POV
Avery

Two days had passed since I took in the lord of the Dark Spirits. Nemul's energy was slowly ebbing away from me, leaving behind a strong reserve of ma'jek. I could feel how much stronger taking such power inside me, had made me.

My friends, they had changed, they were still under pack asylum, just until we knew if Michaëlle was finished or not.

Amber was different, she did not seem to be herself mentally. I mean sure some moments she was okay, and other times she'd stare off talking to herself. Plus she could see Alice, even when my bound spirit wasn't corporeal.

Athena was sure it was a small side-effect and that it would pass. Marius and Nikki were always having whispered conversations. And nobody wanted to practice anymore.

They were all "tired of ma'jek" and blaming it for all our problems. As for me, I wanted more, more power, more ma'jek in my reserves. Silently I was on the path to addiction.

Adam had been gone almost six days, pack business was running as usual. It was quiet, I was walking through the south territory, Shawn was somewhere off in the southern edge scenting the pack's border. I was walking with Alice, she was corporeal, her curls bouncing with each step.

"They want to stop practicing, they're all scared. And I'm losing Nemul, I mean sure my reserves are... I mean I'm strong, but am I on the same level as Michaëlle?" I asked. Alice popped from beside me to in front of me in the blink of an eye. I stopped walking starting at her.

"She's strong, but you are stronger. I wish I could tell you all that I know, but it would affect the future too much. Don't you feel stronger, more knowledgeable?" She asked. I did feel stronger, I retained spells given to me while under the influence of the dark spirits. But it didn't feel like enough, honestly, I just wanted more.

"Should I bind a new spirit? I want someone who can work the elements." I said as she started floating backward, facing me as I walked forward following her.

"A new member of our spiritual coven. I can't see what it would hurt. And elemental ma'jik is useful. But you need to wait until the moon is out." She said, disappearing and reappearing beside me. And the fading voice of Nemul spoke softly against my thoughts. (The other side responds to power, you have it now. It's in your blood, command the gates to open ) The voice faded and I felt him slip away, leaving me alone with only my reserves of power and the extra juice from Alice.

"Nemul doesn't think I need to do the whole ritual. Says I just need to command the other side, maybe feed them." I said as we broke through the southern tree line and entered the side gardens of the packhouse. "Here seems like a nice place," I said, looking around at the roses and manicured hedges.

Alice stood off giving me some room, I looked around, inhaling deeply. With my eyes closed, I focused down on the inside, on the thrumming part of me. I reached it and called out to the spirits.

"Gates to the other side, open and stand." As if the spirits were waiting, I heard the hordes of voices. They were far off, not close, and clear, I knew what I needed to do. "Alice, I need something sharp," I said.

Alice whispered something, and a blade that I knew came from the kitchen appeared in my right hand. "Thank you," I said, taking the blade, I slit my palm without fear. The pain was there, but I had a purpose. Words I'd stolen from the thoughts of the king of the dark spirits burned in my mind, I was surprised by the dark spell, my knowledge of it, but I still used it.

"Na krule ma ka silim (By Krule I do command)." At the words, and as I watched my blood fall from my palm and disintegrate before it even hit the ground, I was amazed to see spirits popping into existence. They were faded like Alice had been, but I wasn't just hearing them, I was seeing them, seeing them by the dozen.

The gates were feeding on my blood as it seemed to melt away.  "The spirits I seek can conjure storms." At my words, a bunch of spirits fizzled out. The ones that stayed behind became clearer. "The spirit I seek must be obedient," I said, and all but two disappeared. Two men, one who looked to be in his mid-twenties and an older man dressed in what was probably early 19th century clothes.

"Alice, who should I chose?" I asked, suddenly starting to feel a little light-headed, losing blood. "What sets you apart, you both claim will over the elements, what else?" Alice asked.

The old man shot forward, standing or hovering beside Alice, glaring at her. "I have the gift of parte dominante. Tell him what that is girl." The old man said, turning to the other spirits, who blinked out of existence.

"He has parte dominante, the dominant hand. Control over free will. A rare and titanous power. Accept him, Avery." Alice said, and I wasn't much concerned with his controlling abilities. I just wanted to control the elements and feel the extra strength of two witches. "Never disobey me, swear it by your power," I commanded.

"I swear I will do all you ask and no more, my word is bound by the laws of ma'jik." The old man said, and I didn't think any more about it, just did it. Invited him inside my mind and consciousness.

