her enchanted

by Hartley, Emilia

  She wanted to kick something, to hear it shatter only to know that she could make an effect on the world. Everything she’d done so far felt useless. She was no closer now than when she’d started. Caz had been only feet away from her the day before. She should have grabbed him and run.

  Hillary and her warlock husband could sort out their disputes while she and Caz sat on the other side of the country. They didn’t need to get mixed up in all of this, yet they had. It’d cut their time short. Even if Nessa knew she and Caz were mates, she still knew so little about him. She didn’t know how he liked his coffee, what his favorite food was, or if he liked ale or lager.

  The young shifter opened his mouth to say something, the sharp look still in his eyes. Nessa held up a finger, cutting him off.

  “What did I just say? No. I’m not hearing it today. You’re going to help us get Caz away from a freaking witch. A witch. She is the one screwing with his life. Not me.”

  This was the most aggressive she’d ever been in her life. She kind of liked it. Not that she wanted to be a pack mother, but it felt good to hold power over them just by being obstinate.

  The young shifter’s jaw clenched, a muscle twitching, before he let out a sigh. “How do you propose we help?”

  And, like that, he gave in. From the way he’d stepped up, Nessa guessed that Caz had given his title to him. The shifter might have been inexperienced, but there was no better way to earn experience than by doing. He had potential, and he had the passion. It was a good choice.

  “The witch wants not just Caz, but the whole pack,” the warlock began.

  The new Alpha shot a look at the warlock, as if he would rather tear his head from his shoulders than listen to him. Nessa was proud when he didn’t attack the warlock and listened instead. The plan was not a smart one. Not by any means. She had a feeling it might bite her in the ass, but if she could get Caz back, then they could take on anything.

  ***

  He hadn’t done as she asked.

  Caz had gotten half way to his old garage when his head started to clear. He’d stopped and looked down at the pouch in his hand. Confusion rippled through his mind as he wondered why his mate had sent him to the garage with a pouch of trash.

  A strange sensation occurred when he dumped the pouch of trash into a nearby bin. It was almost…victorious. He didn’t understand why, but it made him feel good. Unable to stand near the bin, he turned toward the pier. Humans were loud and pushy as they took in all the flashy restaurants and shops, but it helped quiet the white noise buzzing in his mind.

  He found a bench near the end of the pier and sank into it. When his eyes drifted shut, faces flashed through his mind. His fists clenched in his lap. He saw a woman with dark hair, eyes sad and distant. He saw a man with floppy blonde hair and a sharp jaw line. Their names were distant, as if he’d never actually met them.

  Regret turned his stomach. Caz didn’t know what he regretted. He couldn’t dig any answers out of his own mind. They felt trapped beneath the weight of something. Beneath it all, the beast thrashed. Its roar was a distant and muffled sound. He could barely hear it at all.

  Breath caught in his throat, he reached for the beast. It felt like shoving his hand into mush. The resistance of his own mind pushed back. It fought against him and held his beast back. The creature would not be captured. The bear fought against the muck, against the fog that held Caz’s brain.

  Just as he thought he might grasp the bear and pull it to the surface, a voice shook him from his thoughts. Caz’s eyes snapped open. Hillary stood before him, a scowl on her lips. All thoughts of what he’d been doing fled. Guilt hit him. It was his fault that his mate was unhappy, and he knew it. Caz reached for her, to pull her into his arms, but she sidestepped him.

  “You failed me.”

  No, he hadn’t. He’d gotten rid of the trash for her. Wasn’t that what she’d wanted? He would always do as she asked. He would never betray her.

  Hillary bent to study his eyes. Caz leaned back, on instinct. He shook himself. Why would he want to get away from his mate?

  “This isn’t going to be enough. Is it? Your will is strong. I should have known that from the beginning. Not only are bears stubbornly strong, but the Alpha power in you bolsters it.” Hillary leaned back and rummaged through her purse. “We can rectify that. I didn’t want to go this far, but he’s too close. I can’t let him catch me. I don’t want to die yet.”

