Shifter’s Coven Alpha

by Marteeka Karland

  Simply running into the fray wasn’t an option. She wouldn’t risk Sasha getting hurt, and she wouldn’t leave her alone. With the men blocking her, there was only one other option.

  Gennive closed her eyes and reached out to the person Sasha had named a Dark Witch. At first she got nothing, but after a couple of minutes of concentration and clearing her mind of anything other than her target, Gennive started to get vague images of the back of Wade’s house.

  The witch fought two great canine-like creatures. Their heads and hind legs were like great wolves, but they stood on two legs, and they had arms and hands with long, sharp fingernails rather than front legs and claws.

  The witch’s magic seemed to be defensive rather than offensive. Several times, she had the opportunity to kill one or the other, yet she merely fought them back and stayed out of their way. To Gennive, it felt like her effort was more for show than any real attempt to kill or maim. She wasn’t even looking for something to steal. She had something to prove, and she was determined to do that without harming Wade or Simon even if others wanted her to.

  Gennive was about to gather Sasha and make her way behind Wade and Simon when four other witches joined the first. The woman whose mind Gennive had managed to enter was taken completely by surprise. One of them backhanded her so hard, Gennive tasted blood. Then the attack began in earnest.

  Simon and Wade were pinned down now. Gennive could see it through the eyes of the first witch. Men they could kill. Magic they couldn’t fight. They had nothing with which to fight. It was only a matter of time before they made one last, desperate charge. Then they would die.

  “No!” Gennive screamed as she pulled out of the other woman’s mind. She concentrated all her might on Wade and Simon. If they couldn’t make it to her, she’d bring them herself.

  In an instant, she lost her breath, and the air was suddenly white hot. Gennive tried to scream, but no sound reached her ears. Her skin burned, and she even felt it bubble from the intense heat. She had a moment to wonder what the hell she’d done and if Sasha would be OK.

  Then a small hand on her outer thigh grounded her and she reached for the two men, not questioning the magic that gripped her. As quickly as it had started, the magic vanished. Gennive fell to her knees and gasped for breath. She groped for Sasha’s hand and pulled it to her chest, hugging the child’s hand and arm close.

  “You OK?” Sasha’s small voice penetrated the ringing in Gennive’s ears, but she still couldn’t focus on Sasha’s face.

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  She’d barely gotten the words out of her mouth when she was lifted by large, strong hands with pointy fingernails as sharp as daggers. She looked over her shoulder and the very same creatures she’d seen the witch fighting stood over her, urging her to her feet. Both looked scary as hell. Not to mention more than a little pissed.

  “I did exactly what you told me to, Simon. I got Sasha out of the house and I didn’t get either of us involved in the fighting.”

  “Get moving, human.” The gruff growl was Simon’s voice. Wade looked toward the attackers behind the house and backed away, guarding their backs.

  Simon shoved Gennive forward and scooped up Sasha. He ran ahead of Gennive but not far. Wade moved behind her and urged her to run faster. Gennive shook her head, trying to clear it.

  Take us away. Sasha’s small voice penetrated Gennive’s dazed brain as she stumbled after Sasha and Simon. Only you can save us, Gennive.

  Desperation gripped her when she looked back at Wade only to realize they were being hunted. Figures in dark capes raced up the hill from the back of the house toward them. One of them raised a hand, and long arcs of lightning shot out at them, singeing the ground where she’d stepped.

  Fleeing the old fashioned way wasn’t an option. They’d get fried before they got far. Without another thought, that awful burning, dizzying sensation of magic gripping her overtook her senses. This time, when she opened her eyes, they were standing in her small apartment.

  Well, the others were standing -- she was crumpled on the floor retching. The burning pain over her skin still gripped her, but lessened as the seconds ticked by. She looked at her arm, fully expecting to see the flesh charred and blistered. Instead, she saw only clean, pink skin.

  “What the fuck just happened?” Simon sounded mad as hell and looked at her accusingly. “That was more than a simple spell. That was complicated magic. Very complicated. And powerful. It’s hard enough to transport one person, but four?” He rounded on Wade. “Why didn’t you tell me she was capable of this kind of magic?”

