by AJ Renee
“Good, because he’d never do that to you. Also, you can’t keep pulling a disappearing act anytime you’re pissed at me!” she snapped and pushed to her feet. “Then you couldn’t even answer me when I needed to know you were okay.”
Ryan ran a hand through his hair. “I was a dick—”
“An asshole,” she said, clarifying his own insult. “It was childish, and I think if I left and didn’t tell you I was okay at the very least, you’d have lost your damn mind.”
He stood and stopped her from pacing. His fingers gently curled around her upper arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I was selfish and, yeah, a little childish.”
“A little?”
“A lot?” He smirked, and a shard of ice fell from her heart.
“We can’t expect whatever we are to work if we don’t communicate,” she said.
He nodded. “You’re right, one hundred percent, and I won’t pull that shit anymore.”
“Where the hell were you anyway?”
His thumbs caressed her skin. “I needed to cool down, so I went for a walk. I made a mess of things and didn’t want to make it worse. Eventually, I ended up at some nearby woods and slept there. Came back but didn’t know what to say, so I kept an eye on the cabin and some strangers who neared the enchantments.”
“Did they leave?”
“Eventually.” He shrugged and tipped her face toward his. “You’ve been crying.”
She knew her face was a mess. There was no reason to reply.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I am a moron…” Ryan lowered his mouth to hers, brushing a featherlight kiss onto her lips. “I’ll try harder. This is new to me, but I hate how much I’ve hurt you… hurt us.”
Brandy nodded. She was unable to give him more and was still sore from the wound he’d inflicted. Her life had changed so much in the last couple of months, leaving her breathless as she tried to catch up.
She was not stupid. It was crazy, and if it had been Erika or one of her other friends, she would have given them a long lecture. She did not know Ryan long… or well for that matter. It was the strangest thing to feel this connected, nearly overnight.
“I vow I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered and kissed her forehead. Ryan wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his side. “Come on, there are things I need to tell you and Peter.”
Walking into the living room, they found Peter with a cookie sheet over his lap. Brandy burst into a fit of giggles at the sight, and Ryan murmured, “Big baby.”
“Don’t big baby me. I don’t trust you two around these family jewels. One day, I’d like to have sex.”
“One day?” she asked, and her eyes rounded. She gasped. “You’re a virgin?”
Ryan chuckled from her side. “Werewolves can only have sex with their mates.”
“What?” she muttered, staring at the cookie sheet.
“Unless their mate’s been killed. But they would have had to have consummated their courtship first, or else no sex for life,” Ryan said, and she was pretty sure he drew pleasure from sharing this fact.
“You’re such a dick,” Peter grumbled.
“Wait… hold on for just one minute.” Brandy turned and stepped between the two men. “You knew this, and yet you went all Me Tarzan, you Jane on me?”
Peter chuckled from behind her until Brandy heard a thud and turned.
“Seriously,” Peter snapped as he rubbed his forehead. The cookie sheet sported a striking resemblance to the shape and size of his brow. “Assholes, all of you.”
Thud.
A growl ripped from Peter’s throat, and his eyes glowed a gold color. “Babycakes… did you know Ryan planned on walking away from you after realizing you were his mate? Or that the night with the tubar wasn’t the first time you’d seen each other? Or how about how he’s been in your café watching you work nearly every day since that night?” Peter asked with an animalistic voice.
Brandy turned and raised a brow at Ryan. “Oh, really?”
“Bastard,” Ryan muttered at Peter.
“I’d like to hear this first, honey,” Brandy said through clenched teeth. “We saw each other before the alley?” Not only had he known she was his mate from the very beginning, but he had planned on walking away? The jerk had had time to process this information but expected her to hop on board with a smile on her face.
