Malicious Envy (Sins of Proteus Book 1)

by Kitt Rose

  I gasped, tugging sharply on Ash's hand. “Are we really…wherever this is? Or is it an illusion?” I hadn't felt anything like the doorway into the house, so it made me wonder.

  “Ah, very insightful. It's both and neither. It's a trade secret that I'm afraid I cannot share.” Selene took a seat behind an elegant writing desk, the top distressed by use but spotless. She gestured to the pair of wingback chairs opposite and I took the one on the left. Ash sat in the other, gripping the arms as if ready to jump to his feet at any moment.

  “So, Mr. Stefan, your Alpha was quite insistent that I meet with you with all due haste, but I'm afraid he was rather short on the details. You are having some difficulty with a witch?” Selene said, steepling her hands on the desk's polished top.

  “Not quite, and please, call me Ash.”

  “Ash then, please tell me why you seek out the services of my coven.”

  Ash rose for a moment, leaned over the desk and set a plain cloth bag on the desk. “This is why I am here. This was found among Libby's things.”

  He sat, watching the witch carefully open the bag and peer inside. She reached a hand in, then glanced up sharply. Her eyes were pulled open wide, the whites visible. She withdrew her hand, and in it, I saw a Ziploc bag.

  “You have some very powerful enemies,” she said, turning the bag gingerly in her hand.

  This must be the hex bag.

  I slid to the edge of my chair as she opened a drawer and pulled out a crisp, white cloth. She spread it out over the desk's surface, then carefully opened the sandwich bag. She met my eyes for a moment, exhaled heavily, then dumped the contents onto the white backdrop.

  There was a lot of salt in the bag. In only a few, precise motions, she sorted it out, leaving behind a collection of items: reddish powder, a bone, hair, and other things I could not identify.

  “Nasty piece of work,” she murmured, the admiration in her tone contradicting her words. “Someone must really hate you.”

  “What is it meant to do?” Ash asked, his voice so quiet I strained to hear him.

  She hesitated, eyes darting back to me. I imagined I must look like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi, moments from being flattened. I certainly felt like it.

  “This, if you had not have found it, would have made your mate sick and susceptible to certain influences. It is meant to strip away freewill and degrade health. It is a rather ingenious blending of two very dark, very forbidden pieces of magic. Combined they would have slowly stripped away her resistance to the one who made it and made her bend to their will.”

  “I have reason to believe that someone from your coven did this. Someone who is working with a Protean, possibly from my pack,” Ash stated, his voice even and commanding.

  It was a tone I had never heard before. It demanded to be obeyed. This was a side of Ash I had never personally seen. It was a little frightening, and a bit hot. And it blew my mind that he was mine all over again. My Ash. My mate.

  Wait…

  “How did you know that I'm his… I mean… That we're…” Dear God, I couldn't say it out loud. What was wrong with me? I straightened my spine. “That I am Ash's mate.”

  There, I said it. And my voice was solid. Mostly.

  Ash startled. “That is an excellent question.”

  Selene harrumphed. “It is as plain to me as the nose on your face. You know scents as a Protean wolf. I know energy and the resonances of souls. Yours are a matching set. Now as far as this witch being a member of my coven, I am confident that is not correct. All our members are accounted for and have been for the last eight months at least. I invite you to speak to our membership director if you care to track their movements. Beyond that, I would have seen this level of… Evil.” She gestured to the spilled bag. “I would have seen this in our coven.”

  The idea that a coven of witches had a membership director made me want to laugh. I supposed it was better than human resources. Or would that be witch resources.

  I choked trying to suppress a giggle and both Ash and Selene looked at me oddly. I waved a hand in front of my face. “Sorry. Nerves.”

  Ash raised one perfect brow, his eyes not leaving me. “What about former members? Or witches that are not members but live in the area? A Protean tracker from Georgia followed the witch to the airport, where they boarded a flight to Grand Forks.”

