Charming the Alphas (Hex My Heart, #5)

by Talina Perkins

  She angled her head. “As in ongoing? What kind of powers?”

  Obsidian whipped around with a look of mixed anguish and relief. And reluctance. “When I hit ye with my magick, something inside ye crumbled. A new magick flared to life. It called to the magick I fed into ye. If ye’re anything like yer father, yer healing will double in strength, ye’ll be able to speak to us in shifter form, which ye already know, and with yer mates. Ye’re of the oldest bloodline, Marabelle. Draeonian by blood and witch by birth. Right now, every path is open. There’s no telling what may happen as the days progress. I suggest ye stay here and let our healer care for ye more.”

  She understood his worry. “I can’t. I have to get back. My sisters are sitting ducks in the middle of a war they have no idea even exists.”

  Lucian and Zane stood. “Our pack also needs us. Now that we’ve mated, more is at stake than a missing vial of blood.”

  “Aye. But if that blood is nae found, the consequences willnae end with just yer sisters and yer pack.” Her uncle spoke above everyone who started to speak at once. “We’re talking about reverting to a time where blood and honor meant nothing and killing was a way of life. Too many died to free us from the tyranny of the High Council.”

  “And I won’t let that happen again, Uncle. Not if I can help it. If there’s a way I can help, I’m in.”

  “I guess that means we are too.”

  Marabelle turned to her men. “Are you okay with this? I know I’m asking a lot. More than I have a right to, but I need to help them. And if they can give me answers to who my father was, please understand I can’t turn away.”

  “Didn’t we say last night that if you were going to plot any more adventures to count us in?”

  He had a point. “Promises are promises. This adventure could get us killed or land us on the wrong side of a powerful warlock’s magick. You up for that?”

  Obsidian broke in. “Have ye got a plan to go with yer bravado, witch?”

  “I’m working on it. Think we’ll stand a chance, dragon boy?”

  “As a team, aye. Maybe. Alone not even a sliver of a chance.”

  “We get that.” Lucian countered. “With just you and your brother, we’ll need more men.”

  “Aye. We have more brothers, but it’ll take time to pull them in from their positions.”

  “But first,” Marabelle held up a hand, “before we make a move, take me to see Harmony. Please.”

  In all of this if there was one thing she’d learned, never look the devil in the face without having a backup plan—her sisters. In order to join the ranks of the dragons, she needed to disappear to keep her coven safe from repercussions and so did her mates.

  “You know what this means, right?”

  Both men stroked a single finger along her cheek and guided her to look into their eyes. “It means you’ll never face another problem alone. What happens to you happens to us.”

  Goddesses willing, Lucian’s words were not prophetic.

  The Beginning...

  EPILOGUE

  Midnight swallowed him, masking his presence from the unknowing humans below. Two centuries of lies, betrayal and death clung to their very essence. Now he and his brothers got to relive the past.

  His stomach churned. No thank you.

  A man could take only so much killing before his soul either turned black or died.

  Obsidian gave a final push of his wings, oblivious to the winter cold, and he glided along the up-currents as they carried him to the mouth of his lair. Buried deep in the mountains of Canada, no human had ever tainted his territory. Perched on the ledge and with his snout raised, he let out all the frustration eating at his soul with a bellowing roar.

  Bone cracked, elongated teeth receded and gave beneath the weight of his dragon until scales morphed to human skin.

  No human until now, that was. Faint whimpers hit his sensitive ears and he pulled back from where he kneeled on the stony edge to reveal his treasure. Wrapped in pearl white silk lay the woman he feared more than a thousand blades.

  “Please... don’t hurt me. I... I don’t know anything.” Salty tears streamed down smooth skin. He forced ice into his heart and steeled his emotions against the petite human and her false tears.

