“That’s not true. I have my powers now, so I’d cast a spell and invoke the air element.” I refused to accept her judgment. Not when I was supposed to be a powerful witch one day.
“What spell would you cast?”
“There’s that blocking spell so they can’t shift into a wolf.” I bit my lower lip, trying to come up with other spells I’d seen in the witchcraft books, but my mind was a blank. All I could think about was that the High Council wanted me to train with Kaleb’s cousin. The same cousin who’d accepted money in return for killing Kaleb and his father. Luckily, his plan had fallen apart.
“What do you know about blocking spells?” She laughed.
“Not much.” Damn. I knew nothing about blocking spells, but I’d seen one performed in Woodlake. “You need olden blood and…well, I’m not sure, but I can look it up. I’ll practice the spell until I get it right.”
With a shake of her head, she picked up her pace. “That won’t work. Even if you learned a blocking spell, you’d still have to fight. You also seem to be forgetting that wolves can still bite while in human form. They’re physically stronger than an inexperienced witch like you. The same goes for vampires and anything else that might come after you. Trust me when I say that an enemy will give you mere seconds to react. Your only option is to hold them off until you’re able to cast a powerful spell. Calling the elements is one way, but so is knowing your enemies’ weaknesses so you can fight back. If you can’t, you’re dead. Or even worse, someone you love is dead.”
I sighed, not willing to admit she was right. I’d seen the Norwood wolves and vampires fight. They were strong and could snap my neck in an instant. “What about the other witches? Were any of them trained by a wolf?”
“No. Witches are trained by the best hunters every spring.” She ducked under a low-hanging branch. “Look, I know you’re not happy about this. At least give it a week. If it’s not working out, I’ll talk to the High Council, and we’ll reconsider our decision.”
As the gravel path opened to a large grassy area, the size of a football field, we stopped. A gravel jogging path surrounded the outer edge in a circle. And in the distance, I could see a calisthenics park with several stations, including a climbing wall and pull-up bar.
“Fine.” I crossed my arms and glanced up at a bird flying overhead. “I’ll train with a wolf, just not Carter.”
“What’s wrong with him? He’s always shown loyalty to the witches.” Calandra looked around before continuing to walk toward the middle of the field.
“I don’t trust him.” I uncrossed my arms and followed her.
“You’re a marked witch. It’s not like we have a vast selection of wolves willing to defy the Rocklin pack. You’re lucky Carter agreed to do this.”
“You don’t find it strange? What’s he getting out of this?”
“A few potions. Nothing that will do anyone great harm.” She squinted, looking around us again. “There he is. Right on time.”
Carter stood in the distance, watching us. And no doubt listening to our conversation.
“You’ll train with him every day, and there’s only one rule,” Calandra said. “You can’t use your powers or cast any spells during your training until he says you’re ready.”
“That’s crazy.” I shook my head. Unfreakinbelievable. What was the point of being a witch if I couldn’t use my powers? “You expect me to let a three-hundred-pound wolf attack me and not defend myself?”
“That’s not what I said.” Stopping in the middle of the field, she lowered her voice and continued, “Defend yourself, Sienna. Fight back hard. Hell, fight dirty if you want. Just no witchcraft. If you’re afraid of Carter—”
“I’m not afraid of him,” I exclaimed, hoping he’d hear me as he strutted toward us with his chest thrust out and a smile stretching from ear to ear. A smile I wanted to wipe off his face. He was up to something, and I wasn’t sure how worried I should be. Could he be working with the Rocklin wolves? Maybe I could get Cindy to touch him and see if he was telling the truth. Would her powers work on a wolf?
“Are we going to do this or what?” Carter winked. Dressed in a white T-shirt and blue shorts, he looked exactly as I remembered him—brown buzz-cut hair, dark eyes, and that prominent scar on his right cheek. He turned to Calandra. “Don’t worry. Promise I’ll play nice. I won’t bite her on the first day.”
I balled my hands into fists. “If you bite me, I will bite back.”
“I’m sure you will.” Carter chuckled.