  Wade shifted back to his human form. “You’ve been in her mind as much as I have, and you’re more adept at telepathy. Why didn’t you pick it up yourself?”

  Simon shifted as well. “Because she didn’t know she could do shit like that.”

  “Well, if she didn’t know, how the hell did you expect me to know?”

  “Shut up.” Simon scrubbed his hands through his long, dark hair. “This is a hell of a mess. You’re tying yourself to another witch, Wade. And not just any witch. She’s likely a member of the Grand Coven or something equally bad. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “You worry about your own life and leave me to mine.” Wade let his arms hang at his sides, but he shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. Clearly, he expected a fight.

  “You’re a fool, Wade!” Simon hissed and slashed his hand through the air. “Take her to the Dark Witches and dump her. You’ve already put your leadership of the pack in jeopardy once. Twice won’t be forgiven. Even by me.”

  “She’s not our enemy, Simon. If she were, she’d have left us there to die.”

  Simon growled and turned to face Gennive. “If you put so much as a toe out of line, I’ll kill you myself.”

  “You stop it!” Sasha stomped toward them, hands on her hips. “Gennive is nice, and you’re being mean to her.” Tears filled the child’s eyes, and her lip quivered. “She’s my friend, and you shouldn’t yell at her.”

  Gennive wasn’t sure what she expected, but she certainly didn’t expect Simon to back down.

  He blinked and looked so stricken, Gennive almost laughed. “Sasha, you know what Vivian did back there. That was her.” Simon sounded like he was reasoning with an adult instead of a child. He also sounded, for him, impossibly contrite.

  “I know that. I’m not stupid.” She laced her words with as much sarcasm as a seven-year-old child could. “But it’s not Gennive’s fault. She helped us.” Sasha lifted her chin and gave Simon a stubborn scowl. “I like Gennive, and you should say you’re sorry.”

  “I will not be lectured by a child. I know things you don’t. Now, hush. Wade and I will handle this.”

  Sasha burst into tears and threw herself at Gennive. She clung to Gennive and Gennive stroked her hair and back, kissing the top of her head. “He’s not going to hurt me, Sasha. I won’t let him.”

  “I won’t either.” Wade picked up the child and hugged her close. “You know Simon. He’s just looking out for all of us. But he’s not going to hurt Gennive.”

  “Bah!” Simon turned his back on all three of them and paced the length of Gennive’s apartment. “I’ve never gone against you on anything, Wade. I just have a bad feeling it’s not over.”

  “I know it’s not over. I’m not sure what Vivian wants, but she’s obviously not going to stop until she gets it,” Wade conceded.

  “I know I’m the newcomer here,” Gennive interrupted, “but if that first witch was Vivian, I’m not certain she’s a willing participant in whatever is going on.”

  Both men looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. Wade said, “If she doesn’t want to harm me, then who does?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Now, there’s a surprise,” Simon mumbled. Wade shot him an annoyed look, and Simon rolled his eyes but kept silent.

  “Look, all I know is she had several opportunities to kill one or both of you, and she didn’t take
it. It felt like she was trying to give you a chance to escape, but you were both too bull-headed to take it.”

  “So --” Wade looked from Gennive to Simon, “-- if not Vivian, then who?”

  He and Simon exchanged a long look.

  “That, my friend, is a good question.”

  Chapter Six

  Simon left to prepare his hunters to move the group to the pack lands in the mountains. Until they were ready to leave, he’d stationed two hunters outside Gennive’s building to keep watch.

  Privately, Wade wasn’t sure it had been a good idea. There had been a guard outside his own house before and it hadn’t worked. In fact, they’d not seen the wolf at all. Oh, the guard had shown up when Simon had called them all together with excuses that seemed plausible, but Wade didn’t buy it. For the first time in his life, he questioned the loyalty of a pack member.

  Everything had gone to hell since he’d met Vivian. It had gotten worse when they’d announced their betrothal.

