Paranormal Magic (Shades of Prey Book 1)

by Margo Bond Collins

  Then again, he was the one who was hitting on her. He had called her a “pretty lady”. And no one called her that.

  She took a sip of her drink.

  “You're new here, aren't you?” she asked with a touch of amusement.

  He couldn't keep his surprise from his face. “I am fairly new at this whole thing,” he stammered. “This is my first pack meeting. How did you know?”

  She hid her frown. Something about that statement didn't seem right. She didn't quite know what it was just then, but she tucked her misgivings away in the corner of her mind. Regardless, if he was lying, he was right about being a new werewolf. She smiled. “Because the weres that have been here for a while know not to hit on me.”

  He seemed to recover from his surprise, because her statement didn't faze him. “I was always a slow learner.”

  Gemma raised an eyebrow. “I don't find ignorance to be attractive.”

  “I'm attractive in other ways.” He leaned into her. “My name is Adam.”

  She gave a laugh, and took one last gulp of her drink. “Well, Adam, I wish you well,” she told him. In a fit of inspiration, she kissed two of her fingers and pressed them to his lips. “But I really must go.”

  Let him soak on that, she thought proudly. It was something she had never done before, and it gave her a welcome sense of power. She stood up, putting several dollars on the table. She winked at the bartender, who was a friend of hers, and left the new wolf at the bar.

  She met her younger brother, Mark, across the room. A big man, he had their parents' genes for height along with a shock of red hair. He was lounging on a couch in the corner, surrounded by several of his cronies.

  “Good to see you, Snowflake,” he said with a smile.

  She scowled at him for using her nickname. He first coined it when they were kids, using it constantly. Unfortunately for her, the nickname stuck.

  “You need to tell your new 'recruits' to lay off the pick-up lines,” she growled. She combed her fingers through her hair. “And you wonder why I never come to these meetings.”

  Mark looked at her blankly. “I don't have any new recruits, Gemma,” he said slowly, sitting forward in his seat.

  That stopped her.

  Shocked, she looked at him. She felt the hair at the nape of her neck raise up in warning. “No new recruits?” she repeated in disbelief.

  “Haven't had any this season,” he said. He took a swig of his beer. “You know it's gotten harder to trust humans nowadays.”

  “But there was this guy – Adam, his name was...” Gemma's voice trailed off as she looked back at the bar. Her mysterious stranger had gone. “He was just hitting on me,” she said, panic edging into her voice.

  “Gemma, it's so good you came!” Mark's heavily pregnant wife, Bernice, seemingly came out of nowhere and hugged Gemma.

  “Bernie!” Gemma said. Even through her unease, she smiled warmly. “How's the baby?”

  Bernice laughed. “Well, it's the child of two werewolves,” she said, giving Mark a sidelong glance. “Hardly allows me to sleep anymore.” She looked back at her sister-in-law and read the expression on her face. “Gemma, what's wrong?” she asked.

  “We might have an intruder here tonight,” Gemma said through gritted teeth. She crossed her arms against her chest and frowned. The longer she thought about it, the more her unease turned into fear.

  Mark touched Bernice's shoulder, concentrating on his sister. “Gemma,” he said quickly, “should I have my men look for him?”

  She hesitated at first. After all, he seemed innocent enough. There was also the fact that she could never be too careful. At her nod, he signaled to two of his men who disappeared into the shadows. Regular ninjas, she thought sarcastically, but at least she felt better. They were Betas, second in werewolf ranks. If Adam's scent was correct, they'd be more than enough to take care of him. After all, Betas far outranked Omegas.

  “This is isn't the first time a stray wolf has tried to get you,” Mark said softly.

  Not this again, Gemma thought angrily

  “This is the reason why I don't attend meetings,” Gemma told him hastily, although she knew what he was going to say.

  “If you would just choose a mate, these lone wolves and wolves from other packs would stop coming to try and get a rank boost through you.” Mark glared at her. “Your inability to choose a mate leaves us vulnerable to outsiders.”

