Alpha Battle (12 page)

The warlock was in a fit of anger when the rock made him drop the walkie-talkie.  He motioned with his hand and the rest of the warlocks charged at Eli, Jadelyn, Ace, and Chelsea. 

Eli and Ace pushed Jadelyn and Chelsea behind them before the warlocks could get closer.  When the warlock guards started throwing fireballs directly at them, Eli and Ace pushed Jadelyn and Chelsea, knocking them to the ground.  Eli and Ace were doing everything in their power to keep their mates safe while they dodged the fireballs.

Jadelyn lifted her head up off the ground after a few seconds and noticed Eli as he overpowered one of the warlocks.  She also noticed Eli and
Ace were having a hard time dodging the orbs while defending themselves against the guards. 

“We have to figure out a way to help them,” Chelsea said as she looked up and saw the scene in front of her.

“I think I have an idea, but I need you to stay low and follow my lead,” Jadelyn said as she began crawling backwards while hoping her plan would work.  Their powers didn’t stop working until they reached a certain part of the beach.  She was hoping if they backed up, their powers would return.  When they were back far enough, Jadelyn reached for Chelsea’s hands as she said, “Concentrate on the water, Chels.”  Jadelyn and Chelsea closed their eyes as they both concentrated on the water to overpower the guards’ fireballs. 

The water from the ocean swept up into a huge wave and shot toward the guards’ orbs, instantly drenching them.  It was as if the water had short-circuited their firepower
. Every time they tried to form a fireball, only a little spark of lightning would emerge in their palm. 

“Chels, shift now, I will freeze the guards long enough so the guys can get over here and shift as well.”  Jadelyn concentrated on freezing the guards in place as Chelsea was shifting. 

“How did you guys do that, Jadelyn?” Eli asked as he and Ace ran to where Jadelyn was now standing.

“I figured something out
. As long as we are at this point of the beach, our powers will work.  Eli, run faster.  I need you to teleport the guards over here and shift before my hold on them runs out,” Jadelyn yelled back as she continued to hold her power over the guards.

“Continue to hold them like that until you see Ace and I are both fully shifted,” Eli turned and said to Jadelyn before teleporting the frozen guards in front of them. 

Just as they both were beginning to shift, her body began to shake from holding the guards frozen against their will for so long.  Jadelyn let out relieved sigh, as she was finally able to let her hold on them go.  She stumbled a bit from exhaustion as she watched Eli, Ace, and Chelsea ripping the warlock guards to shreds. 

Eli was taking down another guard when he finally realized more guards were appearing in place of the ones they already killed.  He knew at this rate they would never overpower them enough to get to the rusted shed a few yards away.  Eli thought about retreating when the answer to this problem came to him in the form of Jadelyn. 

“Eli, I am strong enough to freeze them again, teleport us to the shed, and I will try to hold them frozen until we make it back to the car,” Jadelyn said as her strength returned.

Eli teleported them into the rusted shed, which they quickly noticed was a jail.  What was even more shocking was the female shifter who was in one of the cells. 

“Eli, Jadelyn,” the female shifter whisper before going into a fit of coughs, her body was so small and fragile that the coughs made her body ache and shake.

“Ella, wait, I am confused, how are you here, we just saw you?  How long have you been here?” Eli asked with his head tilted to the side while he tried to figure this out, and Jadelyn looked on in shock.  Eli heard a moan and turned his head toward the sound.  In the cell next to Ella was another woman whose body and face looked just as bad as Ella's did.

“No, that was not me, it was the witch who kidnapped me three weeks before Jadelyn’s thirteenth birthday and locked me in this prison.  When she locked me in this cell, she cast a spell so she would look like me before walking out.  Now, hurry and get me out of here, we have to take her with us.  I will explain later,” Ella said, and she could have sworn she heard the witch cackling in her head. 

