Dire Wants_A Novel of the Eternal Wolf Clan

by Stephanie Tyler

  “Something like that,” he muttered, keeping her in hand before letting her down in the living room, easing her to the couch gently. Her arms were bleeding, her clothing torn and she was shaking, although he didn’t think she realized it.

  Rifter, Vice and Kill, along with Liam, were still outside, taking care of the bodies. He glanced out the window, but Kate was tugging at his arm.

  “You’re magnificent,” she whispered, staring into his eyes, which hadn’t yet made the transition from beast to man like the rest of him. “Your eyes are—”

  “Scary?”

  “Beautiful.”

  He flinched at that, stepped back and bristled at the compliment the way he did everything unpleasant in life and pretended it didn’t exist. Shoved it down if it started to bubble up, because he wasn’t used to compliments. Never would be.

  Goddamn, it hurt though. He liked that she seemed to accept him. But he’d learned a long time ago that people were liars. Especially witches.

  He looked down and saw the blood coming through the sleeves of the sweatshirt. There were also bite marks on her hands, and he felt sick to his stomach. “They hurt you.”

  “But your wolf saved me. I called and you came.”

  “I’m not a goddamned pet,” he growled, his voice rough, his eyes no doubt still full of battle.

  “I can’t help it. Can’t control it,” she told him.

  “It’s happening because you want me,” he stated bluntly. Although it was the truth, she still flushed, but admitted, “That’s not going to stop.”

  He yanked on a pair of jeans as she said, “You want me too. I can feel it.”

  “I need your help and you need mine. Lady, you’re going to be wanted for the rest of your goddamned days. So welcome to my world.”

  She didn’t look comforted at all.

  * * *

  There was a new wolf here and he looked a lot like Stray, but slightly harder. And he bore the same exact scar Stray had down his chest.

  Kate swallowed hard when he looked at her and smiled, well, wolfishly, until Stray ordered him the hell out (Stray’s words). The wolf didn’t argue, went down the hall as a young woman bounded down the stairs and into the room, a bundle of clothing under her arm.

  From the look on her face, she’d been worried as anything. The way she looked at Rifter—and he at her—made Kate’s heart ache.

  She was tall and lithe with long blond hair, and she touched Rifter on her way over, then put her hand out to Kate and said, “I’m Gwen. Let me clean up those cuts.”

  Stray had mentioned her earlier—she was a doctor. Still, Kate looked at Stray and Gwen understood. “We’ll just be right in the bathroom there. We’ll leave the door open and you can still see Stray.”

  That was better. Wordlessly, she nodded and let Gwen lead her toward the bathroom.

  With Stray’s arms around her, she felt as if nothing bad could get to her.

  But something had.

  She’d burrowed her face against his bare chest, wanted to do so again, no matter how angry at her he seemed to be.

  What worried her most was that she had no memory of walking outside to begin with.

  “I brought you another pair of jeans and a sweater and sneakers of mine,” Gwen told Kate as she sat her on the closed toilet seat and began opening gauze pads and prepping ointments and what looked like a shot of antibiotics. The bathroom door was partially opened and Kate could see Stray talking with the other men. Wolves. She refocused on Gwen, who was saying, “I’ll send Cain out shopping tomorrow. It’s too risky for you to go back to your apartment for your things.”

  “So I let them go, just like my old life. But that was never really mine to begin with,” she said and realized she didn’t sound sad, but rather accepting.

  “I was there, Kate. I mean, I’m still there,” Gwen told her, putting the clothes down on the edge of the sink.

  “You’re a wolf, like Stray.”

  “Half Dire, half human,” she confirmed. “Mated to Rifter.”

  “The king.”

  Gwen nodded. “Three weeks ago, I was a doctor and I thought I was dying. I would’ve too, if I hadn’t shifted into a wolf and saved myself. It’s certainly not the life I expected. I had zero preparation, but I know I wouldn’t trade it.”

