by Celeste Raye
Her cry of need was heard loud and clear by most of the guests of the hotel. Celeste wasn’t privy to that information, though she would hear about it later and turn red every time it was brought up. Not quite the first impression that she was looking to have with them.
Celeste woke up with a start. The sun was up more than it should have been. Celeste knew that it was supposed to be black outside still. That was the whole point, to go in with early light, and that meant leaving before it ever started.
She got up and quickly called to Charlie. He didn’t answer right away, and she was worried about what that meant for the plan. How were they supposed to take them by surprise if they were already up and walking around when they got there?
Celeste was getting dressed, still calling to Charlie, when she saw that there was a note in front of her purse. It was meant to be seen later, she imagined.
“I know that you’re going to be mad, but don’t be. I don’t want to risk you going. You’re safe in the hotel, so please stay there. I don’t want to use your powers, Celeste. I just want you and the baby safe. I will be back soon. Love, your husband.”
She was mad that he’d left her, but she liked the intent behind it. He didn’t want her to think that she was being used, which she had already wondered about, just because of prior experience that wasn’t always so good.
They were all gone. After she was ready and had searched for any other clue to when they left, Celeste went over to the room next to theirs. It was unlocked, and it too was empty. She calmed herself, knowing that Charlie was capable, but she still worried.
Celeste tried to listen to him, she really did. The reminder that she was probably pregnant did make her feel like she had to be more careful, but it wasn’t enough for her to stop. She just couldn’t, and before long, Celeste was leaving the hotel room and the bit of safety that it offered. She didn’t want to be safe if Charlie was out there, needing her, and she couldn’t help him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jake had been the one that talked Charlie into leaving Celeste behind. It wasn’t because he didn’t think that she could be helpful, but because it was going to be dangerous. The Bennigan gang had proven that they wanted to fight. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, leaving her there, but Charlie was glad that he did.
They were caught, and apparently, they hadn’t thought that far ahead, or far enough anyway. While Jake had been sure that they were late risers, that wasn’t the case at all. They were up like they knew they were coming or did it every day. It wasn’t a couple of them, but a lot of them, and they’d been chased into the docks among rows of shipping containers.
At the moment, the three brothers were hiding behind one of the massive stacks, and it was Donovan that was the most nervous. “Man, you have no idea what I did to these guys. They can really make things bad for us. I say that we call a parlay and see if we can’t talk some sense into them.”
Jake disagreed. He wasn’t ready to give up so easily, still thinking that they could find a way out of it. All they had to do was look properly. He certainly wasn’t going to put himself at their leader’s mercy. He said as much when Charlie wanted to know what his plan was. Giving up wasn’t in Jake’s vocabulary. He was the boss, which meant that they were all going to have to ride it out with him.
Donovan again stated that they were going to torture them for sure. Charlie didn’t know how accurate it was, but he didn’t want to find out either. It was bad enough that everything that Charlie did was going to make getting back to Celeste harder. He was glad that she wasn’t there with them, though. The sun had long since come up, but he wasn’t back in the bed next to her. How Charlie wished that he was.
“I need to get back to Celeste. She will kill me if these guys don’t.”
“We all heard, Charlie. Now shut up about it.”
Charlie should have felt bad about keeping them all up for hours, making Celeste squirm and scream the whole time. He didn’t though. What he was able to pull out of her made him feel like more of a man. He knew without a doubt that he’d satisfied her and that helped him stay grounded when they were trapped like rats on someone else’s terrain.
“Enough, guys, shit! They are going to hear you two, gossiping like little girls.”
Donovan was far more serious about it. He’d said before that they’d done some bad things to the Bennigan clan, but he never went into detail. Now it was clear that he was afraid that the same thing was going to happen to them. By that point, Charlie certainly didn’t want to hear about it. He didn’t want to hide forever, either. Something had to give.
And it did. The Bennigans had heard them talking and were drawing in closer around them. Jake was the first to notice, and they moved, but shots came from behind. No one was hit, but with the second barrage of bullets, they were not so lucky.
Jake and Charlie called out, while Donovan moved closer to the edge to see what was coming for them. He looked back to see Charlie holding his arm, and Jake had obvious damage to his leg. His pants were covered in red, and the spot was growing by the minute.
Donovan shifted, and the other two followed. They would be able to heal faster in their true form. Donovan was quick to switch, but it didn’t last long for any of them. The magic was broken, and it could have been the damage to them that had done it. When Charlie tried to switch back, he wasn’t able to; none of them were.
Charlie heard a whizzing past his head. His mind knew that it was a bullet, even if he didn’t technically see it. He told the brothers and told them to get down.
“Kind of wishing you would have brought your witchy wife, Charlie. She could have done something to get us out of this jam.”
Charlie didn’t agree. He was happy that she wasn’t there because he knew that she wouldn’t get hurt in the hotel. His arm was on fire, but at least it was his arm. He’d known that going after them would be dangerous but he didn’t expect to be hunted down at the docks. None of it was making sense.