  “Die?” His heart fumbled, erratic. Caz reached for her, but she placed her thumb on his forehead.

  Something wet slicked between them. His skin tingled, and he opened his mouth to say something. Before he could speak, his vision blurred, and his mind went blank. All he knew was the roar of a distant creature as it beat against something.

  It thrummed like drum beats. Slam. Slam. Slam.

  The memory of gray eyes returned to him. The sound of a growl shaped the image of a woman. She was small, ever so slight, but the look in her eyes was fierce.

  Nessa.

  His mate. His true mate.

  Caz became aware of Hillary’s meddling, but he was trapped inside his own mind. He and the bear were one, slamming their fists against the wall she’d thrown up between him and reality. There was no way of knowing what she was doing on the other side. All he could do was beat against the wall.

  Slam. Slam. Slam.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Night had fallen. It blanketed the city in darkness, punctuated by street lights and floodlamps. Above, the night sky twinkled with diamond brilliance. The stars were scattered in every direction, seeming endless. It would have been a beautiful scene if they hadn’t been waiting for an attack.

  Earlier, Nessa felt the warlock’s magic roll over the garage. It’d touched every shifter under its roof save for her. The sensation of having done something bad had returned. She tried to shove it aside, to ignore it the best she could, but it wouldn’t leave her be. The feeling nagged at the back of her mind, a shrill voice against the silence of the night.

  She worried that Jacob had been right. It could be her presence that ruined Caz’s life. While Hillary had been working to get her claws into him again, once the witch threatened his mate, he’d sacrificed himself. The thought turned her inside out, but the cherry on top was the nagging voice assaulting her in the moment. The voice told her she’d only made things worse in her effort to free him.

  Behind her, the warlock grinned. She gritted her teeth against the unnatural power. Another presence hummed against Nessa’s skin. It set her teeth on edge, the two powers discordant as they clashed. Hillary had come to take back what she thought belonged to her. Just as the warlock had said she would.

  Nessa felt a wave of exhaustion roll through her body. The effect of Hillary’s protection spells was still draining her. She regretted even trying to get past them the day before. Her knees trembled, and she thought she would meet the pavement soon.

  When was the last time she’d eaten? Nessa needed a dose of caffeine, or a year-long nap. There was barely enough strength left in her to lift her foot. When the night began to spin around her, the stars and street lights becoming blurs, she knew something was wrong.

  The warlock stepped up to Nessa. He gripped her arm to keep her standing, but his touch on her bare skin burned. No—it tingled. Her arm fell asleep shortly after he touched her. She could barely string two thoughts together, let alone make sense of what was happening.

  She heard the scuffle of feet, heels clicking with short steps and the heavy fall of work boots behind them. Her heart leapt and fell in a matter of seconds. Her vision cleared to focus on Caz, nothing more than a shape standing behind the witch. She’d paused between two cars, using them as a shield should she have to duck.

  “You can’t have me, Victor!” Hillary shouted. No, she screamed.

  It was the sound of terror. It tinged her voice with adrenaline that slammed Nessa in the chest. The blow cleared her mind and filled her lungs with air. The world sharpened a
round her and she was able to focus.

  She spun on the warlock, Victor. He’d cast a spell over her all along. The pain she’d felt, the dark circles, had not been from Hillary’s spell pouches at all. Victor had tied her as a familiar and pulled power from her. She’d wondered where he’d gotten his power, felt the invasiveness of it in the cramped car. That had been him all along.

  “You son of a…”

  Before she could finish her statement, Victor grabbed her and spun her around. His hand clamped down over her mouth. She struggled against his grip, but his lean arms were surprisingly strong. He now had the entire pack bonded to him.

  Nessa kicked herself. This was her fault. She’d fallen for his ploy and allowed him to take over the pack. How weak could she have been? How desperate?

  No, she wouldn’t tear herself apart. There wasn’t time. Nessa had to focus on fixing her mistake. The beast inside her was ready for revenge. It was going to tear the world out from beneath Victor’s feet. She might not have been a bear or anything as big, but her cat came with its own advantages.