  “Nae. That I dunnae believe, wee one.” Hands braced beneath her legs, Obsidian curled her close to his chest and carried her deeper into his lair. Her cool skin against his. Gods, it burned his senses and pulled at buried desires that had no business rearing their ugly heads.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Haven’t ye heard of a Dragon’s hoard?” Soulful brown eyes stared at him, but big beautiful eyes stopped affecting him a long time ago. “Ye’ll be an exotic addition to my treasure until ye tell me everything ye know.”

  His senses picked up the fear that permeated the air the second he swung open the door and slipped her wrists into handcuffs.

  “But you don’t even know who I am.”

  “Och, but I do, little one. Ye’re mine.”

  With that, Obsidian left the human to stew on that chunk of truth. Hell, he was still choking on it. Four hundred years looking for a true soul mate and she turned out to be the one woman who betrayed him before she even knew him.

  Hopefully, he would not have to kill her.

  THE END

  Keep reading for a chapter excerpt of the first Hex My Heart release, Hexing the Alpha!

  Coming Titles for the Hex My Heart Series

  Hexing the Alpha – Out Now

  Jinxing the Alphas – Out Now

  Bewitching the Alpha – Out Now

  Enchanting the Alpha – Out Now

  Other Available Series

  Sexy Siesta Series

  His By Sunrise (novella)

  Tequila Sunset (novella)

  Sunrise for Three (novella)

  Look for more anticipated novels from Talina

  Sunrise Till Sunset

  (Joel Cordona’s Novella)

  COMING SOON!

  Sexy Siesta Full-Lengths

  Controlled Heat

  Tropical Heat

  Relentless Heat

  Savage Heat

  Thank you for reading Enchanting the Alpha! I hope you enjoyed it! If you liked this book-or any of my other releases-please, consider reviewing the book at your favored online retailer. Your ratings and reviews help other readers find new favorites, and of course, there is no better or more appreciated support for an author than the word of mouth recommendations from readers. Thank you again for your interest in my books!

  XOXO

  Talina Perkins

  www.TalinaPerkins.com

  Want more smokin’ hot shifters

  and misadventures with magick?

  Read on for a sneak peek

  at the first book that kicked off the bestselling

  Hex My Heart Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  “This better work or else we’ll be finding a new place to call home come next month, Cinder.”

  Honor gathered a pinch of crushed lavender and sprinkled in the last of the ingredients needed for her love potion. A puff of purple smoke twined high before diving back into the concoction that would— fingers crossed—work this time and play cupid for a very lonely woman. “Fourth time’s the charm. I hope.” Honor tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and let out a deep sigh.

  She’d promised her client a spell that would convince her boyfriend to take the last plunge toward marriage. Success would net her a cool two grand—enough to save her bar and the attached apartment.

  Getting the spell to work was proving to be more difficult than she’d anticipated. All three previous batches had fizzled out along with her patients.

  If she didn’t get this to work soon it was bye-bye to the only security she had and hello cold streets of Sweet Briar Hollow. Panic sent a cold shudder down her spine and she wiggled her toes nestled inside her favorite warm wool socks. She still had time. Twenty-four hours to be exact.
Her gaze fell to her hands as she splayed her fingers out to call forth her magick, searching for a little calm in her own personal hellish storm.

  Encased in the magick-tinged wave of heat that flooded her body came a rush of power laced with memories of the last time she felt so much energy in her palms. Sweet, delicious, mind-blowing, pure masculine strength in the form of the sinfully sexy alpha pressed up against every inch of her body. Goddess, she so did not need this right now.

  An unbeckoned smile spread across her lips. “Stop that, Honor.” She flexed her fingers and forced herself to focus. Had it only been three nights ago that he’d almost taken her? Her core still vibrated with pent-up need for him.

  No, what she needed was to forget him. Forget the way his lips ignited a fire in her belly. Forget the way her body had molded into his embrace. The way his gaze, luminous with a red tinge she didn’t understand, pulled her into his world. Body and soul.