Calandra cleared her throat. “On behalf of the High Council, we wish to thank you again for agreeing to train Sienna. I’m sure whatever you can teach her will prove useful. We’ll render payment when our contract is complete. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” he replied.
“Sienna, when you’re done training, come see me at the Main Hall for a healing spell,” Calandra said. “We don’t want you bruising too much, and I’d like to hear about your session.”
“Okay,” I muttered, not liking the idea of needing a healing spell. How bad was this going to be?
Carter’s eyebrows arched. “Should we expect an audience every day?”
I glanced back over my shoulder and saw three young witches standing by the gravel path.
“No. They must’ve heard about your training,” Calandra replied. “I’m sure they’re just curious. Many of the younger witches have never seen a wolf shift.”
“Are you serious?” I laughed. “Sounds like they’re the ones who need to train with Carter.”
“Don’t underestimate them. They’ve had years of witchcraft training and could easily cast a spell. I’ll ensure you have privacy after today.” Calandra walked over and talked to the witches, pointing to Carter and me. Then she disappeared into the woods while they stayed.
Great. Just what I needed. Witnesses to tell everyone how horrible my first lesson had been.
I swallowed hard and glanced around at the tall pine trees surrounding the field. After today, Carter and I would be completely alone during our training. Were the High Council witches crazy? How could they possibly trust him not to hurt me?
“Are you afraid?” he asked as if reading my thoughts.
“No.” I stood straighter and glared at him. Of course, deep down, I was afraid. Very afraid of what he could do. He didn’t follow the rules, which meant whatever boundaries the High Council had set for him didn’t matter. Carter would do whatever he wanted, and that included biting me.
“Don’t get any ideas about trying anything fancy out here. You heard Calandra. No magic, no spells, no powers. Got it?”
“Yes.” I folded my arms, wishing I knew a spell to fast forward time. I’d forgotten to ask Calandra how long the training sessions would be. Hopefully, only an hour, or sooner if my body gave out.
He scratched his chin and chuckled. “Those witches over there are placing bets on whether or not I kill you. At the moment, the odds are against you.”
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Sounds good to me.” He pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it aside, then cracked his knuckles.
My gaze lowered to his hairy, muscular chest. Carter was thinner than Kaleb. Maybe fighting him wouldn’t be too bad.
“Do you like what you see?” Carter gave me a devilish grin as he unbuttoned the top of his shorts, unzipped the fly, and pulled them down. He tossed them onto the ground by his shirt.
“What are you doing?” Blushing, I quickly looked away. He was completely naked.
“I’m getting ready for your first lesson. We’re going to play a game called ‘Fetch a Witch.’ I’m the big sexy wolf, and your goal is to stop me before I eat one of those little witches. Remember, no spells or magic.”
“You must be joking.” I stared at him; my eyes open wide. As far as I knew, wolf shapeshifters didn’t eat people. “You heard what Calandra said. Those witches are trained. They’re powerful. You wouldn’t even make it that far bef
ore one of them took you down.”
“Are you saying I’m weak?” He sneered. “I’m an olden, a Kingsley alpha. A bunch of witches can’t bring me down.”
Butt naked, Carter hurried away. His bones cracking, he leaped into the air and then landed on the ground as a large brown wolf. Letting out a deep, long howl, he stalked toward the witches.
One of the three ran off into the woods, while the other two stood frozen in place, a look of shock and terror on their faces.
I ran toward the young witches. “Run!”
As one of them snapped out of it, she glanced toward me before moving to stand in front of the other witch. She raised her arms in the air and lowered them, hurling a wall of wind.
Carter slowed his pace, letting the wind push against his body, but he didn’t topple over or fly across the field. The witch kneeled and touched the ground. A ring of fire sprung up around the two witches as he approached them, snarling and baring his teeth.
My arms pumping, I ran as fast as I could. I didn’t know how long they’d be able to hold the fire ring or if they’d have enough wits about them to cast a powerful spell. To make matters worse, they looked to be no more than twelve years old. How powerful and well trained could they be at such a young age?
