Love's a Witch (16 page)

“But when we connect completely with our wolf we have the ability to work with the creature. Then we are not simply one, but two in the same space. We are better, because we are more. Never feel that you are not as much as those around you. They do not know your secret. While we must go into the human world to gather supplies at times, we always have our true self with us.

“Our Alpha and his mate have found a way for us to grow and live with our wolves away from most of the humans around us. We can be who we were meant to be. We can become more than we could ever be containing ourselves inside the human world. Let your wolf run here. Let the beast free. Let your growl guide you.”

Some of the lesser experienced let loose howls as their wolves accepted this invitation to take over. They weren’t being taught control. They were being taught to release it. What were my parents creating here? All I knew was that it was a generation that would not blend. And if a wolf couldn’t blend into its surroundings, it wanted to take over. A wolf that refused to give in to what the human half desired would overtake whatever stood in its path. I held the reigns of my own duality a bit tighter just to prove to myself I could.

I snuck away into my tent, bringing a bit of meat to chew on. I also had to chew on what my next step would be. There was a lot to process, and it wasn’t just about rescuing Kari or Annabelle, and it wasn’t just the harvester lifestyle. Would these unrestrained wolves take center stage? A wild wolf wouldn’t care if a human saw him. He would dominate. This was dangerous to all supernatural kind. They would be revealing not just themselves, but the possibilities of others in the minds of humans.

We all remembered the witch trials. It was used in nearly every sect as an example of how fear could cause humans to gather, empower themselves, and create endless chaos and death. Some vampires and wolves had been included in the killings, but they opted to end their lives at the human hands to protect their Family or Pack. What if they had acted on the instincts and projection that fireside pep talk instilled? A shiver raced up my spine at the thought. I shook my head and tried to ignore it.

The ramblings inside my brain were interrupted as the zipper to my tent slipped down and a shewolf entered. Naked.

I would have stood, but there wasn’t room. I pulled up to my knees and backed up as far as I could. She knelt in front of me, mirroring my stance, it put her only a couple feet away.

“I have come to offer myself. I am a gift from the Alpha.” The woman’s body was just as any proper shewolf would be. She was muscular, her body tight. Her curves were there, but her muscles held them still. There was not a movement that would ever be unintentional. She was nothing like my Mary.

“As much as the gift of a night of sex from a woman sent by my father entices me, I have to decline.” I tried not to sound so harsh, but it was difficult when I was this uninterested. “You are lovely, but I can’t accept your offer. Alpha approved or not, the answer is no.” Nothing stirred below my belt. I had no desire for anyone that wasn’t my mate any longer. At least I hoped that was what was happening, because I was far too young for erectile dysfunction.

Steps grew closer and closer outside the tent. I had never been more grateful to be interrupted when next to a naked woman. She didn’t cover herself. Nudity wasn’t unusual in a Pack, but her close proximity was a little unsettling. As was the fact that I could smell her interest and had none of my own to reciprocate.

“Nicole, he said your services were not required. I am sure the soldiers’ tent will help you satisfy your desires tonight. Feel free to offer yourself there.” My father’s voice pulled her attention, but did nothing to tamper her arousal. That was even more disturbing.

My father’s face appeared in the place of her naked butt leaving my view.

“May we talk?” He didn’t wait for my answer and just stood outside my tent until I went to join him.

A pond about twenty yards away was teeming with frogs and birds. If we both lowered our voices, the chatter would cover our sounds a bit.

“This is as private as we can find here, son. So tell me the truth. Why are you here? If you intended to pledge your loyalty, you would already be Pack. If you tell me away from a public gathering I can let you leave here.”

The
alive
was implied.

I paused to gather myself. “I know you are the most successful Harvesters out of all the others in the game. I want to have the knowledge and the experience from you to take to my own Pack when I find one. Away from your hunting grounds of course, and if you are willing to share some of the garments I’ve seen you wear, I would compensate the Pack accordingly.”

