Warlords, Witches and Wolves: A Fantasy Realms Anthology

by Michelle Diener

  He settled himself in the front. “I presume you mean you were going to come ask me for permission to be in my town, given you’re a supernatural. And a pretty powerful one if that incident is any indication.”

  She snorted and he’d be damned if he didn’t find that endearing. What did it say about him that he enjoyed riling his mate?

  “Okay then, Alpha.” She rolled her eyes. At least the frown was gone. “I’ll give it to you straight. I’m a witch. From Carnarben.”

  “A safe community, isn’t it? Mostly your kind?” He saw her nod in the rear vision mirror as he turned onto Main.

  “Yeah. Safe… and full of people and memories I’d rather not face every day.”

  Her tone was wooden, hollow. Jarrad ached to soothe, but he knew she wouldn’t welcome a stranger’s arms in this moment. She didn’t know she was his.

  Yet.

  “I don’t even know why I’m having this conversation with you,” she said. “I should be running back there. After today, if anything makes it into the media, the Inquisition are going to be after me and even hiding in a town of wolves isn’t going to be enough to keep us safe.”

  His wolf snarled at the thought of their mate in danger, and he nearly howled at the mention of her running away. No way that would happen. Not now, not ever. He needed to convince her of that.

  “Don’t jump the gun,” he said as calmly as he could. He didn’t know if he was fooling her, because his wolf had crept into his voice. “You don’t know whether anything will get out, and I managed to browbeat the locals into getting rid of the footage.” He didn’t mention the two tourists. No point in worrying her. He’d just make sure he had guards outside her house in case the Inquisition showed up.

  Dark circles framed Tabitha’s bright blue eyes, her eyelids straining to stay open. She yawned. “We’ll see in the morning. Turn here.” She pointed left. “It’s the garishly bright purple house on the next corner.”

  He nodded to himself. The old hippie house. A seventy-year-old couple once owned it but moved on to greener pastures, buying a place in Nimbin close to a commune. Figured that the aura of the place would attract a witch. That and the fact it backed onto a nature reserve.

  Jarrad pulled into the drive and she slid out, turning to get her child. Again, he beat her to it, gently sliding the sleeping girl through the other side. With a sigh, she motioned for him to follow her inside. She didn’t pause to unlock the door, but he sensed a change in air pressure when he went through.

  “Wards,” she said to his raised eyebrow. “I wove them the day we arrived. It’ll keep anyone with evil intentions out of the house, as will the ones around the car, but it’s impossible to weave a permanent ward around a person.”

  From the haunted look on her face, he guessed Tabitha would have covered Luna with them if she thought it would make a difference.

  The house was a tiny two bedroom, little bigger than a shack, but the inside was homely. Tabitha had a large caramel-coloured leather lounge, covered in soft woollen throws and pillows in creams and whites. It looked warm and inviting, soothing after a hard day. Watercolour paintings hung on the walls, and family photos on the mantelpiece, but he walked straight past them to take the kid to her room. There’d be time to sticky-beak later.

  By luck, the first room he stuck his head inside belonged to the little girl. Even though the bed sheets were pale blue, there were unicorns everywhere. And rainbows. Lots of rainbows. When he lay Luna down on her bed, she didn’t stir. His heart might have melted a little, particularly when Tabitha took her remaining shoe off, pulled the unicorn-covered doona over Luna and popped a kiss on her forehead.

  He’d never thought he’d have a ready-made family, but he was rapidly getting used to the idea. And since there was absolutely no male scent in the house, he assumed the girls were on their own. But he had to make sure. He padded back into the lounge room as Tabitha gently closed the door and followed.

  “Thank you for the ride, Jarrad. Should I come down to the station in the morning to make a statement?”

  Tabitha passed through the lounge, straight into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and bent to get something off the bottom shelf. Her skirt pulled tight against her lush arse and his cock was suddenly rock hard.

