by Celeste Raye
It was hard to leave John and Dana behind. They had moved into a routine, and she found it quite familiar. It was unlike anything she had ever done before, but it felt right. Like it was supposed to be that way the whole time.
She left early in the morning on Sunday, her day off, and she traveled quite a way to get back to her family's house. Laura wasn't sure what to expect when she got there, but it wasn’t seeing them all grouped together like they were. She also did not expect to see such anger in their faces. The expression said it all. She had done them wrong in some way.
“What's going on?”
Her mother whisked her away to one of the bedrooms.
“What are you doing here, Laura? More importantly, where have you been? Do you understand that you smell like a shifter right now? We’re in here talking about taking a pack of them down, and you come in here after over a week, smelling like them. I don't think that you should be here. It isn’t going to be safe for you, Laura, not as flippant as you can be at times. My sisters will not allow it.”
Laura was a little taken aback that the scent of the shifters on her was so strong. Why had she not noticed the difference? Was it because she had kissed John? Had it somehow made it more powerful? Her mother was acting very strange, like she was afraid that something bad was going to happen to her. Laura felt her insides shaking a little bit. What did her mother know that she didn't?
“Where am I supposed to go? This is my home.”
“Where have you been?”
“I got a job. I am working with a family and taking care of their kid while the parents are at work.”
Laura knew that she shouldn't give many details. Her mother, and most likely several of the women in the other room, were listening to the conversation. She needed to give no clue as to what she was really doing.
“So why do you smell like one of them?”
“I don't know. I guess I've been around one. You know that I've never been able to tell the difference like you guys can.”
Another sigh and her mother shook her head like she was disappointed. Laura knew that she was always disappointed with her, and even though it was nothing new, it still cut her to the core. The last thing that Laura wanted was to see that look on her mother’s face again. She’d seen it enough.
“It is only because you refuse to embrace your gift, Laura. You're always trying to be something that you're not. You are a witch. You should know when you get within ten feet from one of them. I can feel them as soon as I step into the city.”
“You are a strong witch, Mom. No one is denying that.”
“There is just something about them, and if you would just take a little bit of time, you would learn. You are a strong witch as well, Laura. You are of my bloodline. Your father, he had witches in his bloodline as well. Really, you should be stronger than me. You should certainly be stronger than your aunts.”
Laura had never thought about it like that. She knew very little about her father because he was never talked about. He was gone, and all she had to hold on to were minimal memories. They were all good, and it wasn't that she remembered anything particular. It was more of a feeling she remembered; a feeling she had when she was around him. He had loved her and made her feel safe. Laura hadn’t felt that way in a very long time.
“Are you telling me that you want me to leave? I just got here, and I haven't seen you in over a week.”
“I need to know where you have been. They're going to ask questions.”
“Like I said, I got a job. It's about time that I did. I can’t go to school right now, not with your plans coming to fruition, and I know that you wanted me to stay away, but I didn’t think that I wouldn’t be able to visit.”
Having a mother like Laura’s, she had learned a thing or two about lying. Her mother did not want to hear the truth most of the time. She wanted to hear what she wanted to hear, which made it easy for Laura.
“So, you have an apartment now?”
She was looking at her daughter like she was utterly in shock.
“I’m getting there. It was about time. I'm certainly old enough to live on my own.”
“I know, it’s just that it’s not the way that it is done with the Baxters. We live together. That’s where our strength comes from. I keep hoping that you will change your mind on all of this nonsense that you’ve been working on lately. You have to know that this isn’t going to work. You have to be here.”
“Just because that’s not tradition doesn’t mean that it can’t work. I had a good week, and you never scribed for me. I would have felt that, so you were fine with it. Besides, you told me to leave.”
“It’s been crazy here, Laura. You know that once the family gets their mind on something, it’s hard to get them to think of anything else. I am glad you’re here, though. There is a lot to do, and I know that you don’t want to think about being part of this coven, but you are. We might need you to add to our strength.”
“What are you going up against that you think you will have to go to such lengths?”
Caroline wanted to tell her daughter, Laura could see it on her face, but something was holding her back. All she had to do was figure out why they were acting so strange.
“I have the day off, so I was hoping to spend time with you. If this is a bad time, I can come back.”
Laura was realizing rather quickly that the last place she needed to be at the moment was where she was. Something really bad was going down, and she was going to get pulled into the mix if she wasn’t careful.
“No, you need to stay, Laura. You’re not going back. I was just surprised to see you is all. I really want my daughter by my side.”
Laura didn’t see that coming, but she knew not to protest too much. Her mother would just double down. She was going to have to find a way to make it work.
Chapter Thirteen
“I was starting to wonder if you were going to come back, Laura.”