Unlike with Alice, I didn't fall to my knees in ecstasy. I was lifted up into the air, just a few feet, and I hung there. Power surged through me, and the high... Fuck it was like every nerve in my body tingled, I was far off and every little problem melted away.

From my heavily lidded eyes, I could see the old man, he was standing there a black bowl hat, a thick book tie, and long slacks. He raised his hands and it began to pour down in the garden, it rained with not a cloud in the sky.

Then more juice shot through me, and I moaned from the forced orgasm, then his life started to flash in front of me. It felt so good... So damn good...

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POV
Shawn

I was heading back from marking the southern borders, I was talking to Meeko, we were both wondering how long the humans would need asylum. Meeko being the ass he is, guessed they'd need asylum until Michaëlle was dead, that or half the pack. I didn't like that, I didn't find it funny.

But what happened next, was... It was life-changing. I was walking through the treeline of the southern border, heading back to the house. I was planning on showering, getting dressed, and getting some lunch. But as I left the trees and walked towards the back doors of the packhouse, I came around into the garden.

And there my mate was, hanging about ten feet in the air, his back bent, rain pouring down only on him and A'mosh's mom's roses. Alice was standing watching my mate, and across from her was a white-haired man, the old dude was faded, as Alice had been, and I knew it was another ghost. But looking at Avery. He looked... Honestly, he looked high, he looked out of it.

I walked straight over to him, stepping into the rain that came from nowhere, Alice called for me, but I ignored her. The faded ghostly man vanished as I jumped up and pulled my mate down. When we touched he fell into my arms, and gravity hit us hard, shoving me to the ground. Looking at my mate, he had the stupid look on his face, like a true junkie, nodded out and ugly.

His eyes were completely rolled back, and he was drooling. The smell of cum was present as well as the spicy lemony scent of his oozing hole. I didn't like how it looked, I was quite familiar with junkies, and I didn't think he was one, but if magic could give him a high like the one he was on, then it had to be addictive. I wanted information and I figured, there was a coven of witches on pack land who owed me a favor...

#       #       #

I knocked on the door of the ward that Avery's friends were staying in. It was Athena who let me inside, I walked in boldly, luckily they were all in the living room, seated and watching something on the TV. "I need to speak with y'all," I said, grabbing the remote off the arm of the couch and muting the TV.

Athena came past me and sat down next to Amber, Marius and Nikki both were instantly serious. "What's going on?" Marius asked. I looked over at him, trying to bite back my dislike.

"I want to know if the stuff Avery does is dangerous, is it... Is it like a drug?" I asked. They all gave each other looks, well except for Amber who was playing with Athena's hair.

"Nikki thinks Avery might be forming some bad habits, habits that can lead to... What could be considered an addiction. What made you ask?" Athena asked, grabbing Amber's hands in her own, holding Amber still.

"I was coming back from scenting the borders, and I saw Avery, he was floating, just hovering and it was raining, but it came from nowhere. And I could see two ghosts with him... The girl Alice and some man, he was faded like barely there, but I think he was making the rain." I explained. 

Avery's friends shared this strange knowing look like they had some shared secret. "It sounds like he was in the process of binding another spirit to himself," Marius said, and I shrugged asking if that was a big deal or not.

"When done in a proper and healthy way, no, bindings are about personal power and growth, but a lot of people don't recommend binding spirits, the energies used in that kind of spirit ma'jek is akin to blood ma'jek, it's an extreme high," Nikki explained and I started pacing.

"Should I stop him? How can I stop him?" I asked them, and Marius sighed giving me an almost suffocated look.

"You can't stop him, if he has a second spirit attached to him, one who can make it rain. No, he's running on straight power. And perhaps it's healthy, perhaps it's not... He has free..."

"I don't want to hear that, his free will is tied in with mine we are soul mates. No, no way in hell am I gonna just let him turn into someone... Hell, I don't know, what's the equivalent of a magic junkie?" I asked.

"That doesn't exist, either you burn out or you ascend. Or... You take in too much power at one time, and you die." Athena said. I growled at them, angry at them as if they made Avery summon that spirit.

"Can you take away his power, take away the spirits?" I asked, desperate for them to help me, to stop the outcome I felt coming full steam ahead.

"They're bound to him, to forcefully remove them would damage his solar plexus, it could hurt him, plus do you think Avery would just let it happen?" Nikki asked.