  “That won’t be necessary.” He cleared his throat as he adjusted his aching shaft. “We’ll come to you. There are some things we need to discuss.”

  She turned, holding up a bottle of ginger beer in one hand and a Diet Coke in the other, eyebrow raised questioningly. “Want a drink? I don’t know about you, but this day has been an emotional rollercoaster with shitty breaks.”

  Technically, he was on duty for another hour, but his constables could handle anything that came up. They’d understand. It wasn’t every day a wolf met his mate for the first time. He took the Coke, fingers brushing against hers, an electric bolt of energy surging between them, straight to his groin. Jarrad almost groaned.

  And he wasn’t the only one affected.

  Tabitha gasped, almost leaping backwards and a blush suffused her cheeks. She twisted the lid off the ginger beer and took a long gulp, her eyes trailing his body.

  Gratifying, but he didn’t want to scare her.

  “Thanks.” He moved quickly to the kitchen bench to hide the evidence of his arousal, but it was probably a lost cause. It was hard to miss. Maybe with the bench between them, she’d be more likely to keep him around for a bit. “Fires are one of the worst things we get called out to. It was sheer luck no one was seriously hurt today.”

  “No, Luna is a klutz, just like her father was,” Tabitha said, a little wistfully.

  Was. She said was.

  “Luna’s injury happened before the fire. I’m glad Cole wasn’t hurt though. He’s really sweet. It’d break Luna’s heart if someone was harmed because of her.”

  She rounded the bench and sat on the stool. Jarrad was intensely aware of the woman next to him, but he did his best to ignore it. She probably wouldn’t appreciate a man salivating over her when she was concerned for her child.

  He didn’t have the heart to tell her Luna probably caused the fire. He’d leave that to her daughter, making sure to confirm his suspicions with Kyle before he came back tomorrow. “Neither of the kids would have been fine if you hadn’t gone in after them.” Thinking about her actions had his stomach in knots. His wolf howled at the danger to his mate and pup, but his rational human mind knew she could handle herself in dangerous circumstances.

  “It wasn’t a question of if I should go in, only how.” She ran her hand through her hair, fingers getting caught on snarls left by her wild dash through the burning building. The look of surprise on her face as she tried to tug them free was endearing. “Anyone would have done the same in that situation.”

  “What do you mean, ‘how’?”

  “Well,” she answered, still trying to untangle her hair. “I was trying to keep my use of magic to a minimum. We know the Inquisition will follow any report of isolated magic use. They won’t attack us in our towns, when we have numbers on our side, but travelling? Moving away?” She let out a disgusted snort. “When we’re alone, they pick us off like flies.”

  A low growl rumbled from his chest before he could stop it. She looked at him in surprise. He wrestled his wolf under control, motioning for her to continue. Jarrad had been called to a suspected Inquisition killing before, in the next town over. What was left of the witch… well, no one deserved what that woman had been through.

  Witches may play with nature, and sometimes with free will, but monitoring was needed, not eradication. They could police their own kind. The Inquisition were zealots without morals who needed to be stopped.

  “Dousing the fire would have been easier but would have brought more attention than a quick in and out that I could easily explain away. Only it didn’t work out the way I’d planned.”

  No, it hadn’t. He still felt awestruck by the memory of that column of water bursting through flaming do
ors. The woman was stronger than any witch he’d ever met—and he’d met hundreds through his work. If any of those images made it to the public, it would be like waving a red flag over his town.

  Thank God the Inquisition were only after witches.

  Guilt followed, though it was only practical. If they were after his wolves, it would make protecting them a nightmare. Just his mate and he’d rip apart anyone who tried to take her. Jarrad’s wolf growled in approval.

  “You did the right thing, it was just bad luck that the back door had been blocked off.” He reached for her hand.

  It was supposed to be a comforting gesture, but the moment her soft palm pressed against his, his wolf pushed his hormones into overdrive. Tabitha’s scent surrounded him; the honeysuckle now mixed with the ginger of the beer she’d been drinking. It was potent, calling him to taste, devour.

