“Yes, you do. Well, I should rephrase that: you can do it and I will teach you. It isn’t my fault that your family repressed your true nature.”
“My true nature?” I watched the flame dancing. It now looked like two separate flames dancing around each other.
“Here, take one.” He held out his hand.
“No.”
“Take it.” He scowled.
I shook my head, keeping my hands back.
Then my hand was forced forward by some invisible power. He tipped his hand over mine, and there was fire on the surface of my hand. It didn’t burn but watching it terrified me. I tried to shake it off, but I couldn’t.
“You can’t get rid of my flame. Just as you can’t get rid of me.” He grinned. “You’ve been marked as mine before you were born. When your mother refused to honor the bargain, when she chose to marry that human instead.” He scowled. “Such a waste. You aren’t as strong as she is, but maybe you will be someday. Maybe when I have enough time to mold you into your destined form.”
“Where is she?” I gave up trying to get rid of the flame for the time being. It didn’t hurt, and the longer it stayed there the less freaked out it made me. Other than the fact that the flame came from the frightening man, it felt natural enough.
“She will return as soon as you submit to me. That is a promise I can make. And I am not a warlock who makes many promises.”
“A warlock? You’re a warlock?” I spoke the unfamiliar term.
“What did you think I was?”
“I don’t know.”
“So innocent.” He reached toward me. I recoiled but not for long. I was frozen. I couldn’t move a muscle. He ran a hand over my cheek. “So innocent, but not for long. You got your mother’s beauty. You will make me a fine queen.”
Queen? I wanted to yell out but I couldn’t. He walked around me, running his hand over my shoulder, around to my back.
“I think we’ll get you a purple coronation gown. How does that sound to you?” His arms came around me from behind, coiling around my waist. He pressed up behind me, pushing his hardness against me. “I’ll take your silence as agreement. The coronation will be grander than ever before. Maybe we can even invite your animal friend. As a servant, of course. That’s the only way we let beasts into our castle.”
His hand slid up my rigid body. Something snapped. A rage brewed inside me, and I knew I was about to explode. Get your hands off me. I thought it with every part of my mind. An intense heat filled me before I was stumbling away from the warlock.
“Oh my. That was fast.” He grinned. “Is it really that easy to motivate you? If a little touch can do that, I can hardly wait to see what happens when you’re naked and on your knees.”
The rage filled me again. My hands balled into fists at my side. The flame was gone. “Where is my mother?”
“I already told you she’d appear once you submit to me.”
“And you think I’m going to ever submit to you?” I seethed.
“Yes. If you want your mother to live. Or your animal. Or that human father of yours. And let’s up the stakes.” He threw a flame at a purple curtain and it immediately set fire. “If you don’t want any of the innocent people at this ball to die.”
“Stop it! Put that out!” I had never known this kind of anger before. It was all encompassing, a physical sensation that flowed throughout my entire body.
“Submit to me.” He pointed to the floor directly in front of him.
“I am never submitting to you.”
He looked at me, his eyes dark as night. “I said submit.”
I felt a pressure, willing me to fall. My knees started to buckle.
“That’s a good girl. It will all be over soon.”
I went to close my eyes, but I couldn’t. He wouldn’t let me.
“That’s a good girl. I’m not going to hurt you. Don’t you want all the innocent people to live?” My knees made contact with the cold floor.
The temperature in the room rose as the fire spread from curtain to curtain. “We are right beside the ballroom. This fire will spread soon. But you alone have the power to put it out. Submit to me. You are almost there. Bow your head like a good girl. Grovel at my feet.”
An intense pressure weighed down at my back, and my neck ached as I fought against the push.
“Give in. Submit.”
I fought against the pressure.
He put a hand on the back of my neck. “I said submit.”
There was a banging sound from somewhere behind me followed by a shrill sound as something black leapt across the room.
The pressure subsided, and I stumbled to my feet.
The warlock struggled to pull a black mass of fur from his face.
I blinked a few times. “Remington?”
12
Norm
Nancy disappeared. One moment she was standing next to me; the next she and the warlock were gone, leaving just her father and me standing in the middle of the ballroom.
Only her father was frozen, stuck in place. Just like every other person in the crowded room.
But I wasn’t. I could move. I touched Nancy’s father. I pushed into his shoulder but nothing happened. It was as if he were a wax statue.
The warlock. He had put a spell on the room and taken Nancy. I had to find her.
I felt her. I felt her in a new way I’d never felt her before. I could sense her heartbeat. It was as if a cloud had disappeared, and now the truth was clear before me. Mine. Nancy was my mate. Had it been a spell? Something else from the warlock? I had no time to think about it now.
She was nearby. Thankfully the stronger connection made that clear. I hurried out of the ballroom.
I followed the pull, down the hall and next to a heavy wooden door. I tried the handle. It was locked. And hot. The door was hot. There was fire inside. My wolf took over, the transformation taking seconds as I rammed down the door. I started inside, but something small, black, and furry dashed inside first.