  “Because you lived?”

  “Because I met Rifter,” she said and Kate immediately flashed to Stray. “Rifter made everything better.”

  “Stray’s trying, but I’m making it worse,” Kate confessed.

  “You’re just scared.”

  “Shouldn’t I be?”

  Gwen glanced up at her, the woman’s eyes glowing with a little bit of the wolf. “Not if you’re our friend.”

  Chapter 20

  Seb lit the candles, put himself in the center of the circle and let his mind wander to where Rogue’s mind was being held captive.

  It horrified and fascinated him that the wolf could remain still for so long, that he hadn’t gone completely insane yet.

  Eventually, it would happen, although it could take hundreds of years. And Seb had nothing but time.

  He studied the wolf’s prone body as he did his own version of the dreamwalk through the eyes of the mare.

  The markings on the side of Rogue’s face were growing—the dark side attempting to take hold. No doubt failing miserably. But it would keep trying with inky black marks that swirled around the wolf’s eye and cheekbone, snaked down his neck as if attempting to obliterate any trace of his skin.

  “Let me go, Sebastian. If you don’t, my brothers will find a way. You’ll just get deeper in the hole with the trappers when that happens.”

  “You know it’s useless.” The mare spell was tied to Seb’s life and death, and without Rogue, stopping the Dire ghost army would be next to impossible. Rogue refused to look at him and Seb couldn’t blame the wolf.

  “Get her off me, Seb” was all he said. Seb traced a finger down the markings along the side of his face and scalp, saw the lines of blood the mare trailed as she laughed.

  “My punishment’s far worse than yours.”

  “Says you,” Rogue bit out. “You fucking bastard. I’ll rip your throat out.”

  The demon inside Seb bubbled up with laughter, and Rogue finally did look at him, a glance so full of hatred the demon rejoiced.

  “You unleashed our ancestors against us.”

  “It was always going to happen. The Elders left you so much unfinished business.”

  Rogue closed his eyes, and Seb knew his thoughts went to the young witch. Purposefully, perhaps, because Rogue knew Sebastian could see everything he thought. Knew when Rifter and Gwen visited, knew that Gwen had touched Rogue several times and heard him speak.

  Seb had the mare caress Rogue’s hair, mimicking the way the new Dire queen had. But when he spoke, it wasn’t about Gwen at all. “You think I can’t get to her, Rogue?”

  The wolf eyed him. “You couldn’t stop her when she was your lover.”

  Seb’s insides burned. If Rogue knew that, did the other Dires? And did it matter? She’d been lost to him forever a hell of a long time ago, when he’d refused to go back to the covens.

  * * *

  “What the hell happened out there?” Rifter demanded, managing to keep his voice down as Kate cleaned herself up with Gwen’s help in the bathroom.

  Stray longed to go in there and clean the wounds himself, but Gwen was the better choice. She looked up at him and nodded in his direction, as if to assure him Kate was in good hands.

  He finally turned back to Rifter and answered, “Seb was pulling her. I heard the Adept’s voice in her head.”

  “How does he have power over her?” Rifter asked as he ran a hand through his wet hair, his tone of strangled frustration mirrorin
g Stray’s feelings. Kill watched in uncharacteristic silence from the corner, his expression unreadable.

  “I’ve got to talk to Jinx,” Stray said.

  “He’s out hunting the ghost army—get him on the line,” Vice interjected. “It sounds like Seb thinks she can really hurt him and he’s trying to lure her in.”

  Stray glanced at the silver-eyed wolf and confirmed. “She’s been to the otherworld.”

  Rifter blew out a low whistle, mainly of respect. Those who’d seen the light, as they called it, were to be revered. “Then she can help Jinx and Rogue for sure.”

  “Technically, yes.” Stray pulled out his phone and dialed Jinx. The wolf answered on the sixth ring, sounded out of breath and not all that well.

