Maric spins around, sees me, and sees what I'm going for. With a roar he leaps across the room in one bound, and crashes down next to the desk.
"No!" I scream. But it's too late. He grins wide, triumph written large across his wolfen face, and snatches up Simon Two.
I skid to a stop. No. No!
He laughs, a sound straight out of a horror movie, and examines the staff in his hands.
"Give that back, you flea-ridden dog!" The words come out of my mouth before I can stop myself.
His eyes narrow, and he shifts down into human form. He's naked, but he doesn't seem to care. "You'll regret calling me that, you bitch."
Anita steps up beside me, knife pointed at Maric's heart. Never mind that her hand is shaking so much the point is weaving a figure eight in the air. I grab her free hand for support, and together we face Maric.
"Wait. You're here. Blake won." I realize this suddenly, simply. I can't help but smile. "You're no longer the alpha."
"Shut up!" Maric's voice is an ugly snarl. "He cheated! Yes, he's the alpha, but not for long." He grins evilly at us. "Now, I'd stay and... enjoy your company, but I've got a pack I need to get back to. With this staff and the power it gives me, nobody will stop me from being alpha. Who knows? Maybe soon I'll even become Cairn Elder."
"You don't know how much trouble you're getting into," I say, voice low. "Give that back before you regret it. Only a Wilder can use that staff safely."
Maric hesitates. For a second I hope my bluff will work, and then he laughs. "I don't think so. Now, if you'll excuse me." Turning, he shifts into wolf form, catching the staff in his mouth, and darts past us. Anita and I both lunge after him, trying to grab the staff, but he's too quick. In a flash he's gone.
We get to our feet, and I move to the window, watching as Maric races out the gates like Blake did last night. Anita steps up beside me and we stand in silence, horrified.
"Now what are we going to do?" Her voice is small, shaking.
I try to come up with an answer. Everything happened so quickly. Despair comes crashing down upon me. "I don't know," is all I can say.
At that moment Hui comes walking in through the gate, wearing a neat uniform she must have purchased herself. She sees us up in the window and gives us a stiff little wave.
Anita is wringing her hands. "But the Blood Moon pack is coming today. How are we going to control them without Blake or the staff?"
"I don't know," is all I can say. Then a wild determination seizes me. "We're going to have to find a way."
"Could we tell them we're closed?"
I laugh weakly. "Given what Blake's told me, I don't think they'd care. They'd make themselves at home anyway."
Hui stops halfway up the drive when she sees the state of the front door. We both watch as she frowns, glances up at us, and then begins to walk quicker toward us. I turn and head downstairs, and we all meet at the ruined front door.
"What happened?" Hui is staring at the gashes in the thick wood.
"Maric stole my grandmother's staff." Hui's eyes go wide. "Which means you and Anita will have to leave. You can't be here when the Blood Moon pack arrives. It'll be too dangerous."
Anita crosses her arms. "And it won't be dangerous for you?"
"Well, yes, but I can't take responsibility for you. I can't protect you. Don't you see? You have to leave." I can feel tears in my eyes.
"We are not going to leave you here by yourself," says Hui with a disapproving sniff.
"No, we're not." Anita takes a deep breath and draws herself up. "And - and you wouldn't be able to make the desserts. You need me in the kitchen."
I open my mouth to protest, but Hui shakes her head and pushes past me. "I leave for one night and the house is already a mess. I will need to work hard to clean. Fix the door. Look at these scratches in the floor!"
Anita nods grimly. "And now I'm late. I need to get the cooking started, then head out for the steaks. Excuse me, Ms. Wilder." She also brushes past me and heads back toward the kitchen.
I stand there, completely dumbfounded. Are they crazy? Don't they understand who's coming, and what might happen to them? The Blood Moon pack are the worst of the worst. It's not like we can call the Honeycomb Falls police to come help. And now I've got no way of controlling them, of making them behave. None. Once they realize that, they'll tear the place apart.
A voice speaks in my mind. A quiet, determined voice. Then they must not realize that. You will have to bluff them. You have to protect Anita and Hui.