“Carter,” I yelled, wanting to draw his attention. The idiot ignored me, of course, and taunted the witches by getting as close as he could to the flames.
More young witches appeared on the gravel path, including the one who’d run into the woods. Apparently, she’d brought reinforcements, but no sign of Calandra or any other High Council witch.
Carter walked around the two young witches again, then stopped to stare at the other nearby group, who appeared to be chanting. He looked at me and let out another howl as if telling me the game was on.
Nothing about this situation was good.
What if he went after them and someone got hurt? Or whatever they were chanting killed him? Sure, I wanted him to suffer for trying to kill Kaleb, but Carter’s death would piss off the Kingsley pack.
As the flames lowered and he turned to the chanting witches, I hurled myself through the air and landed on his back. His body tensed. He was probably surprised by what I’d done, and I couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t exactly what I’d planned.
“You’ve proved your point,” I said into his ear as I grabbed hold of his fur. “Don’t make me use my knife.”
Carter bucked like a horse and tossed me to the ground.
Cursing under my breath, I scrambled to my feet, readying myself to face him. But before I could even react, he ran at me full speed and crashed into me. As we rolled around, I struggled to get away, but Carter was too strong. Much stronger than Lexi.
He shifted into his human form and ended up straddling me. Pressing my arms to the ground, he lowered his face to mine, grinning as his eyes flickered yellow. “If I’d known you wanted to be on top, I would’ve obliged. All you had to do was ask.”
I grunted, wiggling under his naked body. “Get off me!”
With a chuckle, he stood and rubbed the back of his neck. “Jumping on me was a smart move. Do you really have a knife, or did you lie?”
“I lied.” I got to my feet, brushing dirt off my pants.
“Didn’t you kill Lexi with a knife? I heard you gutted her pretty good.”
“Yes.” I kept my gaze on his face. “Can you please put your clothes back on?”
“You should get comfortable with seeing me naked. I’ll be shifting a lot.” He crossed his arms, watching me. “There’s something you should know. I asked the High Council for a potion to block any love spells, so don’t even think about fooling me like you did Kaleb.”
I nodded, realizing this was the perfect time to ask about Kaleb. Maybe Carter knew something no one else did. “Have you talked to him lately?”
“No. My cousin and I aren’t that close, but I heard he wanted to kill you. Is it true he tried to burn you at the stake?”
“Yes.”
“Damn.” He chuckled. “I would’ve loved to see that.”
I clenched my teeth, trying not to let him upset me. “Are we done training?”
“Not even close. I get you for two hours every day. And I want those witches gone. If they insist on coming here again, I won’t go easy on them like I did today. Make sure they know that.”
I groaned and walked toward the witches. Two hours every day with Carter naked and shifting into a wolf? I was living my nightmare.
Chapter 18
“Wow. You look awful.” From where she sat on the living room couch, Rosella glanced over at the bag of frozen peas on my leg.
“Gee. Thanks.” I shifted in the armchair.
I’d survived my first day of training with only a few scrapes and minor bruises. Since my injuries weren’t too bad, Calandra had given me tea to drink instead of casting a healing spell. She’d been impressed to hear I’d jumped on Carter when he went after the young witches and had praised me for putting up with him for two hours.
By the time I’d made it back to Hale House, I’d become the talk of the coven. Everyone had found out about Carter, and as none of the other witches had been trained by a wolf, it was a big deal. They’d had lots of questions, especially about him being naked.
“She doesn’t look that bad. I’m sure if you spent a few hours with Carter, you’d look worse than Sienna.” Orla picked up the teapot and poured more tea into my mug. “You need to drink all of it, or it won’t work.”
I sipped the warm, bitter tea, grateful for the support of Orla and the other witches in the house. After I’d showered, Orla and a couple of the other girls had taken pity on me. They’d helped me to the living room, propped my leg up on the ottoman, made the tea from Calandra, and ensured no one else bothered me with questions. They’d kept everyone out of the room, except for Rosella, who’d shown up with chocolate chip cookies.
