Bitten by Treachery (Hadley Werewolves)

by Shawntelle Madison

  In the dark of the room, he should’ve been able to see everything, yet his eyes toyed with him. He couldn’t make out the dark form that rolled him to his back before perching on top of him. Firm breasts rested against him and the eager mouth of the woman on top of him licked him from the middle of his chest down to his belly button. With each flick, the fire inside of him rose and his body responded in kind.

  He reached for her, only able to rest his hands in thick, blonde hair.

  Charly? What was she doing here? How did she get inside? His throat was too dry to ask.

  The woman who looked like Charly again rose above him and captured his lips. His hands moved from her hair to grasp her hips. She stretched out above him, her inner thighs clenched against his hips, her core a few inches from where he wanted her to rest.

  The kiss deepened, and he melted as her kiss turned from heated to slow yet soft. The urgency to claim her boiled within him, but this honeyed kiss brought his vision to focus on Charly before him. The curve of her chin, the corner of her lips where a hint of a smile played. “I’ve waited so long for someone like you,” he managed to breathe.

  He wanted her even closer. Wanted to be inside her. His hips jerked upward. His hands roamed along her back, finding her naked. She didn’t stop him when he ran his hands from her back to her hips, then over her breasts. Each nipple was pert. He growled softly. The wolf within wanted to wrench her off him and claim her between her legs. But, somehow, he had all the patience in the world. Every inch of her needed to be sampled. To be caressed. There was a fragility in the line of her eyes. In the sway of her hip. He brushed the back of his fingertips over the side of her right full breast. He pulled her down to his mouth. He kissed her first, leaving small kisses that turned into small nibbles. Up close, she smelled so good. A sweet scent that only belonged to her. While he roamed, eventually he came to her nipple and drew her bud into his mouth with a single suck. Finally, she moaned against the top of his head, her fingernails biting into his shoulders.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  Her thighs clenched against him, and she pressed the apex between her thighs against him. He thrust upwards in response, grunting when her wetness brushed against him. With each flick of his tongue, his lower half pulsed against her, his hardened shaft yearning to be inside, to hear her pleas grow more urgent. One hand left her breast to glide over her buttocks then slid between her legs. He pressed two of his fingers downward, swirling over the nub until he barely slipped into her channel.

  “Like that. More.” Her grip on his shoulders tightened to painful bliss.

  His dreamy vision leaned upward and angled his length into her body. Not fast, but agonizingly slow. Inch by inch.

  Her mouth fluttered open, and through her moans, she uttered, “You belong to me now.”

  Charly froze over Trenton, taking his tense expression. He was everything she imagined. From his legs up to his soft head of hair. She expected him to arch upward, to shift while her body stretched over his length, but he waited patiently while she adjusted to him.

  Coming here tonight had been a last-minute decision. She shouldn’t have followed him home, but their kiss—and his words—kept repeating in her head. She didn’t have to seek him out like this. She’d enchanted him already. Her mission was nearly complete. She shouldn’t play with him like this.

  Yet, she’d walked up those steps and opened the door without a second thought. Now she was in bed with a man she choose. On her terms.

  Their eyes locked, and a small smile formed on his lips.

  Finally, when she raised her hips, he hissed long and hard. Charly found a delicious rhythm, working her hips back and forth. With each movement, she further lost herself in his intense gaze. She’d never looked at man like this during sex, watched how every move she made gave him pleasure. It was so arousing to observe when his lips parted, when his teeth clenched as her pace increased. This was what she craved: to connect with someone, to have a man all to herself. The muscles in his legs contracted and his abs clenched as her own ecstasy overtook her. She clutched him, unable to move from the power of her climax. Beneath her, Trenton stiffened.

  “Charly,” he moaned.

  Her head swam. Every nerve ending continued to fire, so she waited for her breathing to quiet. For her body to finish quaking.

  What she didn’t expect was the feather-like kiss to her forehead. “My Charly.”

  His midnight visitor continued to rest against Trenton, warming his side. He might have been tired, but in a few minutes, he’d show again her how grateful he was to have her here. But the comfort of having her so close relaxed him too much. His eyelids drooped, and soon his breathing was steady. His eyes were closed, yet her weight continued to press against him, warm and secure.

  Still, he reached for her and found nothing but empty air.

  He sat up in the bed, squeezing his eyes shut from the faint rays of dawn’s sun eking through the windows. His gaze flicked to the small digital clock next to his bed. Six-thirty A.M. His normal waking time. Yet he swore he’d only briefly closed his eyes.

  He lowered his nose to the bed and inhaled. Not a single trace of Charly. He still wore the same boxer shorts he’d gone to sleep in. And yet he’d been naked last night. He looked around his room and blinked at the unexpected view.

  His apartment door was wide open.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The morning light should’ve filled Charly with relief—she’d accomplished her mission, yet unease made her stomach quake. The night had been long, and after leaving Trenton behind in his bed, she’d spent hours looking out her bedroom window, staring at the desert and wondering what would happen next. Ophelia hadn’t given her too many details on how she should bring a high-ranking wolf back to the witches’ compound. Would a few enchanted pack members be enough? Why was one werewolf even too much?

