by S. A. Ravel
Lia had to sink her teeth into her lip to stem the anger that flamed in her. "It didn't occur to Ward to fucking ask me himself?"
"He was on his way in when I was on my way out," Parker said. "I asked him to let you rest. It wouldn't have helped anyway. Preston's the kind of asshole that would go over Ward's head to HQ"
"What makes you think that?"
"Because that's what he did."
Lia climbed to her feet and gripped the post at the corner of the porch. The morning air seemed to get thicker and harder to breath. "They called you back?"
"Quote return to HQ for pending evaluation unquote." Even through the phone, Lia could hear the growl in his voice.
Lia walked down the steps and toward the line of trees in the front yard. The movement gave her something to focus on for a few seconds. A few seconds of focus was important when the love of your life told you he had to leave you behind.
"What are they gonna do? “she asked.
Parker hesitated. "Best case scenario? I'll be suspended and back here before the end of the week."
Lia let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "You're coming back?"
"You're here." He said the words as if she should have taken them for granted. Of course, he was coming back, he'd left his mate behind.
Tears sprang to Lia's eyes, but she was too happy to be annoyed with them. "After last night...I thought we were done."
"Lia, you’re my mate. We're not done until you say we are."
Ten minutes ago, she'd been so ready to let them go. Now his words were enough to deconstruct every argument she could make against it. He was a bear. She was a witch. It didn't make any sense, but it was the only thing in her life that felt like absolute truth.
"What if I don't want to be done?" she asked.
"Then I'll be back as soon as the boss is done with me."
"Right, best case scenario. What's the worst?"
"Same as the first, except the return takes a little longer and is a lot more permanent."
Lia smiled. "So what you’re saying is, you'll be back no matter what. Couldn't you have led with that instead of giving me a heart attack?"
He laughed. "There was always a chance you wanted me to stay gone. Like you said, last night."
"Yeah, how many more do overs do you think we get?"
This time he didn't even hesitate to answer. "As many as it takes."
She smiled and relaxed a little, letting Parker's voice soothe her. It didn't matter that he was leaving for a while. They'd found their way back to each other once. They could do it again. He even knew where to look now. It wasn't perfect, but it was the closest in her life she had ever come.
Until she turned around and saw the protection talisman beside the front door flickering.
"Shit!"
Just as Lia started to run strong arms grabbed her from behind. `
She's not dead. She can't be dead.
Parker searched every room in Lia's house. It didn't look like anyone had forced their way into the house. The doors were closed but unlocked. The blanket on the porch swing suggested she'd been outside when he called. The wards and talismans Lia set only covered the entrances. If she had wandered at all, even to the bottom of the stairs, she would have been unprotected.
His bear was restless, frantic to find its mate, but Parker didn't even know where to look.
As he headed back toward the living room, Parker saw Sheriff Ward open the door, gun drawn.
The Sheriff pointed his gun at Parker's chest. "Hands up, Kane!"
Parker left his hands right where they were. "You think that's gonna be enough to put me down?"
"They're silver bullets, asshole. Try me."
Parker didn't move. "I don't have time for this. Lia's missing."
"Why the hell do you think I'm here? Nora Davis called me, said she heard screaming. And now I find you here when you’re supposed to be on your way back to your cubby hole."
"I was on the phone with her," Parker glanced at his watch. "Whoever it is has twenty minutes on us."
Ward's top lip curled upward and he put away his weapon. "It had to have been Branden."
Parker brushed past Ward and walked back into the living room. "It wasn't."
Ward followed. "I know you don't want to hear it--"
"Because it's a waste of time."
"He called the station this morning demanding I let him see Lia."
Parker stood over the makeshift altar and crystal ball. "You told him no?"
"Of course I did," Ward said. "The Council and half the town would be clamoring for my job if I let a bear come through."
"I've been here."
"I know he's your brother, but come on!"
Parker got right into Ward's face. "Melora was Branden's mate. I don't mean his soul mate; I mean his true mate. From the second he saw her everything in his life became about building a life and future with her. Claiming her only made it more intense."
Ward didn't look convinced. "Mel's dead."
"Which has fuck all to do with Branden's devotion to her. That connection, that need to protect wouldn't have faded when her heart stopped beating. It could take years. Branden can't hurt Lia, because it would have destroyed Melora."
Parker could see that Ward wasn't convinced and he didn't blame him. Ward had rarely been to Blackthorn and knew next to nothing about shifters. He couldn't begin to understand the depth of that relationship.
"How can you be so sure?" Ward asked.
"Because Lia is my Melora. She's my mate."
Ward sighed. "Fuck, tell me you didn't bite her yet."
"I wish to hell I had," Parker grunted. "I'd know she's alright."
If he had just given in to his bear, to his heart, and claimed Lia that night...he'd be able to find her now. Easily. At the time, he thought he was being noble, but now he knew better. He couldn't claim his mate while so many lies were between them. It was cowardice, and it might cost Lia her life.
Ward stared at Parker for a while as if he was deciding on a course of action. Finally, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing.
"Nora? It's Sheriff Wade. Can you come over to Lia's?"