  She wasn’t unaffected. He could see her pulse beating rapidly beneath the pink-tinged column of her throat. She leaned into him, lips parted, then he caught it—the scent of her arousal.

  He closed the distance between them, pressing his lips gently but firmly to hers, giving her plenty of opportunity to back away. His free hand was locked to the bench; afraid he would take it too far if he pulled her close as he was so desperate to do.

  She tasted of ginger and honey, hearth and home, and he was desperate for more. His tongue teased at her lips, begging her to open for him. When she let out a sexy little moan and complied, he plundered, tongue dancing with hers in a rhythm that promised more to come. Jarrad’s wolf almost leaped through his skin, canines lengthening to claim her.

  And that’s what made him wrench away, panting. Though he couldn’t bring himself to let go of her hand. Tabitha’s lips were swollen, bee-stung with his kisses, but her eyes were dazed. Confused, even through the lust.

  “What just happened?” She extricated her hand from his and brought it to her mouth. He wanted to rip her fingers away, replace them with his mouth again. It was an effort to regain control, to wrestle the wolf back into submission.

  “I would think it was obvious.” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

  “Um…”

  Her eyes flit wildly around the room, landing everywhere but on him, even as her luscious scent got stronger. His focus sharpened and his cock throbbed. Down boy.

  “That was… unexpected.”

  Warmth surged through him, tightening around his heart. She was unexpected. But just being with her felt right.

  “I’d say I was sorry,” Jarrad said with a grin, “but I’m not. Not at all.”

  “I don’t think anyone would be sorry about a kiss like that.”

  Her fingers traced her lips again, and he let out an involuntary growl. Startled, her big, sky-blue eyes darted to his. Her hand left her mouth, her face already creased with a frown.

  “But I don’t even know you. We haven’t dated. I have a child who comes first, at all times. And I could be—”

  “Stop.” He chuckled. “Stop overthinking it. It was a fucking amazing kiss and just so you know, I’m probably going to do it again tomorrow.”

  “Were you going to ask permission for that, or is it okay to just take?”

  Irritation laced her tone, so he swallowed his smile.

  “No, next time you’re going to kiss me first.”

  She blinked a few times, and her mouth twitched at the corners. She might be fighting it, but she found him charming.

  “You’d better go. I have a lot to do before bed. And I’ll need to figure out how I’m going to get the car from school.”

  “I’ll pick you both up in the morning,” he offered.

  “That’s really sweet but what if the Inquisition—”

  “I can handle the Inquisition,” he said on a growl, low and threatening. She looked him up and down, and he preened, flexing the enormous arms and tree-trunk torso that were a product of strong genetics and hard work in the gym.

  She nodded slowly.

  “You’ll be safe while you’re here.”

  “Yeah. Funnily enough, I believe you.”

  Jarrad stood, taking that as the perfect cue to leave before he made her uncomfortable. This was enough. He’d found his mate and got his first taste of her—he considered that a big win. And she trusted him to keep her safe.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. School starts at nine, right?”

  “Pick us up fifteen minutes before. I want Luna to get as much rest as possible. She used a lot of energy today.”

  Tabitha’s brows creased again as she walked with him to his vehicle. He wanted to smooth the concern from her face but stopped himself before his fingers rose. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long before she trusted him to take care of her.

  “I’ll be here,” he said. He’d also be there during the night, or one of his pack would, but she wouldn’t know that. There was no way he would leave his mate and her child unprotected when there could be a threat around. The Inquisition could be on their way.

  Unable to resist, he tucked a strand of that blonde hair behind her ear. She leaned into his hand as it cupped her face. He looked down at her, drinking in her features and committing them to memory. His mate.

  Thank God he’d finally found her.

  Jarrad swung himself into the car before he ruined the moment and pushed her too far. She stepped back, giving him a smile and a little wave as he drove down the street. He had a million things to do in the fire’s wake, but she was his top priority. He’d call his pack, put everyone on the alert for strangers. And he’d have to set surveillance on the house when he wasn’t there.