  Selene, who had relaxed into her chair, snapped back. “Here? Ah, so that is why you came to me. Hmm.” She tapped her chin twice, then snapped the fingers on her right hand. “We did have a member go missing, rather suddenly and without explanation, about nine or ten years ago. She was an Elder of considerable experience. I believe it was Meredith who found the note saying she was unhappy and to not come looking. Of course we did, but we did not find anything amiss.”

  “What was this witch's name?” Ash prompted.

  A drawer scrapped as Selene dug into her desk, pulling free a small leather-bound book. She opened the front cover, revealing a yellowish ledger filled with neat printing. It took her a moment of reading before she found the name.

  “Heidi. Heidi West. She appears to be in her mid-thirties. Brown hair, blue eyes. Pretty girl. I believe she is still in Grand Forks, or perhaps it was she who moved to Thompson. I will send one of my sisters to locate her for you. Would our questioning be sufficient, or do you require more? I assure you, she will not be able to lie to us.”

  Ash smiled, his teeth too large behind those perfect lips. “So long as we are allowed to dispense justice.”

  Selene nodded, snapping the book closed with a decisive motion. “If she is guilty.”

  “If,” Ash agreed.

  19

  Ash

  I took Libby back to the hotel to wait for word from the coven leader.

  A demigod… Would wonders never cease? Everyone thought they were extinct. That the gods had disappeared. After all, it had been at least seven hundred years since any Protean had contact with Proteus.

  Most believed the myths but agreed that those long-told tales were only history. The world had become filled with too much science and reason for the gods. A lack of faith in those things unseen had nearly obliterated the supernatural. Hell, it was getting harder and harder to hide what they were. Someday they would have to come out, but I hoped I was dead and buried before that happened.

  If mankind had difficulty handling different races, that were still entirely human, I could only imagine how they would handle an entirely different species. I feared for our future when that day came. But many wished they could come out. They wished they were free to move away from the Packs for jobs or love or human family. Elliot had wanted to go to Boston for school and had not been allowed. The large cities were particularly dangerous for them. Sure, it was easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of a city, but there were always people watching. It was harder to be invisible when the humans were packed like sardines into a city block.

  “Do you want to wait here, order some food?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “I'm not really hungry,” Libby said in a soft voice. “But you go ahead.”

  I frowned, looking at my mate. She wasn't meeting my eyes, chewing on her bottom lip. Something was bothering her, but I didn't know what specifically. “What's wrong, Lib?”

  “I… I don't know. I just—” Libby threw her hands in the air, then ripped them through her hair in frustration. “I hate waiting.”

  “Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”

  Libby looked at me, her eyes growing soft, melting. Her entire face opened.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You called me sweetheart,” she said softly.

  “And you liked it?”

  She bit her lip, then nodded. I grinned, stood up and walked to where she stood. Dark hair hung in her face, and I tucked it behind her ears, hands lingering. Her skin was so soft, I couldn't resist caressing. I trailed my hand down her cheek, along her jaw, to slide under the heavy fall of her hair. I leaned
in and kissed her. Libby's eyes fluttered shut and her body swayed into mine.

  I grabbed her hips and pulled her in tight, pressing my growing erection into her belly. Moaning, her hands flew to my shirt and tugged it out of my jeans.

  Her hand curled into the waist of my pants, popped the button, and slid inside. She bypassed my boxers to wrap her warm hand around my dick, drawing a moan from me.

  I broke away from her mouth, pressing my forehead to hers. “Easy now.”

  A smirk grew on her face, her hand moving faster.

  Pleasure spread through me. I gritted my teeth and threw my head back. Fuck, but I'd imagined her touching me like this. So often.

  I was trying my hardest not to come when she dropped to her knees in front of me and tugged my pants down.

  Rational thought fled, my mind blanking, when her mouth—so warm and wet—engulfed the head of my cock.

  Shit.

  She pulled me to the back of her throat, and my mouth dropped open. Panting, I threaded my fingers through her hair, pulling it from her face so I could watch her suck me off. It was so damn erotic, I couldn't catch my breath.