  “We're not getting into this,” Gemma told him, holding up one finger in warning.

  “Mark,” Bernice said softly, cutting in. “Let her decide.”

  The hardness around his face softened at his wife's comment. “We have plenty of Beta males here that I trust,” he said, gentler. “Gemma, you're the only Alpha here besides me. The other packs are trying to take advantage of that. You know that.”

  “I'll decide when the time is right,” she said stubbornly.

  “You're fine sleeping with human males, but you won't choose a were?”

  Gemma glared at him for bringing up her only lover, a human she had met in college. They had been engaged, but once he found out what she was by birth, he broke it off and broke her heart.

  “You make it sound like I'm a whore by being with a human once. Once, Mark,” she snarled. “And you know that finding someone – a were – would be like getting married. If I'm doing that, I'm doing it for love, not because you want me to. And not because anyone else wants me to either.”

  Mark looked at her, pleading with his eyes and then turned away.

  “My sex life is none of your concern,” she said firmly

  “Sorry, dear sister, it most certainly is,” Mark said through gritted teeth.

  “You realize how medieval this all sounds?” she asked incredulously.

  “It's how things have gone for centuries. We've followed the same traditions for years. As a pack leader, you should know that as much as anyone.”

  Maybe she should, but she didn't agree with it. There were too many antiquated rules and too many loopholes that seemed to be stuck in the dark ages. That was the reason why she stayed away from anything pack-related: she wanted to live as normal a life as possible.

  Yet, as one of the pack leaders, she knew that wasn't going to happen.

  When she didn't respond, Mark sighed dramatically.

  “Jon,” he said, motioning to his right-hand man. “Let's get this meeting started.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Gemma couldn't explain why she was at that meeting. She told herself that it had been too long since she'd seen Mark and Bernice, and with the baby so close to coming, it felt like it was time to make an appearance. After all, she hadn't been to a pack meeting in nearly a year.

  But arguments like the one she'd just had with Mark wore her out.

  Gemma and Mark's parents had headed up the pack as leaders for several decades, raising their children in their werewolf culture. Her family was well respected in their community, and they enjoyed a lifestyle that was almost like werewolf royalty.

  But it wasn’t meant to last.

  Mark was forced to assume the position of leader three years ago, when their parents died in a freak car accident. Gemma would have been next in line, but she tried to find a reason as to why her parents died so easily – as Alphas, they wouldn’t have any trouble with a normal car crash. Something had gone dreadfully wrong. She could feel it in her bones. Everywhere she looked, she could only find more questions and no answers. There were a lot of wolves that would love to see her parents killed, and she couldn’t find out who had done it.

  It felt like a betrayal from her kind. And as a result, she withdrew herself almost completely from her duties as an Alpha and as a pack leader.

  She wasn't popular among their pack – after skipping out on many meetings, the general consensus was that she had abandoned them. Which was unfortunate because Mark was stuck in his role as pack leader, but Gemma was the stronger werewolf.

  Despite her small stature, she was stronger and
faster than anyone else in the pack, including her brother.

  They knew it too, but they weren’t happy about it.

  She had considered coming back many times before. After all, she was as much werewolf as she was human. She couldn’t just shrug it off.

  But there were rules like this one, where she had to mate in order to secure their pack. The other wolves viewed mating with her as a coup, their chance to rise up in wolf ranks. That made her a hot commodity for all the single wolves both inside and outside of the pack. Pairing up with an Alpha like Gemma could instantly make any wolf a pack leader. Which was bad – if she chose the wrong wolf, her pack was doomed.

  So much stress on such a stupid law, although it wasn't just the law. Their genetics recognized when they moved up or down in rank, either through challenges or through whom they chose to mate with. By going up a level, you were faster and stronger. And by going down a level, your body acted sluggishly.

  So even if she could somehow convince her pack to change their mind about the mating thing, biology betrayed her.