  But more importantly, forget how he’d left her wet and wanting, spread open for him on her bar top with a growled, “Sorry, pack business.”

  Yeah, forgetting one Jake Monroe, alpha shifter, wasn’t likely. She took a calming breath and counted out her heart beats to steady her thoughts.

  The Hollow in the winter was like living in Antarctica, and served as a damn cold bucket of water to her runaway thoughts. In fact, she was pretty sure the below freezing temperatures of her small Maine town rivaled anywhere else on the planet come January and no amount of lusting after Jake would change that for her.

  Honor tossed a look at the clock hanging behind her couch. Almost time to open the bar. She rolled her shoulders and called forth the five elements that fueled her powers, the call of fire her strongest. Heated energy crackled and popped in the small dining room, fusing the air with enough juice to power up ten love potions.

  She needed this to work. Maybe the spell just needed a jump-start. “Worth a shot anyway,” she murmured softly.

  A long drawn out growl from the chair where Cinder lounged watching the whole fiasco punctuated her thoughts. His black and orange patched fur was fluffed and bushy with static. “Hey, not long now and don’t give me that judgy look, buddy. We need the money and this,” she wagged a finger at the bubbling cast iron cauldron on her dining room table, “is the only way I know to get the fast cash we need and to keep kitty nip on the shopping list.”

  Her feline familiar blinked once as a human would shrug his shoulders.

  Sassy pussy. Whatever.

  She needed to get on with this before one –or all—of her three sisters dropped in and found her mixing the forbidden concoction. Not that they would turn her into the Council, but it would definitely put them all in a pickle if ever questioned or placed under a truth spell. Nasty things truth spells, and very commonly used on witches with rebellious pasts.

  She was well-acquainted with the rules governing her kind and right now she was breaking about five of them, which would get her kicked out or worse, stripped of her powers by the Elders. Not cool. But she didn’t see any other choice.

  It wasn’t as if the Council issued loans. So here she was. Solving her own problems if only slightly against her world’s law.

  Before starting, she had flicked the deadbolt in place and stuffed a towel beneath the doors, windows, and every other crack she found in the old apartment to help hide the odor. One of her sisters was bound to stop in for a drink and her efforts would do little in holding them at bay once they smelled the sweet nectar of rose and lavender. If they did show up before she finished... well, she’d rather not think about how many different ways this could go sideways tonight.

  Honor dipped the tip of her pinky into the swirling mass of fuchsia liquid laced with variant shades of midnight purple and popped it into her mouth.

  Much like her favorite Pop Rocks candy, it tingled along her tongue and down her throat as she swallowed the single teardrop worth.

  Mmm. She sucked the single digit between her lips and sighed.

  Dazzling white heat burst to life, singeing her insides to finally detonate in the depths of her core with a powerful need she’d never felt before. She swayed in place and let her eyes slip shut. Just as quickly the all-consuming sensations calmed, leaving behind a blanket of warmth to settle over her entire body like a lover had left her thoroughly sated.

  Would finding release with Jake be that wild and untamed?

  Honor shook her thoughts clear of the sexy alpha.

  “Thank the goddess this actually has a chance!” She pumped a fist in the air and received a swish of a tail from her plump familiar. “Cheer up, Cinder. I think we’re almost there. Just a few final touches.”

  Honor scrolled a finger over the spell she’d penned especially for this task until she came to the last part needed to bind the spell to find true love.

  True love. She’d be happy if she could get one devilish sexy shifter to look her way one more time. No love particularly required, but in some ridiculous corner of her mind a roguish shifter to call her own did have a nice ring to it.

  If anything his sapphire eyes and midnight black hair spelled wild lust-filled nights. Her feminine parts quivered just thinking about the broody male that had spent the better part of the last month holding down the back corner table opposite her bar top.