Rosella crossed her legs and smirked. “You’d never catch me spending any time with a wolf. I’m surprised you’re not dead, Sienna.”
“He went easy on me for my first day. I’m sure tomorrow will be worse.”
“Tomorrow?” Orla sat next to Cindy on the couch. “They can’t expect you to go back and train with that monster.”
“I have to.” I lifted the bag of frozen peas and was relieved to see the swelling on my ankle had gone down. Whatever Calandra had put in the tea must be working. I felt almost no pain. “Carter’s not so tough. I’ve seen much larger wolves than him.”
“I’ve heard Carter’s quite large,” Cindy said, and they all giggled. “At least that’s what the other witches are saying, but I think Sienna should give us her opinion. Is he larger than—”
“I didn’t look.” I held up my hand, stopping them from talking about Carter’s nakedness. “I was too busy falling down to notice.”
“Of course she didn’t look. Have you forgotten Sienna’s dating my brother?” Rosella folded her arms and scowled at Cindy. “I hope you’re not insinuating she’d cheat on him with a wolf. Witches and wolves don’t belong together. You’d better not be asking her if Carter’s bigger than Garrett.”
“Sheesh. Lighten up, Rosella.” Orla rolled her eyes. “We’re just joking around and having some fun. No one said anything about Sienna liking Carter. Everyone knows she and Garrett are in love.”
I wanted to protest everything they’d said. Garrett and I were certainly not in love, and witches and wolves could get along. Hadn’t I survived today’s training? Carter hadn’t killed me, and the High Council obviously trusted him enough to leave us alone.
The front door slammed shut, and Garrett ran past the living room, hurrying toward the staircase.
“Garrett, I’m in here,” I yelled as he disappeared from view. He must have heard about my training session with Carter and come to check on me.
Garrett appeared in the living room archway, dressed in a dirty T-shirt and blue jeans. A look of relief crossed his face as our eyes met. He walked toward me
, his gaze lowering to the bag of frozen peas on my leg. “I heard about your training. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I sat up straighter. “Calandra gave me some healing tea, and it’s already made my leg feel better. I’ll be good as new for tomorrow’s training.”
“Tomorrow?” He kissed my cheek, then glanced at the Band-Aid on my forehead as he kneeled next to the armchair. “You’re not going back. I’ll talk to Ava and get you out of this. There’s no way she agreed to let a Kingsley wolf train you. The High Council have lost their minds.”
“No. I don’t want you talking to Ava. The High Council will think I’m weak for not talking to them myself.” I studied him, trying to figure out if he was serious. He must be pretending because we weren’t alone. “Besides, I’ve already talked to Calandra. It’s a done deal.”
Garrett stood, folding his arms. “No one’s going to think you’re weak. You haven’t even invoked all five elements yet. I’ll tell them you’re not ready, they’ll understand.”
“Can I speak to Garrett alone?” I asked the others, feeling a little irritated. I didn’t need him or anyone else speaking for me.
“Of course. We’ll make sure no one bothers you,” Orla said as she and the others got up and left the living room.
Rosella hesitated, studying her brother’s dirty clothes. “We’ve been here with Sienna for almost an hour. What took you so long?”
“I was busy in town.” He glared at his sister. “Are you saying this is my fault?”
“No.” She narrowed her eyes. “But you’re supposed to be her boyfriend, and you’re never around. I haven’t seen you two together since last week.”
“We see each other,” he insisted.
“When?” Rosella asked. “Sienna spends all her time learning witchcraft with Calandra and the other witches here at Hale House. We’ve helped her as much as we can because of the prophecy. Now the High Council’s ordered her to train with Carter every day. When could you two possibly be together?”
“He’s helped me with a few spells,” I said, and it was true. “We invoked air together the day after the Lughnasadh Feast. He taught me how to control the force of the wind, and he also helped me invoke water. It took me all day to get the water to move.”
Romani Magic (Shifter Blood: Romani Curse Book 3) Page 11