  “I know you don’t want to hear it, Wade,” Gennive’s quiet voice penetrated his dark thoughts, “but I don’t think Vivian is behind whatever is going on.”

  Wade sighed. Gennive lay on the couch with a cool washcloth over her eyes. After Simon had left, she’d been violently ill. Sasha had cowered in the corner and whimpered, scared for Gennive. The child truly loved her. She’d latched on to Gennive as quickly as she’d taken to Wade when he’d first found her.

  At the sound of Gennive’s voice, Sasha crept to the couch and took her hand. Gennive removed the cloth from her face, looked at the child, and smiled. Sasha then crawled up to lie with Gennive, snuggling close. Gennive kissed the top of Sasha’s head, and Wade’s heart ached with emotion. They were like a family.

  He replied gently, “She was there. What else am I supposed to think?”

  “I know. I’m just saying she didn’t want to hurt you. And she tried to shield the fact that Sasha was on the place. She didn’t do it very effectively, but it was enough to buy us time to escape.”

  Wade sighed. “There are a lot of things that don’t make sense with Vivian.”

  “Then maybe you should find out what’s going on before you pass judgment on the woman. She took a bit of a beating for not killing you and Simon back there. I think someone else is pulling her strings.”

  Even with dark circles under her eyes and her pale face -- evidence of her recent bout of sickness -- she looked so lovely lying there holding Sasha it was hard for Wade to hold the thread of the conversation. He wanted to kiss her. To hold her.

  Make love to her.

  Her essence called to him like nothing else ever had. It wasn’t just a sexual calling, either. He needed her. All of her. Forever. If he never had the privilege of actually making love with her, beyond what they’d already done, he simply wanted her by his side as long as they both lived.

  That was the key ingredient missing with him and Vivian. Neither of them wanted each other like that. Never at any point had he thought of her as more than an acquaintance, at best a friend. Then it had all fallen apart.

  His eyes strayed from Gennive’s face to Sasha’s. The child had fallen asleep in record time. He smiled. “Sasha’s had an exciting day.”

  Gennive snorted. “You think? Poor thing spent most of it scared to death.”

  “I know. She’s lucky you were there. We both are. I’m not certain how I would have dealt with this had you not been.”

  “You’d have killed Vivian instead of trying to find a way to capture her alive. She might not be totally innocent, but she’s not the real evil in this mess. I’m certain of it.”

  Wade knelt and stroked Gennive’s hair back from her face. “You’re so beautiful, Gennive. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

  When she smiled, time stopped for Wade. Never had a woman taken his breath away with a mere smile, but Gennive did so effortlessly. Hair the color of mahogany, bunched up in unruly curls atop her head, was as soft as silk. Her eyes were huge, mocha pools he could easily get lost in. Before he realized what was happening, he had dipped his head and found her lips with his. Once she opened her mouth to receive him, he was lost.

  It was funny how a moist touch on such a small surface of skin could cause so much pleasure. He groaned when her tongue darted out to lap at his. Wade’s cock hardened to painful proportions, and he deepened the kiss.

  Gennive whimpered, and she lay there letting him kiss her for a few more seconds before she pushed him away. Her eyes were glazed and her lips beautifully kiss-swollen, but there was a reluctant resolve in their depths.

  “Not with Sasha here. And not while you’re engaged.” Her rapid breathing pushed her breasts high underneath the V dip in her shirt, which Wade tried valiantly to avoid staring at. “I want you more than I can describe, Wade, but no matter what I want, I have principles I refuse to compromise for anyone. Including myself.” She looked longingly into his eyes then strayed to his lips. She wanted him, he could tell. More than that, she had the same need to be near him he did of her.

  Dropping a kiss to her forehead, he gently gathered Sasha in his arms. The child shifted and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her.

  “I know, Gennive. And you’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, Wade,” she smiled, “just work through this. One way or another. I’ll never forget you no matter what, but I just want you to be happy. Sasha, too.”

  “I will be, Gennive. With you beside me. Nothing could make me happier.”

