The Enchanted: Council of Seven Shifter Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  “This is Danica,” Wes introduced her, “my mate.”

  Another uneasy silence fell over the room, and eyes darted between Danica and the Alpha.

  “I need you to go if you’re going,” Wes said impatiently. “The hour is late, and I have other matters to attend tonight.”

  “You do?” Danica murmured, but he ignored her.

  “Well?” Wes prompted when no one moved. “Are you staying or going? Remember, anyone who speaks of this outside will live to regret it—however long the rest of their lives might be.”

  Mason stepped forward, his eyes shadowed. “If we go against Landon and the Council, we might be punished, anyway,” he muttered. “I want no part of this.”

  Danica saw Wes’ mouth purse, but he only shrugged.

  “That is your prerogative,” he agreed. “Anyone else?”

  The pack members looked around uncertainly, but only Mason moved toward the door.

  “Mason,” Wes called after him. “If you even think about going to the Council…” Although he left his threat unfinished, Mason didn’t need to hear it. He pivoted and looked at the others, shaking his head.

  “Think about what you’re agreeing to,” he warned them, his eyes glittering with malice.

  “Our oath is to the pack,” one of the men declared. “The Council is not our concern.”

  “It should be,” Mason hissed back. His gaze rested on Danica, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Suddenly, his nostrils flared, and he looked at her with too much intensity. “You’re with child,” he announced.

  Danica gasped, but it was barely heard over the explosive din in the room.

  “She’s pregnant?” Gale cried, a note of worry in his tone that she didn’t try to understand. Danica looked desperately at Wes, whose face had become a stony mask.

  “That’s irrelevant,” Wes snarled.

  “Is it? Or is it related to why we’re having this incognito meeting?” Mason wanted to know.

  “Close the door behind you, Mason,” Wes told him, physically turning his body as if to dismiss the burly wolf.

  “Is she pregnant?” Gale asked again, his nostrils flaring, presumably to sense what Mason had.

  He can smell it on me, Danica realized in horror. She quickly blocked her thoughts so the other pack members couldn’t hear her unspoken thoughts. Can he also tell who the baby belongs to? She willed herself not to panic. Trust Wes. He knows what he’s doing—even if I don’t have a clue what he’s planning.

  Through the corner of her eye, she watched Mason leave, but when she focused her attention on the others, she saw them all peering at the door as though they might want to follow suit.

  “This is your last chance to leave,” Wes said flatly. “I see you considering it, Adam.”

  “No,” Adam denied, looking down in embarrassment. “I wasn’t. I’m with you, Wes. Always.”

  “Me too,” Gale said quickly, and his words were followed by a cry of agreement thereafter. Danica, though, saw they were all staring at her still, the shroud of discretion forsaken.

  So much for keeping the baby a secret.

  “I have a quest for you,” Wes started without preamble, seeming content that his pack was on his side now. “But as I said, it has to be kept very quiet until it is done—in its entirety.”

  “What quest?”

  “Gabriel and his illegal pack,” Wes replied. Danica felt her back tense. Of course she’d suspected that he was going after them, but to what end?

  “What about them?” someone asked.

  “We need to find them.”

  “Landon Burke has been on this for years,” Gale sighed. “What makes you think that we can find Gabriel if Burke can’t?”

  “We must find Gabriel and the pack before Landon finds him,” Wes said. “And Burke can’t ever know we’re searching.”

  “Why not? Won’t he be happy for the help?” Adam asked, his face twisted in perplexity.

  “Maybe,” Wes agreed vaguely. “But that’s not the point.”

  “What is the point?” It was Danica who spoke this time, although she didn’t realize she had until the words were out of her mouth.

  Wes scowled slightly.

  “Yes,” one of the other wolves said. “What is the point? Why all the secrecy?”

  “It won’t be a secret once we’ve found them,” Wes answered evasively. “But I want them all before Landon gets to them.”

