years ago. Her fur was a mixture of brown and black fur. It looked like she had mostly black fur with brown highlights to me. The brown highlights looked a lot like tiger stripes going down her back. She had brown patches of fur on her paws and ears. She also had one strip of gold colored fur going across her forehead that made it look like she was wearing a crown or some type of tiara. She also had a gray stripe of fur going around her waist where her chastity belt is when she's in her human form.

There's no fucking way I'm a werewolf! No way in hell! Mary snarled via mindlink.

Okay then, what's your explanation for turning into a wolf? I asked.

It's simple, I'm a shape shifter… Mary thought.

I raised an eyebrow. But before I could say anything else I heard Mary's wolf think, Seriously Mary? Okay fine then, how about we go for a run? If you're a shapeshifter then I don't think the form that you just took on should be able to control you right?

Seriously Danger- Mary thought.

Tyler, Mary and I are going for a run! See ya! Danger thought and just like that she ran out the front door.

"Hey!" I shouted. "At least bring a change of clothes with you for when you shift back!"

I turned around and headed over to Mary's bedroom and grabbed a small bag and stuffed a change of clothes in it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sasha said.

I turned around and glared at her. "I'm going after my mate! Duh! And don't follow us, Mary's already freaked out enough as it is."

Sasha nodded. "Sure I'll leave her alone for now. I just can't get over how gorgeous her wolf looks!"

"Yeah I know," I said. I grabbed the bag of clothes and walked around to the back door and took my clothes off. Once I did that I shoved my clothes into the bag and shifted into my wolf. I found it kind of strange that I knew Mary went even without tracking her scent. I was able to sense that for some reason Mary's wolf named Danger decided to take her over a nearby river that was at least ten miles away from the guest house on pack land.

I almost had a heart attack when I heard Theo come up from behind me in his wolf form.

Wow, who's that beautiful wolf over there? Theo thought.

That's Mary's wolf! Of course she's in denial about it. She thinks she's a shapeshifter! I thought.

So does that mean she still doesn't have her chastity belt off yet? Theo thought.

Yeah.

But how is that even possible? She shifted without getting the belt off? What the hell?

Yeah I know. Looks like her wolf is taking her for a walk now. At least I thought of bringing a change of clothes. Mary is freaked out and pissed right now. She's in denial so bad. Poor thing…

When Theo went to greet Mary I stopped him. Don't alert her to our presence yet. I want to watch from the sidelines for a moment or two to see how she deals with it. I think you should head back and let Mom and Dad know what's happening at least.

Theo nodded. Alright then. See you later!

With that, Theo ran off to tell Mom and Dad the good news and I hid behind a nearby tree to see how Mary was going to deal with being a wolf.

***

{Sasha}

I wanted to go follow Mary and Tyler but I understood why Tyler told me to stay behind. Mary was pissed that she changed into a wolf and I don't know why. Either way I had to tell someone about what happened so I ran over to my friend Ellena to tell her what I saw.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" I said when I pulled Ellena off to the side.

"Okay, what's going on? Did you manage to steal Mary away from her mate yet?" Ellena asked.

I shook my head. "Nope! But at the moment something much better than that happened!"

Ellena tilted her head. "What happened?"

"Mary shifted into her wolf!" I said with excitement.

Ellena gave me a look of disbelief. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "Seriously! Too bad I didn't get a picture of it because her wolf is beautiful!"

"What did she look like?" Ellena said. I explained to her what Mary's wolf looked like and she gave me another look of disbelief. "Are you sure that's what her wolf looked like?"

I nodded. "Yes, why?"

"That sounds a lot like a wolf that was sighted by pack borders over fifteen years ago!" Ellena exclaimed. "Dad was part of the search party to find it but the wolf was tracked to a coven's borders. Dad said that Tyler and his Dad said just by the wolf's scent that she was a hybrid!"

"A hybrid?" I said, "What was she mixed with?"

"Well considering Dad's search party tracked her down to a witch coven's borders it's safe to say that she's half werewolf and half witch," Ellena said.

"Really?" I said, "What coven did the hybrid come from?"