I take a deep breath. It's my only hope. My tummy quivers at the thought. Oh god. I'm going to have to face down the entire Blood Moon pack with nothing more than attitude and sass. The urge to jump in my Mustang and drive back to NYC and Maria's apartment is almost overwhelming.
I take a deep breath. No. I won't run. This is my home. I'm Mama B's granddaughter. I will fight for my dream. I will make this work.
Chapter Twelve
The Blood Moon pack shows up early. The first warning we have that they've arrived is the howling. It surrounds Honeycomb Hall, seeming to come from all directions and none at the same time. I'm in the kitchen trying to convince Anita to carry the replica gun from Mama B's library when the howls break out. Distant and haunting, they seem to drift in the air like smoke in the wind.
Anita's eyes go really wide, and she grabs the gun from my hands and shoves it in her apron pocket like some kind of Mae West cooking bandit. I almost grab her chef's knife, but quickly change my mind. The quickest way to not look tough is to show up with a knife in your shaking hands.
The howls are eerie. Savage. Strangely beautiful, if you like death poems and that kind of thing. We both gulp and inch closer together. Hui comes running in a second later, a mop held in both hands like a spear.
"All right," I say, trying to sound calm and cool and probably failing completely. "Looks like it's show time."
"Um," says Anita. "Are they coming here to spend the night, or to hunt us?"
Hui grimaces and peers out a window. "I will not be hunted. If they try to hunt me, I will show them what I can do with this mop."
Anita and I both stare at her, and then we both laugh. The tension breaks, just a little. I grin, feeling desperate. "What exactly can you do with that mop, Hui? Clean them up a little?"
Hui raises one cool eyebrow. "You will see."
I wipe my hands on a kitchen towel and throw it down on the counter. "Well. Time to go see about these Blood Moons. Ladies, please stay in the kitchen unless I ask for you. Clear?" The fire in my eyes shows there's zero tolerance for negotiation. They scowl and reluctantly nod their heads.
Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. I walk out of the kitchen toward the front door. My palms are sweaty. I feel shaky. My legs are wooden. I have to get my shit together. I'm a badass sassy woman from NYC. I can handle a pack of mangy doggies. They don't know I don't have Mama B's power, so it's time for some major poker-style bluffing. I have to make a good first impression. I have to set the right tone from the get-go.
Oh, Blake, where are you?
I open the front door that Hui's somehow miraculously fixed and step out onto the porch. There's nobody out there. The howls drift in, closer and closer. Panic grips me by the throat. Is this what deer feel like when they're hunted by a pack? This need to bolt, to just run blindly in any direction?
I cross my arms and raise my chin. Focus on my breathing, making sure it's nice and slow. I will not be intimidated. I will not be scared in my own home.
A man walks in through the front gate, and my heart sinks. Oh shit. He looks like some bloody god of divine hotness. Even from here I can see the feverish gleam in his eyes. The kind of eyes that look for things to burn, just for the pleasure of watching things be destroyed. Pure black like a bird's. He's stark naked, looking like some insane underwear model, streaked in mud and - is that blood? His hair is a wild mane, falling past his shoulders, and the way he moves is like water pouring between rocks, a sinuous, fluid motion that
makes it hard for me to focus.
I blink, and realize a wolf has been stalking me from the left, a huge, white-furred monster with ice blue eyes. It's creeping along the edge of the house, almost on its belly, ears flat against its huge skull. I gulp and look to the right and see a warformed werewolf approaching through the trees. Its pelt is covered in crude tattoos and scars, a hulking, terrifying monster right out of the worst fairy tales.
Oh god. Oh god. I look at the man as he walks up the gravel pathway. Every instinct is telling me to run. Just turn around and slam the door closed. Are we supposed to host these creatures for the night? Are we supposed to serve them breakfast? I almost laugh hysterically. They're going to destroy Honeycomb Hall. Kill us all.
I take a deep breath. If you run, you're dead. The voice in my mind is cold and confident. Face them down.
I step forward and place my hands on my hips. "Welcome to Honeycomb Hall, former home of the grand witch Mama B, and now my residence." I try to project boldness, but if anything my fear makes me sound angry. "I am Rachel Wilder, her granddaughter."
