He shook his head. “You know I can’t. He’ll let you go. He’ll rant and rave for a few days, but he’ll get over it.”
Because he wasn’t particularly interested in her. Until his marriage scheme, he’d never considered her an asset. Despite the fact Dane defied him every turn, as the only son, he had value. Someone else in her position might be bitter about that, but she’d found being overlooked most of the time a much easier way to live.
She felt the walls begin to close around her.
“Then I can’t go.” They’d only ever had each other. Their mother had died days after Dane’s birth. She couldn’t abandon him now. “I’ll figure something out. Find some way to change his mind.”
His features took on the hard, stubborn look she knew so well. “No. You go now.”
“I won’t leave you behind,” she snapped.
“You don’t have a choice, Harper. I can take care of myself, but I won’t be able to save you if you stay.”
Suddenly, she was freezing, then shaking, as she realized he’d seen two possibilities of her future. It worked that way sometimes. She could go to the wolves or die at her father’s hands. Dane led her farther into the room. She sat on a chair and leaned forward, head between her knees and sucking in air like it was her last chance. Gradually her hammering heart slowed and the numbness faded from her body. She looked up to meet his gaze and didn’t have to say a word. He could read it all in her eyes. She’d go.
“Pack lightly. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to leave.”
It wasn’t long. She gave Dane a fierce hug before slinging the backpack over her shoulder and stepping outside. A mixture of trepidation and euphoria filled her. She had the map to Redhawke territory but had no idea if her aunt and cousin would take her in, so that explained the bit of anxiety. Fear was something she was used to living with. The excitement was a new sensation, however. If she succeeded, if they let her stay, she’d be free for the first time in her life. She’d rarely let herself dream of freedom, but now that it was in reach she wanted it with a stunning fierceness. It was Dane’s final gift to her and there was no way in hell she would squander it.
Chapter Two
It took almost two days to get there. She drove until her car was out of gas, but with no way to refill it (her father never allowed her cash or credit cards), she was forced to hitchhike most of the way. Her last ride dropped her at an intersection in the middle of nowhere. The paved two lane led to the closest town, the road that intersected it to Redhawke territory.
It was deep and rutted, she’d guess impossible to trek in the muddy season in anything but a utility vehicle. She was forced to walk it. So it was hot and bedraggled and definitely not looking her best, when after passing miles of fence that kept her out, she finally arrived at the small gatehouse guarding the entrance.
Terrified didn’t even begin to cover her state of mind when two men stepped forward to greet her. Both were tall, wearing tight t-shirts that showcased bulging muscles. Their nostrils flared and eyes narrowed. They knew she was witch. And if the rumors about werewolves were correct, witches were not to be suffered. She straightened her spine and lifted her chin. She still had her pride if nothing else.
The move seemed to make a difference. One swept her with an appraising look and when he met her gaze it was with appreciation, not disdain. It gave her courage and she was grateful to him. She’d been sadly lacking in courage for too many years.
“I’m here to see Liza.”
The other one, the one more reserved, gave her a hard look.
“Liza? I think you have the wrong place.” He lifted the rifle slung over his shoulder and pointed it in her direction. “And you’re trespassing.”
She spread her hands, hoping the demonstration she wasn’t armed would slow his trigger finger. “Wait. Wait!” she exclaimed when his stance grew more aggressive. “She’s my cousin. I need help. Do you honestly think I would come here if I wasn’t desperate?”
She wasn’t sure what her brother had done to buy her time to escape but she was damned sure he’d pay for it in some way. She couldn’t let that be for nothing. Her desperation must have shown through because he lowered the gun. Her sigh of relief was heartfelt.
“Don’t move,” he said sternly.
Trembling over the near miss, she could only nod as he walked into the small gatehouse and picked up the phone. A few minutes later, he stepped out and gestured her over. She followed him around the back of the small building to find him starting a motorcycle.
“Hop on.”