  No one would get to his mate.

  Not on his watch.

  Chapter 3

  As Tabitha watched the police car and its dark-haired, god-bod driver glide smoothly away, her heart stuttered back into action. Her lips still tingled from that kiss, and the heat between her thighs matched the glow spreading over her cheeks. What was wrong with her?

  She’d just let him waltz in and take care of everything, barely putting up a token resistance. And then there was that kiss. Electricity sparked through every nerve of her body, linking her inescapably to the man whose mouth plundered hers with a gentle passion that bordered on worshipful. She’d never known another one like it in her life. Not even on her wedding day.

  Her heart dropped. It had been three years since they’d found Nathan’s body in his car, not five kilometres from the wards surrounding Carnarben. So close to home, and yet they’d got him anyway. No man deserved to die like he did. When they’d called Tabitha to identify the body, what she’d seen featured in her nightmares ever since. It was enough to keep her in her hometown when she’d so desperately yearned to be free.

  Three years it had taken for the pressure to build and to put a solid plan to leave in place. Because there was no way she was risking her baby after what happened. Echo was safer than Carnarben, because at least the Inquisitors didn’t watch it. That, and they feared the wolves.

  But thanks to her actions, all that had changed. How was she going to tell Luna they would have to go back home? That they would both have to continue suffering through the well-meaning sympathetic looks. The constant ‘Nathan wouldn’t have liked that’s’ or ‘how do you think he would have handled that’s’ that came with every action, every decision made.

  Tabitha was sick of trying to measure up to the expectations of a ghost. Nathan was popular, a people person who everyone thought they knew well, but no one really did. Except for her. Luna deserved the chance to grow up without people judging her every move based on the supposed opinions of her father. Nathan would have been happy as long as they were happy, but he was the mayor and people in Carnarben formed their own opinions of him. They didn’t always align with hers.

  She slipped back into the house, checking in on Luna again briefly, even though she knew her girl would be out ‘til morning, then went out the back. Taking a seat cross-legged on the veranda, she took a moment to gather herself. Breat
hing in, she focussed on collecting the negative energy. Breathing out, she released it from her body, letting it dissipate to the winds. The scent of lavender still lingered from her morning meditation, helping provide clarity.

  She needed it. The wards needed to be strengthened. Unfortunately, it took her a lot longer to achieve her balance after the day’s events. When she felt lighter, Tabitha circled the house fifteen times, three times for each element: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. She wove tendrils of each into a deadly barrier around her home, hoping it would be enough. Tabitha may have been the strongest witch born in generations, but the Inquisition were sneaky. It would take more than wards for her to feel safe.

  On that note, she pulled out her phone, dialling one of the few numbers she’d memorised.

  “Bright,” a curt voice answered.

  “Ryan? It’s me.” She waited in silence for her brother to respond. He hadn’t been happy about her leaving and made it abundantly clear he thought she was risking too much. It grated to know he might be right.

  “What’s wrong?” Panic crept into his voice. “You said I wouldn’t hear from you until I said sorry.” And he hadn’t. Apologised, that was. This was going to hurt.

  “There’s been an incident…” she hedged.

  “Is Luna okay? If I push it, I can get there in two hours. Maybe less. Tabitha, talk to me!”

  She would if he’d shut up. “Luna is fine, and I’m not sure if I’m panicking about nothing, but some evidence of me using my powers may be leaked to the press.”

  She told him about her day, leaving out the kiss with the overwhelmingly attractive Alpha. She didn’t want him stewing on that. Particularly as Nathan had been his best friend.

  “At least it was an emergency. You may be reckless, but you aren’t stupid.”

  Thanks, brother.

  “I’m setting up an automated search loop now. If anything pops up with the code words, I’ll know immediately.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes, having a sibling in the Australian Secret Intelligence Service was a godsend. Other times, it just made her twin overwhelmingly overprotective.