"So I'm supposed to just stand around with my dick in my hand waiting for shit to go bad?" I asked, and none of them could meet my eye. "Bullshit, I'll handle it myself, what fuckin good are any of you?!" I shouted, storming out of the room.

#       #       #

That night during dinner, I sat at the table with all the other high ranking wolves, A'mosh sat two chairs down from me, the Luna seat empty beside him. Avery was seated beside me, talking animatedly with Keaton's mate Gram.

He seemed totally fine, but I could see the truth. Avery wasn't talkative, he wasn't lively. Only when he had "ma'jek" in his system.

So, basically, he was walkin around, high as shit, Brandon happened to catch my face and asked why I was scowling, and that drew everyone's attention to me.

"I'm always scowling, leave me alone Gamma," I growled, and Avery laid his hand on mine. I snatched away from him giving him a dirty look. His smile faltered and he tried to search our link, tried to feel my emotions, and see why I was angry.

"You wanna know something you ask me," I said, sliding my chair away from the table and getting up. I left the dining hall and wasn't surprised when Avery came after me. He kept shouting my name, drawing the attention of the wolves moving around, heading in and out of the different paths

"What the hell is wrong?!" He snapped, and I stopped walking, spinning and turning on him.

"What's going on with you?" I asked.

"Shawn, what are you talking about?" He asked. I looked into his eyes, and sure enough, the pupils were pinpoint and the whites of his eyes were glassy.

"You're high... Right now you're high, tell me you aren't." I said, and he looked at me like I was being unbelievable.

"I bound a spirit today, and so yeah I'm a little over-juiced. But it's not like I'm doing coke, or meth or crack... Shawn, come on chill out." Avery said.

Was I being too much? Was I wrong? Was Avery in danger? Goddess help me I didn't know what to do.

"You know what, I'll see you later, I'm going to go to the greenhouses, Gram asked me to do something ... Oh, and before you track me down and check my arms for track marks, I won't do any ma'jek tonight." Avery hissed, but all I heard was "no more tonight" what did that mean?

________________________________________________________________________

POV
Avery

Sitting in the greenhouse I had Alice and Henry standing around me, Alice was walking around the room, healing dying plants and killing weeds. Henry was still faded out, and he was answering my question about Shawn.

"He fears your power, the other side... It is alive with your name. You are becoming the new power, don't let anything stop you." Henry said, his voice old and tired.

From across the room, I heard a sound. It was a hissing noise. Old Avery would've been scared, but I wasn't scared anymore. I walked around the greenhouse looking for the hissing, only to have Alice pop in front of me.

"There is a snake in the back near the mint plants." She said, and I frowned walking off in the direction. Sure enough towards the back there was a snake, it was coal-black and coiled around itself. It was probably a bit longer than my arm.

I thought about linking someone to have it removed, but then the hissing, it started to sound like something other than noise. When I listened closer I heard a voice, it was serpentine but crisp.

"I am a gift from Nemul." The voice said, and the snake slithered towards me.

"A familiar from the king of lower spirits. What a gift." Henry said. He was right, a familiar is a powerful token of ma'jek, they're like limitless batteries, capable of using endless amounts of small ma'jek. Charms, hexes, minor transmutation. And it was for me. Albeit from an almost demonic-like spirit god.

"You can understand him can't you?" Alice asked as the snake hissed. I nodded, turning and listening to the serpent as he explained that he was a gift, bestowed without the want of payment.

"Do you accept?" The snake hissed. I said yes without any hesitation. The snake slithered forward, coming onto my body, wrapping himself around me.

The surge of power that shocked me couldn't be considered a super high, it was good and flat-lined quickly. The snake was called Ishmir, created specifically for me, Nemul was very friendly and I didn't find that to be at all strange, mostly I was being willfully blind.

Maybe it was easier for me to accept Ishmir without question because not a mere three minutes later, a small bright ball of light entered in through one of the ceiling windows and landed on the branch of a small still growing lemon tree.

It became a bright yellow canary, it was so pretty. Ishmir hissed his head on my shoulder. He lunged out at the little bird, but a light burned the snake, he pulled back shaking his head as it slowly had to regrow.

"I am Iris, a gift from Lumen. You should do away with the dark. Those creatures will do you no good. Will you accept me as your companion?" The canary asked, and Alice and Henry inhaled sharply.

"What?" I asked.

"Two or more familiars is a sign of greatness to come. I wish I knew all of your destiny. Accept him, child." Henry almost begged. I gave Iris the okay, and when our ma'jekil cores connected, I evened completely out. I was thrumming with power.

