The Enchanted: Council of Seven Shifter Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  He’s probably right. What woman in her right mind could be married to an FBI agent?

  Hazel reminded herself that was why she was so happily single. No man to give her grief over the long hours, no issues coming and going as she pleased. Yep, Hazel was content with her life as it was. Or at least that was what she had convinced herself of. There was no time to consider her relationship status. There simply were not enough hours in the day.

  Ortiz pulled up to the underground and flashed his ID at the guard in the booth before using his fob to open the gate. Hazel yawned then, and Ortiz cast her a bemused smile.

  “I knew you had to sleep sometimes. I was starting to think you were part vampire or something.”

  “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Hazel muttered, clamping her mouth closed with some embarrassment. Her mind automatically went back to how she’d woken not even an hour earlier.

  “You okay?” Ortiz asked. “You looked a little more intense than usual.”

  What would he say if I tell him about these memory blocks? Instantly, she shoved the idea out of her mind and flashed him a taut smile.

  “I’m fine,” Hazel lied quickly. “I’m just not looking forward to this switch. Why do we have to be so damned good at our jobs?” Ortiz chuckled.

  “Then do your job and profile this son of a bitch so we can catch him and be done with it. I hope to be back before Penny clears out the house and the bank accounts and takes my kids.”

  He said it jokingly, but Hazel wondered just how close Penny was from doing exactly that. She made a mental note to drop by when Ortiz was gone, if only to smooth things over for the constantly-feuding couple.

  Or make things worse. After all, what did Hazel really know about relationships? Her longest had lasted three months.

  Hazel grinned at him, her face glowing strangely against the lights of the underground garage when Ortiz found his spot.

  “Oh, I’ll find this bastard,” she assured her partner. “You know I will.”

  2

  A year, Lev thought. I can’t believe it’s taken this long.

  Gritting his perfect teeth together, he pushed his way inside the field office, adjusting the vest of his three-piece suit as he walked toward security and flashed his badge before wandering through the metal detectors for a scan. He knew he was overdressed for work, but he didn’t care—he had a first impression to make, and he wouldn’t get another chance to do it.

  “Special Agent Lev Kirk for Criminal Investigation Director, Henry Castillo.”

  The woman at the desk typed in his name, scanning his badge, and nodded. “Third floor. Someone will direct you when you arrive, Agent Kirk.”

  With a curt nod, Lev squared his shoulders and strode to the elevator banks, his eyes skirting about, taking in every detail in his purview. It wasn’t that Lev was so much taking in the décor as he was learning more about his mate with every step.

  She’s in here, he reminded himself. I’m finally going to make contact with her.

  It seemed incredible that it had taken a year for Lev to be there, but such was bureaucratic red tape. Even Landon Burke, the Lycan who sat on the ruling council for the Enchanted, had been unable to move the process along for him to be united with Hazel.

  That hadn’t stopped Lev from watching over her, though, even from the distance between them. Had it been a pain? Absolutely. He’d hoped that his transfer would come through a lot sooner from Virginia. Still, there he was, a year later, meeting his mate for the first time.

  The last year had been a series of back and forth trips between Washington and Virginia, ensuring that Hazel was safe, watching for Gabriel, and slowly falling for the woman who was undoubtedly his mate. Never had he been so impatient to move. Then again, never had he been confronted with his mate.

  I guess it takes a serial killer, Lev thought with some annoyance, which he brushed aside, knowing that he was wasting his irritation. All that mattered was that he had Hazel in his sights, constantly and without stress now. It would be smooth sailing from the moment they saw one another, he was sure.

  Lev stepped off the elevator lift on the third floor and was immediately greeted by a tall, skinny blonde with a somewhat panicked expression on her face.

  “Special Agent Kirk?” she asked in a restless breath. “You must come with me. The meeting has already begun, and they didn’t wait for you.”