She’d never been on one and wasn’t sure she wanted to start now, but what choice did she have? The ride was breakneck and exhilarating. Another new feeling to file away and savor when she wasn’t in danger. A few minutes later he deposited her in front of a large house with a nod.
“Go in. They’re waiting for you.”
He left before she could ask if he was sure. She didn’t even get his name. Sighing, she turned back to the house. Apprehension made her feet heavy as she walked up the wide steps, then hesitated with her hand on the knob. She shrugged. The hell with it. He’d said go on in. She twisted, pushed, and poked her head cautiously inside. No one stepped up to demand why she was there.
She heard laughter and voices down the hall and followed them, coming to a stop in the doorway of a large kitchen/dining combo. The room was packed. On second look, that wasn’t exactly the right description. The men in it were just so big. She didn’t know any of them, but it was impossible to miss Liza and Elspeth. She hadn’t seen them in years, but the family resemblance was unmistakable. Elspeth looked so much like Harper’s mother it almost hurt to look at her.
Harper rubbed her hand over her chest and the movement caught the attention of everyone in the room. They turned as one. Elspeth took one look at her, got up from her seat and rushed over with a smile. She practically dragged Harper to the table, and pushed her into a chair. Her stomach grumbled when she looked down at the full plate Elspeth passed to her. When was the late time she’d eaten? Her father would say she could stand to miss a meal … no, she wasn’t going there.
She looked up to see Elspeth’s stern look going around the table. “Business can wait.” When several of the men nodded at the order, Elspeth smiled again at Harper. “Eat. Then we’ll talk.”
She looked at the food on her plate. Fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Corn on the cob and green beans. It smelled divine but she was too off guard, too freaked out to do more than nibble. Finally the agony was over. Liza stood and waved her to follow. In the hall, after everyone else followed them out, Liza sighed heavily.
“Just the five of us. The rest of you … go work.” She waved but Harper felt hostility from the dismissed soldiers. Directed at her. Liza rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I’m in any danger from one lonely little witch,” thanks cousin, “with the alpha and beta of Redhawke in the room. Not to mention my mother.”
Harper felt the reluctance in the air but the others did start to drift away. Liza stopped one of them.
“Jonas?”
He turned to look at Liza and Harper’s breath lodged in her throat. She’d just sat in a room full of the biggest scariest looking men she’d ever seen gathered in one place, and he was the most frightening. Yet for some reason, under that natural reaction, she was drawn to him.
“Keep your phone on,” Liza ordered. “I have a special assignment for you later.”
He nodded once, turned and walked to the front door. Harper, transfixed, couldn’t look away. She swore his shoulders were as wide as the door and she could see muscles rippling under his shirt. And his ass … it should be illegal for a man to have a butt that fine.
A throat cleared behind her and she turned reluctantly, blushing. Gods, she’d been caught staring. Liza had a secret little smile on her face that made Harper nervous as hell. She’d heard her cousin occupied a position of high power in this pack and the werewolf world. Something about her eyes made Harper believe the r
umors.
Liza led the way to an office and Harper had a real attack of nerves when everyone was sitting and looking at her expectantly. Her freedom depended on this interview and the short horrible tale just spilled out of her. Caleb and Zach, who’d been introduced as Liza’s mates (Really? You could have two of them?) and the alpha and beta, looked ready to commit murder but their eyes softened when they caught her gaze.
Elspeth’s sigh was heavy, resigned but not surprised. “I suppose I should be shocked that kind of thing is still happening.”
“And you escaped?” Liza asked her mother. Elspeth’s smile was radiant.
“I met your father first. Who was completely horrified his mate was a witch I might add.”
“I don’t know,” Caleb drawled, his hand rubbing over Liza’s obviously very pregnant belly. “It has its advantages.”
Liza laughed and swatted him away. Harper was both amused and perplexed. These wolves were not at all what she’d expected.
“You can stay in my old cottage until you figure out what you want to do,” Liza said. “But you will have a guard.”