  She tugged on it, welcoming the beast to the surface. Across the parking lot, Hillary crouched beneath the protective shield that was Caz. When his face turned, Nessa saw how Hillary’s spell had grown stronger. He wasn’t himself, but when she looked at him she caught the glimmer of gold that washed over his clouded eyes.

  Good, he was fighting it, too.

  Her body shook and trembled. Victor must have thought it was her fear. Little did he know that the cat was fearless. As the last bit of magic washed over her, she closed her eyes. The plan sprawled out before her, and she grinned.

  Suddenly, she was falling through the air. Four paws hit the ground. Her dress billowed above her, caught in Victor’s grasp. He let out a sound of surprise before looking down. Nessa had already darted away. She raced across the parking lot, beneath cars and between stacks of tires so no one could see her.

  Victor’s power crackled in the air, but it couldn’t find her. Relief was cooling as it flowed through her muscles. She could smell the sourness of Hillary’s magic and turned herself toward it. Before long, she caught sight of Caz’s work boots and Hillary’s heels beneath the cars. The witch wasn’t going to like what Nessa was going to do.

  Hillary let out a shriek when Nessa appeared. Nessa ignored her, instead looking to her mate. His face was twisted into a snarl, but the gold in his eyes told her what she needed to know. When she sniffed the air again, she realized the spell didn’t come from a pouch.

  The bear bent Caz’s body onto all fours against the power of Hillary’s spell. She could see how it pained him, how his body groaned and cracked. Quickly, Nessa stepped up to his lowered face. The sour smell burned her eyes, but she found it on his forehead. There was no preparing herself for what she had to do.

  With her tongue, Nessa wiped the spell away. Immediately, she gagged and vomited on the pavement. Behind her, Caz surged to his feet. He shook himself. A growl filled the air, reverberating off every nearby car until it grew into a loud din.

  Hillary scrambled away from him, her eyes wide. Nessa moved to stand between the witch and her bear, hissing. Nessa expected anger, but the look on Hillary’s face was pure terror.

  “Don’t let him kill me,” she whimpered.

  Victor had lied to Nessa the whole time. Had he lied about his relationship with Hillary, too? There was not time to find out. All Nessa could do was lean into her mate. She didn’t have the voice she wanted, but she was sure he knew what to do. The bond between them was stronger for what they’d gone through.

  “Jacob!” Caz shouted into the air. Nessa felt the pull of power in Caz’s voice. It was the magic of an Alpha, forcing obedience, even through the spells around them. “Jacob, get up and shrug it off.”

  Nessa crouched to peer beneath the nearby car. Through the night’s darkness, she saw the young man from earlier on his hands and knees. Slowly, he rose to his feet. He swayed, caught between spell and command. His back bent, like he might fall again. Caz was no longer his Alpha. It might not work.

  But, the young man grimaced and rolled his shoulder. A roar left his lips as he threw his head back. The spell in the air snapped. Jacob was able to throw it off, it seemed, and once he was freed of the spell, so was the pack. One by one, they stood and turned toward Victor. Anger lit their eyes.

  These shifters had spent their lives minding their own business, working hard to make the world a better place. Then, a witch and warlock with marital problems had burnt it to the ground. Nessa was surprised no one had come to look for the source of all the noise. She could be thankful for one spell, she thought, if it was Hillary or Victor that cocooned them in the night.

  Once the spell holder fell, the bubble would burst, and the sounds of their battle would be unveiled to all of Monterey. Nessa needed to make sure it was over by then. Both spell casters needed to fall at once.

  She turned toward Hillary, weighing her options. The witch snarled as she scuttled backwards. Her eyes pinned Nessa to the pavement. Nessa pressed her body against Caz’s legs while she decided how she would take care of Hillary.

  ***

  His blood boiled.

  The bear fought its way to the surface, ready to ravage the world. Caz did his best to hold it back. He needed his voice for the time being. Shifting wasn’t easy for a man as big as him. He needed to wait.