  It wore her out. She hated dealing with it.

  Then again, here she was.

  She stood next to her brother on the stage in the bar. Bernice stood on his other side, backed by the tall, skinny, silent Jon. She cast a glance outside the window to see the clouds reveal a full moon. The perfect night for a meeting.

  The atmosphere in the bar was heated with electricity, ready to ignite at any moment. Their pack looked up at them, waiting. Tense.

  The meeting was about to start.

  “Fellow wolves,” Mark exclaimed, holding his hands wide open. “I hope you find the beer to your liking tonight.”

  Many of the wolves howled in assent.

  A familiar tuft of shaggy brown hair caught her eye as it made its way through the crowd

  Adam? she thought, panicked. She lost sight of him, making her wonder if she had seen him at all. God, I'm going paranoid, she told herself. Jon and the other wolves would take care of Adam. She had to keep telling herself that.

  “Tonight, we celebrate the last full moon before my wife Bernice gives birth to our newest pack member.”

  She froze as her eyes made contact with her mysterious stranger. Adam held her gaze and stepped out from the crowd, trying to tell her something with his eyes. Her skin went cold.

  “Mark,” she whispered as low as possible and without moving her lips. She nudged her brother, and nodded at Adam's direction as faintly as she could. Mark moved his head, just slightly enough for her to recognize it as his only acknowledgment. Even if Mark hadn't seen whom she was pointing out, Adam's scent was strong enough for her brother to recognize him as an intruder.

  He continued as though nothing was wrong. After fielding many threats, they both knew that was the best way to disarm a potentially dangerous situation.

  For a second, Gemma felt a twinge of hope. Then Mark dashed that hope as it was born.

  “We will celebrate our newest member – my unborn child – tonight by doing what we do best.” Mark held up his bottle and took a great swig of it. “We're going to run as a pack!” he said at the exact instant moonlight flooded through the window behind him. Mark always had a thing for theatrics. Gemma resisted the urge to roll her eyes, even though she felt her insides crumbling.

  It always amazed her how the other wolves accepted it.

  The howling started then, as members began to shed their clothes and change. The pheromones in the bar exploded, acting as a catalyst for everyone to change. Gemma had been a were all of her life, but seeing the others transform always fascinated her. She had enough control to hold back her transformation as long as she wanted, so she usually watched everyone transform before she joined them.

  Tonight was different. She wasn't going to run with them – she had no intention of turning into a wolf tonight.

  Especially when there was an intruder.

  She glanced down and realized suddenly that Adam was gone again. She blinked confusedly and then cast a glance at her brother. Adam had been there – his scent lingered, but it was though he had vanished into thin air.

  Feeling claustrophobic, she turned to Mark.

  “I have to go,” she whispered. “He's gone and I don't know where he is. And I don't want to be surrounded by wolves with an intruder on the loose.” Who knows what they'd do then.

  Mark kept his eyes on his pack, but nodded in understanding.

  With that, Gemma fled.

  She slipped out into the night air and walked briskly towards her car, an old Chevy. She fiddled with her clutch, trying to find her car keys. For the life of her, she couldn't find the damn things and it was too dark to really see anything.

  What a shitty night, she thought.

  That was the only thought she had before she was tackled by a big, furry body. The force of her assailant brought her to the ground, and they both skidded several feet across the concrete. Pain exploded across her back – the attack tore through her shirt and into her tender flesh. She looked up, staring face-to-face with a large, snarling, gray wolf.

  I'm taking you, dear sweet Gemma, he growled to her, in their animal language. You'll be my wife and my key to power.

  “Fuck you!” she yelled.

  Having spent her entire life as a wolf, she wasn't without her defenses, even in human form. With a cry, she threw the huge wolf off her and into the nearest tree. The wolf inside her pumped through her veins, giving her the strength to stand and face her attacker.

  He wasn't too deterred by his collision with the tree and rushed at her again.

  At his second leap towards her, she was ready and gave him a kick that sent him flying once again.