  Damn the goddesses. She knew to the bottom of her soul, they’d had her in mind when they cooked up his wolfish charms and good looks. Her body thrummed every time she felt him track her movements as she tended her customers. His eyes had a way of glowing with an ethereal light every time she glanced his direction. Raw heat is what she saw in their depths and it made her naughty side crave a little dirty romance.

  She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the why, but when their gazes connected nothing else mattered. For that split second between serving a drink or some other task at hand, everything dropped away and she only saw him, the force of his gaze like the smack of her love potion to her senses and her thoughts of total possession. She just didn’t understand it. Maybe she didn’t need to. Maybe it was leftover feelings from the night they almost shared.

  She didn’t fit under the ranks of saints. She’d had wild nights of hot sex before, but Jake made her feel different. As if what he wanted would be beyond mind-blowing. If only she knew what had sent him hoofing it out of her bar and away from her when they were so close to finally taking their attraction to the next level.

  Did he not feel the same way? If he did, the wolf had a damn good way of hiding it.

  She paused and looked down at her handiwork.

  The potion. It was playing with her emotions and churning up the hottest passions buried in her soul.

  She let out a deep sigh. “Here comes the fun part. Time to nudge destiny a bit.”

  She closed her eyes and dashed thoughts of Jake to the back of her mind where they damn well better stay locked away. With her attention refocused on fusing the potion with her binding powers, Honor interlaced her fingers to form a barrier over the opening of her cauldron and started.

  With this spell I declare

  A single drink to claim a heart so fair

  A perfect match bring forth this night

  With a heart pure in light and a wish for love so true and right

  For the good of all and with free will I cast this spell to do my will

  As I enchant this potion with my words

  So let it be done and that it harms no one

  So mote it be

  Flashes of purple and magick-laced fire brought her eyes open. A single flame spiraled up from the liquid, then absorbed back into the confines of the pot to shimmer with her infused power.

  Done.

  “Now if only by the goddesses it works...”

  From the shelf above her refrigerator, Honor snagged a silver container she normally reserved for the homemade liquor the other locals preferred. Shifters burned through what she had on tap so she cooked up her own brew that kept her doors open. Barely. Her illegal love hooch woul
d keep her in the black for now, but for how long? She couldn’t sell enough of the regular booze to the locals and stay afloat. Her only hope now was her ability to attract more shifters with her special brew of Moon Lust.

  She measured three servings of the love potion into the container, then sealed the bottle. She placed the canister on the table by the front door and turned to the mirror to straighten out her hair from the messy bun she sported, planning her next move... delivery and payment.

  (End of sneak peek)

  To continue reading make sure to pick up the first Hex My Heart release, Hexing the Alpha!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Talina is a bestselling author of military and paranormal romance. Her stories are deeply emotional and touch the heart while heating up the romance between the sheets. She write about sexy alpha shifters, hunky military men that make falling with them irresistible, and kick-ass heroines that love a good challenge!

  Born and raised in Mayberry USA, this small town country girl spread her wings at the young age of fourteen and moved to Mexico where she's lived for the past eighteen years. Now, Talina currently resides in sunny Puerto Vallarta with her four children and is married to a U.S. Recon Marine—her very own smokin’ hot hero.

  Subscribe to Talina’s newsletter for new release news, contests, your favorite book themed wallpapers, free chapter long excerpts of every release and so much more!

  Sign up for Talina’s Newsletter:

  Newsletter

  Visit Talina’s website at:

  www.TalinaPerkins.com

  Join Talina on Twitter at:

  www.facebook.com/talinaperkinsauthor

  Follow Talina on Twitter:

  www.twitter.com/talinaperkins

  Add Talina on Instagram at:

  www.instagram.com/talinaperkins_author/

  Charming the Alphas

  Copyright © 2015 by Talina Perkins

  Excerpt from HEXING THE ALPHAS

  copyright© 2015 Talina Perkins

  Edited by Em Petrova

  Cover Design by Bookin’ It Designs

  eBook ISBN: 9781311674319

  All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the permission in writing from the Author.