  He said a silent thanks to the bear. Because of its perseverance, Nessa had been able to break the spell on him. Even though he was no longer the Alpha of the Monterey pack, his power was still tied to them. The threads were thin and fraying, but it had been enough to reach out to Jacob. One Alpha to another.

  The command for Jacob to shrug off the warlock’s power allowed him to pull it off the rest of the pack. Caz had never been more grateful for anyone. Nessa stood between him and Hillary, as if the small tortoise shell cat could fight back a witch. Knowing his mate, she could.

  He stepped out from behind the cars, toward Victor. The warlock was a dark blotch in the night, dressed head to toe in black. The only thing that Caz could see were the burning rings of embers in his eyes. While Caz felt no sympathy for Hillary, he knew he couldn’t allow Victor to get far, either.

  Already, shifters had released their beasts. They stepped out as wolves, black bears, and big cats. The cats slunk through the shadows, flanking the warlock. He could see flashes of their fur only because he knew what to look for. The wolves followed, creating a half circle, while Jacob and the other bears stood behind him.

  Caz turned his head and nodded to Jacob. “This is your call, Alpha.”

  The young man had a long way to come as an Alpha, but he would need to take every step by himself. There was no other way to learn how to lead.

  “Do we let others abuse us?” Jacob shouted into the night.

  Snarls and growls echoed all around Victor. The man started, glancing in every direction. For once, fear made the ring of embers in his eyes flicker. His time was up. Whatever he’d borrowed from other souls would be returned tonight.

  “No, we don’t!” Jacob’s shift rippled over him. His shoulders bent forward, and he fell to all fours.

  Before he could watch them finish off the warlock, a cat’s yowl split the air. Caz jumped into action. He raced toward where he’d left Hillary. Kneeling on the ground, she jammed a knife into the belly of a small cat, her lips moving.

  Caz’s scream turned into a roar. His beast burst free of Caz’s grip and into reality. His body shifted as he leapt through the air. Massive paws slammed on Hillary’s shoulders. She crashed into the ground. Her guttural chanting turned to a grunt upon impact.

  Atop her, he looked back. The cat was lying on the ground, motionless. The bear wanted to howl with grief. Before he could turn back toward Hillary, the image of the cat crumpled and blew away on a phantom wind.

  Human nails dug into his bear’s legs. Hillary bit out her curse between gritted teeth. “May your life be cursed with unhappiness. Yo
u’ll never find her again. She may be right before your face, but you’ll never see her.”

  He felt her words sink into his flesh like spikes. She pushed and pushed with her magic, but Caz refused to let her hurt him or his mate any longer. He pressed his paw on her throat. Her lips worked, reaching for air, but drew in nothing. It took far longer than he expected for the pulse beneath his paw to disappear.

  He could have ripped out her throat or snapped her neck, but it felt too violent. He only wanted her to stop. He only wanted for her to leave the world in peace.

  He lumbered away from Hillary’s body. The words of her curse still filled his ears. They made his limbs ache with prickling fire. He whined, peering beneath the nearby cars for his mate. She had to be nearby. She had to be safe.

  The cat on the ground had not been Nessa. It’d only been an illusion. Caz reached for the bond that hummed between them, but it felt impossible to grasp. It evaded him. Fear surged through him and brought bile to his throat.

  He leaned back on his heels and lifted his head to the sky. The sound he made was weak. Over and over, everything Caz loved was destroyed. Everything he touched was turned to ash. The garage, the pack, both were better without him.

  Nessa would have been better had he never met her. He wished he could have taken back every step he’d made toward her. If only so that she would be safe again.

  “What are you crying about?” her voice cut through the air. It was weak and hoarse.

  His mate appeared, leaning against a hatchback car as she held her shoulder. Blood seeped between her fingers and her face was pale. Caz dropped to all fours and raced toward her.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered. Her body betrayed her words, her knees buckling beneath her. She was naked, though a dress was clutched in her free hand. “Hillary jumped me with a dagger. She used my blood for whatever she was doing over there.”