The Mating Frenzy

by Bonnie Vanak

  Kieran knew she didn’t have a damn clue the book talked about her.

  She gazed up at him with those extraordinary green eyes. Would her eyes remain green when she finally shifted into her wolf form? How could he, who hated the Skin world and loathed and feared Skins, be expected to guide and guard this special woman, who was to become a leader?

  What if I fail you? What if you die like Kiera did?

  The weight of his duties suddenly felt crushing. Kieran rubbed his chest, the air too thin, the sensations overwhelming.

  He gauged Ella was safe enough here. But he was aware that he needed air, space and most of all, a chance to gather his failing confidence.

  First though… “Do you like this Danica, your employer? Is she good to you?”

  If she was not, Danica could set Ella up to be ambushed, for down in this room, with little oxygen, she would become a sitting target.

  A beaming smile gave him his answer. “She’s wonderful. She pays me more than the position is worth, and wants me to work more hours, but I make more from tips at the restaurant. And she can only allow me access in this room for two hours a day. The air is too thin.”

  And the magick protecting these documents too heavy, and you have not yet come into your powers. Even he was feeling the effects, the weight of the protective spell guarding the texts and scrolls muting his own powers. His beast didn’t like it, and wanted out.

  Kieran stood. “I must leave you, fair maiden. Plans with friends.” He gave a formal bow from the waist, wishing he could be alone with her longer here, long enough for them to truly get to know each other. In every possible way.

  Yearning touched her expression. “Thanks for the translation. Maybe you can come back on Friday and help me.”

  “I shall try.”

  “You’re so different, Sir Kieran.”

  And so are you. He only hoped she would not balk or become scared when the time came to give her the full translations of what he’d read.

  It would scare her, he sensed.

  Because it scared the hell out of him, too.

  5

  He got no answers from the wizards when they materialized later inside Xavier’s condo to take him to dinner.

  Both Gideon and Xavier avoided his questions. Instead, they grilled him on his manners at the dinner table, and warned him to go lightly with flirting with Ella.

  They seemed unsurprised that he’d found the secret archives for Others.

  That, more than anything, convinced Kieran of the dire necessity of his mission. Ella was needed, much more than the wizards had indicated.

  No pressure. None at all.

  He insisted on driving to the restaurant where Ella worked. As payback for their silence about what he’d read, Kieran drove at breakneck speed, the wizards in the back seat growing pale at each sharply-turned corner.

  When they climbed out of the car, Xavier looked nauseated and Gideon wiped his forehead.

  “And I thought you were bad driver, X,” Gideon muttered.

  With his heart pounding like a war drum and his palms sweaty as he pulled open the restaurant door, Kieran knew he could use a little reassurance. What if he screwed up and Ella reacted as badly as she had at their first meeting? It was critical he enlist her trust in order to coax her into accompanying him to find the crystal.

  “It will be fine,” Gideon murmured, squeezing his shoulder briefly. “We’ll be here with you.”

  Xavier was more pragmatic. “Don’t screw up, Kieran. Try to impress Ella instead of driving her away this time.”

  Resisting the urge to hiss at the wizard, he considered as Gideon asked the hostess to be seated at the bar area. “Should I show her my cock? It’s quite impressive.”

  Xavier clasped his shoulder, but this wizard’s grip was not reassuring. Instead, a fiery tingle of pure energy shot through Kieran. “Ow.”

  “Watch your mouth, cat,” Xavier muttered.

  Pine walls surrounded them as they entered the bar area. One wall was made from mirrored glass, with glass shelving holding a variety of liquor bottles. The delicious aroma of grilled beef filled the air, mixing with cloying perfume, sweat, the musk of human arousal and dozens of other odors he did not care to identify.

  They slid into a booth in a quiet corner. Kieran looked around. “Where is she?”

  “She will be here,” Gideon assured him. “This is her table. I arranged for us to have it.”

  But there was no need for any more explanations, for suddenly he caught the most exotic and intriguing and heady scent. Kieran knew it was her.

  Ella.

