by Christa Wick
The girl's delicate nose lifted to scent the room. "A regular human?"
His right brow slowly rising as he breathed deeply, Cade shook his head. How could she not smell what Iris was? Did the silver mute it completely for another she-wolf? Maybe it was the water and soap covering Iris's lush body as she washed away the evidence of her dead partner?
He wanted to tap Joelle's pert nose and ask the girl if it was defective. There was no missing Iris's scent. Even with the wolfling drenched between her thighs, all Cade could concentrate on was his mate's smell, the cloves and oranges, the sweet, deep odor of the heat that would let him put a pup in her as soon as he could get Iris to spread her legs for him.
With the duffel as a barrier between them, he tried to steer Joelle out of his house. "Time for you to go, cub."
"Not a cub." A weak snarl bubbled past Joelle's pouting lips. Then her gaze flicked beyond his shoulder and her eyes went wide. "Is that woman wearing your robe?"
A wave of heat blasted Cade's back. He heard the sharp snap and crackle of witch light, felt its energy run electric fingers through his hair and down his spine. Another hot blast, wolfish in form, washed over him.
Joelle buckled to the ground.
Dropping the bag, he grabbed the wolfling by one arm and roughly hauled her to her feet. His mate's wrath pushing at his back, he stumbled into his drive, dragging Joelle's half limp form with him. He shoved her into the cab of her truck, his hands ransacking her jacket pockets for the key. Finding it, he shoved it into the ignition and turned the engine over.
"Can you drive?" He barked the question as he gave the girl a hard shake to rouse her senses.
She offered a faint nod. "Who is that?"
"Your alpha--"
Another snarl, this time with a flash of canines, erupted from the wolfling.
She was right, but only technically. Joelle's alpha pair were in their fifties and managed a pack of twenty-five wolves. But the words felt right to Cade. The power rolling off Iris had been almost enough to knock him off his feet and he doubted she was even accustomed to wielding it.
When Iris finally let her wolf run free? He couldn't imagine an alpha, male or female, who could stand up to her.
"My mate," Cade corrected. "You'll treat her as such. Now get the hell out of here before she fries your ass."
He slammed the truck door and took a step back, glaring at the girl through the window until she threw the vehicle in gear and smashed a foot down on the accelerator. Shielding his face from the loose gravel the tires kicked up, he watched until she was safely out of his drive.
Cautiously turning to the house, he saw that Iris hadn't moved. Stiff and shaking, her arms crowded her curves and ended in clenched fists. Her wolf glowed in her gaze, a glint of silver hugging the outer side of each pupil like a crescent moon.
Scowling, Cade stalked toward his front door. "What the hell was that about?"
He didn't need her to answer. Iris's response had been pure instinct triggered by Joelle's scent. The wolfling wasn't in heat, but she had dripped arousal. A she-wolf wouldn't care unless the arousal was directed at her mate -- and Joelle's sweet smelling cunt had been primed for Cade even if he wanted nothing to do with the girl.
Slamming the door shut, he continued across the room. All the anger fled from Iris as she realized they were alone again. She took a step back and Cade growled.
"You run away for twelve fucking years, years you should have been with me as my mate--" He raised his hand, warning against further retreat as Iris took another step away from him. "And you want to take a wolfling's head off because she drops a little juice around me?"
Lips quivering, Iris didn't reply.
Cade huffed at her, their bodies close enough that the warmth of his breath curled against her face. He placed his palm on her shoulders and forced her against the wall. His gaze dipped to her throat and then his hand captured the silver necklace and jerked it from her once more.
Sweet heaven...
He let the scent of her heat wash over him, rolled with its force even as his knees weakened. She had always smelled so damn delicious, but this was entirely different. This was the promise of her, forever, their cubs, a stronger pack. Hell, a stronger clan.
His hands curled around the collar of the robe she wore and he leaned in, his head angling so that his mouth could claim hers.
"No!" Her palms pushed against his chest, the strength surprising him.
