by Lauren Dane
Chapter Fifteen
“Well, no one is ever going to accuse me of having a green thumb,” Katie Faith told Miz Rose as they worked side by side in the big flowerbeds in her front yard the next day.
“You have a deep harmony with the earth, but your talents lie—like your mother—with defense. With protection and management. It’s why you do so well with numbers. You can’t make your roses bloom like your daddy can, but you can manipulate energy incredibly well.”
She beamed under Miz Rose’s compliments. That she respected the commitment Katie Faith had and the hard work she’d put in to train meant a lot.
In the two months she’d been back, Katie Faith had gone from thinking of her magic as something she only brought out on special occasions—like the good plates at Easter—to using it like another limb.
It wasn’t even a matter of calling it anymore. All these lessons had really worked because now it was always there, ready. It had been such a simple revelation, but it had shaken her to realize all her potential had just been waiting for her to take the reins.
There was a great deal of joy in that discovery. It wasn’t like she could shape shift or fly, magic didn’t work like that for witches. But she had her own talents. Though she couldn’t get green things to love all over her like her dad could, she used her magic to dig into the soil, to loosen and move it from her way.
Magic was in a sense, physics. It was the ability to use energy to make other things happen. Moving them, like with big dumb werewolves. Pouring energy into other things to make them grow, heal them. Aimee’s magics could soothe and calm, for instance.
No love potions or death spells. No, learning to be a witch was about letting her magic flow through her just right. It took control she had to learn. Gardening was Miz Rose’s way to teach using something relatable. And a sneaky one to get some free labor from her students.
Whatever the cause, she got it in a way she hadn’t with other lessons on the same topic. From a trickle slowly to a waterfall, Katie Faith and her magic learned each other as they became more and more enmeshed.
“Up until two months ago I had no idea I could feel like this. My magic fits like my favorite pair of jeans. Thank you.” She rocked back to her heels, her knees popping as she stood.
Miz Rose had been sitting nearby in a chair after telling her it was too cold to bend in the dirt. She directed Katie Faith to put the tools away and how to clean up the area.
Though she actually knew how to clean. Apparently not good enough for Miz Rose’s standards.
She withheld a snort of amusement.
“Now,” Miz Rose said to her as they went back inside, “before you go back to work, or your young man, or wherever; you don’t have to thank me. Your magic is yours. It’s always there, you simply speak its language now.”
“See but when you say it like that it makes perfect sense to me. But I hadn’t thought of it that way. You help me so much because you give me perspective.”
“Well, you’re welcome then. I’m glad you’re back home where you belong.”
Katie Faith headed over to the Counter to help close up. Her parents had been on in the afternoon, insisting Katie Faith take the morning off to help Miz Rose with her bulbs and to spend some time away from the drama that had seeped into everything since that horrible scene in the market between her and Scarlett.
It had helped remind her just exactly why staying in Diablo Lake was worth it.
Community.
Family.
Smiling, she parked her car out front and as she headed toward the doors, the sound of shouting, howling and then a scream caught her attention as she turned toward the west where the high school and junior high kids walked when they got out at three.
“There’s some kind of fuss over at the stump,” Aimee said as she came up the sidewalk toward her.
“Don’t tell me. Wolves?”
“You told me not to tell you.” She shrugged.
Katie Faith sighed. “Should we call the police? What sort of fuss?”
More people began to come out of the storefronts to stare up the street.
Her dad came out. “Katie Faith, you and Aimee get inside right now. Heaven knows what’s going on but you don’t need to be in the middle of it. I’m going down to have a look.”
Both Katie Faith and her mother scoffed as Katie Faith hustled her dad back inside.
“You’re the one who needs to stay here. It’s a fight at the stump. Isn’t the first. Won’t be the last.”
The stump was a small open area that served as a hangout and park. Unsurprisingly, there was a big, flat stump in the center of the glade where kids hung out on weekends and after school. The trees lining the glade had formed a magical space in the center. It was on that spot where there’d been a tree that’d towered over the rest, filling with power and magic over hundreds of years.
It had to be felled right when Diablo Lake was founded after a lightning strike left it leaning and dying. Timber from the tree made up part of every home in town, posts lined Diablo Lake Avenue that’d been cut from the heart.
Silly shoving matches were a fact of life when there were young people around, especially shifters. But real violence in a spot that was held in such honor by the citizens of the town could very well fracture the community.
“I’m heading over there,” Katie Faith told her parents. “If there are any witch kids involved we need to handle that.” And chances were this stupid fight was probably about her in some way, so she felt responsible.
“Don’t get in the middle of this,” her dad replied.
“I’m already in the middle of this. Everything is okay. Just a bunch of dumb kids. But someone has to be the adult.”
And he was not in any sort of shape to be that adult, though she’d never say such a thing out loud.
Aimee took up at her side as they hurried up the street, following the noise.
Jace jogged over from his truck, waded into the melee, grabbed shirt collars and started yanking kids off one another.
“I said, everyone knock it off right now!” he bellowed in his best Prime/cop voice.