  She pressed her head against the window’s warm glass.

  “When you control the alpha, you control the pack,” Ophelia had said with vehemence. “Don’t lose your resolve. The minute you forget your mission is the minute you forget about our fight.”

  Like she could ever forget about the blood demons or the attack when one escaped. With all the magic and fail-safes they’d possessed, one blood demon had more cunning than they imagined. No matter how she felt about him she had to see Trenton again to make sure this never happened again. Now that she was his siren, she couldn’t help but feel a deep yearning for him that went beyond the physical, though the touches they’d shared had been more than enough to call them back together. She brushed her fingertips against her lips. They’d kissed with a passion that made her body ache to touch him. Now that it was morning, even with her mission on her mind, she wished the circumstances with Trenton had been different.

  Charly finally got up and showered, but nothing could shake the unease in her mind. She turned down breakfast from Meg and couldn’t stay focused while she took a walk across the property.

  Did she control the pack now? There was only one way to find out. She ventured back inside to find Meg with a tablet in the living room.

  “What are you reading?” she asked her.

  “A scary thriller. Julia bought this one online and she told me I had to read it when she finished. You can borrow the tablet later if you like.”

  “I’m good.” Charly took a deep breath. Either scrape your confidence off the floor or further ground it in. “I want you to stand up. Now.”

  “What?” Meg glanced up from her book. “Do I have a bug on me or something?”

  Charly swallowed. Not the reaction she’d expected. She’d snapped to attention for the elder witches but didn’t sense the same exchange of power here.

  “Oh, I thought I saw something crawling on you, but it’s just dirt. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

  Meg laughed. “You looked all serious and everything. You doing okay?”

  “I’m adjusting fine. Today is my first day working at the coffee shop. Julia
said she needs help during the morning rush.”

  “Julia’s really nice. You’ll like working there. I’d have applied if I wasn’t going to college soon.”

  “Why not take a part-time job?”

  The young woman shrugged. “Em told me to enjoy my free time before I got chained to class work. I plan to be a chemical engineering major, and Em said I’ll be living at the library soon enough.”

  “Sounds hard.” Charly took a reluctant step backward and then waved. “I’m heading out for a while.”

  So she wasn’t in control of the pack. Or maybe the effects hadn’t kicked in yet? She had to see Trenton and figure out what happened. If he wasn’t the alpha, he had to have a high-enough rank to be second-in-command. She just couldn’t shake how he had to be the one.

  The line at the coffee shop wrapped around the building, and once folks got inside, the line weaved around the tables. Most patrons around where Trenton waited didn’t sit, though he was polite and said hello to folks. They took their purchase and headed out the door for the small furniture factory at the end of Main Street. During his first couple of months in Hadley, the factory workers were the first ones to reach out to him despite the fact that he was rogue. He appreciated their kindness.

  “Mornin’, Phil.” Trenton greeted another worker. “You look like warmed up shit, Wayne. You need to stop watching wrestling with Sylvester.”

  “Like hell I will,” Wayne, an older werewolf said with a grunt. “A case of beer and watching men knock each other silly is worth it. A cup of hot Joe, and I’m ready to work.”

  Just the reminder of getting a morning cup jolted him awake. The line moved, and when an opening formed, he spied a blonde working the caffeine machine behind the counter.

  Charly.

  She wore a black apron around her waist and a pleasant smile on her lips. She chatted with folks in line as her hands worked the machine and filled orders. Julia took money and passed orders to her newest hire. Charly had no trouble keeping up with her task and talking at the same time.

  Just seeing her made him smile. She was just as beautiful as last night. He tried to catch her eye, but she appeared occupied with work. She didn’t show a single sign that she’d missed a few hours of sleep. Matter of fact, she joked and delighted the customers.

  “I never had a cappuccino with a design on it,” one man said. “Almost too pretty to drink it.”

  “The coffee will go down just the same,” Trenton called out.

  At the sound of his voice, Charly glanced his way. Trenton offered a nod, and she got back to work. Had he done something wrong last night? With the light from outside shining through on them, he almost couldn’t imagine seeing her in the dark, perched over him with her naked body. It had to be some vivid dream. Yet he could still taste her. Still smell her. Even now it felt like it had been real.

  Charly laughed at a joke from a customer. Her smile warmed him. And when she pushed the finished drink and a blueberry danish to one of the factory workers, he wished her smile was directed at him. Had he been too pushy last night when they’d kissed? Asking for her number came to mind, but after they’d been together last night, something more should be said.

  He was almost to Julia when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around to see Sylvester. The plumber looked as exhausted as Wayne.

  “Morning, Sly,” he said.

  “Did Aidan come through here?” the man asked.

  “I’ve only been here about ten minutes. I haven’t seen him.” Sly usually showed up in the morning with his son-in-law. They did odd jobs around town together. “Maybe you missed him, and he’s already heading back home to meet you.”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t answer when I knocked on the door to his house, and he didn’t show up when my guys met up at seven.”

