by Raine Miller
“You think you can just walk away from me? I’m not done talking.” He jerked my arm, twisting me around so hard.
My foot slipped, and I landed on my ass in the grass.
“Don’t fucking touch my sister, asshole.” Nolan shoved Greg back a few steps.
Strong hands slipped beneath me, and Ethan lifted me into his arms. My heart nearly stopped beating. He returned my gaze, but none of the soft affection I’d seen before was there. Right now, he looked ready for murder. Then again, Greg brought that out in people.
“Get out of here, Greg. I won’t ask again.” Nolan positioned himself between us.
Greg drew himself up to his full height, which was a few inches shy of both men, but he could be a stubborn jerk even on the not-so-bad days, let alone now. “You’ll regret this, Mia. I was good for you. You think he’ll make you happy,” he said waving his hand at Ethan, “then you’re sorely mistaken. In a few weeks, he’ll have forgotten all about you, and you’ll be just as lonely as when I found you.”
My mouth dropped open. The worst thing about what Greg said was that it might be true. Ethan would be gone soon. Either back to the military or into the clutches of the werewolf Pack, I just didn’t know which.
Closing my mouth, I pulled away from Ethan. I refused to give Greg the satisfaction of an answer. My voice might just reveal my weakness. At least I’d had the power to break up with him.
Fear: four points, Mia: half a point.
“Bitch,” Greg said. The harsh impact of a punch hitting its target had me whirling on my heel.
Ethan towered over a downed Greg, looking pissed. Blood drizzled down Greg’s chin. I could tell Ethan had split my ex’s lip.
I froze, unable to move. Part of me wanted Ethan to beat Greg to a pulp, but that was wrong. I wouldn’t let Greg be beaten, just because he’d been raised without any manners.
“Ethan, please. Just let him go.”
Ethan kept his gaze fixed on Greg. His shoulders shook with restrained violence pouring from him. “Get out of here,” he said his voice gravely and deeper than I’d ever heard it.
Greg tilted his chin upward, even though he remained on the grass. At least he had the sense not to stare down Ethan. “I won’t until—”
Ethan grabbed Greg’s collar. They were half-way across the yard, with Greg dangling from Ethan’s fist before I could react. If he didn’t calm down, he might do something he regretted.
“Ethan, wait.” I placed my hand on his shoulder. His eyes weren’t their usual brilliant blue. They were wolf-amber. I jerked back as if burnt. My jaw hung open, and I couldn’t speak.
Maybe we were wrong. Maybe the werewolves had the upper hand. They could use him against me. My stomach revolted, and I darted away. If I didn’t do something, Mr. Sexy might use Ethan to hurt me.
“Mia! What’s wrong?” Nolan caught up with me. He took my wrist as I fumbled with my purse. “Are you okay?”
I couldn’t meet his gaze. What would he see? “I’m fine. I...I’m just not feeling so good. I should probably—”
“Sis, you can’t run from your family just because Greg is a total dick. He’s going home. Ethan took him to his car.” The rumble of an engine startled me, and Greg sped off. I never should’ve tried to replace being alone with being in a horrible relationship. It was better to be in no relationship, than to be in a bad one. At least I would’ve held my self-esteem intact.
“I don’t know. I probably should go. I’m so embarrassed he acted that way.”
Nolan tilted my chin up. “Come on. You know how much time Mom spent on dinner. Are you really going to leave now? It’d be wrong to take off. We’re your family. You shouldn’t be alone on Christmas Eve.”
My gaze drifted over to Ethan. He watched us from the sidewalk. I wondered just how much he was able to hear with his new abilities. “You’re right. I guess I should stick around.”
“That’s the spirit.” Nolan grinned and walked me inside with a hand on my shoulder.
Thankfully with Greg gone, the dinner went better, if not a helluva lot more quietly. I’d switched to where Greg had sat, facing Nolan instead. The idea of being across from Ethan was too much for me to bear, but that didn’t stop him from watching me. Every time I looked his way, he averted his gaze.