"The IronClad Coven," Ellena said.

My eyes went wide and my blood ran cold because the IronClad Coven is the most feared and hated coven all over the world! It's mostly because the witches who belong to that coven are only allowed to use dark magic and summon demons. They're not allowed to do any other type of magic and the warriors that come from that coven tend to be hunters and tough as nails.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I composed myself, "No wonder why Mary's so tough! She is every werewolf's dream mate!"

Ellena nodded. "Yup! And the perfect person to become our Luna! Honestly, I'm going to tell you this straight, Sasha. Stop pursuing Mary, it's not going to go over well for you in the end! I'm only going to warn you once if you take my Luna away from me, I'll never speak to you ever again and our friendship will be over!"

I rolled my eyes because honestly, I could care less about how many friends I lose after I take Mary and make her mine forever.

***

{Mary}

When Danger led me to the river I struggled so hard to regain control of my body but it didn't work. Danger where the hell are you taking me to?

You see that river? Danger thought.

Before I could respond, Danger jumped in the river. I felt the cold water and immediately wanted to get out. Danger started to swim around in the river ignoring my requests to get out of it. La, la, la! I'm not listening! Wow, shapeshifters form in the driver's seat? Dude you are in denial so hard core it's funny! You really need to ask Tyler to rip that chastity belt off you!

But I don't think I'm-

Ready for it? Listen my little witch, Danger thought, No one's ever ready for anything! It's a matter of doing what I just did! It's a matter of jumping into a river and taking a swim!

I didn't respond to that because I knew that Danger was 100% correct. It was annoying because somehow this time around Danger managed to be the voice of reason. Danger snickered and taunted, You're not saying a word because you know I'm right! She paused and sniffed the air. Our mate is nearby, I think we should go greet him, don't you?

Not saying a word….

Danger laughed and climbed out of the river at a nearby dock. She shook herself off and turned around to see a gray and white wolf staring at us. She communicated via mindlink, Hi Jacob! Fancy meeting you here, you come here often?

I rolled my eyes at Danger's flirting with Tyler's wolf but I guess that's natural because Tyler is my mate and Jacob is Danger's mate.

Yeah I come here often but I heard there was a beautiful wolf hanging around the river so I decided to check her out. Jacob thought.

Seriously? That's the best pick up line you can come up with? Tyler thought.

Well she asked a question and I answered it. So yeah I guess? Jacob thought.

Again, not saying a word… I thought.

Look I know this is awkward, but you'll come to accept it sooner or later. Tyler thought. He sat down next to me and leaned his head on my shoulder. Don't worry, I'll help you get through this. That's what mates do for each other! They help each other for better or worse.

You make that sound as if we're getting married! I thought.

Well technically we are, I haven't marked you yet even though our bond is really strong. Think of accepting the mate bond as being engaged in the werewolf world. I'm wondering if it's the same thing for the soul bond in the witch world? Tyler thought. Either way, the deal will be sealed when I mate you and mark you. But I don't think you're ready for that yet.

Mate and mark? I thought.

Mating is sex and marking is basically me biting you on the neck to show everyone in the pack and everywhere else that you are mine! Tyler thought.

I thought about it but it took me a moment or two to process what he just said and when I did I tried not to show how freaked out I felt about that. Although I was already freaked out about being a wolf at the moment so yeah.

Alright, let's head back. Good thing I brought a change of clothes with- Tyler thought. He went around a nearby tree and shook his head. Damn it Theo! Look I know everyone wants me to rip that chastity belt off you but geez we've only been together for a couple of weeks now and I know you're not ready for it yet.

Okay, what happened? I asked.

Theo decided to grab the bag of clothes that I had with me so you could shift back to your human form. Usually when a werewolf shifts back to their human they wind up naked because their clothes get ripped up during the shift. I mean does Theo seriously think we're going to do it out in the woods? Yeah that's not my style thank you very much! Tyler thought.

I snorted. Well at least you know what you're doing. I have no clue what sex is and I'm not sure if I wanna find what it is in the middle of a forest!

Um… Okay then let's head back in wolf form then and I'm going to have to have a word with Theo when we get back. Tyler thought.