  My body tightened, balls growing tight and heavy. I needed to come. But I couldn't. Not yet.

  Before I reached the point of no return, I grabbed Libby under her arms and yanked her up, earning a startled gasp. She laughed when I tossed her onto the bed, climbing on after her to yank off her jeans and panties in one swift movement.

  She was wet. So wet. Ready. I needed her to come first.

  I kissed down her body. Wet, open-mouthed kisses, until I inhaled her musky scent. Swollen and pink, I spread her open with my fingers and pressed my dick into the mattress, seeking friction and contact.

  Her taste was rich and womanly, heady, as I swirled my tongue around her clit. I did it again and again, as she thrashed on the bed, then I sucked on that bundle of nerves and plunged two fingers into her. Her walls convulsed around my fingers, my name a gasp on her lips.

  At the first pulse, I yanked my fingers out and plunged into her. Libby thrashed her head, her mouth dropping open to emit a long, low moan. I couldn't help but echo it. She felt too good as I pumped into her.

  Jaw clenched, I watched my dick disappear into her, feeling the orgasm building almost painfully fast. Deeper, closer. My chest to hers, mouth feeding from hers. Her smell surrounded me, taste imprinted on my tongue. Nails dug into my back, dragging down to sink deep into my ass.

  Without breaking our kiss, I smiled. She was marking me, as I'd marked her. Into my heart and upon my soul. Not just in the divots she was leaving in my ass as she pulled me into her faster, urging me deeper.

  I bottomed out and she tightened, clamping down tight enough that I froze—afraid I'd hurt her if I moved. And while she pulsed around me, I let go. My eyes slammed shut and her name burst from my lips. I came and came.

  And then I collapsed. She circled my shoulders with her arms, making me shudder.

  “Damn,” I murmured, and she laughed. The movement made me groan. So sensitive.

  She squeezed me, then patted my shoulder. “Off. You're too heavy.”

  Immediately I rolled, taking her with, until she rested on top of me. Libby pressed a kiss to the skin over my heart, and the muscle under clenched as something enormous passed through me.

  “I love you, Liberty.”

  She stiffened in my arms for a heartbeat, before relaxing again. “You mean so much to me, Ash,” she whispered.

  They weren't the words I wanted, and that cut deep, but it was close. And I feel it, even if she can’t admit it. She loves me.

  I opened my mouth to tell her exactly that when my cell phone rang. Moving swiftly, I shift Libby onto the bed and fished my phone from the heap of clothing at the foot of the bed.

  Selene's name on the display made me stiffen. I pressed accept and said, “Stefan.”

  “Marked One, we did not find Heidi. But…” Selene paused. The hesitation sounding strange and uncomfortable on the priestess.

  “But what?”

  She sighed, the sound conveying unhappiness. “Her home, it tells the story clear enough. She is your witch. The implements at her altar leave little doubt.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that we found the ingredients for the hex bag, and evidence that she has crafted other dark spells. Many of them. I cannot offer much, but when you locate her, my coven will give its assistance to end this. Beyond that, I was able to use a location spell to narrow her whereabouts to your own backyard.”

  “Homeplace?” I asked, surprised.

  “Yes. I cannot say where exactly, but she is within a thirty-mile radius of the town limits. I am sorry I cannot help further, but—”

  “Can you tell me what other spells she has cast?”

  “I will endeavor to discover that, but at the moment, it is not possible. But there is darkness here I have never seen the likes of before, and I have lived a very long life.”

  “Thank you, Selene. I owe you one,” I said.

  “No, you do not. But I appreciate the thought,” she said, then disconnected without another word.

  We dressed quickly, checking out of the hotel to head back to Homeplace.

  On the way, I made some calls, summoning Johnny, Aaron, Dad, and Elliot to meet us at home. No one questioned me, just confirmed they would be there. It was one of the many times I was profoundly grateful for my friends and family. Hell, even with my father's sabotage, I'd still known he'd done it with good intentions. My dad had thought he was acting in my best interest. I could never doubt my family's and friend's devotion. And I was equally loyal to them.