How could she deny that demand? She didn’t blame them at all. When she realized who the guard would be though, she desperately sought a way to prevent it but came up blank. So she was pissy and scared when Jonas came for her. Not a great way to make a first impression.
Chapter Three
Several days later, Jonas wasn’t sure if being put in charge of their sanctuary-seeking witch was a vote of confidence in his abilities or a new form of torture cooked up by Zach, Redhawke’s beta. Or maybe it was Liza. She’d given him the assignment after all. On further thought, as paladin, Liza was third in the pack hierarchy, but she rarely let that stand in her way. She probably thought this assignment was “good” for him. She thought he was too solitary. That he stood too far apart. What the hell did she know?
The night was gathering. Harper, the witch slowly driving him out of his fucking mind, stood next to him in the trees watching Liza put on her magic show while she told the werewolf version of Little Red Riding Hood. Colored lights, shaped as characters, acted the tale out in the air as Liza entertained a gaggle of transfixed youngsters. It was a telling nothing like the witch version. A fact that had been hammered into his head over the last few days by the witch at his side.
“Incredible,” she whispered, not hiding the awe in her voice.
He glanced down. She stared forward, as mesmerized as the pups at Liza’s show. Her face soft, lips turned up in an easy smile. It was the first time he’d seen her relaxed, and the change stunned him. She was at times meek. Others fractious. But there was always an undercurrent of fear in her. He’d had no idea she could morph into this lovely, beguiling creature. His gaze slid down her body, taking in full breasts, full hips. An ass that made his mouth water. His lips parted in surprise. How the hell had he missed this?
“You’ll catch flies,” Harper said. She was prickly. Acerbic.
Oh yeah, now he remembered. She said the right things, sounded in control, but her scent sharpened with fear. Her eyes were round with it. Her body trembled. He liked his women with teeth and claws, able to tangle with him, and she was more unarmed than most.
“Don’t worry, honey. You’re not my type.”
He turned his attention back to Liza and kept the rest of his thoughts to himself. The paladin was definitely more his speed. Caleb, their alpha, walked up behind her to circle her belly with his arms. He rested his hands on the swollen mound. Twins. Liza smiled and leaned into him but didn’t pause in her story. Jonas sighed. She might be more his type, but she was categorically not his.
She was coming to the end of the story. Little Red Riding Hood, promised to the woodsman, her grandmother’s favorite in a village full of admirers, chose to rebel and run away with the boy she loved. Because of her sin, her own grandmother cursed her and her young man to live their lives out half human and half the wolf that had aided in their escape. It was a curse they passed to their children, a feud passed to their descendants and the descendants of the witch who had created them.
The witch version was different, of course. In it, the boy was a jealous, spurned suitor cursed to his half life for accidentally causing Red’s death.
“Which do you suppose is true?” Harper mused softly.
He shrugged, but before he could frame a response, Mick approached. Just what he needed. The lover who currently wasn’t speaking to him and the witch who brought out a protective streak that was not only alien but made him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.
“Mick,” he greeted casually when he really wanted to yank the other man to him and kiss the irritation out of him. “Have you met Harper yet?”
“At lunch yesterday.” When she’d been with Liza, not Jonas. He should have been happy with the brief separation. Instead not having her in sight had left him surly and antsy.
Mick smiled, all charm and smooth confidence, and lifted Harper’s hand, then pressed a kiss on her palm. Jonas turned to hide his surge of jealousy, though he wasn’t sure if it was because Mick was showing someone else so much attention or because of the scent of Harper’s arousal, sweet and intoxicating, which filled his senses. Arousal that was for Mick, not him.
Mick gave him a knowing look and a wink when Jonas turned back to face them. He struggled to bury his feelings, the jealousy and confusion, and knew he was successful by the disappointed look that came over Mick’s face. He covered it quickly enough, turning back to charm Harper.
Jonas followed them to the buffet, then to an unoccupied table, and stayed silent as Mick slowly drew her out. There was something, an air about her that called to him. Sweet. Fragile. Breakable. She was not the kind of woman he was normally drawn to, but he couldn’t deny that he was.