  Lovely, headstrong, fascinating woman.

  His senses stirred, and he felt an excitement and anticipation he had not experienced in such a long time, he could not recall when. His cock stirred in his trousers, but Kieran had only to think of losing his sister, and that doused his erection more effectively than ice water.

  Long hair tied back, Ella bustled around the room. She wore black trousers and a white shirt, and had a black apron tied around her waist.

  She worked too hard. He knew little of her life, yet he could see lines of exhaustion etched into her face. Suddenly he wanted to sweep her off her feet, carry her away to a soft bed. Not to make love, but to let her relax in sleep, and guard her while she rested.

  Gideon and Xavier studied him as if he were a new species of fairy. Kieran rested against the wall, his feet on the bench. “What?”

  “Feet on the floor. This is a civilized place,” Xavier warned.

  “I could be jumping on the table. Or into your lap.” He locked gazes with the wizard.

  “How the hell does Tristan handle your sort?” Xavier wondered. “I thought ogres and trolls were difficult.”

  Gideon nudged Xavier as Ella came over to the table. Her gaze was on the two wizards, and at first she didn’t see Kieran. He ducked behind the large leather-bound menu the hostess had given him.

  “May I take your drink order?” she asked.

  He lowered the menu. “Hello, Ella.”

  She actually stepped back, paling. Then her gaze cut over to the wizards, who seemed to be fascinated with their own menus.

  “Are you stalking me?” she demanded, her pen paused over the order pad.

  “No. When I stalk prey, usually they wind up in my bed. Or dead. It depends upon my particular appetite.” He gave a charming smile. “Tonight I hunger for your establishment’s grilled meat.”

  Her expression did not change. But he noted the strain bracketing her mouth, and the shadows beneath her eyes.

  Kieran slid over and patted the seat beside him. “Sit. You may take our order and get off your feet.”

  For a moment, she looked ready to refuse. And then she did sit, perched on the edge of the leatherette seat as if ready to bolt.

  “Thanks.” Her lovely gaze swept over him and his blood heated. Odd how this female affected him like this.

  “At least you’re wearing clothing this time. Guess you heard we have a dress code. No jerkins or bearing of swords, or armor.”

  Kieran’s smile broadened. “I had considered bringing a dagger, in case your steaks are too tough and your knives too dull.”

  Ella laughed. A tingle rushed down his spine at the sound. So delightful. He was happy to see her lose her stiffness and that guarded look.

  Then she glanced around at the bar, where several customers clamored for drinks. “Your drinks?”

  Xavier ordered a whiskey sour, Gideon a martini. Kieran decided it was safer to stick to water. Alcohol affected him in this world.

  She waved her pad. “Be up shortly.”

  “Thank you,” he told her. “How are the kittens?”

  Her lovely mouth quirked upwards in a brief smile. “I took them home and went to bottle feed them, and called a volunteer I know at a local shelter. Misty said she’s been looking for kittens for her friend, who adores cats.”

  “Interesting,” Xavier murmured.

  Someone waved at her, and
Ella rushed off toward the bar. Kieran leaned back as the wizards looked at him.

  “Misty is not a Skin,” Xavier told him. “She’s been assigned to watch over Ella for the past two years.”

  Xavier smiled. “Although she comes off as a Skin, I can sense her inner strength. Ella will make a formidable warrior once she comes into her powers.”

  “Ella is unique.” Kieran frowned. “I cannot make out her scent. There is something special about her, more than being Wyld, but I cannot pinpoint it with all these scents bombarding me. Perhaps if I took her outside and got close.”

  “No parking lot seductions,” Xavier warned. “You’re here to break the ice, not have sex.”

  “Sex is a good way to break the ice.”

  The deadpan comment failed to coax smiles from either wizard. He drummed his fingers on the table. This business of taking Ella to find the crystal of Calmach must be far more important, and serious, than either of the wizards hinted.

  Kieran leaned across the table. “What is going on that you’re not telling me? There’s more at stake than coaxing a female into accepting her Other nature, and nudging her into bonding with some damn crystal to become head of a warrior tribe of females.”