Ryan sighed and placed his hand on her neck. Her lifeline pressed against his palm. “It’s true… I’d been walking by the café and saw you through the glass. Our eyes met, and something shifted. I was pissed and adamant I wouldn’t claim you. The night I followed your magic and killed the tubar only confirmed my suspicions. At least, I was pretty sure. I fought it at first, but I couldn’t seem to stay away from you. I slipped in unseen behind customers and watched you work. I made sure you were safe, especially after I realized you had no way to protect yourself without controlling your powers. The pull I felt to you only became stronger as the days passed.”
Brandy flipped through her memories until she recalled a man outside the café. Their eyes had locked for only a split second. She’d chalked up the strange encounter to being tired, pushing it to the far recesses of her mind.
“That’s creepy… but it kind of makes sense. You were always cold with me and then you weren’t,” she said.
“When you were in danger, I nearly lost my mind. I couldn’t deny it any longer,” he said.
“Ahemm… you two are being rude again,” Peter scolded with his normal voice.
“Is he always so needy?” Brandy teased without glancing at Peter.
“Yup, but he grows on you.” Ryan smiled.
“Are we good?” he asked.
“It’s a lot of information, and you haven’t been fair, you know,” she said.
“How so?” he asked.
“You’ve had time to process us while I haven’t. You can’t expect me to jump on board immediately,” she said.
Ryan dropped his eyes and nodded. “You’re right, and I’m sorry.”
Brandy gave him a small smile. “We’ll get there, but from here on out, I need the full truth. Stop omitting,” she said.
Chapter 15
“The wards aren’t working…” Ryan told them, and she could feel the change from easy banter to real concern. When they first arrived at the cabin, he had set up a variety of spells to keep unwanted visitors away.
“Who’s messing with them?” Peter asked, his elbows on his knees.
Ryan shrugged. “I can’t figure it out.”
“You’ve been distracted is more like it,” Peter said, looking from Ryan to Brandy.
Brandy sat on the couch next to Peter as they discussed Plan B. She stared at her hands as they chatted. They would go outside a few times a day to give her an open area to work on her fire power. So far, her new ability had come more easily than the last.
She snapped her fingers, and a flame flickered from her thumb. Balling her fist, she smothered it, then she opened her hand again. A small ball of fire danced along her palm. Reaching deep inside her, Brandy willed it to circle the room before she sent it away.
“I think she’s figured it out,” Peter told Ryan.
The men stared at her for a moment. “What?” she asked.
They looked at each other before Ryan finally met her eyes. “You’re the first witch I’ve met who can call an element on command. Most of us rely on spells to use it. I can’t conjure it up like that,” he said, nodding toward her hands.
Brandy glanced down as a small flame formed into the shape of a woman. She danced seductively in the palm of Brandy’s hand. “Why can I?” she whispered.
“We don’t know, babycakes.”
Ryan knelt in front of her. “What you can do… I’ve never seen it before.”
Brandy’s phone rang, and the dancing woman stumbled. Brandy received messages from family and friends, but no one had called after she mentioned having shoddy service. Not until now. “It’s my brother,” sh
e told the men and swiped right. “Hey, E,” she said and sat back.
“Where are you? Are you okay?” Ethan answered, his tone a bit frantic.
The dancing woman walked from Brandy’s hand to her knee, performing for the men as she swayed her hips.
“I’m fine. I’m on a little vacation, remember?” she told him, words she had practiced with the boys.
“Where? Because I don’t see you, Bran,” he hissed into the phone.
The seductive flame extinguished as she sat forward and stared at Ryan. “What do you mean, you don’t see me?”
Ethan cleared his throat and became quiet. “Look, I’m worried. Who are you with?”
“Uh-uh, you don’t get to tell me I don’t see you and then pretend I didn’t hear it,” she told her older brother. Of her brothers, he was the closest in age to her. Ethan was quiet and reserved, the family’s people watcher with a heart of gold. If you needed him, he was there in an instant.
“Are you okay?” he asked, worry dripping from his words.
“I’m fine, E.”
“Is he a witch too?” Peter muttered to Ryan.