I only hoped no one else noticed his obvious glances.
CHAPTER 15
Mia
I walked up my driveway, thankful to be home. I was glad it was over. Now I could detox from all of the talking and awkward stares. Until tomorrow at least.
I’d be heading back to open presents since my parents liked opening them on Christmas Day, instead of Christmas Eve. It had become almost like a tradition to have the big dinner on Christmas Eve, then open presents and have leftovers on Christmas Day.
What I really needed to do was find Jessa. She still wasn’t answering her phone, and I needed to get in contact her before the six o’clock deadline.
A note on my front door was visible even from this distance. Who would’ve left it? Jessa would’ve called, and I’d received no new calls or texts.
Weird.
Going to the door, I noticed the note was scribbled in big bold letters. Not written by anyone I knew, but the text itself scared me.
We know where you live. You dared to poison one of our kind. You’ll regret that mistake. Call 555-7889, or I’ll hunt you down.
My heart leapt in my throat. What had I gotten myself into? Should I call or try to hide? No, I would be foolish to hide. I’d see what they wanted. That’s all I could do.
I dialed the number.
To my surprise, Mr. Sexy didn’t answer. It was another man. At least, it really didn’t sound like him. “You better make a potion to fix whatever you did. If you don’t, you’ll live to regret it.” The man’s voice was a rumbling purr, and I nearly dropped the phone.
“I...I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My keys jiggled as I tried to insert them in the doorknob, but a strange man with a cell phone to his ear opened it.
“I think you do.”
My phone slipped from my grip. Surprise slammed into me.
The man clenched his fist around my throat, cutting off my air, as he pulled me into my home. “You’re going to do whatever you can to make sure this gets fixed. You poisoned my father, and you’ll damn well fix him.”
He flung me like a doll, and my head slapped the wall. I slumped to the floor. Within a span of seconds, he was on me again. “Get up.”
“Please, stop.” My voice sounded weak even to my own ears. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who is your father?” While I had a feeling it might be whoever had been poisoned, I had no idea why this stranger was pissed off at me and at my home.
The werewolves were after me, but this guy was taking it personally.
“You know who I’m talking about. Stop playing dumb.” He lifted me to my feet and his nostrils flared. He bent closer to my neck, and I stopped breathing. My pulse rapidly beat in my chest, and I couldn’t hold back the fear crashing through me. No, don’t show fear to werewolves. “Who do I smell on you? I don’t know this individual. Why does he smell like a werewolf?”
I backed up, but he followed me, keeping his nose just a little above my skin. His breath caressed me, but I didn’t feel any lust or allure. Maybe partially because he was hot but still a psycho werewolf, and I knew how crazy werewolves could be, after meeting Mr. Sexy at Jessa’s shop.
“Why should I tell you?” Better not to lie and say I didn’t know. Who knew what he’d do then?
“You’ll tell me. If you don’t—” He shook his head. “There’s no time to get into this. Fix a potion for my father. I’ll find whoever this is. Werewolves don’t intrude on my father’s territory. They are dealt with.”
“Tell that to whoever attacked him and changed him!” I slapped a hand over my mouth, feeling stupid for having said too much. Damn it, damn it, damn it!
He jerked back from me. “What? No. My Pac
k doesn’t do that. We’re not the kind of people who go out changing others into our kind. If we did, people would know about us....” He trailed off and his face fell. “Oh fuck!” Balling his hands, he slammed a fist into the wall near my head.
I screamed as part of the wall rained down on me. If I got far enough away, I could work up my magic enough to get off a spell or two. I might be able to escape. Let go of the fear. Hopefully my supernatural muscles were more up to par than they’d been during my first werewolf encounter.
Muttering an incantation, I breathed in and out, forcing myself to remain calm. The previous meeting with a werewolf had been bad, because I hadn’t known they existed, but now one was in my house! If I shattered the illusion of normalcy, my neighbors would recognize the fact my house was on fire from freaking fireballs on the curtains.