I watched as Nancy’s cat attacked the warlock, yanking a thick silver chain from around his neck.
“Get off, you beast!” The warlock tossed the small creature across the room.
I didn’t waste a second while he was temporarily distracted and lunged for him, knocking him to the ground.
“Stop!” Nancy yelled as she hurried over. “He needs to release my mom. Don’t kill him yet.”
My wolf didn’t want to wait, but the man inside the wolf would do what Nancy pleaded.
I pressed my paws into the warlock’s chest, careful to avoid eye contact. The little research I’d done after the bar fight told me that many warlock spells only worked with eye contact. Even my wolf remembered that.
“Remington, what is it?” Nancy’s voice came from beside me. I focused on her voice, the only thing stopping me from ripping the warlock to shreds.
The cat walked over with the chain in his mouth.
“Give me that, you beast!” The warlock yelled, but I continued to pin him to the ground.
“What is that?” Nancy pointed at the thick chain with a deep purple stone in the center. She took it from the cat’s mouth.
“It is not any of your concern.” The warlock focused only on Nancy.
Remington rubbed up against Nancy’s legs.
Nancy looked down at the cat. Then her eyes widened. “Oh.” She cupped the necklace in her hands and closed her eyes.
“Don’t do it. You don’t know what you’re messing with. You need me!” The warlock yelled, but he was barely able to fight me.
A bright light emulated from between Nancy’s hands. She called out as if in pain. My instinct to protect her kicked in, and I released the warlock and hurried to her just as she started to fall to the floor.
I reached for the man in me, shifting back just in time to catch her. “Nancy!” I searched her face, looking for a sign she was all right. The warlock was forgotten as I listened to her breathing. She was alive, but I had no idea
what was wrong.
Then her eyes opened. She struggled to sit up, and she pointed.
I followed her gaze to a pile of ash where the Warlock had once been.
“It should have worked. I thought it would work.” Tears streamed down her face.
“It’s okay.” I held her in my arms. “Everything is going to be okay.”
“My mom. She should be here. I knew it. Remington told me. I know how weird that sounds, and I can’t explain it.”
I looked to the cat, but he wasn’t paying attention to us. Instead he was staring at something in the distance.
The cat was obviously something more than he appeared, so I watched with him. The air got hazy, and a woman stepped out of thin air.
“Mom?” Tears spilled down Nancy’s face as she stared, mouth agape at the woman.
“Nancy!” The woman ran over and fell to her knees beside us. “I am so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“This is all my fault. If I’d only agreed myself.”
“Agreed? To be with him? To be with that horrible man?”
“So you know?” Her mother took her hand “You know what you are?”
Nancy shook her head. “Not really, but I’m getting the gist. You still have a lot to explain though. That stone. What was it? Remington told me to destroy it, but I don’t get it.”
“That warlock was far older than he looked. The stone was a life force that kept him alive. He also used it to keep me prisoner.”
“What happened to the stone?” All I saw was the chain on the ground.
Nancy’s mother stared at her daughter’s hand. “She internalized it.”
“What?” Nancy shuddered. “What do you mean?”
“It means you have a lot to learn, but first who is this?” Nancy’s mom nodded at me.
“This is Norm.” Nancy leaned back into my chest. “My boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Her mother wore an amused smile. “When did this happen?”
“It’s been in the works since we first met.” Nancy squeezed my hand.
“There is so much to catch up on.” Her mom beamed at her.
Leaving Nancy’s side was the last thing I wanted to do, but I also knew she and her mother had a lot to catch up on.
Nancy seemed to read my thoughts. “You’re not going anywhere.” She looped her arm through mine. “You promised you’d stay by my side, and the night isn’t over.”
“I’m here for as long as you want me.”
“Then forever. You’re stuck with me forever.”
I wondered if she had any idea how much I wanted that to be true.
Epilogue
New Years Eve
Norm
“I’m glad you like egg nog.” She handed me a refilled glass.
“Why is that?” I accepted the glass before using my free hand to pull her close.
“Because I love it, yet no one else ever does so I can’t generally rationalize buying any.” She lightly tugged on the sleeve of my t-shirt. I was woefully underdressed compared to the little black dress she was wearing, but she didn’t seem to care.
“And you couldn’t just buy it for yourself?” I lifted her delicate gold necklace with a small candy cane charm with a diamond. Maybe it would be corny for some people, but it had seemed like the perfect gift when we were at Mrs. Nellow’s shop. I was glad we’d always have a memory from our first date.
“I could, but then I’d have to drink the whole thing myself.” She put a hand on her stomach. “And then I’d get sick.”
“No getting sick.” I captured her hand in mine. It appeared to be such a delicate hand, but I knew better. I knew the power it could unleash.
“I won’t since I have you.”
I set my glass down on a side table. “You do have me.”
“The tree really does look perfect there.” She examined a red and blue stripped candy cane hanging from a branch. “I’m going to miss it when we take it down.”