“Who was that?” Ethan asked.
Brandy narrowed her eyes at Peter, silently imploring him to shut his trap. “My friend, Peter. E, I’ve got another call coming through. Hold on a second,” Brandy said and put him on hold.
“Who’s calling you now?” Ryan asked.
“No one. If I put Ethan on mute, he’d know. It’s easier this way. Now, what the hell do you think he’s talking about?” Brandy asked, looking back and forth between the men.
“Sweetheart, I don’t think you’re the only one with powers,” Ryan told her.
She thought back to her mother’s letter. “That can’t be. She said none of the boys had gotten any.”
“What’s the age difference between you two?” Peter asked.
Closing her eyes, she did the quick math in her head. “Ten and a half months or so.”
“Your parents stayed busy, didn’t they…” Peter muttered.
“Ew, Peter. Ew. What should I do?” she asked. What were the chances Ethan had powers and no one knew about his little secret?
“Can you verify it’s him? Ask him something only he would know?” Ryan asked.
Brandy thought about it a moment and nodded. Changing back to the call, she brought it to her ear. “Hey, sorry about that.”
“What in the hell is going on?” he snapped.
She jerked at his words. They rarely fought, so having him upset at her made the power at her fingertips crackle. “Please calm down. Do me a favor… What happened with Max the night we played Ghosts in the Graveyard?”
“What? Why are you asking this?” Ethan asked.
“Humor me, please.”
Ethan sighed into the phone, and she imagined him pinching the spot between his eyes. “Umm… We couldn’t find him for almost an hour. We found Dad instead because Max had disappeared into the shed with Janey. They’d been fooling around, and Dad caught them naked. Why are you asking me this?”
She nodded at Ryan.
“Put it on speaker, sweetheart,” Ryan said.
She pressed the speaker button and cranked up the volume. “E? You still there?”
“Yeah, why’d you put me on speaker?” Ethan asked.
“I’d like to introduce you to my friend Peter—”
“Boyfriend?” Ethan asked and Peter chuckled, a huge shit-eating grin filling his face.
“No. Peter’s her friend,” Ryan replied. “I’m her fiancé, Ryan.”
Brandy was pretty sure her jaw dropped down to one of the layers of hell. Her eyes snapped to Ryan, wondering what had gotten into him.
“Her fiancé?” Ethan asked slowly. “Okay, seriously. What the fuck is going on, Brandy?”
Speechless, she could only stare at Ryan. She was pretty sure he had lost his ever-loving mind. A glass on the table shattered, and pieces of shard were flying one moment and floating in space the next.
“What was that?” Ethan asked.
Ryan smirked at her. “Peter bumped into a table and a glass broke. Do you have a pencil and pen?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Write down this address,” Ryan told him and called out the cabin’s address. “It might be a little hard to find, but if you stick to the GPS, you’ll get here. Do us all a huge favor. Don’t mention it to anyone, including your brothers.”
Brandy turned off the speaker and put her phone to her ear. “Can’t wait to see you, E.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? Isn’t this all sudden? You and Greg—”
“I’m good. We’ll see you in an hour or so. Please don’t tell the others.” Brandy ended the call before he could say more.
“Fiancé?” she whispered. The calm running through her spoke volumes.
“On that cue, I’m going to go for a run,” Peter said and stripped off his shirt.
Ryan ignored her and spoke to Peter. “Be careful. There are humans closer than they should be.”
Brandy clenched her teeth. “Fiancé! Seriously, Ryan?”
He took Peter’s spot on the couch and grabbed her hand. “There won’t ever be anyone else.”
She looked at their linked hands. “And you felt the need to tell my brother this? Before me? Why? Please explain it to me, because without talking to me first, it comes off rather possessive… something I despise!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”
“No! You didn’t!” she snapped.
“Ow!” Ryan put his fingers to his temples and squinted at her.
