Berny asked, “Why are you so nervous, wasn’t that just a normal shifter thing?”
She shrugged, “The dominance stare and growling was normal. Even the contempt is a normal part of it, mind games. The disgust however wasn’t normal at all, and was probably all about the company they were keeping. Add in that I wasn’t aware of any strange shifters in the city means they didn’t advise the local council or pack alphas that they were in town, and it starts to look bad.”
Mia grinned, “Damned witches.”
Berny snickered, “You said it,” she cut off a second and then pointed, “Hey, isn’t that their car?”
She looked over at the side of the road, there was a large gray SUV pulled over, along with what looked like Kelly’s car. They were between exits, and based on the way Kelly’s car was facing the wrong direction, it looked like they’d been knocked off the road. She hit the brakes and pulled over, but they’d been going pretty fast, and were at least twenty yards passed before she could stop.
“Stay in the car,” she muttered.
She heard Berny’s snort, and ignored it when the young witch got out of the car anyway, quickly followed by Mia. Her first reaction was always to protect Berny and Mia, but they were stubborn and powerful witches, and wouldn’t let her face trouble without them, enforcer or not. Especially Berny.
She touched the core of magic within herself and dropped a glamour as she moved closer so the passing humans wouldn’t perceive what was truly happening. The two shifters from the food court were there, as well as three others she hadn’t seen before. She took a deep breath through her nose, definitely werewolves. They were surrounding Kelly, Tina, and Sarah, and none of them looked very happy.
If a human happened to look over at them as they drove by, all they would perceive is a calm conversation, and possibly assume they were trading insurance papers. Even a policeman wouldn’t stop, because they would perceive another patrol car already present. There was even a CCTV camera on a nearby pole pointing in their general direction that would go fuzzy.
She started to hear them from about five yards away. Her fire elemental was also warning her of danger, though she could tell that just fine for herself. The elemental was there to protect her from the unexpected, or when she was asleep, she could handle the obvious just fine on her own.
Kelly asked bluntly, “What is it you want?”
One of the men snorted and his tone dripped with scorn, “We came to speak to the local pack alpha, I’m not sure that matters anymore considering the company you keep.”
Tina growled, “Why didn’t you go through the council then, like you’re supposed to.”
“Yes,” Celia interrupted, “Why stalk female pack members at the mall, and why the hell are you running pack members off the road, please tell me?”
The same man turned and said dismissively, “It’s none of your business witch, unless these are your tame pets of course.”
Tina and Sarah looked like they would attack any moment from that insult.
She just smiled coldly, “Celia Winters, enforcer for the shifter council, may I know your names so we can notify your next of kin?”
She still felt a little ridiculous, and a bit pompous, when she needed to introduce herself like that. But she had to let them know who they were dealing with. An attack on her was an attack on the council, which meant even if they beat her, killed her, they would be marked for death in this area. And she also needed to show strength, but she already regretted the blunt threat she’d added on end.
They all froze and turned, one of them accused, “You’re that tiger shifter witch abomination.”
She nodded slowly, not really surprised by their attitudes. She figured the look of disgust had something to do with their mixed company. She knew her existence would be a hundred times worse than a cross species shopping expedition in their eyes.
“So that’s why you were bypassing the council? What is your business here?”
He grunted, “Searching for like-minded people, nothing you need to worry about, since you’re about to die anyway.”
All five of them rushed toward her, Mia, and Berny. She wasn’t sure what that would mean for her other friends if they lost, but she intended to never find out. The wolf shifter that had spoken went right for her, he was overconfident so when she simply wasn’t where he attacked anymore, he stumbled forward, right into a throat strike. His knee made a sharp cracking sound as she kicked it from the side, and as he collapsed she set him on fire.
She still didn’t have enough control without freaking out Silva to kill him fast, but at a three or a four on the scale, and the fact she was touching him as he went passed, meant he went up like a torch and started screaming.
The one going for Berny didn’t even have a slight chance. Still, a part of her was bothered that her friend needed to be violent, and on her behalf. The man simply ran into a wall, and she saw his head twist so violently the vertebrae snapped and disconnected. Telekinesis was simply one of the most powerful witch abilities for combat. Without a ward to deflect the magic, there really was no defense against it except speed and surprise, of course Berny was more than ready.
The one that went after Mia was hit with a blast of wind that threw him fifteen feet to crash into his SUV. He wasn’t dead, but she’d heard his back crackle and pop, and he was knocked senseless.
Berny took out the fourth a moment later, in the same way she killed the first.
Celia was being attacked by the last who was being much more cautious. She was considering what magic to use to hurry things along when Tina and Sarah jumped him from behind and pinned his arms.
Kelly walked over calmly as her friends held him still, and she broke his neck from behind.
She sighed, “Let’s keep the last one alive shall we? For questioning?”
Tina glared at her, and she let it roll off her back. She knew Tina didn’t really mean it, her wolf and the urge to protect was at the surface, letting an enemy live wasn’t prudent to that instinct, even if it was the smarter thing to do. She wanted to know what that wolf knew, and so would the council.