The strength and the blistering sensation that came with her touch. Looking down, he saw her fingernails glowing.
"More silver, baby?" Absently licking his top lip, Cade grabbed her hand. Willing one of his nails longer and sharper, he scratched at the dark purple polish Iris wore. The paint flaked away to reveal a layer of silver beneath.
He rolled his lips, more confused than ever. Wolves were skittish around silver, especially when paired with magic. Iris wasn't a witch. He could see her wolf in her gaze, smell it, almost hear it scratching around inside her skull as it whined to escape. So why was his mate wearing silver, throwing witch light and speaking in tongues?
Dropping her hand, he grabbed the collar of the robe and pushed the edges aside. "Any more silver I should know about?"
Iris gasped, the sharp intake distracting him from the top swell of her breasts to her trembling lips. Leaning closer, his eyes drinking in the shape of her mouth, he let his fingertips touch her bare skin. His hips pushed forward, his cock upright and hard as it nestled against the soft curve of her stomach.
Locking his gaze with hers, Cade let his fingers surf the swell of her breasts to find the nipples. Another gasp, this one shared between them as he found the thin silver rods that pierced her flesh. Thumbing one, he felt her weight shift suddenly and knew Iris remained standing only from the force of his body against hers.
His tongue came out, tasting the air before it rested against his top row of teeth. Giving the bar a gentle twist, he watched her eyelids flutter then shut.
He had her.
Silver or not, she would yield.
His other hand drifted down. Finding the soft fur of her sex, he parted her labia, no longer surprised when he discovered more silver, this time a ring looped through her clit. The tip of his tongue quivered as he thought about snagging the ring with it, lifting and gently tugging the little piece of jewelry before he sought out the small pearl of pleasure tucked inside the hood.
Mouth closing in on his mate's throat, he mumbled a question before his lips sealed around her hot flesh. "How the hell did Esme even find you?"
Some ten feet from where he stood with Iris, a feminine cough froze Cade in place.
"I don’t think I did. It must have been the Hunters I picked up."
Beneath his touch, Iris stiffened. The short, heavy pants she had been breathing as he stroked her ceased abruptly, her chest suddenly motionless. Cade moved so that his body shielded his mate. A growl rumbled past his lips, its rolling vibrations feral and protective.
Just inside his door stood Esme. Her mate Dana stood next to her but respectfully faced away from the scene they had interrupted. At the presence of another alpha male, fur bristled along Cade's hands and arms. His spine loosened, ready to snap and pop until he was in his were-state.
"Don't even think about it," Dana growled, his head moving just enough to show a flash of fang and the corner glare of one topaz-colored eye.
Esme half turned to her mate, her hand on his shoulder as she whispered sweet nothings in an attempt to calm him. When witch light seeped from her fingers to settle against his clothes, he softly growled at her.
"He doesn't get to threaten you like that -- no one does."
She rose on her tiptoes, her palm curling around the back of Dana's skull so that he tilted it forward and their foreheads briefly touched. "He wasn't," she whispered. "He was threatening you. Protecting her. You'd do the same."
When she had her mate under control, Esme looked at Cade, her expression contrite.
"I'm sorry. I sensed a high distress level and..." Her hand gestured at his closed front door. "It was unlocked, but I shouldn't have barged in."
"No." Her tone cold and precise, Iris spoke over Cade's shoulder. "You were right to enter. What you saw wasn't...consensual."
Cade watched, frozen inside, as a smirk crawled up the side of Dana's face. He focused on the man's amused sneer, trying to forget the lie that had just escaped his mate's lips.
At least he hoped it was a lie.
Blinking, he dropped his head, his eyes tracing the blue sworls in his carpet as his lips mashed and slid against one another. He stepped forward, no longer shielding Iris so that she had to scramble to close the robe.
Somehow, he forced his feet to keep moving until he reached the couch and plopped down.
"Uhm..." Esme gave another little cough as Iris fumbled with the robe's sash. The witch's gaze landed on the duffel, her expression brightening. "Clothes?"