  A prickle of alarm slid down Danica’s spine. There was only one reason he’d want that.

  “Are you trying to get in good with Burke?” Gale questioned. “By bringing him the pack he’s been looking for?”

  Wes blinked. “Yes,” he lied. “That’s exactly it. So go about it discretely, and do not breathe a word of this to Mason. I will know if you have.”

  “Where should we start looking for him?” Gale asked.

  “Gabriel escaped from jail. He’s going to look for his pack, and I have reason to believe they’re nearby. Contact all your mortal cop friends, investigators, whatever needs to be done. I want them all.”

  “Alive?” Adam asked, nervousness coloring his face. “Because I’m not sure I have it in me to kill them—”

  “No one asked you to kill anyone,” Wes interjected. The words should have put Danica’s mind at ease, but for some reason, they did not. “What are you waiting for?” Wes demanded. “You’ve got a mission.”

  “Right now?” Gale whined. “It’s so late.”

  “It’s your only job,” Wes replied shortly. “You don’t go to work until they are all caught. Am I clear?”

  There was a muttering of agreement, all the responses filled with resentment as the pack dispersed, leaving Danica alone with her mate.

  “What the hell are you planning?” she whispered.

  “Just what I said,” Wes retorted. “To find the pack.”

  “And then what?” she asked nervously. “Why the veil of secrecy?”

  Wes met her eyes, and she felt the blood drain from her face even before he spoke.

  “You know why,” he muttered.

  “What are you going to do, Wes?”

  “Whatever it takes to keep you and our baby safe,” he growled. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “You’re going to kill him yourself?” Her voice was barely audible. “You can’t do that!”

  “What choice do I have? If he’s caught by Burke, he’ll talk, Dani, and you’ll be dead, too. Burke was going to sentence them all to death, anyway. I’m just doing him a favor.”

  “You’re not a killer,” Danica whispered, even if she could read the determination in his eyes.

  “You just don’t get it, do you?” he sighed. “For you, I’d burn down the entire damned planet.”

  8

  Before dawn, Danica found herself sitting in the study of Wes’ huge house, curled against the soft leather sofa with a book she wasn’t reading. Wes had fallen asleep with relative ease, as though talk of murdering a pack of fellow Lycans was commonplace or sleep fodder.

  She knew she wasn’t being fair to him—he’d been chasing her around all day.

  He’s been chasing me around for a while, she thought, guilt flooding her in a tidal wave. Danica thought of all the places he must have been watching her.

  The early days had not been as difficult. Gabriel had rarely left her side, but that was because Landon Burke had been no threat yet. He had taken the time to court her properly, and while Danica had never been smitten with him entirely, he had provided a pseudo sense of comfort in an otherwise lost girl.

  She hadn’t been lying to Wes when she told him that she had welcomed the notion of being someone special, even if it was being offered by a stranger who had also offered insanity. That wasn’t the way she’d seen it. Gabriel had told the pack in no uncertain terms that she belonged to him, and even though the independent, self-reliant aspect of her didn’t appreciate the averment, the lost little girl inside her clung to it, particularly when she saw the others eyein
g her with too much interest.

  In hindsight, she realized it was a small wonder that Gabriel had gone after the other women. All the warnings had been there.

  Then why was I so surprised when he took Emily? Danica dropped her head back, her memory unfolding the moment when the girl was taken, and bile rose through her.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  Her lids parted as Wes entered the room, his brow furrowed with concern.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she admitted. Pale, grey light was sifting its way through the partially drawn windows. “Did I wake you?” She knew she hadn’t. She’d been doing little else than sitting quietly and pondering what had happened.

  “You’re upset,” Wes sighed, drawing toward her. “I can see it all over your face.”

  “I’m not upset,” she denied. “I’m… I know you’re doing what you think is best.” That was partially true, but if she was being honest, she couldn’t supress the sick feeling that was bubbling in her gut.