“Are you returning to the Paulson Pack? I do not wish to have any of our knowledge benefit a turned leader.” The hate for Alpha Paulson was so vibrant in him, that his wolf flashed out through his eyes.

“No, I can safely say I have burned my bridges there. I desire information and skills. Just like I always have. I’ve excelled at everything I have tried. I haven’t tried this. This is new. It’s novel.”

He nodded. “Very well. But if you really want to be brought into this, there is no training, there is just doing. You have the ability to halt your emotions. I’ve seen you do it.” A huff that was as close to a laugh as my father could muster puffed from his mouth. “You just let go of any arousal back in that tent, because you did not wish a handout. That was impressive. So was crawling back to this Pack after you left like you did. If you are serious…”

I nodded.

“…then you can work on our next harvest. Our target is from the house you walked here from. We weren’t aware of her until we heard you all arguing. I believe you called her Mary. She acquired Pack magic.” His eyes flashed again. “For that alone she should be taken from this Earth, but she would make a prize in any harvest. Your familiarity with her would allow for us to bring her here with no damage. Her mentor sustained some injuries, and that is not ideal for our buyer. We need to sweeten the deal, just in case.”

I’d never bothered to argue with my parents. I figured every culture had their elitists, and I drew the short straw in the decent role-model department. For the second time in a night, I wondered about their future, and how I may have to play a part in their lack of one.

“I’ll go to the girl. But it will have to be alone.”

“Just make sure you bring her back. I can’t protect you from the hole you dig if you choose to leave us again. She is our target. The soldiers are aware.”

The man who walked away after threatening my death was not my father. No father, no leader should be like that. The leader I followed, the Clan I would return to, wouldn’t be like that.

I collapsed the tent and rolled the fabric tight, so it would fit inside the carry sack. The Pack sold me one of the grey suits and the supplies I had used while I stayed with them. The garment was lightweight and stretched easily. I couldn’t see the holes where the hair grew through, but a quick shift in the jumpsuit before I left let me know it worked just like it should.

Explaining the large sum transferred out of the Clan account would be a bit tricky. If Jake and Amber had changed the passwords like I taught them it wouldn’t have happened, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. My cowboy boots might clash with the X-men style getup, but I’d be damned if I wore those orthopedic grandpa shoes that came with the uniform.

I walked for hours until I hit a clearing close to Kari’s house. It was way too much time for me to think about all the things a witch could do to curse a guy she was mad at. Setting up camp here wasn’t ideal. I would rather sleep in a bed, but I was too raw. My wolf was too close, and I had to get myself under control.

I also had to figure out what to do next. There were already vampires that wanted Amber dead, and betraying the Alakin Pack would give our small group another enemy. I built a fire and hoped something brilliant would come to me. Maybe I could find a different witch to take them, someone to substitute for Mary. Even if I could trade for her life that would still leave Kari and Annabelle imprisoned. There was no way to go that didn’t affect someone I cared about.

My mind was going round and round in circles, but my head stopped spinning when the image of Mary’s drawing came to me. That soft body in my arms was burned to the backs of my eyelids. Leaving my mate wasn’t an option either. So I sat on the forest floor and hoped dumb luck would show me what to do.

Huh. Something about this place looked kind of familiar.

Chapter Nineteen

Mary

I hate bugs. I know witches are supposed to be all about nature, but there was nothing natural about that many legs and being able to climb up the side of a tree. The little icky things could defy gravity and fly, and they felt gross when they climbed on you.

Craig made me come out here. The stubborn werewolf wasn’t going to come back without me dragging him. My cheeks burned knowing he had seen my drawing. I don’t know why I was embarrassed. The books I had read to him at the library had been way more erotic than that single picture.

I wanted that time back again. I missed when we had fun flirting and laughing and talking about books. If there was one thing that Craig and I had in common it was our love of reading.