Cade grunted as Esme swept the bag up and started toward Iris.
"I know it's getting late," Esme prattled amicably as she crossed the front room. "And it's certainly been a challenging day. But we really need to discuss what happened."
Cade heard Esme hand the bag off to a silent Iris. He wanted to look over his shoulder at the women, to get a read on Iris's face and body language, but he knew that would only sink the blade she had just gutted him with another inch deeper.
He could feel the cold rolling off her just as distinctly as he had felt her blistering heat.
"I'll get us some tea going and something to eat while you change," Esme offered as she returned to the front room.
Feeling the witch's light touch on his hand as Iris started down the hall, Cade looked up to find Esme's face lit with a familiar and tender concern. He had a second to feel like a total shit for snarling at one of his best friends before he heard the fresh crackle of witch light from the hall and the force of Iris's wolf rising up.
Dana spun, ready to respond to any threat directed at his mate. Esme lifted her hand from Cade, her other arm extending behind her, fingers splayed in a stop motion to quiet Dana. She smiled in the direction of the hall, her gaze asking forgiveness from the she-wolf at the unintended trespass. A heartbeat later, the bathroom door slammed shut.
Cade wiped a shaky hand across his forehead before releasing the breath he'd been holding at the second flare of his mate's jealousy. He didn't know whether to laugh or howl.
Nonconsensual, my ass.
Chapter Five
Dressed in the bra and panties of a stranger, Iris sat on the edge of the tub. Next to her, she had placed slacks and a lightweight sweater with long sleeves. She glanced one last time at the locked bathroom door before extending a finger and placing the tip of the nail against her thigh. With her other hand, she reached for the sink and turned the cold water on at full force to mute her words. She started chanting, the finger motionless until the nail tip started to glow.
With the blue light came heat. She scratched purposefully at the skin on her thigh, lightly singeing her flesh with the image of a small raven's claw. Next came the crude shape of a hammer's head topped by horns. Still chanting, she changed thighs. The silver in the nail polish would pit magic against magic and prevent the wards she had just drawn from healing for several days.
As the skin on her thighs cooled, Iris marked her forearms with the same images just below the interior bend of each elbow. Finished, she turned the water off and pulled on the slacks and sweater. Rooting through the duffel bag, she found a pair of dress socks and put them on before sliding into her own shoes. Then she unlocked the door, still swearing inside her head for retreating into the bathroom instead of a bedroom with a window she could crawl out of.
Not that running would do any good. Cade was right about what would happen if Iris tried to return to her home and job in Columbus. Nothing but the truth would satisfy her superiors. No way in hell could she turn over the clan to the police. Never mind what would happen to the shifters she had grown up with. The world wasn't ready to find out an entire species had evolved alongside mankind that was superior in strength, able to heal most wounds in a few seconds and sprouted fangs and claws and fur when they were in their were-state. Mass panic would ensue. Anyone who had ever acted a little odd would be labeled unnatural and shot by their trigger happy neighbor. Mothers would drown their infants in tubs for being born with body hair...
She'd seen enough every day lunacy as a homicide cop to entertain even the smallest hope that the human population could handle the news in a rational and calm manner.
Not that she would even make it off clan lands if she tried to flee. Cade, already so full of promise the last time she'd seen him at twenty, now vibrated with all the power of his inner wolf. And the other wolf, the one that had arrived with Esme, was just as powerful. The entire clan would hunt her down...
Her upper lip curled in a snarl as she remembered the sleek, silver-haired she-wolf who had dropped more than a little juice around Cade before he had hauled the girl out to her truck. That was one member of the clan who wouldn't impede her escape.
Feeling her flesh ripple at the memory of the wolfling's arousal, Iris stroked her hands along her arms. She should have added more wards, but she didn't want to draw attention to what she had done by staying in the bathroom too long. The running water wouldn't have completely blocked her words from a wolf's ears, but neither of the men would be able to tell the witch what she had said. The words were too slippery for them.