  Lev raised an eyebrow, but he followed after her, glancing at his Rolex. He wasn’t late. The meeting was for nine, and it wasn’t even eight-thirty. But as the anxious woman had said, the meeting was in full swing when she opened the door and ushered him in, closing it behind him like she feared reprisal for his apparent lateness.

  A few people turned to look at him, but Henry Castillo continued to speak as if he hadn’t entered, and Lev’s eyes immediately fell on Hazel Carrington. She was precisely what he had imagined, from her gleaming blonde crown to her sensible black shoes. She was perfect. And she was his.

  A wave of excitement seized him, but Lev forced himself to listen to the talk around him.

  “—escalating in his kills,” Castillo continued. “This latest murder in California shows that.”

  To his surprise, Hazel interjected, sounding annoyed.

  “Again, we have no idea yet if they are related,” she sighed, standing uninvited to join her boss at the front of the room. “We need to stop speculating. This is how the wrong man gets pinned and the real perp flies off into the sunset, never to be seen again.”

  “I think it’s safe to say—” Castillo started, but Hazel held up a small, manicured hand and cast him a wary look.

  “That’s my point exactly!” she grumbled. “It’s not safe to say anything. Since when do we speculate without facts? We’re the FBI, Castillo, not the psychic hotline. Until Ortiz reports back with what’s happening, we can’t say that murder is part of the Werewolf’s pattern. And I won’t have anyone on my team repeat that. Am I clear?”

  There was a low murmur, and Hazel nodded at her team, her blue eyes falling on Lev. Their gazes locked, and Lev noted with relief that her pupils dilated with interest. He offered her a warm smile, but she looked back to Castillo and scowled.

  “Who is that?” Hazel demanded, pointing at Lev. “I thought this was a closed meeting!”

  So much for first impressions, he thought, but he wasn’t about to be put off by her reaction. Him being there had to have caught her off guard.

  Castillo raised his balding head and squinted at Lev, seeing him for the first time. “This is Special Agent Lev Kirk. He’s joining us from DC and—”

  “You know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen, don’t you, Castillo?” Hazel interrupted, and Lev found himself taken aback at the way she spoke to her superior.

  Beautiful or not, she’s got a little bit of a mouth on her, doesn’t she?

  Castillo frowned, apparently unhappy about being cut off midsentence. “I know the saying that two heads are better than one, Carrington. Agent Kirk has been trying to transfer out this way for a long while now. We’re lucky to have him while we’re down a man. Welcome to Seattle, Agent.”

  “Thank you, Director.”

  Hazel snorted without offering a response. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest defiantly and glared at him.

  “Do you need to be debriefed?” she demanded. “Or did you do some homework?”

  Lev’s eyes narrowed, wondering if she had ever learned her manners.

  I might have to teach her some, he thought with amusement, though he couldn’t deny that her tone was slightly shocking to him.

  “I’m good,” Lev replied slowly. “And you are?”

  “This is Special Agent Hazel Carrington,” Castillo volunteered. “She’s running point on the Werewolf right now. She’s been hands-on from day one, so you can defer to her for any and all questions. She knows everything about this guy.”

  I wonder if it was her idea to call him ‘the Werewolf,’ Lev thought. It would be a
brazen thing for Hazel to have done, considering who she was, but Lev remembered what Landon had told him when he’d first approached him to watch out for her.

  “The women Gabriel turned don’t seem to have any recollection of it happening. There’s a good chance she doesn’t know she’s a Lycan… yet. Tread carefully, just in case.”

  Hazel met his steadfast gaze again, her cerulean orbs locking with his chocolate brown ones. This time, she held the stare, and Lev felt a deep warmth traveling through him.

  “Pleased to meet you,” he told her, his low voice filling the room.

  “This is the rest of the team,” Castillo continued. “Our IT specialist, Frank Welbourne, our…”

  But Lev wasn’t listening in the least. There would be more than enough time for him to meet the others later. Right now, his concern was only Hazel and being near her.

