The Coven

12.

Anew.

Roman.

Sunday afternoons were always a favorite for Roman, he got to relax and just enjoy the sunny peace before Monday came with its horrors, and with his friends there, it was even better though this particular Sunday wasn't exactly how he would've thought it would be. "I didn't expect our parents to do this." Marc mumbled beside Allen, as Roman carefully set down plants that he deemed too delicate to be in the sun.

What their parents had done had also baffled Roman in a way that he didn't expect, they had all pitched in and moved the old greenhouse from its spot in the woods to a place near the Rose home, it was also a fair distance from the Thorne household as well, only a bit farther from the twins and Marc but it was still ideal, the whole place was renovated within three hours, and now Roman along with his friends were placing plants and everything else in the newly refurbished greenhouse.

"I can't thank them enough for this." Roman mumbled next to the two boys with his eyes sparkling in happiness, indeed he felt joy, now they wouldn't need to worry about having to go further into neutral territory for the greenhouse, and because they were now an actual coven wards were raised marking their territory within neutral grounds so that the argument Roman had with Zach could never happen again. "We all can't thank them enough." Thalia asserted as she walked into the greenhouse. "It's beautiful." She exclaimed ruffling the petals of a flower similar to a fuschia.

Roman set down another potted plant, as he did so a part of him felt a tug, someone needed him and he immediately knew who, he immediately headed for the door and everyone followed. "Roman, what is it?" Allysa demanded as they all ran into his workroom to find a woman kneeling on the floor completely naked. "That's what." He replied as Thalia knelt down beside the woman with a large towel that she wrapped around the woman.

"She's awake." Allysa croaked looking at the woman Thalia helped up, Roman couldn't believe it too, she had finally woken up, after so much time. "Allen check her vitals, Thalia help her sit, Allysa get her some clothes, Marc get her something to drink." Roman ordered as he moved to assist Thalia, he knew the woman would still be a little weak, in moments apart Allen stepped toward the woman who now sat comfortably and began to check her vitals, several runes and symbols had appeared on the woman's skin as he checked her.

"Water." Marc offered and the woman immediately accepted the water and drank it all in a few gulps. "She's perfectly fine, she just needs to rest for a few minutes because her nervous system needs to fully awaken but she's completely okay." Allen surmised as Marc came to stand by him again, Allysa walked into the room and offered the clothes. After she was dressed without the boys around, Roman had changed his workroom into somewhat a living space yet again.

"How are you feeling Marie?" Roman asked as he settled down next to her. "As if I've been asleep for years." The woman retorted making Roman chuckle. "Shouldn't I be dead, how am I still alive?" She questioned with a hand on her steadily beating heart, Roman knew it was perplexing for the woman, she was supposed to have died but there she was. "What do you remember about that night?" Marc asked with a slight subtlety so as to not trigger a breakdown. "I remember fighting a witch but she stabbed my leg, which I thought would heal but it didn't happen, falling to the ground, then nothing." Marie explained and indeed that all she could've remembered of that night.

"Marie that was a year and several months ago." Roman confessed making her gasp. "That can't be, it feels like yesterday." She argued as she finally let her tears flow, Roman immediately hugged her and he too cried, when the both of them finally calmed down Roman knew Marie finally realized everything and her mind was now fully stable. "How did you get rid of the poison." The woman demanded looking at all five of them. "It wasn't easy." Roman chuckled his reply.

"When you got stabbed I saw it happen, so I teleported you to my workroom and put you in a pod, but the pod couldn't heal you, so I tried to siphon the poison away but it had burrowed too deep in your mana stream plus the more I siphoned it seemed the more I damaged your mana stream, that's when I had Allen analyze your blood for the poison, enchantments, and curses placed when you were stabbed, I managed to get rid of them but the poison remained, Marc finally found a spell in one of his family's grimoires that could help but it needed ingredients that we didn't have." Roman sighed as he recalled the struggle they had in curing Marie.

"Allysa didn't give up though, she helped me find the ingredients and the environment they needed to fully flourish, so we had that in the greenhouse, when we finally got the ingredients you were destabilizing since the pod could only keep healing you for so long, that's when Thalia helped in stabilizing you, we worked on the cure and finally here you are." The Rose witch concluded as Marie looked at all five of them with grateful eyes.

"I'm speechless." The woman stated with raw emotion in her voice. "How do you thank someone whose completely given you your life back, from the brink of death no less, I can feel all your collective effort in helping me, I don't know how to thank you, but please accept it, thank you." Marie stated with glazed eyes, they all huddled around her as she cried, Roman out of all of them felt more emotion in that moment, Lex wouldn't hate him now, he had given him back the woman he accused him of killing.

After an hour Marie and Roman were the only ones in the workroom, everyone else had gone back to the greenhouse to finish placing the plants and the necessary equipment and devices. "You've built something strong with those four, but it seems having to build that, you've faced challenges and pain." Marie exclaimed facing Roman, she could tell the beautiful Rose had endured a lot in a short space of time. "It's been hard, but I'm glad I have you back Marie." Roman replied as he hugged the woman.

"I'm sure you want to see them." The witch asserted as he held out his hand for Marie, the werewolf nodded as she took the offered hand, and then they vanished.

~~~~~~
Lex.

The alpha stood by the balcony to his father's office, neither of them said a word, what could they say to each other, Vincent sat across Zach near where he stood, the hybrid had shown up in the morning fully healed and had also shared information about the moving of the greenhouse by the parents of Roman's coven, it seemed they were supporting their children, unlike his own father who was silent as he sat next to Zach.

The wind blew gently across his face, it was like a caress, the slow soft hum of a mother to her child, and with the blink of an eye Roman and the woman he loved most stood by the doorway to the balcony, all of them were by their feet looking at the witch and the woman beside him in shock. "It can't be." Lex's father mumbled as he was first to walk toward his mate, his eyes never left her form, a gentle hand on his heart. "My love." The man muttered as he caressed her cheek, Lex was in disbelief, how could his mother be alive, they had buried her.

He then looked at the vicious and cold eyes of the witch, he knew those eyes, they were the eyes of a lover broken, he turned to look at his parents as they both cried in each other's arms until his mother parted from his father. "I never felt like I lost you, I didn't feel it." Lex's father confessed as he held his mate. "That's because you never did, she never died that night, I placed a decoy so that all of you would believe she was dead and if anyone wanted to kill her they would let it go." Roman replied coldly facing the older alpha, it made all the wolves flinch.

"Roman please." Marie placed a gentle hand on the witch's shoulder, this made Roman breathe out but kept his frozen mask on. "I never killed your mother, she's my best friend, and here I am with her to show you that, and as for you alpha Hashad, I don't know why you hate me so much but I'm glad you do, my coven and I want nothing to do with your pack from here on out and that includes your nephew as well, have a good evening." There was no emotion in his voice, and they all knew to take heed of his words as he vanished.

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LMJ