Then he heard her voice and Charlie was sure that he’d lost his mind. Celeste was back at the hotel, not with him. He wanted her to be, so if he was hearing her voice, Charlie had a somber feeling of something very bad happening. Was that it? Was he about to die, and he was seeing her for the last time?
Bullets were going wild, and Charlie didn’t move. They were coming from everywhere, and in seconds, he knew he would be hit. Celeste wasn’t there, just helping him to the next side. He was almost at peace with it, only regretting that he would have to leave her.
The metal never hit his flesh, and he opened his eyes slowly. They were all in a bubble, one that he’d been in before. It felt like a bubble of thick liquid, making it hard to breathe and see. He knew what it was, though, and he searched for Celeste. She wasn’t just a voice in his head. She was really there, and a kiss pressed against his lips made it clear.
Celeste moved back and raised her arms. She pulled them down quickly, and the bubble of protection, as well as all of the bullets, stopped in midair, dispelled outward from the circle. The Bennigans never stood a chance.
The bullets that were meant for the Rebel Bears instead were sent backward to all of the people who shot. The bodies were riddled with bullets, more than seemed possible, as Charlie passed their bodies. He knew that there was more destruction there than he and his brothers could have done in days. The power of Celeste was hard to deny.
They were all in a daze, looking at the destruction that a wave of her hand had caused. It didn’t seem possible, and Charlie wondered about her new powers. Did she get the primordial power anyway?
“I am sure the hell glad you’re on my side and that you don’t listen very well.”
“Yes, I am afraid I won’t be one of those obedient wives. I should have warned you sooner.”
He chuckled. “I know.”
Their kiss lingered. For a short span of time, Charlie had really thought that he’d lost her forever. It gutted him inside, but now the pain was easing, and he was able to function
again. With her in his arms, Charlie could already feel the restorative nature of his gifts. His brothers, though, they were eying her sideways, not sure what to think of it.
“I think they are waiting for their heads to start spinning around.”
He chuckled and looked to Donovan and Jake.
“Let’s just say that we don’t really hang around witches that often, so it was quite a shock to see what you could do.”
She frowned. “Are you afraid of me, too?”
Charlie didn’t know how to say it. He wasn’t afraid that she was going to strike him down, even though she had the power. If he ever got her mad, though…
“A little.”
Celeste giggled. “I don’t know how the power expelled so sharply. It was quite a show, more than I thought it would be.”
“You didn’t know that would happen?”
“I knew that it would shoot the bullets back, but they multiplied, and I found one a lot further away than I would have thought. It wasn’t that far back.”
They were on foot, because some of the bullets, way more than were possible, riddled the men’s bikes as well. Charlie wasn’t well enough to carry her in his bear form, so they were all walking for a while until their healing caught up. Jake’s wound was going to take a bit longer, as it was deeper and did more damage.
“So, does that mean you got the old power anyway?”
Celeste shrugged. “I don’t know what it means. I just know that it was different.”
“Different is good.”
She agreed, but Charlie could see that she was worried. He wasn’t sure how to feel. She was far more powerful than even he imagined, but it was the same woman that he fell in love with. None of the rest of it mattered. His brothers would let her stay, he already knew. Charlie also knew that they would watch her more closely. That kind of power could corrupt and destroy. That it was bottled up into a young, beautiful woman, his wife, didn’t matter to the rest like it did to him.
She could do no wrong in his eyes, but not everyone felt that way. Charlie felt that same dread from before coming over him, and this time he didn’t understand the cause. It had to be something coming around the corner. What it was the, he had no idea. He just had that feeling and he faked a smile for her when she looked his way.
Charlie knew it wasn’t over.
Chapter Twenty-Three
They went back to the clubhouse and everyone was on edge. Celeste could feel it streaming out of the three that she was coming back with, but whispers were quick, and before she knew it, it felt like everyone was staring at her.
Celeste was used to attention, even unwanted attention, but she was still sensitive to it all. She was also physically tired from the power burst. Celeste was trying to wrap her head around what happened. She wasn’t supposed to be able to do that, but she had, and Celeste wondered why.
She wanted to talk to her aunt. Evelyn would know what was going on, but after the attack on the Bennigans, her attack, they had to wait it out. Jake was sure that if they had any people left, they would come back for revenge. She hadn’t counted bodies, but there was well over twenty on the ground that she had seen. The burst had come from the middle and went out to all sides. There was no telling the real damage that she had done.
It wasn’t like anyone was blaming her, but Celeste wasn’t too happy with how it had all turned out. She wanted the guys to live, her new mate and his family, but that didn’t mean that she’d wanted to kill all those other people either. What she’d imagined would happen, wouldn’t have been all of that.
Celeste got some time to herself after Charlie went to have some meeting with his brothers and elders. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to go, so she didn’t ask. They needed somewhere to talk about her. She just knew it, and Celeste couldn’t blame them. She did have a lot to say, but not to any of them. Celeste was still trying to get used to the fact that she was married, soon to be a mother.