The silly man thought that just because he left the Clan I couldn’t find him. Never underestimate a bibliophile witch in a house filled with spell books. He left blood on a rag and hair on his pillow. I knew him more than anyone else after just a few spells. That intention spell also told me the idiot was camping out rather than coming home. Who the hell knows how long he planned on sitting outside, but I was simply not that patient.

Amber helped me pack a few things as the sun was setting. She made sure it was light enough that I wouldn’t get tired carrying it. I told her I was going to get our Clan member and bring him home. She told me I better make sure both of us come back whole. There was a lot of meaning behind that word. And walking through these woods, I realized that I wasn’t whole yet. There was something missing.

The closer I got to Craig, the more my intuition told me that I needed more from him than another beam of light. I needed the mate my drawing promised me. I wanted to look up into the sky and see those sexy red aura clouds around me.

I was not a werewolf, but that was something that could be changed. What couldn’t be changed was my resolve. I was strong. Kari saw that in me. If a stranger could see that, well look-fucking-out world, here I come.

Right after I spit out this damn bug that flew into the back of my throat, that is.
Blech
. I hate bugs.

Despite my best efforts to concentrate on what I was doing, my mind was wandering, but instead of its usual path involving chocolate and the things I would do alone with Chris Hemsworth, I was looking inside myself. Traveling to the astral plane made something click in my brain. Things looked different now. They felt different. Everything I touched held more life, more energy, and I felt a push. There was something I needed to do. It wasn’t just the Clan magic. It was something more.

It wasn’t until after I tripped over a tree root and broke my inner monologue that the sense of
deja vu
hit me. This was the clearing in my drawing. Right down to the glowing embers of the fire. The tent was just as green as in my picture. The fire was casting light against the material, but I couldn’t see inside.

I knew he was here. I smiled remembering what I had packed at the last minute. There were some powers that didn’t come from the witchy part of me. I was a woman who had come to claim her man, even if he was a wolf. I pulled the paperback out of my duffel bag and started reading. Out loud. A really good part.

“‘Her quivering thighs welcomed him. Reginald knew that he would be rejected by his family, and his kingdom, but her lady softness called to him in a way no cup of mead ever had before.’”

I forced breath into my lungs and kept reading.

Chapter Twenty

Craig

It was Mary. She was outside my tent. As soon as I heard her voice I realized why this clearing of trees seemed so familiar. The image of Mary naked and pressed against my body, the one in the drawing. It was supposed to happen here.

It shouldn’t be our first time. Mary didn’t deserve to be taken in the woods. She deserved the finest linens. She deserved a warm bath to soothe her afterwards, because she was going to need it. I was losing control. My wolf smelled her. He wanted her, and how we would take her would be anything but gentle.

Her words caressed me. The prose was ridiculous and purple and not well written at all, but hearing her weave a tale of seduction and erotic magic around me called me out of a fitful sleep. The part of me that had lain dormant with a naked woman in my tent just yesterday now sprang to life.

Down boy. I wanted to believe this was not the time, but then the long lost hero began to oil up the heroine to prepare her for his entrance.

I unzipped the door, but didn’t move outside. Mary didn’t look up from what she was reading, but even her human ears had to have heard the metallic scrape of the zipper.

Her breath was deep and long, but her pulse pounded in her neck. When she got to the end of her chapter she looked at me. Neither of us said anything. She turned the page and kept reading. She called to me with someone else’s words.

I levered forward on my hands and knees and began to stalk towards her. My wolf applauded my actions when she stuttered in her words. She was nervous. I might not be Alpha, but I was male, and the need to dominate this woman echoed in my blood. Her pleasure was something I ached for. Human, witch, I didn’t care. Her magic wove around me. My siren kept reading, and I kept my slow pace on my hands and knees moving ever closer. I didn’t stop until I was directly in front of her. She was so petite that with me on my hands and knees and her sitting cross-legged our noses lined up perfectly. I leaned forward a fraction more and the tips touched.