“I am sorry, Ella, I should have known it wasn’t you when you started acting different and made us move off
the Isle of Paradise so quickly after my mother’s death.  If I would have been paying attention, I could have found you a lot quicker,” Eli said with a look of despair on his face.

“It is alright, Eli, you were just a child, and it wasn’t time yet.  What matters is that you are here now.  Hurry up and find something to break this lock and the other
.  You have to get both of us out of here before she comes back, I will explain when the time is right,” Ella said as she started violently coughing once more. 

Eli picked up the crow
bar a few feet away from the cell and smashed the lock off before yanking the door open.  Then Ace started working on the other cell.  Ace swiftly picked up the other female shifter, who looked just as bad as Ella did, while Eli picked up Ella.

“I can’t hold the freeze too much longer, we have to hurry up and get out of here,” Jadelyn said as her arms began shaking some. 

“Okay, we are going to run all the way to the car, it is just a few yards away, but before we make a run for it, Chelsea, get that extra lock over there and lock both of the cells back up.  I have a plan.” 

After Chelsea secured the cell
s, they all made a run for the car before Jadelyn ran out of strength.  Jadelyn was about to release her hold once they were in the car, but Eli stopped her.  Jadelyn closed her eyes while she hung on a little longer, pulling strength from deep within her; it was hard for her to freeze that many warlocks at once. 

“You can release them now, Jadelyn.”  When she opened her eyes, all the guards had vanished from the beach.

“Where did they go?  I know they couldn’t have all disappeared that fast,” Jadelyn asked while looking on in pure bewilderment.

“
I teleported them into the jail cells.  Now can we hurry up and get out of here, Ace, before anyone else spots us.”  Ace didn’t have to be told twice.

“I don’t want to be driving around in circles so can someone please tell us where we are going,” Ace said.

“We are going to take them to my grandmother’s house, for the time being.  We cannot let the Witch Ella know we have them now.  We also have to meet the Enforcers at the bowling alley in thirty minutes before someone gets suspicious of our activities today,” Eli said as he began to formulate a plan how to tell his father, Jake, about the real Ella and Witch Ella swap.

“Ace, be careful of other cars because I am going to make us and the car invisible,” Chelsea said as she slowly turned everyone and the car invisible. 

The garage door opened as they were pulling into the driveway, and Eli’s grandmother stood in the doorway waiting for them.

“Hurry up and get them inside.  I have to start the healing process on them, and you have to get out of here before the Enforcers start looking for all of you,” Eli’s grandmother said as she ushered them all into the house.  “Follow me before the Witch Ella gets here.  I have a secret room no one knows about but me.  They can stay here until it is time for you to come back and get them.”

“Wait, Grandma, you knew about this the whole time and didn’t say anything to any of us?” Eli asked with frustration dripping through his voice.

“It wasn’t time yet, son.  I couldn’t, but believe me I wanted to,” Eli’s grandmother answered as she waved her hands across a solid wall inside of Eli’s bedroom.  The wall split open and slid apart
. A room instantly formed before their eyes.  Inside the room were two twin beds, a kitchen with a fully stocked refrigerator, a bathroom, and a kitchen table.  “Ace and Eli, lay them on the beds fast so I can start healing them then get out of here.  Eli, make sure you grab the bag near your bedroom door on the way out and don’t forget.” 

Jadelyn was the last one to step out of the room and the wall door closed hastily behind her.  They were almost to the garage when Witch Ella walked through the door.

“Eli, what are all of you doing here right now?” Witch Ella asked.

“I came to get the rest of my clothes, so I could move into the Alpha
’s house with Jadelyn,” Eli said as he patted his bag and thanked his grandmother in his head.

“Well, you might as well stay here, along with her, since you guys might not win the
Alpha Battle and will have to move out of the Alpha’s house.”  Even though Witch Ella was talking to Eli, she was looking directly at Jadelyn.