“I just broke up with my boyfriend of three years a few weeks ago, and now I’m an engaged woman? My family is not going to drop that.” Brandy stood and paced in front of the couch. “They don’t know about any of this magic. Do you really think they are going to understand any of the shit that’s happened? My mother told me to protect them! How am I supposed to protect them if they hear about this and go into big-brother mode? Oh, and maybe… just maybe a woman gets the chance to say yay or nay to a proposal… oh wait. You didn’t propose!” Her heart beat erratically in her chest. She was so frustrated and confused. Her life was upside down, and all these curveballs were being thrown in her direction.
He rubbed his face and ran his fingers through his hair. He pushed to his feet and walked to her. “I didn’t consider how I just put your family in jeopardy. I’m sorry for that, sweetheart. I’m not sorry for accepting my mate. Or for cementing our bond. I feel whole. None of the past matters now.” He dropped to his knee. “I should have done this right, and I’ll apologize for it until the day we die. Will you marry me?”
Brandy froze as she stared down at him. She did not know what to say or do. She was not ready for a wedding, but he was right. He was it. It was the strangest thing. He was part of her, woven into every cell.
“I’m not ready to answer that,” she told him and watched hurt flash in his eyes.
“Oh…”
She pulled him up. “Ryan, you need to look at this from my perspective. You’ve had a lot more time to process everything, and there’s too much going on. My world has been turned upside down. You’re right. I feel whole now that I’ve found you. I’m just not ready right now.”
She held his face and rolled to her toes. The kiss was sweet, but there was an unexpected touch of sadness to it. When she opened her eyes, she found him watching her. She needed to give him something more. Staring into his eyes, she smiled. He was home, and she felt silly to tell him she was not ready to commit like that, but she needed more time.
“I’m falling for you, Rye,” she said.
A spark lightened his eyes, but he remained silent.
“Please be patient with me,” she begged.
His smile did not reach his eyes, but his kiss spoke of promises.
“I’m sorry I’m messing this all up,” he said.
Brandy chuckled. “What? You mean you don’t have any experience with a mate?”
&nbs
p; Ryan shook his head in amusement and guided her to the couch. He sat and pulled her onto his lap. “So, your brother, Ethan… He said he couldn’t see you?” he asked, holding her to his chest.
“Yeah, which is weird.”
“Sweetheart, it sounds like he might be an oracle.”
“A what?”
He rubbed circles on the inside of her thigh. They were soothing and yet arousing. “Oracles have the gift of sight and can see into the future. That is the witch’s power.”
“So you’re saying he’s a psychic?”
“Few psychics have any real gifts. If they do, they’re most likely oracles living openly in the human world.”
She thought back to her mother’s letter. “Mom must have gotten pregnant with me about a month after having Ethan. Would he have been too young to show his gifts then?”
“He probably had his gift, but being so young, he wouldn’t have developed it. It’s very probable she didn’t notice it. Can you imagine having that many kids and becoming pregnant again so soon?”
“I was an accident,” she whispered.
He narrowed his eyes. “A lot of babies are, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t loved.”
“No, I mean they didn’t want me at all before I existed.”
She needed to tell him the rest, but she did not know where to start. It was part of the reason she was hesitant to jump into the fairy tale portion of her life with him. He deserved to know before they had sex again. She had not been thinking before, but now she needed to make sure he knew it all.
“Bran—”
She placed her fingers on his lips. “I’m really tired. My brother’s on his way, and I know he’s going to grill us. Can I just take a nap?”
“That’s fine, sweetheart.” He adjusted them, anchoring her to him with an arm around her waist so she wouldn’t fall. Brandy was not lying when she said she was tired. After the warmth of his body seeped into her, she let out a small sigh and gave in to her exhaustion.
Chapter 16
Darkness swirled around her. A large vortex of almost-black water fought to close in on her. Brandy stood on a stone, wide enough for only her feet. A white cloud floated above, moving toward her. When it got closer, she made out a woman’s form.