He just listened as they spoke, his wolf scratching against his skin to escape. His wolf side was nothing but pure instinct, and its instinct was to protect. This woman. He was a dominant male, Liza’s number one lieutenant, but the urge went far beyond the protective streak he normally felt for members of the pack. There could only be one reason for that. She was his mate. He sucked in a deep, shocked breath.
She wasn’t what he expected, wasn’t what he wanted. He needed a warrior, not a frail witch who couldn’t fight him, who couldn’t meet him on equal terms. He didn’t want a mate he had to hold back with.
Harper, pretty and alluring as she was, was not for him.
Chapter Four
Harper shouldn’t have followed him.
She knew it. It was several days after the celebration where Jonas had first looked at her with heat in his eyes instead of only contempt and Liza had warned her to stay inside tonight, on the full moon, but it was also her brother’s birthday. She hadn’t dared contact him to let him know she’d arrived in Redhawke, that for the moment at least she was safe. But even if she couldn’t risk the communication, couldn’t risk her father discovering her whereabouts, she wanted to do a blessing ceremony for him. She’d discovered a tiny glade on a previous walk, the ideal serene place for her protection prayer, and had returned to it late in the afternoon. She’d finished before the sun began to set.
On her return she passed Jonas’s house. He was on his back deck, slowly removing his clothes, folding them methodically to place on a table. She couldn’t move, stayed hidden and frozen as each magnificent, hard inch of his body was revealed. If he hadn’t made his disdain so damned clear at the celebration a few days ago, and so many times since, she might have sashayed forward and propositioned him.
She couldn’t believe he didn’t hear her sigh of appreciation when he strolled forward, all those big, tight muscles gleaming and contracting. And his cock… Wow. They really came in that size? Her fumbling college days suddenly seemed much less the education than she’d thought.
So no one could blame her for spying, could they, when he stopped in the clearing behind his home and transformed into a wolf? Because, really, who could walk away from that wonder? Certainly
not me. She cast a quick simple tracking spell so she could follow when he loped off into the woods. But she didn’t in any way count on the scene she came upon following that spell.
His large black wolf fought with another, just as big but almost solid white. Well, more blond than white, and that’s when she realized it must be Mick, the pack’s healer. They snarled and circled. They drew blood, and once she thought she heard a bone crack. Finally, sides heaving, they fell apart, on their bellies, and shifted.
Mick naked was just as beautiful as Jonas. She wasn’t surprised when Jonas growled and pinned the other man. Shouldn’t have been surprised that they were both hard, that Jonas’s cock pressed against Mick’s ass, declaring his dominance over the healer. What surprised her was how much it turned her on.
And it just got better.
Mick twisted in his hold and flipped Jonas over. They were face-to-face. Chest to chest. Cock to cock. Oh gawd. Harper groaned, not sure if she wanted to watch or be in the middle. Jonas’s hand was on the back of Mick’s head, and he pulled the other man down for a kiss that seared her toes.
She wanted to leave, to ease her way out of view. That was real emotion, real desire she saw, and it made her want. It made her hurt. She’d never seen so much raw feeling openly displayed. What would it be like to be on the receiving end? What would it be like to be free to express it?
She hadn’t been living with the werewolves long, but it was already long enough to know her former cold, insular world of magic was sadly lacking. This was just further proof of it. And she wasn’t a part of it. Not a part of the open affection and love she witnessed so often lately.
She had to get away before they discovered her. Maybe get out the vibrator she’d bought on her last trip to town. But when she took a cautious step backward, eyes still soaking in the scene before her, her breath caught, and she sank to her knees to watch.
Mick broke away from Jonas’s grip and started to kiss his way down the other man’s body. He used his tongue. His teeth scraped over Jonas’s nipple, and he cried out, harsh and guttural. Jonas’s back bowed, and when she looked down his body, he was grinding his cock against Mick’s erection.
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