Before Eli could answer back, Jadelyn jumped in and answered before him.  “Whether we win the Alpha Battle or lose it, we will not have to move out of the Alpha house if we don’t want to.  Since it is my family house, I, as well as my father, will choose together who can or can’t live there,” Jadelyn said before making her way to the car.

“Wait, sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, I just wanted you two to be prepared for anything,” Witch Ella said right as Jadelyn was reaching for the handle of the door that led to the garage.

“It’s okay, but if we need your advice on something, then we will come to you.”  With that, Jadelyn walked out of the door and got into the car with the others following closely behind her.

“Jadelyn, why would you do that?  What you said back there could make her suspicious of us,” Eli said when they were a safe enough distance from the house.

“Look, what I said back there had nothing to do with what we found out today.  She was speaking to you, but looking at me the whole time like everyone else does that has a problem with the fact that I am latent.  I decided this morning that I wasn’t going to try to get someone to like me
, despite my latency, by being nice or ignoring them when they are rude to me,” Jadelyn huffed out.  It felt good to her for finally sticking up for herself and not worrying about what others thought about her. 

Eli said he understood and was proud of her before kissing her on the forehead.  They all rode in silence the rest of the way to the bowling alley while listening to the radio.

***

Witch Ella made her way to the jail on her side of the Isl
e to check on her prisoners.  As she walked along the beach, she noticed dead warlocks scattered along the shoreline, causing her to pick up her pace.  She had to check on her prisoners first and then review the video cameras she installed in the sky all over the witch side of the Isle of Paradise.  Witch Ella noticed the jail cells were full of her warlocks who protected the beach and kept an eye on her prisoners over the years.  She turned and walked out of her makeshift jail as the prisoners started yelling for her to let them out.  Witch Ella didn’t feel as though she should let them out. 
If they were stupid enough to be trapped in there, they should stay in there
, she thought as she made her way towards her family’s castle. 

Witch Ella hated dealing with her own family more than dealing with the real Ella’s parents.  She always felt as though she was the odd one out in her family.  Her parents had four girls, three with the same red hair as their mother had.  While her sisters and mother's
hair was red, hers was an undefined color.  It looked as though it was her mother’s red hair mixed with her father’s black.  When they were younger, her sisters would tease her saying her hair didn't know what color it wanted to be.  Witch Ella didn’t understand why she let their teasing get to her the way it did, being the oldest of the four.

Witch Ella's parents were t
he Lord and Lady of Witch Isle.  Witch Ella thought she would take over as Lady of Witch Isle for her parents when they retired.  Her dreams didn’t come true—which wasn’t unusual.  She was now stuck as an Enforcer in the family, not even the Head Enforcer, that job was given to her youngest sister, while the middle sister became the Beta.  Witch Ella’s life never went as she wanted it to unless she manipulated the outcome. 

She helped others get what they felt like they deserved even if they didn’t deserve it—all for a fee of course.  She loved ruining others’ lives, but she hated the power she had to use in order to do so.  Witch Ella had the power of impersonation, meaning she doesn’t just takes on her charge’s body, she also inherits their emotions and history as well.  Sometimes it was hard for Witch Ella to tell her own emotions and memories from her charges.  She didn’t like the feelings some of her charges dealt with, like love and acceptance from others.  Witch Ella found out a long time ago love was just an illusion, especially if her own family couldn’t show it.

Witch Ella went directly to her side of the castle, hoping not to run into her parents or any of her sisters, who were all mated now with children.  She locked her door and crashed onto her bed; it felt good to be home and would feel even better if her family just disappeared.  She smiled, picturing herself as the Lady of Witch Isle and her family all tied up in a dungeon.  If she thought she could get away with it, without a doubt in her mind, she would try it.  Too bad for her the Counsel of Witches checked out the castle with pop-in visits.

Witch Ella scanned the video tapes of the beach until she finally found the ones she was looking for.  She grabbed her phone and text the two males she met the last time, telling them to meet her at their meeting spot.