  He explained what happened and Jinx paused for a long moment before he spoke again. “Because the brand is there, it means her powers haven’t fully integrated. Basically, as far as we know, once the brand disappears, Kate’s power conversion is complete.”

  “It hasn’t even faded a little,” Stray told him. “Maybe something’s wrong. I mean, has something like this ever worked before?”

  “From what I’ve learned, several times. The witch always picks a dying thirteen-year-old and saves him or her by pouring the magic inside the body. By the time the child’s twenty-three, it’s ready to fully emerge. Kate just needs the right instruction and to let down her defenses.”

  “Good luck with that. She’s half pissed and the same amount scared,” Stray muttered.

  “Then you fix it. You found her and your Brother Wolf doesn’t want anyone else near her, so you have no choice. Seb’s coven’s attempting to claim her,” Jinx explained. “Since she has a familiar, she can fight them.”

  “What do I need to do?” Stray asked.

  “Make sure no one gets to her.” Jinx paused for a moment and then continued. “Look, I did a little research on Kate myself and discovered something else.”

  “Tell me what you found. And how you did when I couldn’t,” Stray demanded.

  “I used some old coven connections of Seb’s,” Jinx admitted. “They can’t stand what he’s done and they were only too happy to help confirm what I suspected. I was planning on telling you, just not this soon.”

  “Talk, wolf.”

  Normally, Jinx would bristle at that, but told Stray quietly instead, “In her past incarnation . . . she was Seb’s lover—a witch named Lila.” Stray grabbed the chair in front of him and nearly broke it with a tight grip.

  “You are fucking kidding me.” His voice rose and the room silenced. Because Lila wasn’t just Seb’s lover—she’d been the love of his life, although Seb hadn’t seen her for thousands of years before she’d killed herself.

  “Steady, wolf. I thought it better you know,” Jinx said.

  “Yeah, better,” he repeated numbly.

  “She’s not bound to Seb. She doesn’t have Lila’s love for him—it doesn’t work like that. She’s got her powers, but she’s not the same witch reincarnated.”

  “You know that for sure?” Stray asked. Jinx wanted to say yes, but the turmoil in his mind told Stray that his brother Dire wasn’t one hundred percent sure. “It’s okay, Jinx. Don’t say anything else about it. Not right now.”

  Jinx’s next words kept his unspoken promise. “You’ve got to go find the grimoire fast. It should bond to her—respond to her touch only. If she doesn’t make an instant connection to it, Seb can definitely control her using their past bond. With it, she’s got a great shot at resisting him, using it to her advantage.”

  Stray turned, noted the bathroom door was nearly closed. Kate must be changing into the dry clothes Gwen lent her. “We’ll go now.”

  “Take Vice and Liam with you. I’ll send Cyd back to the house.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Busy,” Jinx told him and the next thing Stray heard was silence. The wolf had hung up on him, but he didn’t have the time to mull that shit over. Instead, he shoved the phone in his pocket and went to find shoes and a shirt while Gwen finished up bandaging Kate.

  Kill followed him. Stray heard the wolf behind him the entire way, refused to acknowledge him. When he got to the door of his room, he turned and shoved Kill against the wall.

  “You stay the fuck away from her.”

  “Does your new pack know you have the hots for a sworn enemy?” Killian asked as though his throat wasn’t being compressed.

  “My new pack knows a hell of a lot more than you ever did.” He pushed away from his brother and went back down the stairs without grabbing what he’d come for. “Don’t you fucking follow me, Killian.”

  “You can’t avoid me forever.”

  True. But for tonight, Stray definitely would. When he got back into the living room, he saw that Gwen had moved into the kitchen with Rifter and Vice as Liam watched over Kate.

  As he approached her, he noted she now wore a pair of black jeans and a black sweater. The jeans were short on her but the sweater fit her well. And when she looked up at him, she suddenly stood. Liam tensed, but Stray waved him off and watched her get that same trancelike look in her eyes.