The principal came rushing over, along with several teachers and parents. Jace eyed the onlookers, giving them his best disappointed-dad face.
“What is wrong with y’all? Kids beating each other silly and you watch instead of step in to stop it? Act like you got some sense! Jim Bodine, don’t you dare run off. I know where you live and if you make me chase you down, I’ll kick your butt.”
The kid stopped with a groan.
“What exactly is going on?” he demanded.
He felt Katie Faith’s magic before he caught sight of her as she and Aimee approached. He smiled a little at the edges before he put all his attention back on the group of teens all yelling now about Dooleys and Pembrys. A whole lot of dumb bullshit about bumping shoulders or side-eyed looks got them all het up.
He scrubbed a hand over his face before drawing all his power around him and yelling out, “Enough!” That magic whipped them all into silence and once they obeyed, everyone else calmed down too.
Once they’d given him their attention, he spoke again. “We all live in this town. And we all need to work together instead of at cross-purposes.” These shifter boys needed a fucking dressing down and as a Prime, it was part of his responsibility.
“Y’all are wastin’ my time, making me come over here to break up a bunch of fights that had gone too far because you were too busy thinking with your dicks instead of your brains. We’re neighbors and friends. We’re family and this is silliness you’re too smart for. Even if some of the adults in this town aren’t.”
He didn’t look at any one kid specifically. “None of this is worth truly hurting someone over. You want to be known as that guy who nearly killed someone over a bumped shoulder? Th
at make you tough? That don’t make you tough, that makes you a coward. Every last one of you shifters has a responsibility to use your strength wisely and appropriately. You think this crap is appropriate?”
Every head hung low by that point. As it should have. But kids made mistakes just like adults did and he wanted to encourage better control, not beat them up forever. “Get your butts off to wherever they’re supposed to be right now. Don’t let me catch any of y’all in a tangle again. You hear me?” Jace added a growl at the end, which sent them all scrambling, even the few witch kids who’d been watching the goings on.
Jace looked for Katie Faith and once he’d noted her speaking to a small knot of witches, he turned his attention back to the situation at hand.
The principal shook Jace’s hand. “Nicely handled. Been a bit more agitation in the last few weeks. Mainly along the usual lines.” He didn’t need to say Pembrys and Dooleys, everyone knew it. “The kids are usually better at policing themselves and breaking things up before it comes to violence.”
As well they should. That pack enforced behavior was an important lesson most shifters grew up with. How they created lasting bonds with their peers and elders.
“Gonna need to reinforce control and discipline over the next little while within the packs,” Jace said as he caught Katie Faith’s smile as she made her way over to where he stood with the group of adults who’d gathered.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve had a rough patch.” Jace’s Uncle Talmage tipped his chin. “Won’t be the last, either. There’s no call to get worked up because this is how it goes. You gave ’em a spanking. They needed one. Things’ll even out soon enough.”
Uncle Tab was the smartest of his generation. He’d have made a great Patron but he wasn’t interested. Told Jace he could get a lot more done from the background than in the leadership seat. Because of that, his grandfather had focused his attention on Jace and his brothers.
His grandfather underestimated Tab’s strengths, but once Jace was Patron, he wouldn’t make that mistake. His uncle was a huge asset with an encyclopedic understanding of their history. Not just Dooleys. Not just werewolves or shifters, but Diablo Lake.
As a teacher at the high school, he had special insight on how the younger generation viewed things. Young people weren’t as silly and dumb as his grandfather thought. If Tab wasn’t alarmed, Jace could allow himself to worry a little less.
He nodded his thanks to his uncle, giving him a respectful tip of the chin.
“I’ll keep checking in with you,” Jace told the principal. “Make sure things are all right. Give me a call if you have anything you want me to know or you need me to come out. I know both those boys; I’m doubting either family’s going to call to complain, but if they do, send them my way as well.”
If they were smart, they’d back Jace up and go about their business. If not, he’d smack them down too.
Everyone dispersed, including Aimee, leaving Jace alone with Katie Faith.
“Hey there, Officer Dooley.” She kept her hands tucked into the front pockets of her jeans and he knew it was to keep from touching him.
He couldn’t help but send her back a look that told her he felt the same way. Every single part of his being screamed out, mine each time he saw her.
“Afternoon. How was bulb planting and witchery with Miz Rose?”
She laughed and he held a hand out. She slid her fingers through his and they set off toward the Counter. “It was good. It’s not so much that she shows me spells or whatnot. She explains it to me in ways I can understand. She says I’m learning to speak my magic’s language. I think that actually sums it up pretty well. So I’m feeling quite witchtastic.”
He chuckled. “Witchtastic? Is that even a word?”
“It is now. What are you up to tonight?”
“I’m off shift in an hour then I promised Damon and Major I’d help them out with a construction job later.”
He’d much rather be with Katie Faith snuggling and having dinner, but the more money he saved up from side jobs, the more he’d have for their future.