As we headed back to the guest house I kept thinking about what Danger said when we were swimming in the river. I still wasn't sure if I was ready for that or if I wanted to, as Danger put it, jump in the river and take a swim.

***

{Alpha Tyler}

As soon as I got back to the guest house with Mary, she shifted back into her human form and ran into her bedroom as fast as she could. I went back over to my house and after I shifted to my human form I grabbed a change of clothing and headed over to the pack house where Mom and Dad were. When I saw Theo sitting next to them on the couch eating, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and practically slammed him up against a nearby wall. "Are you kidding me Theo!"

Theo smirked. "No I'm not kidding and I took that bag of clothing for a reason Alpha Dumbass!"

"Excuse me? Mary was freaked out beyond belief at that moment and you expected me to do that to her? Have you lost your mind!" I shouted.

Dad came over and pulled me off of Theo because he knew that I wanted to kill him for pulling such a stunt.

"Chill out Tyler!" Dad snapped. "Theo was just trying to help. Although I do agree that now probably isn't the best time for that. I mean it's been how many years since Mary last shifted?"

"Over fifteen years ago when we first tracked her down near the IronClad Coven's borders," I said.

Dad looked at Theo and said, "Exactly and seeing how Mary's mother is it's possible that she hasn't shifted since then. So this is probably her second shift ever."

Theo sighed, "Alright I'm sorry for trying to make you go faster on Mary. Although I can't guarantee that I won't do it again. I might even get Sasha to help next time."

"Excuse me?" I snarled.

Theo chuckled, "Okay I was kidding on that last part. Yeah like I would ever get a crazy woman like Sasha to help you out in your romantic endeavors with your mate. Yeah I wouldn't even ask her for help in dealing with my mate. No thank you!"

That comment made me laugh because Sasha's reputation is pretty much being a homewrecker in the pack. That is exactly why when it comes down to romance no one ever asks Sasha for help for that reason.

"Alrighty then," I said, "what happens now?"

"I say we keep an eye on Mary to see if she shifts again," Dad said. "That way you can be there to help her get through this Tyler."

I nodded. "Helping Mary get through this is exactly what I intend to do."

***

{Seventy-One Voices}

Zach sat outside the gate that was in front of the prison that Mary had built over a decade ago to keep them from taking over her mind. While he was worried, Charlie was excited and eagerly awaiting the day that the gate would completely crack and they would be free.

With Zach freedom was the last thing he wanted. He was concerned about Mary because once the gate was broken there would be a good chance that every spirit inside the prison would die. Zach was one of the very first spirits that Mary somehow managed to summon and it was during Mary's first time using a Ouija board.

Fuck! Zach thought. Why the hell does Charlie want us all to die? I guess it might have something to do with how young of a spirit she is. She did come from a dead human. That woman! She has no idea-

He turned around and glared at Charlie when she cleared her throat to his attention. "So how do you think it will be until the gate cracks?"

"Judging by how the gate looks now," Zach said, still glaring at her, "it'll take at least six months to a year to crack. Unless…"

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Unless what?"

"Unless the person who set up the gate in the first place decides to open it," Zach said. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?" Charlie said.

"Why do you want all seventy-one of us spirits trapped in here to die?" Zach asked.

Charlie blinked. "Die? What do you mean die? Why would we die when we could have our freedom?"

"We were summoned to Mary's mind via the Ouija Board," Zach responded. "Once we were summoned we are connected to Mary's mind and soul. If the main personality's mind and soul die then the spirits that are connected to it die again and cease to exist. True we can send spirits to Hell but once they are outside of the gate in any way shape or form, it's a death sentence. It's the same thing with this gate. Once it breaks there's a good chance Mary could die and like I just said, if Mary dies then we die."

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Oh please you old geezer! You're just trying to stop me from having my freedom!"

Zach sighed, "Alright fine. But once you fight out the hard way that what I said is true. But either way I'll keep watching the gate and give you updates like usual."

Charlie nodded. "Good I'll see you around."

Zach didn't say anything else but he turned his back to Charlie and continued watching the gate like he would always do.