The warformed shifter leaves the trees and steps into the afternoon sunlight, moving up toward my Mustang. The white wolf leaps up soundlessly onto the wraparound porch to my left. I see three more wolves appear in the gate, following the naked man, who stops and places his hands on his hips, grinning up at me. His teeth are filed to points. Oh god. Like some goddamned cannibal.
"Wilder, eh?" His voice is rich and deep, but tinted with an unnerving sense of laughter. "You a witch too?"
"I am. I have all my grandmother's power." Ignore the wolf creeping up on you to the left.
The man purses his lips thoughtfully and nods. "Then why are you running a hotel? If you're so powerful, why are you acting like a servant?"
I gulp. His eyes are bright and mocking. How to explain the pleasure of the hospitality industry to this barbarian? "You wouldn't understand. While you're here, I'd ask you to follow my rules - "
I pause at the sound of wrenching metal. I almost jump and look over at the warformed shifter, who has just pried the driver's door off the Mustang. My eyes go as wide as dinner plates. It's literally torn the door off, and as I watch it tosses the door aside.
"You were saying?" The naked man - their alpha? - is very serious. "Something about your rules?"
"Yes." I feel like I'm drowning. The huge white wolf reaches me. It smells of wet fur and earth, of old blood and something sour. It circles behind me, growling softly under its breath. I fight to ignore it. I point my finger at the naked man. "If you break them, you'll regret it."
"I'm sure." The man rolls his head around on his neck, causing a series of loud pops to sound. "Thank you for your hospitality."
The white wolf suddenly snarls and bites at my dress, grabbing a mouthful of fabric and wrenching its head away, tearing the dress open. I scream and stagger, but the wolf doesn't attack again. I catch myself on the railing. My dress is open to the hip along my left leg, showing my thigh. No blood, though.
Their alpha laughs. The warformed wolf is climbing into my Mustang, gouging the leather seats as it scents along the inside of the car. The white wolf is growling again, eyes alight with hunger.
Oh god. Get it together! "Now listen up!" I snap with all the attitude I can muster. "Get your wolves under control before I curse you all! I'll make it so that your fur turns to maggots whenever you shift!"
There's a moment's calculation in their alpha's eye. The white wolf stops snarling and goes still. I stand there, chest heaving, eyes blazing. The silence draws out. The other three wolves reach their alpha's side and sit. I lock eyes with the man and glare at him. Our eyes lock, and I realize I've kicked off a stare-down. The same thing that happened between Maric and Blake. He's measuring me. Searching my soul. Trying to determine the truth behind my words. I draw myself up and give him everything I've got.
But it's not enough. He laughs and looks to his wolves. "She's lying. Tear this place apart. But nobody touch her. She's mine."
"Touch her," says Blake, "And I'll destroy you."
We all turn toward the gate. Blake stands there, five wolves behind him, looking amazing and hot and wonderful. My knees go weak. Relief floods through me.
The Blood Moon alpha turns to regard Blake, eyes narrowed. "If it isn't the Hidden Moon pack. You really think you can stop us?"
Blake begins to walk forward. That's when I see the injury in his neck. How his left leg is limping. He's been hurt. Still, his face is brave and his eyes are clear.
"Yes," he says simply.
"Ha!" The Blood Moon alpha shakes his head. "We will destroy you. Then we will enjoy this building and the women here. Blood Moon, let's enjoy ourselves."
The white wolf snarls like tearing leather and bunches down to leap at me. I stare, frozen in fear, and just before it launches Hui steps out of the front door and brings the mop head whistling down through the air to crack it in the skull.
The wolf stops, not hurt, and turns to snarl at her. This is where I should blast it with magic. This is where I should save Hui, Anita and the Hidden Moon pack from fighting and dying to protect me. This is the moment where I should save Honeycomb Hall and teach these Blood Moon wolves to fear me.
But I don't have magic. I'm not a witch. It was all a lie. Now I'm going to have to stand here and see my home destroyed and my friends get hurt or worse.
I'm going to fail. I'm going to lose everything I hoped to achieve.