Henry and Alice were no longer faded, they were alive, not from my sacrifices as was our deal but from the amount of energy they were siphoning off of me, and it wasn't even making a dent.

After cooling off, and coming down some, I made my way back to the packhouse. I went to me and Shawn's room and of course, he's in there. I had nothing to say, he had basically called me a crackhead.

We were both marked and I know he could feel my emotions, if he tried he might've been able to hear my thoughts. "So I'm the bad guy, because I care about you?" He suddenly asked, coming out of the closet in his sleepwear, which was always briefs.

"E' euak. (I summon)." I waved a hand, watching Shawn as a birdcage and a tank appeared in a flash, both of them moving towards my half of the bedroom.

"What the fuck." Shawn spat, watching Iris and Ishmir appear.

"They're gifts, don't worry I'm not high." I hissed while undressing, turning, and going towards the bathroom to take a shower.

"Don't walk away from me Avery!" Shawn shouted, and something in me shivered and I froze in place.

"Get over here, now!" He growled, and I felt far away as I followed his order. Shawn took my naked body and sat down on the bed, me in his lap. My head felt foggy like I was drugged but only slightly so I couldn't be sure.

"Look at me," Shawn said, and I met his eyes instantly.

"I'm worried, Sunshine. Your friends are worried, I saw you today and you looked, have you ever watched Intervention?" He asked, and I nodded, slowly coming out of my daze.

"You looked like one of them, a serious drug addict and that scared me. But if you can promise me that you aren't just getting high, I'll back off." Shawn said.

Looking in his warm brown eyes, I couldn't lie to him, so I leaned forward and kissed his chin. "I saw that book in your drawer," I said, changing the subject quickly.

Shawn knew what book I was talking about, and his eyes darkened. "I didn't steal it, I thought maybe you and I could try some of the things in it." He said, his one-track mind finally coming in handy.

"Have you studied any of it?" I asked. Shawn smirked, he laid back folding his arms behind his head. My eyes went to his armpits, so weird right, but something about the amount of hair it just screamed masculinity.

"There's this spell, from my understanding it's supposed to heighten our nuts... My bad our orgasms. Then there's something called dream sex, what is that exactly?" He asked.

"I told you about that one, you said that it sounded like a chore," I said, becoming aware of his covered bulge pressing into my ass.

"The book made it sound better," Shawn said.

"We can try it now if you want?" Shawn said, and I rolled my eyes.

"If you're still up after I shower, we can try it." I laughed, and he slapped my ass as I climbed off of him.

#       #       #

Shawn was, of course, knocked the hell out when I came out of the shower. I snickered, drying off and going through my nighttime routine. After putting on my underwear I climbed into bed, scooting closer to my mate and clapping off the lights.

Sleep came quickly enough, but my dream came out of nowhere. I was standing on a road, the road, the one my parents died on. It was a nightmare I had many times. I stood on the side of the rain-slicked road, watching cars zoom by.

The sky was lit by constant streams of lightning, I'm forced to stand there and watch as my parents drive right by me, they're laughing, I can see them, I watch lightning hit the road, the car swerves, then it's flipping. I can't move, I can't make a sound. I watch in tear faced agony as they struggle to get out, the car catches fire and then they are screaming.

I'm blubbering, screaming but no sound leaves my throat. I stood there and watched them burn, I screamed as hard as I could and sat straight up in bed. Shaking off the dream I looked up into Shawn's eyes.

Outside thunder boomed, and wind made the wooden blinds rattle as it battered the house. "Avery, you were screaming and then it started thundering, what is it? What were you dreaming about?" Shawn asked.

"M-my pa-parents... T-they died in a car accident, I have ni-nightmares about it sometimes." I stuttered through it, hating myself for still stuttering. Shawn pulled my back against his warm body, I snuggled in and we laid back down.

"What were they like? Your parents?" Shawn asked as we got comfortable. As my body started to relax, I thought about his question.

"They were strict, but when they were good they were the best. My dad, he was everything to me. Toughest guy I ever met, guess I know why now... Your doctor friend said he had to be an A-type." I explained.

"They definitely wouldn't be happy about us, they'd probably blame Adam," I said slowly drifting off.

"The packs gonna be flooded." Shawn yawned.

In my mates arms sleep found me, I was able to rest when there was a time I would have been awake until the sun came up. I was glad for Shawn, but I had no idea how much trouble was coming.