  It was late when we got home. The house was ablaze with lights, the driveway overflowing. Beyond those I'd called, my brother-in-law, Caleb's, car was parked in the drive. So was another vehicle that stirred anger deep in my chest.

  The silver truck belonged to my Alpha. My eyes narrowed. I hadn't called him.

  In my mind, I cursed my father.

  I threw my truck into park in front of the house, jumped out and rushed to help Libby. She looked at me with amusement shining in her eyes.

  “I can get down myself, you know?” she said with a smirk, taking my hand to slide down.

  The smirk that materialized on my face was automatic. I couldn't help it. Playful, amused Libby was so damn beautiful. “I know that. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop though.”

  “Good,” she mumbled to her feet, so softly I would have missed it if I'd been human.

  I grinned and laced my fingers in hers and tugged her toward the house. Nerves assaulted me for a moment before the door swung open wide. I wasn't entirely sure how Johnny and Aaron would take the news that Lib and I were mated. It was quick, not that I would have wished for it to be otherwise. But her father and uncle might feel differently.

  Inside the house, my dad's voice drifted in from the back yard, the sounds of conversation followed. Libby's grip tightened, her other arm coming up to wrap around mine and her teeth sunk into her bottom lip.

  I shifted her to the opposite wall, well out of view of the porch, should someone be there.

  “What's wrong?”

  She shook her head, biting her lip.

  “Liberty,” I said, drawing out her name.

  She blew out a breath. “I'm just nervous. You called my dad. He's going to know what this means.” She jerked the collar of her shirt to the side, revealing the bandage.

  I reached out and carefully peeled back one side of the white pad. The punctures were scabbed entirely. The skin didn't even look bruised. Not terribly deep, but enough to scar.

  “It's healing well,” I said. “It would heal better without this now.”

  It was true, but I wanted everyone to see it.

  The markings surprised me when I'd first seen them. Without my notice or command, my teeth had shifted. The bite was something not wholly wolf or human.

  My markings on her skin made me hard. I reached down and adjuste
d myself.

  Libby's eyes widened as she watched me.

  “What,” I said with a crooked smile. “It's fucking hot. That right there means you're mine. That you want me, as I want you.”

  Her breath caught. “I didn't think about it like that. Okay, take the bandage off.”

  Something inside me softened. I gently pulled the bandage free and nuzzled the marking, inhaling her scent.

  What the fuck?

  My body locked, frozen in shock as her scent swamped me. It was different somehow. Blended. This is what the tracker meant. The witch was mated to one of our wolves.

  My mind reeled, trying to remember the scent that had been all over Libby's things. Trying to imagine it different. I remembered scents. Knew every wolf in the Pack. But I couldn't make it work. It was impossible. Maybe if I had the witch's scent alone, I could have separated what was witch and what was Protean.

  “Ash?” Libby said, voice hesitant.

  I straightened and gave her a tight smile. “Ready?”

  She nodded, looking unsure.

  I took her hand and squeezed. We walked through the living room, to the patio door, and onto the deck.

  Her father and mine, Johnny, Caleb, Duke, Elliot, and Joshua turned to watch us descend the steps to where they had gathered.

  Elliot saw her marking first and grinned. “Congrats, little brother.”

  Aaron's eyes narrowed, laser focusing on his daughter's neck. With a few strides, he gathered her free hand into his and looked her deep in the eyes. “You happy?”

  Libby nodded, then said in a quiet voice, “For the first time in so long.”

  My heart clenched.

  Aaron pulled her into a hug, and I lost her hand. Libby moved from her dad to Johnny, then came back to stand next to me.

  I waited until her hand was once again in mine, and then said, “We have some things to discuss.”

  For having learned so much, it took almost no time at all to tell everyone assembled everything we'd learned. And then I made my request.