The white wolf leaps up onto Hui, who yells in terror as it drives her down to the ground, forepaws on her shoulders. The warformed shifter emerges from the Mustang, scarfing down my leftover lunch from yesterday, and turns to glare at Blake. The three wolves are running toward the Hidden Moon pack, the naked man right behind them. Even if Blake manages to defeat them, hurt as he is, he's going to lose friends. Packmates. There is going to be so much blood.
You have the power, a new voice says in my mind. Mama B's voice. You're a Wilder. You have the talent. Accept it. Accept your heritage.
Time seems to slow down. I feel a door in the back of my mind shake and shiver as if a great beast were trying to break through. It's a door I've always kept locked and barred. One I've never wanted to open. I stare the naked man in his black eyes, and all I see in there is madness and fire, pain and death.
OK, I say to Mama B. OK. I accept who I am. I'm a witch. I have that power.
The door in my mind bursts open. I feel a flash of power, and I could swear that thunder rumbles overhead, dark and ominous, despite the clear blue sky. Everybody stops and looks up. Out of nowhere, storm clouds have rolled in, black and heavy, faster than is naturally possible. The naked man frowns and looks over his shoulder at me. I'm breathing fast, my body afire with power. I don't know what I want to do. I don't know how to do it. I just raise my trembling hand, and point at the Blood Moon alpha.
There's a flash of silver light as a lightning bolt cracks down out of the sky and blasts a hole in the ground right next to him, sending gravel, dirt and rocks flying. The thunderclap that follows is deafening.
Their alpha falls to the ground, and his three wolves are knocked onto their backs. The white wolf leaps sideways off Hui, and the warformed werewolf drops my lunch and gapes at the blackened crater in the driveway.
"Enough!" My voice is majestic. "The next bolt will fall on your head." I walk down off the steps to stand over the fallen alpha. "And believe me, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to blow you apart."
The alpha's black eyes are huge in surprise and shock.
"But. You are my guests. Now you will behave or I will tear you apart. Am I clear?"
Everybody is staring at me. Blake's eyes are wide with admiration. The alpha licks his lips, then nods. He scrabbles to his feet and nods again.
"Yes, Ms. Wilder," he says meekly. "Our apologies. We were... just joking around."
"Well, no more jokes." I glare at him. "Everybody in human form. Then you're all going to shower and get dres
sed." I rake them all with my gaze. The other five werewolves all shift into human form, turning out to be abashed-looking dirty men and women. "Tea is going to be served exactly at five p.m. I will be very upset if you're late."
"Yes, ma'am," says the alpha, voice still shaking as he looks at the crater. "Five p.m."
"On the fucking dot." I almost growl like a wolf. "Got it?"
He nods. "Yes. Absolutely."
"Good. Now. Hui. Show our guests to the bathrooms. They need to wash up."
Hui climbs to her feet and dusts off her uniform. "Yes, Ms. Wilder. This way."
The Blood Moon packs shuffles into the house, giving me a wide berth.
I'm trembling. I can't believe what just happened. I hear them going upstairs, Hui giving them commands as if she hadn't nearly died. I turn to Blake, wanting nothing more than to fall into his arms, to kiss him, to hold him close and never let him go.
But before he can reach me, Maric appears, holding my staff. He steps into view from behind a tree, and points the staff at us. He's shaking like a leaf, eyes wide as he stares at me. "I - I accidentally took this. Your staff. I - I'm sorry. Ms. Wilder. I came back. To return it."
The entire Hidden Moon pack growls, and Maric takes a hasty step back.
I walk down onto the driveway and approach him. He's in bad shape. He smells of alcohol and looks hung over. "You came to give it back?"
He nods eagerly.
"Not to try and use the staff against Blake and force him to step down from being alpha?"
Maric's eyes go wide. Then he laughs. "Maybe? But the staff won't work for me. I can't get it to do anything. Now I understand. It was just a prop all along, wasn't it? The real power came from you."
I reach out and take the staff from his unresisting hand. I don't contradict him.
Den and Breakfast: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Honeycomb Falls Book 1) Page 9