  “You don’t think that this is best?” Wes asked softly. “You don’t think that we need to get rid of the threat that is Gabriel and his pack, especially now that you’re pregnant?”

  “I understand the logic behind it, Wes,” Danica said, trying to stifle the exasperation in her tone. “I guess I knew that’s what you were getting at when we went to meet the pack, but…”

  “But?”

  “But we’re already in so deep. Maybe we should just go to Landon and tell him the truth.”

  “You don’t know Landon Burke and the Council like I do, Dani. They are not known for showing their mercy.”

  “They should have terminated the other women, and they didn’t,” she reminded him, despite knowing the argument was weak.

  “Danica, I’m not looking forward to killing them any more than you want to see this happen. You’re right—I’m not a killer, not if I can avoid it, but I’m fresh out of ideas in this matter. There’s a reason I stayed out of your life for so long. I knew that, ultimately, it would come down to this. We’re at the endgame now.”

  She bit on her lower lip and stared at the novel in her hand.

  “The Count of Monte Cristo, huh?” Wes mused. “Feeling vindictive?”

  “I’m not vindictive,” she replied shortly. “But I can’t say the same thing about Gabriel.”

  “Danica, you need to tell me where the rest of the pack is hiding. We will find them. It’s better to put them out of their misery sooner rather than later.”

  “I’m not telling you,” she insisted. “I don’t care how many times you ask me.” Their gazes clashed, and for a fleeting moment, Danica thought she saw a spark of respect in Wes’ eyes.

  He doesn’t understand it, but he accepts that I won’t be party to this.

  “What do you say we call in sick and spend the day forgetting about everything that’s going on?” he suggested unexpectedly. A half-smile formed on Danica’s lips.

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  “It can be—if the distraction is strong enough,” he said coyly, slipping onto the sofa at her side. Instantly, a warmth flowed through her, and she found herself sinking against him, reveling in the feeling of his strong body at her side.

  “This isn’t going to end well for us,” she muttered. “No matter if you find Gabriel before Landon Burke. The outcome is going to be the same—we’re as good as dead.”

  “You don’t know that,” Wes said firmly. There was a confidence in him that she knew he couldn’t possibly feel. “I can’t believe that I would find my mate, only to be parted with you.”

  “And the baby?” Danica mumbled, despair touching her. “Will you ever really be able to accept him as yours?”

  “I already have,” Wes assured her. She heard the sincerity in his tone and looked at him with a quiet desperation.

  “Will the Council order a pregnant woman killed?”

  “Probably not,” he conceded.

  But after the baby is born, they will have no issue, she concluded silently.

  “Come to bed with me,” Wes urged, reaching for her hand. “You need your rest. Every time I look at you, you’re paler. We need to find you a doctor tomorrow.”

  “How did Mason sense my pregnancy?” she asked. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  “He’s old,” Wes explained. “Much older than me. He knows things that I can’t even understand.”

  “Do you think he’ll go to the Council?”

  “I hope not.” The answer didn’t inspire a lot of faith in Danica, but she had little choice other than to rise and follow Wes through the library, her hand clasped in his.

  They were silent until they reached the double doors of his suite, and he paused to look at her, his intense eyes boring into hers.

  “What?” Danica asked, sensing that he was going to say something profound.

  “Whatever happens, know we’re in this together,” he told her, pulling her into his arms. She didn’t resist. “But I will do everything I can to ensure that Landon Burke doesn’t know the truth.”

  She nodded, her eyes burning with emotion and exhaustion.

  “I know that already,” she breathed. “But you must know we’re dancing on very thin ice right now.”

  “Going forward, your job is to continue your life as if nothing has changed. You’ll go back to school, attend and teach your classes, and I’ll do the same. As far as anyone knows, the baby in your womb is mine.” Wes paused and inhaled sharply. “You need to stay away from Gabriel’s pack,” he concluded. “Don’t take their calls, and don’t call them. It’s only a matter of time before my IT guys latch onto the phone records.”