Laura looked at the clock and saw that it was almost five-thirty in the morning. He had to go to work soon, and she had tried to leave earlier, but it had not been as simple as she thought it would be. When she said as much, he kind of looked at her little strangely.
“Let's just say that it's hard to leave my family sometimes.”
“Did they not know that you got the job?”
“No. This is not at all what my family wants me to do. They wanted me to get into the family business, but I have never been too enthused with it.”
“And what sort of family businesses is that?”
John knew everything there was to know about her and her family. That was the whole reason that Laura had come to be there to begin with, but John wanted to see what she would say. He was waiting for her to lie and give him a reason not to want to trust her and care for her like he did.
“My family is just complicated. They believe in sticking together, no matter what. Even if somebody is wrong. It is really hard to explain what they do, but let's just say that they manipulate situations to get the best outcome for people, for a price.”
“Manipulate the situation?”
“Please don't make me explain. You know that I'm a witch.”
John agreed.
“Yes, I do know that you're a witch. As you can imagine, it would be rather hard for just any human to be Dana’s nanny. The way that she is, she would blow the lid on the whole paranormal world in no time at all. My daughter does not have the knack of holding her tongue. Although you should know that by now as well.”
Laura agreed.
“Yes, I can see how that would be a problem.”
“So, you know that I am a shifter. That is why my daughter looks down to humans. It is something that I am trying to break her of, but there's nothing I can do about it at the moment. She is convinced that we are different, even though I try to tell her that we're the same.”
“I don't think we are better or worse than each other, but we are certainly all different. My family has not caught up with th
e modern times. They stick to their own and anything that isn't like them is wrong. I don't feel that way, and I wanted a different path. You know?”
“Yes, Laura, I know more than you understand. My father has been trying to change me to suit his needs for a very long time. You just have to fight against it.”
“That is what I am doing. That's why I'm here. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get here this morning, but I had to sneak away at three o'clock and spent more time stumbling in the woods than anything else. I will make sure that I leave earlier next time so that I am here a bit earlier. When I tell you that I am going to do something or be here, I will.”
“And that is what I like about you so much Laura. I know I can count on you, even though I don't really know you that well. There's just something about you.”
He started to move towards her to give her a kiss before he even really thought about it. He would have gone through with it, but John saw the change of the expression on her face, and he knew that it was not the time. Even though he wanted to kiss her badly, to reassure himself that the connection was still there, he knew that it wasn't the right thing to do.
“Woah, John. We have talked about this before.”
John agreed because they had talked about it, but he was done talking. He was filled with so many emotions, and they seemed to change too much lately. At the end of the day, he just wanted her, and even though he couldn’t have her, John still felt this undeniable pull to her.
“I know, dammit. I am just happy to see you, and every time I am around you, I want to touch you. I know that I shouldn’t. You’re the damn nanny.”
He stalked off, and John was sure that she must think him mad. He finished getting dressed and found her making muffins when he came back downstairs.
“You bake when you’re anxious, don’t you?”
Laura nodded in agreement. “I don’t know why, but conflict makes me want to bake.”
“I don’t want to make you want to bake, though I bet it will be good. I am sorry I can’t hold it together. I am going to try harder. I know that this is already complicated without me trying to stick my tongue down your throat. I’m really sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I feel like I need to. I am not usually like this. I want you to believe me on that one. I don’t know what has gotten into me, but I am usually not this way at all.”
She waved him off because Laura was looking even more anxious. “It was nice, both times, but I do agree that it would make it more complicated. I really like working here with you and Dana. I don’t want a couple of kisses to mess it up.”
Laura paused for a moment. “But I will say this; I never said that I didn’t like it. I kissed you back, John, so let’s not pretend that it had anything to do with me not wanting it. It felt good.”
John was stunned by her words and so help him, he wanted to move forward and take her into his arms once more. While he had just told her that he would hold it together, it was hard. There was just something about her.
Instead of doing what he wanted to do, what every bone in his body told him to do, John left for work. He usually was out before Dana got up. He wanted to get more information about what her family was planning. John’s desires had gotten into the way, and he gave himself a mental flogging the whole way to the office.
Then a fact hit him hard: something that changed everything and pulled him from his fantasy. Even if he could have Laura, a thought that made him smile, he would never get to keep her. He wouldn’t be able to convince her once she realized that everything that brought them to that point was a lie.
The sinking feeling that had started in his stomach was now all over. As much as he wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay, he knew better. It was easier just to call it what it was.
John's phone rang, and he thought that it was going to be a good distraction. But then he saw that it was Dominic and he groaned out loud. He saw Ernest’s eyes cut back towards him, but he didn't say a word, just hit the button.
“Please tell me that you are not calling me about the damn Baxter witches. I don't think that I can deal with this conversation right now.”