She started to mutter a spell, and hit the man with it that was still lying on the ground dazed, and he fell asleep. He wasn’t exactly in the best shape to resist the spell.
Tina sighed, “Fine, We’ll take him to my brother, what about the rest of them?”
Berny said, “I’ll take care of it.”
The four corpses moved farther away from the road, floating a few inches above the ground, and then Berny used her earth magic. Celia was impressed as the earth opened up and swallowed the corpses.
Kelly raised an eyebrow, “The side of a highway?”
Berny shrugged, “I put them eighteen feet down, no one digs that deep when looking for a body. Besides, they’ll be skeletons in a matter of hours, I encouraged to Earth to recycle them faster.”
Sarah shuddered and shook her head, but then she smiled, “I have to admit, it’s nice to know a witch when it’s time to hide the bodies.”
Mia giggled, and Berny just winked. The humor felt a little out of place, but was just a way to let off steam. It was also heartening to see her witch and shifter friends joking around like that, even if the humor was macabre.
She said softly, “Thanks, I should go with our prisoner, and someone needs to drive their SUV out of here anyway,” as she tossed Berny her car keys.
Berny nodded, “You’re welcome Celia. You know, I was thinking of being an enforcer, it feels good to protect others from assholes like this, but I can’t leave my coven.”
The Charlotte coven held the council for this area, the only way Berny would be able to become a council enforcer would be to change covens. She was happy to hear that, on the other hand she knew that wouldn’t stop Berny from helping anyway.
She nodded, “Well you can be a protector for your coven.”
Berny nodded and sighed, “Yes, but that’s not a paying job.”
She snickered, “
No, no it’s not. But that’s good for me. I get to keep you as an employee.”
Berny rolled her eyes.
Kelly shrugged, “Since you’re going to the wolf pack, I’ll just head on home alone. I think my car’s fine.”
Berny and Mia left to go back to the store, Kelly went straight home, and Celia drove the SUV straight to the pack’s land with Sarah and Tina, after throwing the living wolf shifter in the back. He wouldn’t wake up until her spell faded, or until she lifted it, so they had plenty of time…
Chapter 2
This was her third time in the wolf pack’s house basement. The alpha, Tony, was down there, along with herself, Josh, Tina, Sarah, and Natalie the alpha’s mate. She already pulled the guys wallet. He was from northern Florida, name was Todd Allen, and he was still under a sleep spell in the cage.
Josh growled, “You say the two witches fought? Killed some of them?”
She nodded and looked in his eyes, “Yes, they attacked us, is that a problem?”
Technically, under the law, a witch or shifter would need to be questioned by both a witch and shifter enforcer, to ensure it was truly self-defense, if they killed someone not of their species. Seeing as she was there, along with Josh’s sister, and the alpha’s sister, she wasn’t sure if she liked the implication of his question.
Although she counted as both, she was only one person, so she supposed if he and Ed wanted to question Mia and Berny it was fine, but it would still annoy her if they just didn’t take her word for it. Legally she understood it, she was a new thing, but personally she wanted to kick him in the balls. Silva wasn’t helping either, she could feel the great cat lashing her tail in the back of her mind.
Josh frowned, “No, I believe you of course, even if I couldn’t sniff out a lie I would, but we’ll have to kick this up to the council and let them decide if the witches need to be questioned.”
He seemed almost confused at the concept, and she kind of saw it. She could be counted as an enforcer on either council, but could she be considered both for any situation on her own? That would be putting a lot of power into her hands. So it probably was a fair concern. Either way, it wouldn’t be anything more than a formality, but it still annoyed.
Tony grunted, “Wake him.”
She wanted to bristle at that preemptory command, but she knew both he and Josh were on edge, they’d both had family attacked by strange wolf shifters, so she let it pass.
She cast a dispersal spell without speaking. It was even easier now to cancel her own spells and required very little effort. She’d taken the time to work with her air elemental, and gain knowledge of the actual forms, lines, and connections the magic took in her own spells, just like she could with wards. She didn’t have to destroy the whole thing, she just needed to knock out a critical junction with a needlelike dispersion of magic, and the rest of the spell simply unraveled.
Todd woke up and jumped, clearly disoriented as he regained consciousness, and then slowly settled back to the floor, glaring at them through the bars on the cage. He didn’t look all that frightened. He picked out the alpha immediately, and gave Tony a look of contempt. Prejudice wasn’t just stupid, apparently it made people do even more stupid things.
Tony growled, “What is your purpose in coming here, and the actions you took.”
She could feel the wave of alpha power in that command, but the man on the floor spit through the bars and growled, “Screw you,” except, he didn’t say screw, but another four letter word.
Tony tilted his head, and then turned around and went upstairs. They all followed him wordlessly as they met up in the living room.
Tony said, “His connection to his alpha is strong, I can break him but it’s going to take time. No reason for all of us to be down there, Josh and I can handle it and we’ll update you later.”
She figured mostly it was about not wanting Sarah, Tina, or his mate watching them torture him. She wasn’t squeamish about it exactly, but he was right, she would no doubt find out later, or in a day or two when Todd finally broke. While not squeamish, she wasn’t thrilled by the idea either. When it came to a fight, or self-defense, she was on solid moral ground in her mind. Protecting herself or those in her coven, or the pack, was clear cut and right. But she still wasn’t sure how she felt about extracting information forcefully. There really was no reason to stay for it, and she had stuff to take care of at the store anyway.