“Come on by when you’re done if you aren’t too tired. I have some side work of my own and then I think I’ll hang out with my parents a while. My uncle is in town a few days so I thought I’d have dinner there. I’ll bring you home some leftovers.”
He kissed her. A quick one, suitable for the public. She didn’t get on his case about stuff, which he liked.
“I’ll text you when we’re wrapping up to touch base.”
“Third base I hope,” she murmured as she sashayed back inside with a wave.
Chapter Sixteen
Damon waited for him outside the squat little city building. “Darrell showed up at the Counter under the guise of looking for you.”
Jace saw red as rage flooded him. His skin burned and itched, the magic of the transformation beginning to gather.
And then he heard her footsteps rushing up the street.
“I’m guessing she just heard about what happened from her daddy,” Damon said as he planted himself between Katie Faith and the door.
That’s what enabled him to get it together. She needed him to be under control. His pack needed him to be under control. And so did Diablo Lake.
He turned. “Hold up, darlin’,” Jace murmured as he caught her up in his arms. “Let me get to the bottom of this. I promise you I’ll handle it.”
“Is he in there? Hiding under his daddy’s desk, I bet. He got my father all worked up, Jace! I’m going to twist his nuts off.”
He and Damon both cringed and sucked in air.
“He’s not inside. I’m going to him now, as he says he’s looking for me. Go back to the Counter and keep an eye on your folks,” he told her.
“I came back to Diablo Lake to take care of them. That scumbag came into my place of business and got my recovering father upset. I’m not just going to let him get away with this.” Her chin jutted out and he was torn between annoyance and admiration.
“I understand. He won’t get away with it. I’m asking you to let me do my job as Prime and as a cop. Please.”
She looked him over carefully and finally let out a breath. “I expect a full update very soon. If he comes anywhere near me and mine again I’ll handle it.”
He sighed. “Okay, I get it.” Jesus she was hot. Also, trouble. So. Much. Trouble. “You and yours are me and mine. You understand that? Go on back to work, now. I’ll check in with you soon.” He risked a quick kiss and she allowed it before turning on her heel and stalking away.
“Damn, boy. You got yourself a keeper there,” Damon drawled. It was a joke, but they both knew it was true.
“She’s a goddamn handful, that’s what she is. Is he inside?” Jace asked his brother.
“No. Dwayne shuffled him out right quick. She was right about that. Darrell may be looking for you, but his daddy don’t want him found.”
“Darrell and I have unfinished business.” That he’d gone to Katie Faith’s family business to stir trouble was a direct attack on Jace. And it got his woman all riled up. He found himself hating seeing her upset more than anything he’d ever hated. He just wanted to fix it for her. Make her smile.
“I imagine so. Scarlett is laying low after that stunt she pulled at the market day before yesterday.”
“It’s not over. But for now, I have to give Carl a quick update on that stupid fight down at the stump and go find a shithead who needs his ass kicked. Dwayne’s been ducking me so I haven’t had a face-to-face with him about her yet so I guess that’s two shitheads.”
“Don’t do it without back up.”
Jace curled his lip. “If Darrell can’t handle me, he needs to be taught the hard way. I don’t need a posse to go with me.”
“He’s normally not the brightest, but as of now
he’s backed up against the wall. He’s acted like a total jackwagon in front of everyone. His momma broke Pack rules. His daddy sure as hell can’t step down and let him lead the pack. He’s not even Prime yet and this makes it even less likely that he will be. Desperate people do desperate things,” Damon warned. “I’m your enforcer. Let me or Major come along.”
“The day a wolf comes at me from behind is the last one that wolf draws breath.” He’d learned that at seven years old. It wasn’t something he was prepared to be merciful about ever again.
Damon grinned, nodding. “Good. Okay then. Still, I think you should have me there. Another witness will be useful and most likely keep things from exploding into violence. Though if anyone needed some violence in their lives it’s Darrell.”
“Give me twenty minutes to handle this other stuff first and I’ll meet you at the house,” he told Damon, who agreed, ambling off.
* * *
Not quite twenty minutes later, he and Damon drove over to Dwayne’s, but parked on the next street over. Before he got out of the truck, Jace turned to his brother. “This isn’t just pack business. This is about the treatment of Katie Faith.”
“Which is pack business. She’s your woman. Which makes her ours too. He’ll probably avoid answering the door but if we come around and enter from his back gate it might be better.” Damon got out before Jace could argue and they headed to Dwayne’s place where they found him on his back deck.
Before he stepped into the yard, Jace held his right hand up, palm out. A gesture letting Dwayne know he wasn’t out for blood. Just yet.
“What are you doing here?” Dwayne demanded.
“I’m here because several wolves in your pack have been causing problems in Diablo Lake. I’ve tried to engage you on this in your office multiple times but you’ve been out every single time I called or dropped by. Imagine that. Your Patron came dangerously close to spilling pack secrets to a witch in the middle of a crowded grocery store. She also used her size to intimidate Katie Faith.”
“You need two wolves to make that clear?” Dwayne taunted.