  “Was his car in the driveway?”

  “Yeah, both Penny’s SUV and Aidan’s car were in the driveway.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe they had a long night. Give him a call in an hour and let me know if you still have trouble getting a hold of him. We can do a well check if necessary.”

  “Will do.”

  By the time Trenton got to the end of the line at the counter, Charly avoided his eyes. She picked up her next order from Julia and kept her hands busy. So she did have regrets about what happened last night? Would it make her feel better if he told her he didn’t see what went down between them as a one night stand?

  He told Julia he wanted his usual, a double with two shots of caramel and creamer.

  When Charly didn’t look his way, he paid Julia and took a spot standing with others waiting for their orders. He’d have to wait until he finished his shift to settle things between them.

  Yet a conversation beside him diverted his attention.

  “You had any problems last night with your livestock?” one man asked another.

  A few human folks in town kept chickens, cows, and such. A good idea since deliveries to the grocery store came weekly instead of daily. Of course, that meant if anything bad happened to the animals, suspicion went to the werewolves, though that was a rarity. Trenton just didn’t like hearing anything being off so soon after that damn witch almost ripped the whole town apart.

  “Not really,” the other man replied.

  “I checked on my cows this morning and noticed the barn was empty.”

  Trenton leaned into the pair’s circle. “Did it look like theft?”

  “Now that I think about it, the door looked like it had been pried open. Something seemed off, but I couldn’t place it though.”

  Drifters came through once in a while. A rogue or two hoping to settle and they decided to leave instead.

  Trenton cracked his knuckles. “I’ll call it in after I wrap up here. I’ll take a look after my morning patrol, if you don’t mind.”

  “Thanks, Trenton. I’d appreciate that.”

  “Trenton. Double coffee.” Charly called out his order so he approached her with a grin, but she didn’t return the gesture. Matter of fact, she immediately returned to her work.

  He waited a moment then turned to leave, but threw over his shoulder. “Have a good day, Charlene.”

  As he walked out, he swore he heard someone chuckle and whisper in the back of his mind, It’s Charly, thank you very much.

  Seeing Trenton that morning confirmed Charly’s fears. She’d enchanted the wrong man. And now she’d made a mistake she couldn’t easily undo. She’d bound a werewolf to herself. Hell, now they could communicate telepathically with a bit of effort. But with each passing moment, the magic within her faded as the wolf strengthened. She had awakened that morning craving his touch, but that foggy moment passed, and now her thoughts have been replaced with nothing but clarity: Deep inside she was still a witch and needed to act like one. Her aunt Amelia’s mistake couldn’t be repeated.

  But these feelings she had for Trenton scared the shit out of her.

  Also, she hungered to eat. She hungered to move. And now she hungered to be with him. The job had been a thankful distraction. The orders came quickly, but she kept up with a speed she’d never had before. Each order didn’t require more than a moment to memorize and fill.

  Her body didn’t fail her either. For the next three hours, she worked at full speed without feeling tired even once. In the past, she’d performed cataloging work for one of the elders. After a few hours, her hands and eyes would grow fatigued. Yet now that the wolf swam below the surface of her skin, there was no escaping the facts: She was becoming one of them and she didn’t want to be.

  “They’re disgusting animals,” Ophelia had always said. “Most of them have no desire to advance their culture. Do you see them developing their abilities? Studying a craft like magic to better themselves?”

  To Ophelia, they were a means to an end. And Charly had no choice but to hear it much to her disgust. That was a part of the apprenticeship process. To learn what an elder taught. As a teen, her mother had once recounted what had happened to
her human father, a businessman from the northeast who came to Las Vegas once per year to visit her mother.

  “Your father had been a fragile human man. He came to me diligently every year.”

  “What happened to him?” Charly remembered asking.

  “He died protecting us during a blood demon attack.” Her mom touched the scar along her cheek. The skin was pale now, but the blemish was still prominent. “It all happened while we had guests in the compound. Your father’s death is all the more reason to keep out those not like us.” Her mother tried to stifle her tears but failed. “The world is a cruel place, Charly.”

  “Then why don’t we move somewhere safe away from the box? Why can’t we take it and throw it into the ocean? Add weights and let it sink to the bottom?”

  “The elder blood witches vowed not to walk away from their obligation like another coven had.” Her mom sighed, pulled her close, and ran her hand down her back. “It’s a burden the crow coven refuses to set loose on someone else—even to the deepest hole in the ocean.”

  “Charly?”

  She glanced up to see she’d stared into space while she wiped down one of the coffee shop tables.

  “Your shift is over, hon,” Julia said. “Why don’t you go get some lunch?”

  Charly slowly untied her apron and took it to the back office. The room was a tiny space with shelving for stock, a computer desk, and a window looking out to the back alley. As she put the folded apron into an empty space on one of the shelves, something darted down the alley and came to rest near the opposite building. She shuffled back to the wall at the sight.