  Silence. Then Gideon glanced at Xavier, nodded.

  Xavier waved a hand and the people chattering in the bar suddenly went still. The wizard had frozen everyone in place. Truly worried, Kieran blinked. If Xavier risked using his magick in a public Skin establishment, the news must be grave.

  “I will need Ella, and the other werewolves of the Wyld, to aid me in defeating the Dark Lord’s followers. My soul is still tied to the Dark Lord.”

  Kieran’s jaw dropped. “You’re with the Brehon. An all-powerful judge and guardian. How…”

  Xavier quickly explained about being apprenticed to the Dark Lord while Duncan was still mortal, and how he’d made a vow to last “beyond the grave.”

  Gideon’s mouth flattened. “So you see, my friend, you are crucial to aiding Xavier, for we need these werewolves and their powers to fight the gathering forces of evil. They are small for this moment, but growing in power in quiet corners across this country. It is not only the weak and the frail who will need their services.”

  “What can Ella do to help you?” he asked Xavier.

  The Crystal Wizard shrugged. “I do not know, but I trust Danu, our creator, and her wisdom. This is why she asked us to mentor you for a couple of days and help you learn as much as possible about the Skin world.”

  “We do know this. The longer it takes for Ella to come into her powers, the harder it will become for her to break free of her Skin lifestyle,” Gideon added. “And it is imperative she does so, or…”

  “I’m screwed,” Xavier said gloomily.

  Kieran was too shocked to even respond. Xavier was an omnipotent immortal, who could erase an Other’s life by snapping his fingers. To discover that he was vulnerable, and worse, susceptible to evil, made him ill. If Xavier changed into a force for darkness, who could protect the innocent Others from his formidable powers?

  Ordinary Others trying to stop him would be like ants resisting a bulldozer plowing through their home.

  He studied the wizard, who had always treated him with friendliness, but whom he’d respected, as an Other did to an omnipotent being who could fry him with a single wave of his hand.

  Xavier was a good wizard, with a good heart. The idea of him embracing evil, and rejecting everything he stood for, and turning on the world and his wife and unborn child…

  He thought of the family he’d lost, and the grief that lanced him for centuries. It must not happen to Xavier, and the wizard must remain on the side of good to be a force against evil.

  “Tell me what you need me to do,” he told them, his voice deadly quiet. “I am a warrior and I wish to aid you in this fight.”

  Relief flickered across Gideon’s face. He gave a single, brief nod. “I knew I could count on you, my friend. Your skills in battle will be most useful. There is only so much we can do to aid you.”

  Xavier drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “We must return to our duties soon as well. The longer we neglect our charges, the more vulnerable they become to the Dark Lord’s influence. He will use any means possible to form an army of followers to do his bidding.”

  His mind scanned the possibilities. In the Winter Kingdom, he’d fought many battles, and key to winning was knowing the enemy’s weaknesses. And their sense of urgency.

  “What is your immediate concern?” he asked Xavier.

  The Crystal Wizard looked away, his jaw tight. “The fact that I’m still tied to him isn’t as worrisome as what will happen to Ciara and the baby.”

  Now Kieran understood the worry lines on Xavier’s forehead, the wizard’s grimness.

  “Can you destroy the crystal? You are the Crystal Wizard,” he told Xavier.

  “No. If I could, I would find the damn thing myself and incinerate it.” Xavier looked haunted, his face pinched. “It is Ella’s task.”

  “And yours,” Gideon added. “We will stay with you here, my friend. But after this meal, we must leave you.”

  Kieran gave a brief nod. “I’m ready. Do you know where the crystal is?”

  Xavier traced a rune on the table, and it sparkled purple. “Danu hid the talismans to correlate to each of our lives. It must be in a place important to me, someplace that I would return to.”

  “That narrows it down,” he said dryly. “To perhaps the entire continent of North America.”

  But the Crystal Wizard’s gaze grew distant. “Danu knew my future, knew I would find my Ciara again. The place where we first made love…”

  “Should I look for discarded condoms? A lot of them?”