“Well, you're going to have to, son. Things are finally coming to a head. Several of the witches were spotted not far from the village. I need you to come back. It's time for you to show the pack that you are still a part of us, despite living with humans and loving the finer things that come with it.”
John didn't want to answer, because it was something that he had heard time and time again. Just because he was a shifter didn’t mean that he had to live with all of the other shifters in the middle of the woods. One of the first things that John planned on doing when he became Alpha was moving everyone out of the sticks. There was nothing wrong with modernizing the pack. If they didn't do that, things like a handful of witches could affect them too much. If they lived close to humans, they would never be attacked in such a way.
“I can't get away right now. You're going to have to wait; at least give me a couple of days. Just because they see a couple of witches in the woods doesn't mean anything. That's why this is the problem. One of theirs was killed, and now they want revenge. Remember that and keep your distance. The last thing you want to do is make it worse. I will be there in a few days.”
John did not wait for an answer from Dominic. He was to the point that he was done picking up the pieces from each and every one of his mistakes. John had a feeling that he and his father were going to have it out very soon. The Alpha title could be taken instead of given. John was becoming more and more certain that it was the only way to move forward.
Chapter Fourteen
Laura was on edge all day because of the morning that she had with John. Things were getting serious between them and when she found out that Dana was going to be staying the night at a friend’s house, it made her very nervous. She didn't know how to act, and she didn't know if she should leave. If Dana wasn't going to be there, it made sense that they wouldn’t need a nanny. Was she just supposed to go?
Before Laura could come to a decision, John came home, and she no longer had her choice of running away with a little bit of dignity. Now he was asking her if she wanted a glass of wine and he looked like he had a rough day. Of course, she told him that she did want some, and before long, they were sitting down with a couple of glasses and talking like old friends.
The intimacy was hard to ignore. It did not feel like they were boss and employee. It felt like something far different.
Laura was on her third glass of wine before she started getting a little tipsy. Her mind had played out many scenes in her head for most of the day, and it had all revolved around John.
He had been studying her lips like they were a work of art. He had done it for so long and with such intensity that she had pressed them together at some point. He wanted to kiss her again, and Laura realized that she wanted it as well. She wanted the need that poured out of him.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that, Laura?”
“I am just thinking about kissing you, John.”
John looked shocked for a minute but then he just shook it off.
“Like you have said many times before, Laura, we shouldn't do that.”
Laura agreed and sat up a little bit straighter. She had unconsciously started to bend towards him like he was a magnet, and she was a piece of metal.
“No, I guess we shouldn't. It doesn't mean that we can't want to, though, right?”
John agreed and with an almost painful look on his face. He felt that thinking about it was the wrong idea. It certainly messed with Laura’s head, so she could relate. Being this close to him, talking to him, especially when she was imbibing, did not seem like it was going to work out well. The only way she could see it ending was underneath him, and she had told herself repeatedly that it was a horrible idea.
“Would it be so bad to kiss? I mean, it’s just a kiss. How could it be such a ba
d thing?”
She just looked at him. He must not get it, she thought to herself. Laura was struggling not to throw herself on him, and she was sure that there was some pheromone that made him so desirable. Laura had certainly never been attracted to a shifter before. It would kill her family.
“You are the wishy-washy one. The last time we really kissed, I started to get into it and then you ran off.”
“Because I am not supposed to want you, Laura. You have to know that.”
“I do. I really do. I just wish that you wouldn’t be so vocal about it, especially when you are the one that keeps stopping it. I am just trying to save myself from the whiplash. One minute you want me and the next you don’t. It’s confusing.”
“Is that so? Well, let me clarify it for you, then. I want you all the time. Ever since you walked into my home, I have wanted you. It has gotten worse the more time I spend with you. I am not supposed to want you this badly. I am not supposed to feel anything for you, but I can’t help it. I want to kiss you, now and every time you look at me that way and bite your lip the way you do.”
Laura realized that she was doing exactly that; she got a little red with embarrassment and stopped immediately. He was leaning closer, and she was feeling the temperature in the room go up. It was surely the way her heart was now pounding in her chest.
“You know, Laura, I actually think that you have bewitched me in some way. I have never wanted to bury myself inside of a woman as badly as I want to with you. This can’t be natural, to want someone so bad. How can it be?”
Her mouth started to get dry, and Laura was convinced that maybe she had something wrong with her. Her breathing was shallow, and the more she focused on his words instead of the hard body emanating heat, it just made it worse. Especially when he was saying such things.
“You want to kiss me right now, don’t you?”
He didn’t try to deny it. John agreed with a very hearty nod of his head, but he still didn’t move forward to give her the kiss that she desired. It was clear that he wanted her to ask him for it, and so help her, Laura had a feeling that she was going to do just that.