  She remained in place for a long second and then went to the door. Instead of trying to open it, she stared out the door, her palms splayed against the glass like a little kid wishing she could go outside.

  It was happening again. Stray’s blood went cold. There were no eyes in the woods this time. It was just Seb’s siren song, calling out to Kate. And it was working.

  Come on out, Kate.

  She shook her head. The voice was so clear that Stray wheeled around, expecting to see Seb in the house, when he knew damned well the witch couldn’t get in. Even when Seb had been their friend, he’d never come in here. He’d kept his own place at a guest cottage that used to be a quarter mile away until Rifter burned it to the ground six years ago.

  Come to me, Kate. I’ll teach you everything.

  Kate looked at Stray, the confusion apparent. “Can you hear him?”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Stray implored.

  “I think he’s trying to help me.”

  “It’s definitely a trick. That witch, Seb—I told you he was working with Shimmin.” Stray took her hands in his. “Listen to me. You called your familiar for a reason—let me help.”

  “How?”

  “Let me in.”

  She cleared her mind to allow it, to let him hear the calm, reasoning voice that urged her to step outside and meet him. Stray held her hands tightly, then pulled her into his arms.

  The sensation of being wholly and completely safe enveloped her. She breathed in his scent, felt his heartbeat, fast but steady against her cheek.

  Get the fuck out of her head, Seb.

  Seb chuckled, an eerily demonic sound. Not a chance, wolf.

  But then Seb was gone and suddenly Kate was back to . . . being Kate. No longer in the clutches of Seb, but she was still upset.

  She looked half stunned. Backed away from him. And Stray didn’t want to go back to where they were.

  “You’re safe now. I won’t let that happen again.”

  “He was inside my mind.”

  “I know. But he won’t be for long.”

  “He scared me.” So do you.

  He winced, hearing her unspoken thoughts, and she did too when she remembered nothing was unspoken between them. “I never want to scare you.”

  “I know you don’t mean to. It’s just—”

  You’re a beast, his mother’s voice echoed in his ears. You can’t be trusted, was told to him in answer to his question of why he couldn’t play with the other children or live inside the house when he was two and three and four.

  By the time he’d turned five, he’d stopped asking.

  “Yeah, I get it, Kate.” He
pushed away, hated hearing the hurt in his voice. He should be past it.

  Besides, she was a witch. He couldn’t trust her.

  No, you’re just bound to her forever.

  Under some circumstances, a familiar could be released from service, if warranted. But because of the depth of this bond and the power of the previous witch, it was a tenuous hope at best.

  Besides, this was the best way to keep an eye on her. Keep the pack and the Weres safe. By default, the humans would be safe too.

  And if she decides to move to the dark side?

  He had no way to answer his own question, so he didn’t bother trying.

  “There’s so much to take in.”

  “Shimmin’s been calling your phone,” he said. There had been undercover officers at Bite and Howl too, according to Liam’s werespies.

  The Dires hadn’t had much time for partying—their futures didn’t seem to call for it either.

  Her eyes looked old as time, hunted and innocent, all at once. “You’re safe with us.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her and, just like that, the distance between them returned. “Seb says you’re keeping me prisoner here. And I don’t want to believe him.”

  Her unspoken words were, Give me a reason not to.

  That was it. He picked her up, carried her to the garage and put her into the truck, even though he’d rather have put her on the back of his bike. He planned on taking her someplace to make her finally understand he was telling the absolute truth.

  Chapter 21

  Kate settled herself into the passenger’s seat. Stray barely waited for her to buckle up before he raced out of the garage.

  He also didn’t take time to get dressed, save for jeans. She could do nothing but notice, although she’d thought she was being sly. Until Stray said, “I’ve got clothes in the backseat if this bothers you.”

  Shit. The mind reading thing was really a problem. “It doesn’t. It’s just, where are you taking me?”