  Xavier frowned, and then a smile softened his severe expression. “The beach. Florida. The hotel on the beach where I took her to lose her virginity to a cougar shifter.”

  His eyes nearly bugged out from his head. “Now there’s a story I’d like to hear.”

  “Later.” Xavier explained to him the location and with his index finger, traced a pattern on the table. An aerial photo of the beach and hotel appeared on the table. “The crystal will be hidden there, in an area where I could easily find it, but hidden to Others and Skins. It will be disguised as an ordinary object, but you and Ella should be able to pick out the energy. It could be on the beach, or someplace natural, not hidden in a structure. And though it would be easy enough for me to find, it would not be that obvious, or someone else would have discovered it.”

  Terrific. Kieran looked at the miles of tawny sand. “This is going to be like picking out a single grain.”

  “You can do it, my friend,” Gideon encouraged.

  “You must, if you’re to help stop the Dark Lord,” Xavier put in.

  “Stop the ruler of Hell? Is that all? Anything else you’d like from me?” Kieran sighed. “I should have been a traveling snake oil salesman like my mother wished. The most anyone would have expected from me would be making their bowel problems vanish.”

  “Enough, Kieran,” Gideon warned. “Let’s order.”

  A snap of his fingers and everyone came to life once more. He shut up as Ella placed the drinks before them.

  He was too busy admiring her to talk. With her long, dark hair pulled back, her peaches and cream skin soft as kitten fur, and her lush figure, Ella was a temptation. She’d stir any sane male’s blood. How she had remained untouched for this long intrigued him.

  And delighted him as well.

  “Thank you,” he told her.

  She gave a curt nod. “Ready to order?”

  He glanced at the curve of her hip, and his blood heated as he imagined holding her steady in bed.

  Kieran looked at Xavier and Gideon. “Is sex on the menu?”

  Gideon sputtered, nearly choking on his cocktail. Xavier did that face palm thing again. Ella tapped her pen.

  “Look, I’m dead tired. I have another five hours on my feet tonight and I
’m not in the mood for your nonsense. Now, are you going to order food? Because I have ten other tables I have to take care of.”

  He thought quickly. If he didn’t recover from this, she might never talk to him again. He tried his best to look contrite. “My apologies, Ella, for being blunt and crude. It has to do with my friends here. I am staying with them and if they are planning a night together, I’d rather have a long and relaxing meal here and sleep elsewhere than their guest sofa. They can be most noisy.”

  Gideon’s jaw dropped. Xavier put both palms on his face. “Kieran,” the Crystal Wizard started.

  “What?” He tried to look innocent. “There is nothing to be ashamed of, my friends. I wish to give you privacy when you express your love for each other.”

  Gideon looked ready to turn him into cat flambé. Xavier’s shoulders shook. The wizard was laughing, and trying to hide it.

  “Oh!” A most becoming blush suffused her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you two were gay. I thought he was trying to pick me up.”

  “My apologies, Ella, if I gave that impression. We were involved in a very serious discussion about wine pairings and gluten-free food at renaissance fairs.” He grinned at the wizards. “Do not forget to drop off your jousting equipment later at the smithy, Gideon. You do not want your lance to become rusty. Xavier would be most disappointed.”

  Xavier kept his face hidden, loud chuckles coming from beneath his hands. “Kieran, you are one bad cat.”

  “It will never grow rusty. But your own weapon is in danger of getting cut off if you don’t quiet down,” Gideon muttered.

  She laughed. “So you really are actors in a renaissance fair? Cool! Okay, now can I take your order?”

  They ordered―three steaks, very rare for Kieran, with a baked potato and salad. When Ella left, Gideon stared daggers at him and Xavier wiped his streaming eyes with the cocktail napkin beneath his drink.

  “You have to admit, Gideon, he’s quick on his feet.”

  “Yes. It’s a good skill for what you expect of me. What exactly would this crystal do if Ella cannot find it and destroy it?”