  Danica swallowed visibly and nodded, a combination of relief and apprehension swirling through her.

  You’ve always wanted to be free of the pack, she reminded herself. She wouldn’t miss the endless leers and squabbling that came with Gabriel’s Lycans. She owed them nothing, now that she hadn’t told Wes where to find them. That’s more than a woman in my position should be doing for such a godless bunch.

  “I won’t,” she agreed. “I’ll block out their numbers on my phone.”

  “If anyone asks about them, you plead ignorance. As far as anyone knows, you only found out about your Lycan blood—through me. You don’t remember anything. You don’t know Gabriel.”

  “Surely your IT guy will pull up my number eventually,” Danica said worriedly.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Wes insisted. “Everyone has fully expected Gabriel to go after the women he turned. It would stand to reason that he would try to contact you. If there ends up being a problem, we’ll develop a story about it, all right? Don’t stress too much.”

  He makes it sound so easy, Danica thought. Wes kissed the top of her head and peered down at her face.

  “Have faith,” he breathed. “It will all work out in the end.”

  She lifted her lips, eager to have him kiss away the feelings of concern brewing inside her. When his mouth met hers, instantly, her worries evaporated.

  Are we living in a bubble? All of this is so surreal. But that had always been her life—floating somewhere between reality and requiem, her handle on life fragile and fleeting.

  Without warning, Wes swept her up in his massive arms and kicked open the double doors leading into the sitting room, where he placed her gently on the sofa, his lips trailing along the lines of her face.

  Why does this feel so right when everything about it is wrong? she wondered, but the thought did nothing to stave off Wes’ increasingly heated kisses. Maybe this is all a dream.

  Danica closed her eyes as his hands slipped under the soft material of her tank top. She had not even bothered to change into a proper pair of pajamas upon returning to the mansion, perhaps foreseeing that she would be in Wes’ arms again before the break of dawn. In seconds, her skin was pressed to the abs of his stomach, the swell of desire overcoming her in a fell swoop like a tornado.

  There was no doubt in her mi
nd that she was meant to be with this man, that he was the mate he claimed himself to be. Nothing else made sense, even if the notion of a soulmate would have once made her laugh.

  There are no happily ever afters, a tiny, almost inaudible voice warned her. There are only delusions, and you’re embarking on another one.

  When Wes’ mouth found the taut skin of her breast, though, his tongue lashing out to taste the sweat of her flesh, Danica knew it was not Wes who had been the delusion but Gabriel.

  I am here for the rest of my life, she thought, a low moan escaping her lips when Wes slid inside her, pulling her thigh into the wide spans of his hand and filling her fully. No matter how short a time that might be.

  The thought was dismal yet prophetic, and there was comfort in the knowledge that even when it all came to a head, they would still be together.

  Even in death.

  9

  For two weeks, Wes heard nothing from his pack. Each minute that went by without word of Gabriel filled him with increasing dread, but he forced himself not to show his concern to Danica. Even so, he was sure she could read his nervousness. Still, they continued on with their lives as planned, attending classes, even though it was clear to Wes that their minds were anywhere but on their respective jobs.

  Wes met up with Danica outside the psychology building just after three o’clock one afternoon, exactly a fortnight to the day they had connected.

  “I thought we were meeting back at the car,” she said, seeming surprised to see him.

  “I couldn’t wait,” he replied, grinning at her. “Can you blame me?”

  She offered him a wan smile that didn’t meet her eyes, and Wes’ brow furrowed, sensing something was wrong.

  “What’s up?” he asked. At first, Danica shook her head, looping her arm through his, but she looked over her shoulder as if she expected someone to be watching her.

  “Nothing,” she answered.

  “Are you bothered about your doctor’s appointment today? You’ve procrastinated on the matter long enough, don’t you think?”

  She cast him a sidelong look and shrugged. “Maybe a little bit,” she confessed. Wes squeezed her hand against his arm.