The werewolf looked at me dead on. “Don’t weave your magic on me. If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.” He nodded his head to the wall. “Who told you to make the initial potion?”
“I...I don’t know his name. He was tall, muscular…um…arrogant?” What else could I say? If only Jessa had taken down Mr. Sexy’s information, instead of just accepting cash from whoever wanted something magical. But then again, she had his number. I patted my pockets, searching for my cell phone, but then I remembered: my phone was outside.
“You do realize you described half the people in my Pack, don’t you?” He gripped his head, then looked up at me again. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“No. My friend might know his number because he called her.”
“Don’t get anyone else involved. Just make the cure for my father.”
“Who is your father?” I asked, my voice squeaking a little.
“The Alpha of my Pack. When he was injured, those loyal to my father tried to keep his injury hidden from the rest who would challenge him, but now many are realizing his weakness. If he’s not cured soon,” the man said and sighed, “I’m afraid he’ll be challenged and killed.” He turned his glare to me. “And you’re going to prevent that from happening.”
I blinked, unable to believe my ears. I’d poisoned the Alpha of a werewolf pack, by putting freaking wolf’s bane in the healing potion. Man, oh, man...I was so screwed.
Without another word, I went to the kitchen cabinet to which I’d returned my potion products the other day after treating Ethan and my wounds.
The werewolf came around the side of the island and watched me. I shivered under the scrutiny in his gaze. “You store your witchy stuff with your pots?” He cocked an arrogant eyebrow at me, and I could see what the resemblance meant about his Pack. Hell, because of that fact, Ethan might be a perfect fit. He had that same male arrogance about him too, sometimes.
“Are your female werewolves this bad?” I asked, wincing at what I’d said the second it came out. “With the arrogance, I mean.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Very funny.”
I leaned away from him, trying to see what I had and what I’d need to make a potion capable of working on a werewolf who was suffering from wolf’s bane poisoning in addition to his other maladies. The guy’s glaring distracted me, and I frowned at him. “If you’re going to hover, then I’m not to blame for making another mistake. It’s hard to concentrate with you breathing down my neck.”
“That wasn’t your problem last time one of my Pack came to you.”
“The last time your Pack member came to Jessa’s shop, he said he needed a potion for lead poisoning. There was nothing said about him being a werewolf!” I couldn’t believe this. Here I was minding my own business, and now I’d had two werewolves barge into my life forcing me to craft potions for them? Both needed potions on the same day to do the exact opposite to their Alpha wolf. Now I knew why I didn’t make potions for just anyone.
His face filled with dread. “What exactly did you put in the potion?”
“Wolf’s bane is one of the ingredi—”
He started to lunge for me but stopped himself at the last possible minute. “Why would you put that in there? I looked at a few recipes for healing potions online. None of them called for it.”
I chewed my lower lip. “That’s your problem. You looked online.” He made a rumbling growl. “It works really well. It speeds up healing. At least for humans. I always put it in there, but only a touch. Too much will kill even a normal human.”
“The man who you met didn’t ask what you’d be using in the potion?” Anger radiated through the werewolf, causing him visibly to shake.
Why would he have asked? I was surprised this guy even knew half of what he was talking about when it came to magic. Besides, he did a web search for magic potions. Geez, the guy didn’t even know about salves versus potions.
“Damn. If I’d known this, I would’ve gone to the shop myself. They didn’t inform me about any of this until the last minute, until I found my father near death. My father might be fine if I’d known what was going on.” He twisted around, pacing across the kitchen floor.
“Maybe they were trying to kill him?” Mr. Sexy wanted the poison. He had to be someone who the Alpha knew and thought he could trust. However, who was I to make suggestions, when I didn’t know the slightest about werewolves or their packs, except from what I’d read—not from the internet—in books.
He let out a low growl, and I shrank back.