Parker raised an eyebrow which Ward ignored. They sat in silence for the ten minutes it took Nora to walk across the road. The poor woman looked like she'd been crying since she heard Lia scream.
Fortunately, Nora had seen a black sedan speed down Lia's driveway. She didn't have any trouble identifying the driver: Preston Malloy.
"If he's smart he didn't take her to his coven house," Ward said. "That's the first place I would look."
"Is anybody there now?" Parker asked. He wasn't above letting his bear out to scare information out of the Malloy's.
Ward shook his head. "Nah, he lives alone. Been that way since his father died."
Parker growled in frustration. Preston was almost an hour ahead of them, more than enough time to hurt Lia if he meant to.
No...no he would have hurt her here. He went somewhere else for a reason.
"When he was here the other morning he kept talking about the Harvest Moon. Why would that be important."
Wards sighed and rubbed his face. "Either he wants to go hunting...or he wants a handfasting."
Fury and outrage ripped its way through Parker. Every muscle in his body tensed as he fought to keep his bear in check. One scared witch and one magicless sheriff would be in the path of 600 pounds of grizzly bear. He could not afford to shift right now.
"Keep it together man," Ward whispered.
Parker could feel his nostrils flaring, his chest heaving. He spoke through gritted teeth. "Call my brother."
Ward's brow furrowed. "Why?"
His lip curled upward. "Time to go hunting."
13
Lia jerked herself awake. Her vision came into focus slowly, revealing the jagged slopes of a rock wall. Warm light from a fire cast ghoulish shadows against the wall. The sky outside of the cave was bright
, it couldn’t have been noon yet, but the dark and cold inside of the cave made Lia grateful for the warmth from the fire.
Hazy memories came to her mind. She was in the front yard, talking to Parker. Then...the talisman! Preston!
Lia gasped. She tried to sit up, but every muscle in her body felt like it was coated in syrup.
"Ah, ah, careful, Lia," Preston whispered. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a sitting position. "Please, spare me the refusal of help. You won't be able to move fully on your own for a while yet."
"What did you do to me?" The words dripped slowly from her mouth.
He brushed her curls away from her face and adjusted the straps of her dress. "The muscle weakness is the belladonna. Wonderful for sleeping points...if you don't mind a few side effects."
"You poisoned me?" It was as hard to think as it was to speak. Damn it, she needed to think of a way out of this.
"Let's not spoil our big night, darling," he said. "The moon will be rising soon."
"You're out of your damned mind if you think I'm marrying you," she spat.
Preston's face contorted into a mask of rage for an instant, but the fake smile returned just as quickly. He climbed to his feet.
"You Harper women as so quick to call men crazy," he said.
Lia looked around. Piles of rocks lay along the path to the mouth of the cave. She didn't stand a chance of navigating them quickly, not until the belladonna wore off more. The only thing she could do was stall for time.
"Who called you crazy? Mel?"
Preston reached into a canvas bag and pulled out candles. He set them up on the stone altar as he spoke. "Do you like this place, Amelia? It's been in my family for generations."
"Is that why you brought me here?" she asked. "To show off?"
He kept talking as if he hadn't heard her. "Older generations of the Coven reserved it strictly for handfasting and fertility rituals, but I find the energy from the ocean air especially potent for all spell work. Our Supremes kept forgetting to tell the Council about it."
Lia felt around on the ground behind her hands, searching for a sharp edge. She pressed her wrist against it hard enough to draw blood. "Did you remember?"
"Strangest thing..." he said.
"What does this have to do with me?"
"Melora asked the same question. I've often wondered which of you was smarter."
"Trust me, it was her." She pushed harder. The pain pushed her heart rate upward. Little by little, the syrup shell around her limbs fell away.
"I don't think so. More focused, perhaps, but that's just another word for obsessed, isn't it? She was absolutely obsessed with the idea of Branden Kane."
"Mel was in love with Branden," Lia said as life came back to her lower legs.
Preston scoffed. "What's love but a kinder name for obsession? I tried to distract her from it. To break the spell long enough for her to see reason."
"What's reason?"
He turned back around to look at her. "I thought if she had something to distract her, a new project should have done it, but I didn't count on how thoroughly the bears can inspire obsession."
Lia held his gaze. Her getting out of this, away from him, depended on her playing the next few seconds smarter than any she'd played before.
"I need you to understand, Lia," Preston walked away from the altar and knelt over her. "I never intended for Melora to die. I brought her here. She thought I was disclosing the space until she saw I had the alter set. I made every effort to calm her."
"Is that supposed to bring her back?" She reached back, wrapping her fingers around a heavy rock.
"Lia, I loved Melora."
"Bullshit. You don't poison people you love. You don't stalk them and manipulate them, then kill them when they fall in love with someone else."
Preston's brow furrowed. "Amelia, calm down." He reached forward and caressed Lia's cheek.
"Fuck you!" Lia reared back and smashed the rock against his skull. Preston screamed in pain and fell to the side.
She scrambled to her feet and ran. Preston grabbed her hair and held her in place. Lia thrashed, desperate to free herself from his grasp, but he was too strong.