She found herself outside of the clubhouse. Being so close to the city was important for their businesses, though Celeste would have preferred the woods. She was always most comfortable there because it’s what she knew best.
Celeste sat on the small spot of grass under the only tree that she could find. Most of the grass had been pulled up and paved over to make a massive parking lot.
The vibrations calmed her, and Celeste closed her eyes. She was still pondering the spike in power and wished again that her aunt would get a damn phone so that she could call her. Evelyn said that she didn’t want one because then people wouldn’t want to visit her. It was probably true, but Celeste wished she did, at a time like that.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to say hi. I heard that you were down here and thought you might want some company.”
Celeste didn’t flinch because she’d picked up a presence while she was trying to concentrate. It was a lot harder to do with all of the background noise that was going on. She wanted to see what was going on with the new person, the woman that was a shifter, if Celeste could tell right.
She opened her eyes and met a woman’s smiling face. She was tall and quite lovely. Celeste knew that it must be Alexis, Jake’s wife. She was from another gang, one that hadn’t been an ally at the time they’d gotten together.
Celeste knew that Alexis had been an outlier as well. She probably knew more than most how Celeste was feeling. It was a welcomed break in the day. She didn’t know what they had in common, but anyone who didn’t look at her like she was some kind of magical beast would be helpful.
“Nice to meet you. I was just trying to calm myself. It’s been a big change being here. Did you come from a city-dwelling clan like this too?”
Her answer was in the way Alexis sat down next to her on the grass almost immediately. “Not at all. I am used to woods, trees, and animals. It’s strange here, but I guess I am making the best of it. Jake wanted to talk about moving to a more country setting, but it wouldn’t be good for business, and no one wants to live out there.”
“How long have you been here?”
“About six months. You’ll get used to it.”
Celeste hoped that she would. She hoped for a lot of things, but a friend would be nice too. She was eager to meet Donovan’s wife as well. She was human, and Celeste couldn’t even imagine it. There was a motley crew of people that all lived together. Why not add a witch, or was that just too much?
“So, you’re Celeste, right?”
Celeste agreed and stuck her hand out. She told Alexis that she knew who she was and then told her what her hubby had said. The woman’s face melted, and Celeste could tell that she was smitten. Charlie had talked about the two of them and how in love they were. Celeste could see it now, plain as day.
“It must be weird, huh, me being here? I don’t suppose that you already have a witch in your ranks?”
She shook her head quickly. “Gosh no. It isn’t like that at all. They didn’t have anyone but the normal shifters for the last few centuries. First, I came along, an enemy, then a human, now a witch. It’s getting strange for sure.”
Celeste knew where she was coming from. She’d had the same conversation with her own family, who couldn’t believe that she would date anyone but a warlock.
“Do you think that they will accept me?”
Alexis only hesitated for a moment before she agreed that they would.
“I am not going to say that they won't make it difficult for you. It seems to be their M.O., but they generally seem to be good people. It took them a while to get used to me, and their leader did try to kill me, so I don't know if I am the best person to ask about that. Jake is the leader now, though, and he won't let anything happen to you.”
Celeste knew that Alexis was his wife, so she didn't want to say anything negative about Jake. She was pretty sure that Jake couldn't stand her. It wasn't that hard to guess why considering what had happened against the other gang. Celeste was sure that Jake did not want that to be how it all ended. While he
had said he wanted to take out the leader and a couple underneath him, she had done much more than that.
There were rules to things like that, and Celeste knew them very well. Every magical society had them, codes of conduct, and she was pretty sure that she had broken more than one. It didn’t matter if she meant to or not.
“I hope so. Charlie seems to think that it won't take any time at all, but I can't believe that to be true. You should see the way they look at me.”
Alexis waved her off and told her that's just the way they were. “They thought that I was going to betray them, and I was going to have them jumped at some point. I think they may still think that way, but they don’t act like it anymore.”
“So how did you get through to them?”
“Well, I got to Jake the way that women have been getting through to men for eternity. Some things never change.”
Celeste had no idea what she was talking about and waited for an answer. She was thinking that it would be something clever and something that she had never heard before, but then it hit her. It was as old as time.
“So, sex?”
Alexis agreed, and Celeste just kind of shook her head. She had already used that to her advantage as much as it was possible. It was no problem dealing with Charlie; the rest of them were the problem. Sex wasn’t going to fix that.
Celeste worried about how it would all look. She also was concerned about what was being said between Charlie and his brothers. They were certainly her saviors, but at the same time, they were her biggest critics as well. She was getting nervous about how long the men were cooped up in the room together. What all did they have to discuss?
Alexis had left not long after she showed up. She had a new baby she had to take care of. Celeste was invited to go see the baby when she was feeling better. Alexis seemed to know that Celeste’s mind was a battlefield at the moment. While she wanted to be cool and calm about it, it was hard. There was too much going on and too much uncertainty.