“You have an eye for spaces, and we don’t have to rush and take it down.” She could keep it up all year if she wanted.
“If I have an eye for it, does that mean if I decide to move in you’ll trust me to make non-holiday decorating decisions?” She pressed the palm of her hand on my chest.
“Nancy, if you decide to move it you can bulldoze the house and build a new one.” I looked deep into her eyes so she would realize I was being completely serious.
“But we’d have no house then.”
“But you’d have still agreed to move in it, so I could wait.” I ran my hand over the back of her neck.
She laughed. “I don’t want to bulldoze it. I like it here. It could use some lightening up though.”
“Lighten it up all you want.” I put my arms around her waist and pulled her close. “It’s getting close to midnight.”
“It is. I wonder if I’m going to get a midnight kiss this year.” She ran her fingers over my lips.
“You are.” I captured her finger, along with her hand and backed her up to the stairs. “I can promise you that.”
“At exactly midnight?” She licked her lower lip.
“That requires me to wait twenty minutes to kiss you.” I stared at her full red lips. There was little chance of my waiting that long.
“Or you could kiss me now and later.” She slipped her finger through my belt loop and pulled me toward her.
Everything about her pulled me in. We were close enough I could feel the heat from her body, and her scent was intoxicating. “Or I could kiss you from now until midnight.”
Her eyes lit up. “I like that third option.”
“Oh yeah?” I brushed my lips against hers. “I like it too.”
As much as I wanted to claim her lips right then and there, I waited. I picked her up and carried her upstairs to my bedroom. I carefully set her down on her feet at the foot of the bed before pulling off my t-shirt.
“Thanks for the access.” She left tiny kisses across my chest.
I closed my eyes to enjoy the sensation of her touch before needing more. “Mind if I get some access?” I reached behind her and hesitated with my hand on the zipper of her dress.
“Please do.” Her teeth grazed her lip.
I slowly unzipped her dress, letting it pool on the floor by her feet. She undid my belt and unbuttoned my pants, bringing back memories of the last time her hands had released me. So much had changed since that night, yet it had only been a week and a half.
I unclasped her bra, immediately claiming a breast with my mouth while I slid her underwear down her legs. I released her breast and took a step back, admiring every inch of her unbelievable body. Mine. My wolf howled inside, knowing what it had known since the night of the ball. No amount of magic could have hidden the truth from me forever.
“Are you really going to stand there and make me wait?”
I didn’t waste time answering with words. I pulled back the covers and laid her down on the cool sheets. “I’ve been waiting a long time to get you in my bed.”
“Probably about as long as I’ve been waiting to get in it.”
I grinned, laying down beside her. I ran my lips over her neck while my hand slid between her legs.
She closed her eyes, and I watched, loving every moan, every sound of contentment she made. She was so open with me, so ready, and I was grateful I’d somehow managed to break through her walls and get close.
She opened her eyes and reached out for me. “Norm.”
She didn’t need to explain more. I was as ready as she was. I positioned myself over her and looked deep into her eyes. “I love you, Nancy.”
“I love you too.” She smiled. “And I want to be yours forever.”
I stilled, struggling to hold myself back but needing to make sure she was saying what I thought she was.
“I’m meant to be your mate.” It was her turn to look deep into my eyes. “You’ve said it yourself. I feel it too. Make me your mate.”
“Th
ere is nothing hotter you could have said right now.” I thrust into her, starting off slow and following her cues as I picked up the pace.
She held onto me, calling out my name, so I moved harder, faster, until all of me was inside of her. Being inside her was euphoric, and I ran my lips over the sensitive skin of her neck. She wanted this. I needed this.
I bit down. She whimpered, but quickly the whimper turned into a moan. I continued to move inside her, holding on as long as I could while I ran my tongue over the wound, sealing it up. Mine. There was no question about it. Nancy was mine, and I was hers.
“One of these days we’re going to have to get out of bed.” She curled up in my arms, pulling the sheet higher up. The days had blurred together, and I had no interest in changing that even though eventually I knew we’d have to get out of the house.
“We’ve been out of bed a few times.”
“We both have work—.”
“Have you decided what you’re going to do now?” There were many other things on my mind rather than work, but this was important to Nancy, so it was important to me.
“They’re going to let me work remotely.” She slipped her hand under the sheet, and I waited with bated breath to see where it was going. She rested it on my stomach.
“Perfect.” I ran my lips down her arm.
“It is. It means we can go move my stuff…”
I grinned. “Yes, it does. I’m ready for you to move in.”
“Because my staying here for nearly a week isn’t tantamount to the same thing?” Her hand slid down a little lower.
“No. That could still be temporary.”
She inclined her neck to give me a better view of the mark that was barely visible now. “I don’t think we need to worry about temporary.”
“No, we don’t.” I rolled her over so she was on top of me.
She laughed. “So I was thinking…”
“About?” I trailed my fingers down her back.
“Maybe next year we can put a Christmas tree in our room too.”
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