From the other side of the island, I heard an equally vicious snarl. My heart jumped in my throat. The thought to crawl into the cabinets and lock myself in had me searching for space. However, I wouldn’t fit with so many pots here.
“Mia? Are you okay?” Ethan’s voice broke the impending silence, and I peeked my head around the island to see him blocking the open door.
“Who are you, fledgling wolf?” The Alpha’s son grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me to my feet.
Ethan stiffened, so I shoved the Alpha’s son off me. The last thing I needed was World War III on my hands. Not when I knew just how violent Ethan could be, even without the ability to shapeshift yet. He’d need a full moon to do that. For better or worse, the next one wasn’t until mid-January.
“I’m fine, Ethan.” I took a step toward him, but the werewolf grabbed my arm, keeping me where I was.
“Let her go. I won’t ask again.” Ethan narrowed his eyes.
“I’d listen to him, if I were you.” I stayed completely still, hoping we could all get along. I didn’t have the necessary ingredients for the potion to stop the wolf’s bane poisoning, so I’d have to go to Jessa’s shop. Looking at the clock, and with it being Christmas Eve, I knew she would’ve already closed. This just got worse and worse, didn’t it?
Ethan held up my phone. “You dropped this outside.” He closed the distance between us in a few strides, but the Alpha’s son jerked me behind him.
“Don’t get too close. What is your business here?” He puffed out his chest.
I brushed him off and went to Ethan’s side. “He’s my friend.” Ethan wrapped his arm around my waist. Magic sizzled between us, burning me with lust at his intimate touch. I couldn’t help the soft moan that erupted from my lips feeling his hand on my hip. Embarrassment burned in my face, and I turned from the smirking werewolf to Ethan, who stared at me in amazement. “I need to call my friend to get the rest of the ingredients for the potion.”
“Potion?” Ethan frowned, but he handed me the phone.
“I need to make a potion for his father.” I pulled away, not wanting more questions.
I dialed up Jessa, but her phone went straight to voicemail. I tried the store, just in case she was there. I doubted it, but anything was possible. The phone rang and rang until the answering machine picked up.
This was too weird. While we’d had an argument, this wasn’t like her. She wasn’t the type to hold onto a grudge like this, especially not when she knew the store’s special clientele needed a way to get in touch with her, even when she was off the clock.
She knew many more witches than I di
d that kept...different hours, so if they needed an ingredient at a certain time, they’d get the ingredient. The business was her life’s blood, but she didn’t come from a family like mine and Nolan’s, or even Ethan’s. Her family struggled with money. They were the definition of poor, but that had never gotten Jessa down.
Maybe with everything going on, she was just as frustrated as I was.
I tried calling her cell phone again, but once more, it went straight to voicemail. Maybe she just wasn’t answering, but either way, I needed the ingredients for this potion. Looking at the Alpha’s son, I knew if I didn’t, I’d face immediate consequences.
“What’s going on?” the Alpha’s son asked, propping his fists on his hips.
“I can’t get in touch with my friend. This isn’t like her. I need those supplies, or I won’t be able to make your potion. I’ll need to go out. If you want to, um, wait outside while I go to her shop?” While I doubted he would rob me blind of all my worldly possessions, I didn’t want to chance it. Better safe than sorry.
Shaking his head, he frowned. “I’m not waiting outside. If you think you’re going to pull something on me, you won’t. My father will die if he doesn’t get that potion. If he does, you’re dead.”
Ethan stepped in front of me. “You threaten her again, and you won’t get another chance. Back off.”
“He’s right. If you want to bully me, you can think again. We have been attacked by your kind enough, and I won’t help you if you think you can push me around. You need me.” I crossed my arms under my breasts and tilted up my chin. Confidence warmed me, and I stood beside Ethan, no longer afraid. I was a witch, not weak and powerless.
“If you’re both going to come with, fine, but I need to make sure my friend is okay. We should get going.” I walked out to my car, leading the way. If they followed, great...if not, I would be stepping up and taking care of business.