Preston kept hold of her hair and dragged her toward the entrance of the cave.
"Is this where you want to go? I thought you were smarter than this, but you’re just a bitch in heat like your sister."
Outside, he forced her to her knees and pushed her face against the cold water. Salt water and sand filled her mouth and nose until he brought her back to the surface. Lia coughed and gasped, struggling to get air into her lung before he dipped her below the water again.
More water, cold and bitter filling her mouth. She clamped a hand over her mouth and nose. Don't swallow. Don't breathe. He brought her up again.
Was this how Mel died? Struggling and gasping for air?
He plunged her head into the water again. This time he held her there. Every cell in her body screamed for oxygen. Her lungs ached already, both from the cold water and to force her to let them breath. The edges of her vision faded and then turned black.
She took a breath. Cold water flooded down her throat and into her lungs, burning the tissue. She thought of her sister struggling in the same water, alone and afraid. She thought of Branden, left behind and grieving. She thought of Parker. He hadn't claimed her, but the connection between them was so strong. Would he feel it when her heart stopped?
Still holding her hair, Preston hauled Lia to her feet and dragged her back into the cave. She stumbled as her bare foot slid over the rocks, leaving blood on the gray surface. He pushed her onto the stone altar. She was too weak to fight.
"You'll feel differently after the moon rises, Lia," he whispered as he stroked her hair.
She wanted to fight, to push his hand away from her, but her body refused to follow her commands.
Parker...
Lia heard a low, rumbling growl followed by a mighty roar. She wiped the sand and water from her eyes, bringing three massive grizzly bears into view.
The color drained from Preston's face as he looked from one bear to the other. One of them stalked forward, it's eyes locked on the warlock. It growled, Preston gasped and scrambled away from the altar. The largest bear reared forward and roared in Preston's face. He whimpered and fell back against the stone.
The bears looked at one another as if they were communicating. Then one of them turned back to Lia. As she watched, it's brown fur retracted and fell away, the bones shortened and cracked back into place until Parker knelt where the bear had been.
Lia relaxed and leaned back. Parker scooped her into his arms and lifted her down from the altar. He pressed scorching kisses to her neck, her shoulders, every bit of flesh he could reach. She felt his cock grow with each beat of his heart.
Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Lia wondered where the bears would take Preston. But it was only a small part of her mind, the rest was consumed by grief and desire, relief and need.
Death had been so close; she'd felt the icy darkness reaching for her. It was the same black void where she found Melora. The one that waited for them all. Before she went back, she wanted to have Parker's mark.
He seemed to sense her decision. His growing erection filled completely in an instant, the tip already dripping.
"Let me get you home," Parker whispered, his voice thick with the same lust she felt.
"No, here." She ran her hand along his rippled abs and down his thigh, stopping to press her palm down over his erection.
Parker leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, his hips pumped against her hand. "Once it's done, there's no going back, Lia."
A small smile came to her lips as she moved to her knees. "Who says I want to go back?"
Her tongue darted from her lips and snaked down the length of his shaft, pulling a deep moan from him. She slid her mouth over the ridges and squeezed them between her lips.
Parker threaded his fingers in
her hair as she took him into her mouth. He pulled her away, his chest heaving, his cock straining for more attention.
"No," he whispered. "I need to taste you, too."
Parker gathered her into his arms and lifted her from the floor. He set her down on the stone altar like a precious relic, a treasure. He climbed up beside her and lay on his side.
Lia had his cock in her hand in an instant. She slid the head past her lips as Parker turned their bodies so that she hovered over him. Her fingers cupped and caressed his balls as he opened her with his fingers and leaned forward to taste her moist flesh.
She whimpered under his attention. His tongue moved over her, creating waves of pleasure so intense they made her drool. She pumped her mouth over his manhood, spurning him on as he matched her rhythm. He took her clit between his lips and sucked.
Lia's thighs quivered. Her breath caught in her throat. She could feel the first shocks of orgasm barreling down on her. Her pussy, her thighs, her core, the very center of her melted and ignited into a molten ball of bliss.
She screamed. Her muscles tensed as she tumbled over the edge, whimpering his name into his flesh. Her body twitched and shuddered as each wave crashed over her and retreated only to be followed by the next.
As her muscles relaxed, she was left with one overwhelming need: to have Parker's cock buried in her. The second she noticed the feeling, he had her in his arms again. He turned her around so that they were face to face again.
He brushed his lips against hers as his shaft rested beside her moist slit. Lia moved her hips, rubbing the length against her clit and letting it stoke her fires again.
They lay like that for a few seconds, until finally Parker found her entrance. He entered her easily, her lips sliding aside and her sheath opening to accept him. She moaned and bucked her hips, pulling the shaft out of her only to lower her hips and impale herself on it again.
The pleasure was coming again. She was so close already. Her thighs tensed of their own accord as it came for her, tingling against the edges of her body. Parker held her by the hips, using them to stabilize her as his body took up the rhythm for her. He pounded into her, leaning up to pull their bodies close together. His muscles trembled as he held her. He was close to the edge too.