  Hazel Carrington was a natural beauty, with porcelain skin and honey-spun hair, which she wore in a side braid along the collar of her white button-down. No picture or surveillance video could have done her justice, not when her naked intelligence blazed through her bright eyes and seemed to bore into Lev. He had never been close enough to see the green flecks in her blue eyes before that moment, and no photograph had ever picked them up.

  “Kirk?”

  Reluctantly, Lev turned his eyes toward Castillo, who stared at him expectantly. “Hm?”

  “Did you hear what I said?”

  “Sure,” Lev lied.

  “Good. Carrington will get you caught up. Meeting dismissed.”

  All the agents moved toward the door except for Lev, who approached his mate, a swell of excitement brewing inside him. Hazel pretended not to look at him, but he could feel her watching him through her peripheral vision.

  “Not much for personal space, huh?” she asked after a long moment of silence. Lev grinned at her disarmingly, but he didn’t step back. The scent of her pheromones was intoxicating, and he’d waited far too long to walk it back even a little bit now.

  “Space is so much better when you can share it with other people,” he assured her. Hazel grimaced and gathered the files before her, shuffling them loudly.

  I’m making her nervous, Lev thought. She wouldn’t be the first person to be unnerved by his towering presence and intense eyes. But she’s not just anybody. She’s my mate.

  “I’m going out to speak with some witnesses today,” Hazel told him, not quite meeting his eyes. “Do you need to get settled in or—?”

  “I’m with you,” he told her, and he wondered if she could hear the sincerity in his tone. He wasn’t going anywhere at all. It was just the two of them now.

  Hazel’s head jerked up like she’d heard his thoughts, and Lev willed himself to be careful. He couldn’t gauge just how much she knew about her state just by looking at her. He could certainly smell the Lycan presence in her, but did she know? That was another question altogether.

  “Do you have a place here?” she asked, cocking her head to the side and finally meeting his gaze again. “Or are you staying in a hotel?”

  “I’m in a hotel for now,” Lev replied. “But I’m actively looking for a place.”

  Hazel sidestepped him and wandered toward the door, and Lev had no choice but to follow behind her.

  “Why were you in such a hurry to come here?” she asked. Lev was impressed by her attention to detail. She had heard when Castillo mentioned he’d been trying for a transfer for a long time.

  “Personal reasons,” he answered evasively yet honestly.

  It doesn’t get much more personal than this, he thought. Hazel didn’t seem to like that answer and paused to glare at him.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” she said firmly. “I’m not looking to make friends, Kirk. I have enough friends, and Ortiz will be back here soon enough. We’re stuck together for now, but I need to know if I have your full attention or if you’re distracted by other things going on around you.”

  The corners of Lev’s full lips twitched, and he forced himself not to laugh aloud.

  “You have my full attention,” he promised. She didn’t seem convinced, but he did notice the gleam of interest fall over her eyes again as she looked at him.

  “You sure you don’t want to sit this one out?” she asked again. “You just got here, and—”

  “No,” he insisted. “I’m not going anywhere.” A begrudging respect formed in Hazel’s eyes, and she nodded.

  “All right,” she relented. “Let’s go then.”

  Lev couldn’t help studying Hazel’s profile as she drove through the Seattle streets. He memorized every line of her face with an almost boyish excitement.

  You’re over four hundred years old, he chided himself. Your heart shouldn’t be racing like a kid’s. In fact, he was four hundred and twenty-three years old. Childhood crushes were more than a distant memory. They were ancient history.

  Perhaps it was the anticipation of finally being there. Lev had learned nothing if not patience in the centuries he’d been alive. At any time, he could have upped and left his pack in Virginia to follow Hazel at a much closer pace, but the timing wasn’t right.

  Lev was nothing if not thorough, and as long as Hazel was not being hunted by Gabriel or anyone else, he was in no rush to wait for the paperwork to go through. If he had learned anything about Hazel over the last year, it was that she did not like being disrupted. Coming by unannounced was not the way to win her over. Not that he needed to win her over. They were fated to be together. As soon as Hazel realized that, they would be on surer footing.