  Gennive and Sasha slept in Gennive’s bed for about thirty minutes before Simon returned with three of his hunters to take them to the mountains and Wade’s pack. They all rode in silence for the two-hour trip. Even Sasha didn’t say much, sensing the tension in the adults. Once they arrived, Wade brought Gennive to his den. “You’ll be safe here. Just don’t leave without an escort. Outsiders aren’t allowed here, and the only reason you are is because I’m the pack Alpha.”

  He could tell Gennive was reading him. Her pained, apologetic expression said as much. “This must be awkward for you, Wade. I’m sorry.”

  “Given the circumstances, yes. Normally, you’d be welcomed as long as you only stayed a short time before we were formally mated.”

  “But given the situation with you and Vivian…”

  “They are, naturally, questioning my ability to lead the pack. If Vivian can manipulate my mind so completely as to get me to agree to a marriage with her, I’m not so sure they’re not right.” Wade left then. He knew Gennive wanted to say more, but he wasn’t ready to hear it yet. He had work to do before he was ready to face her again.

  * * *

  “You realize what this implies, Wade?”

  “Yes. And I’m fully prepared to surrender the title of Alpha and leave the pack as soon as I’m sure it won’t fall to the Dark Witches.”

  “You’d do that willingly?”

  “Absolutely. For a multitude of reasons. Not the least of which is an Alpha can’t have his attentions so greatly divided. I’d be split three ways, and that’s unacceptable.”

  Daven, speaking for the pack elders, looked at him with a mixture of sympathy and pride. “It takes a brave, wise man to realize when he’s no longer able to do the job. For whatever reason. It takes a man with a good heart to put his family in their rightful place -- at the top of his priorities. I will be truly sorry to see you go, my friend.”

  “And I will miss the camaraderie of the pack, but I don’t feel I have a choice. Allow me to retain the position a few more days in order to uncover what the Dark Witches have planned and I’ll leave you.” He sighed. “The only alternative would likely put Vivian in the Alpha position, and I know that would be disastrous, not only for us but for every pack in the area.”

  “I agree.” Grandel, a grizzled, battle-hardened old warrior, stood. “I think we all agree there was bad magic involved. We’ll gladly give you the time you need. The only stipulation is, should you start acting irrationally, y
ou will be relieved.”

  “A sensible precaution, Elder Grandel. I gladly agree.”

  “It’s settled then.” Daven shook Wade’s hand. “You will take Simon and the hunters --”

  “Not the hunters,” Wade interrupted. “Just Simon.”

  Daven raised an eyebrow. “Is there someone you don’t trust?”

  “Not in the least,” Wade lied. “I just feel more comfortable with fewer people involved.”

  “As you wish.”

  As much as Wade knew he’d miss the pack, he couldn’t regret his decision. He loved Sasha. She might not be a child of his body, but she was a child of his heart. He’d raised her since she’d been barely weaned, and nothing was more important than her. Gennive, he was growing to love with every passing second. For them, he’d do whatever he had to.

  Chapter Seven

  It had been a day and a half since Wade had left Sasha and Gennive in his den. They had been comfortable, and several of the pack’s women and girls had visited them to make sure they had enough to eat and drink, but no one offered to stay, and no one offered to escort them anywhere, effectively making them prisoners.

  Sasha flounced down on the couch and sighed. “I miss Daddy.”

  “Yeah, baby. I miss him, too.”

  “He’s OK, though. He’s kinda growly right now, but he’s OK.”

  Gennive giggled. “Yeah, growly is a good way to describe him at the moment.”

  “They’re looking for the wrong person. Vivian was kinda mean, but she wasn’t the boss.”

  Gennive pulled the little girl into her side and hugged her. “I know, sweetie. But they have to start somewhere.”

  “They won’t find her, you know. She’s back in the coven. The Dark Witches won’t let Daddy and Simon find her.”

  “I know. Even if they did, it probably wouldn’t do them any good.”

  They sat there, cuddling for a few minutes. Gennive thought Sasha had gone to sleep, but when she looked at the child, she saw she had been horribly, horribly wrong.