She nodded and said evenly, hiding her distaste, “Fine, just keep me updated.”
Tina said cheerily, “That was fun, we need to do that again soon, the mall part anyway.”
Sarah snickered.
She said her goodbyes and headed back home, and to her store.
“How’d it go?” Berny asked without preamble when she walked into the store.
She smiled and asked cheerily, “Afternoon Berny, how are you?”
Berny frowned impatiently but played along, “Good, and you?”
She snickered, “Great!”
Berny replied with a little impatience, “So… how’d it go?”
She shrugged, “He hasn’t talked yet, hopefully he does soon.”
Berny sighed in understanding, “Fran took off as soon as we got back, Mia left with her but should be back for her shift.”
She looked at the cute young blonde for a moment, “Are you having second thoughts about working here?”
She felt kind of selfish, Berny could and should move on if she finds something better, but she depended on her closest friend so much now that it would be hard to adapt.
Berny’s mouth dropped open, “No, I love it here. It’s just…”
She raised an eyebrow, “Just what?”
Berny sighed, “I love working with you, and learning about all the support and things you do for the community from the store. But ever since that assassin attacked, and protecting my coven from the demon that first night, I want to do more. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t want what I have, if that makes sense?”
She nodded slowly, not entirely sure. Was her best friend an adrenaline junky, or did she just like being a protector, or worse, did she enjoy the violence. She wasn’t sure she wasn’t being a hypocrite, a lot of that was her own feelings, all three of those actually. She didn’t enjoy the violence in a vicious way, or taking life, but she’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t enjoy the rush of the fight, or the contest. She was a predator after all, and strangely after the last few months, she was more than fine with that.
But how did Berny feel about it?
“It sort of does, how did it make you feel today? That was pretty hard core.”
Berny frowned thoughtfully, “It was both horrifying and a rush at the same time. It was something that had to be done, to protect us all. I don’t regret it, if that’s what you’re asking, and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I or my friends were threatened.”
She smiled softly, “I think I get it, I feel the same way actually. I’m glad I’m not losing you.”
Berny snorted, “You’d be lost without me, and worse, still wearing boring clothes.”
She snickered. That was kind of true, she’d always been more comfortable in a pair of comfortable jeans and a t-shirt, usually with a joke saying on it. The new clothes Berny had urged her to buy last month finally felt natural on her, and Berny hadn’t turned up her nose at all by what she’d picked today. Although the blonde had teased her over her choice of lingerie, she was more than sure Ed would appreciate it though. And of course, she was more than comfortable with her new sex drive and sexuality, so hadn’t even been embarrassed.
She still had questions about her new nature, but not about that part.
She felt sexy and confident in her calf high black boots, tight gray jeans, and a bright red blouse. She had her hair down today as well, and it was longer than ever, cascading down her back in waves of light brown. She still didn’t think she held a candle to her younger friend’s looks. Berny was gorgeous with her long blonde ha
ir, vivid blue eyes, and beautiful face, but she’d given up the argument at least, there would be no convincing her best friend of the truth. She could sniff out lies after all, and the poor girl actually believed what she said.
They both looked toward the door as it opened, and Dan came in. Celia watched Berny’s face light up, their relationship was going strong. She decided it was a good time to head into the back and work on some orders, not incidentally giving the young couple a little privacy…
She locked the back door as she stepped out for a run. The rest of the day had gone rather slowly, though they had a large amount of orders to go out, they’d had hardly any storefront customers. She also hadn’t heard anything from Josh or Tony, so she assumed the wolf shifter still hadn’t given up any information. She shuddered, very glad she wasn’t there to watch that questioning.
She ran ten miles, loving every moment of it. It would have only been better if she could have let Silva out for a run of her own. It was late, after nine, and this time of day was quickly becoming her favorite, she could burn off some energy, be alone for a short time with her thoughts, and just be.
She smiled slightly as she spied Ed’s car when she got back. Her nose easily picked up the scent of a late meal being cooked in the kitchen as she quickly jumped into the shower to wash off the sweat and the day’s work. She walked through the kitchen on the way to her bedroom, and paused just a moment to stare. There was just something so sexy about Ed cooking.
He turned and smiled, “Hey Celia, heard you had a little excitement today?”
She nodded, “Just let me get dressed, I’ll tell you all about it.”
He grinned, “If you insist. Did you need some help?”
She shook her head playfully and rolled her eyes, but as she walked toward the room, she could feel his eyes on her backside and smiled. She pulled on a pair of yoga pants, and a loose white t-shirt, and then made her way back to the kitchen.
She wrapped her arms around him from behind and smiled at the jump in his heart rate. That never got old, at least, not yet. As a tiger shifter she knew it would one day, or so she’d been told, but right now she was just going to enjoy it until it ended. She grabbed something to drink and told Ed about what happened today, while he finished up the breaded pork chops in the frying pan and drained the pasta.
Shifter's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 3 Page 2