  Then I can slowly explain the situation to her and talk to her about Gabriel, if she isn’t already aware, he thought. Who knows? Maybe we will end up staying partners.

  “Would you please stop staring at me? You’re making me nervous,” Hazel grumbled. Lev laughed, and she glanced at him through narrowed eyes. “What’s so funny?”

  “The fact that you expect me to believe that anything makes you nervous,” he said.

  She returned his smirk. “Fine. You’re making me uncomfortable. Hasn’t anyone told you it’s rude to stare?”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re very beautiful?” he countered. Hazel’s fair face flushed crimson, and she scowled angrily.

  “Are you hitting on me?” she snapped. “On your first day? Don’t they have sensitivity training in Virginia?”

  “I’m making an observation,” Lev replied, unperturbed by her anger. “Your features are exquisite. You should be on the wall of the Prado.”

  Her cheeks turned redder, and she tried to hide her face from his intense gaze, but the movement was futile.

  “Give it a rest,” she muttered. Still, he could see she was secretly flattered by his words. Even though Lev wasn’t trying to feed her vapid compliments, he could see that she wasn’t used to being spoken to so kindly.

  “I’m not trying to embarrass you,” he said, but Hazel didn’t answer. Instead, she fixed her eyes outside the windshield and stepped heavier on the gas.

  “When we get to the Burney house, I’ll do the talking,” she instructed after an awkward pause. “You don’t say a word without my okay. Don’t forget—this is my team. I’m in charge here.” Lev didn’t speak, and Hazel whipped her head around to look at him. “Did you hear me?” she insisted.

  Lev nodded and shrugged, pointing to indicate his mouth was sealed. Hazel groaned.

  “Were you the class clown in DC?” she muttered. “Because I don’t find you amusing.”

  “Not even a little?” he asked.

  “No.” Hazel returned her gaze out the window, but Lev could see the edges of her lips twitching under his scrutiny.

  You can’t fight me, he thought, grinning to himself. You’ve already lost. Again, her head whipped toward him, her eyes narrowed slits.

  “What?”

  Ah. She can read my thoughts already. I need to be careful.

  More confusion colored her eyes, and she gaped at him.

  “You should pr
obably watch the road,” Lev suggested, turning his own eyes back out the window.

  Baby steps, Hazel. We’ll get there in baby steps. But first, he was going to have to break down those walls that Hazel had so carefully placed up around herself as protection. And that was going to take a great deal more patience, Lev was sure.

  It wouldn’t be a problem. They had eternity.

  3

  First, I’m losing hours of my life, Hazel thought, and now I’m hearing voices in my head. This is not good.

  Logically, she understood the implications of what was happening, but she couldn’t let go of the fear it was instilling inside her. Hazel was beginning to fear that she was losing her mind after all, none more so than when she sat with Lev Kirk. Every time she was near him, she thought she could clearly hear what was happening inside his head.

  You can’t hear people’s thoughts, she told herself scornfully. You just met this guy. He’s not thinking the things you think he’s thinking… is he?

  Of course she wasn’t. Whatever was happening inside her brain was causing her to think so, that was all. She needed to stop imagining that Lev was hitting on her.

  Would that be so bad, though? She realized, with some self-disgust, that it was wishful thinking. Since when did I become this horny teenager?

  “Is something wrong? You look distracted,” Lev offered, shoving a French fry into his mouth. Not for the first time, Hazel found herself drawn to the gleaming ivory of his teeth. They were almost like fangs. Why did she suddenly find that so attractive?

  It wasn’t just the points of his brilliant smile that were appealing to Hazel. She couldn’t stop taking in his features as if he was a suspect in a murder investigation. Each part of his face was cataloged into her mind like it had been etched with a wood burner.

  A stupidly handsome suspect in a murder investigation, she thought. A suspect whose mere stare turns my insides into lava. What the hell is wrong with me? Stop this!

  “Carrington?” Lev said, his head cocked to the side curiously.