Leaving the bathroom, Iris heard Cade's voice first. "Tell me you didn’t intentionally send us into a Hunter ambush?"
"I told you the energy was all off. I didn’t know there would be Hunters." Esme's tone sounded as if she had repeated the defense more than once while Iris was in the bathroom. "I just don't understand them wanting her d--"
The word died on the witch's lips as she spotted Iris standing in the hallway. Esme's brow furrowed as her gaze skimmed first across Iris's clothed thighs then landed on one arm. Closing the distance, she wrapped a hand around Iris's wrist with a gentle authority and began pushing the sleeve up before Iris could protest.
"Cade told me about the chanting." Seeing the wards Iris had carved into the skin, Esme shook her head. "You're the first wolf to cast--"
"I'm not a wolf." Iris pulled her arm from Esme's grasp as Cade growled.
Moving to one side of the hall, Esme gestured Iris toward the couch across from where Cade sat. The witch's mate sat in the armchair, a small child plastered against his chest. Iris hadn't detected the boy's scent, but the wards muted her senses when they were freshly carved.
"Honey, you're a wolf," Esme sighed. "I remember rumors that'd you'd never shifted, even though you were about eighteen when you left. My mother visited you once, didn't she? Camille Foster, she has the same coloring as me but rail thin--"
"With beady eyes and a shriveled heart," Dana interrupted.
A sliver of a frown crossed Esme's face, but Iris recalled the woman and had to agree with the witch's mate.
"She tried to treat me," Iris snorted. "Crystals and chants for most of a day...like there's a cure for not shifting. That was--"
"Two weeks before you left," Cade finished for her. "Did Camille say anything to you? Was that why you left?"
Esme rubbed at her eyes, witch light crackling from the fingertips. "I don't even want to think about the possibility, but Camille could have spelled her."
Taking a seat, Iris lifted a brow in Esme's direction. "What do you mean?"
Standing next to her mate, the witch reached down and stroked the black hair of the little boy. He looked up and smiled softly at her, his eyelids offering a sleepy dance of dark lashes before his head settled against the big wolf's chest.
Iris frowned at the exchange. She didn't mind Esme using the boy as an excuse to delay answering the question. Something else about the cub's presence made Iris itch. She could feel her skin get hotter from head to toe and her fingerti
ps buzzed with the need to release energy. But even the smallest zap of magic would be suicide around the witch's overprotective mate, more so with the cub in the room.
Pressing her palms flat against the seat cushion, Iris returned her attention to Esme, both brows raised this time to prod the witch into responding.
Esme rolled her lips a few times before her head dived in a short bob and she started to blink.
Six years working homicide had imbued Iris with an innate sense of when a woman was about to cry. Looking at Esme, she forced her expression and her voice into something softer and far more understanding than she felt. "Please, I need to know what your mother might have done to me."
"No telling." Esme shrugged, her hand briefly erasing a stray tear. "No asking her either. She escaped while being transported to the Witches Council for breaking her blood oath."
Iris let the news roll over her. Breaking the blood oath usually meant death.
"We don't know what happened. The two wolves guarding her were..." Esme let the words fall away. She glanced down at the cub, ensuring his eyes were closed and his face relaxed before she drew a finger across her throat.
Iris leaned forward, her professional interest awakened despite the day’s events.
"We know she was spelling me for a long time," Esme continued. "Weakening my magic so I couldn't help the clan as effectively and keeping me in a coma at one point so I couldn't heal Dana after the Hunters captured him."
Esme nodded at her mate. Iris looked at the gingery wolf. The topaz eyes glittered with frost, sending a chill down her spine and forcing her to look away. Her gaze landed on Cade, the last place she wanted to look.
She couldn't read his expression, only felt the intense heat rolling off him despite the distance that separated them. Part of her wanted to join him on the other couch, his warmth offering a façade of safety. Truth was, next to him was the most dangerous place for her to be. Basking in his energy, she would come undone. He would want to know why she left.