  The big wolf recovered quickly and got to his feet, growling at her. We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way, he told her.

  “I would prefer easy, but you don't seem to want to do that, Adam,” she snarled to him.

  Adam? Even as a wolf, he still managed to sound confused. Why would you think I was that mangy runt?

  Gemma blinked in surprise and realized that in the heat of the moment, she hadn't noticed that his scent didn't match that of the man she met earlier. This wolf was a lone wolf, which was what had thrown her off initially, but from his stance and size, he was a Beta.

  The highest that a human-turned-werewolf could become on his own was a Beta, unlike purebred werewolves, which were all Alphas, like Gemma. As a former human, this wolf had no other way of moving up other than mating with an Alpha.

  And he wants to mate with me, she realized with a surge of fear. Damn those old laws! she screamed in her mind.

  In her moment of weakness, the big wolf leaped at her. Third time, she thought. How stupid is he? She readied herself for the attack.

  She judged wrong.

  He was ready for her to fight back. He swerved neatly in midair and her answering punch missed him. He wasn't trying to just tackle her anymore. This time he went for her throat and succeeded, snapping her head back with the force of his body-weight. They both fell to the ground with Gemma on her back, the Beta wolf on top of her.

  She started to scream, but it was cut short as he increased the force on her larynx and gave her a rough shake.

  “Wh – who are you?” she managed. She couldn't believe how much pain she was feeling in her throat. He hadn't torn her throat out, but it hurt like he did.

  The other wolf didn't have time to answer, as a familiar tuft of brown fur collided hard with his ribcage with a sickening crunch, forcing the wolf's mouth to open with a howling yelp. The force of the collision propelled the two wolves into a tumble away from Gemma.

  The big gray wolf recovered quickly, standing on all four paws and growled at the smaller wolf. The smaller wolf, despite being clearly outmatched, stood his ground between her and the big wolf. To her astonishment, she suddenly realized that the brown wolf's scent matched Adam.

  Get out of here, he told her. Run.

  She ran, ignoring the yelpi
ng of the two fighting wolves, ignoring the pain in her back and in her throat. Fear forced her to keep running.

  But she couldn't run with her usual speed, and darkness was fighting its way into her vision. She made it to the road and collapsed under a bush, unable to go any further.

  The pain in her throat was compounded by the fact that she now couldn't leave.

  She had dropped her clutch. She wanted to cry out in frustration, but couldn't expend the effort. Her phone was in it. Without her phone, she couldn't call Mark, although he was probably out running with the pack by now, and she couldn't call the police. She also didn't have her keys, which meant that she had no way of escaping.

  She was on her own, and she was bleeding badly from the wound in her neck and the scratches on her back.

  A hand fell on her shoulder. She only had the strength to flinch.

  “Relax it's me,” Adam whispered into her ear.

  It was amazing, that flood of relief he gave her. She sobbed with delirious joy.

  He bent down and picked her up in a fireman's carry. I’m being carried by a naked man, she thought absently, but it didn't matter. He was taking her away from the big wolf and that was all she cared about. He hurried over to an old truck – she guessed it was his truck – strapped her into the passenger's side and got into the driver's side.

  Her hands wouldn't stop shaking, but she held her throat together as best as she could. Why the hell was he doing this? Why was an Omega wolf risking his life to save someone he barely knew?

  “Stay with me, Gemma,” Adam said, breaking into her thoughts. “We didn't finish the fight, so he's still around and I need you to stay awake.”

  He reversed out of the parking spot and hit the gas pedal with such force that the car tires squealed.

  A big, naked man stood in the middle of the road, acting like he was going to stop them. Adam dropped the truck down a gear and careened it towards him. A split second before they would've collided, the man jumped, rolled over the roof and landed behind them. Gemma turned around to watch him in the rear view window as he landed on his feet and ran after the car for a few hundred yards, but then gave up the chase as Adam sped off, leaving him in the dust.