Witch Hunt (City Shifters: the Pack Book 1)

by Layla Nash

  “More than one person wanting to poison you? Naaaah,” Chase said. He started to grin and clapped Evershaw on the shoulder as he stood. “Hard to believe anyone would want you out of the picture.”

  Evershaw waited until the lion had departed to turn his attention to Smith. “What the fuck did you do?”

  The old man’s eyebrows rose. “When?”

  “With the witch.” Evershaw gestured at the open air between his chest and wherever the witch was in the garage. “You said you bound her to me, but why the fuck am I feeling what she feels?”

  “You what?”

  “She managed to burn herself,” Evershaw said. He started to get just a bit suspicious that the old man was either hiding something from him or hadn’t anticipated the consequences of what he’d done. “And I woke up from a dead sleep feeling like my legs were on fire. What the hell is that about?”

  Smith frowned and his attention went far away. “Well, that is interesting.”

  Interesting. Not exactly what Evershaw wanted to hear when it came to weird magical shit between him and a witch who probably wouldn’t shed a tear if he died. “What kind of game are you playing?”

  “No game.” Smith’s expression didn’t change, but Evershaw didn’t believe the old man for a second. “I meant only to link her to you so she would have to save your life. I did not expect there to be any reciprocity.”

  Evershaw let the silence stretch, waiting for the old man to admit something else, but Smith didn’t even blink. The alpha finally shoved to his feet. “Then let’s see what’s going on with the car, and you can figure out what the fuck is going on with whatever you did to tie that witch to me.”

  Smith got slowly to his feet but there was a degree of stiffness to his movements that made Evershaw wary. He’d have to be careful not to push the old man too far, because there was no telling what kind of damage he could do when he put his mind to it.

  Chapter 24

  Deirdre

  I dragged myself around the SUV a few times, trying to get a sense of who’d messed with the vehicle, but between the number of people who still lingered in the garage and the static in my brain from whatever Smith had done, nothing immediately jumped out. Mercy reappeared with more coffee and an encouraging smile. It didn’t escape me that the pack watched my every move, waiting for me to figure out who wanted to kill their alpha.

  I didn’t want that kind of responsibility. That was precisely why I worked for a florist and spent most of my time in a greenhouse—I didn’t like pressure. I had to protect myself against the stress because it messed with my magic and tilted me too far out of control. I’d already cried twice in that house, and I’d be damned if I did it again over a stupid car.

  Repeating my mantra with each step helped the cool calm of the ice queen persona settle over me until I felt removed and aloof. It was far safer from within the depths of my security blanket. They couldn’t hurt me when I’d put up my walls.

  I kept my hands in the pockets of my borrowed jeans when one of the mechanics opened the passenger door for me, and I even held my breath as I peered into the seat that Evershaw had taken up. Sometimes it was hard to imagine the man contained in such a small space. He acted like he could take up the entire vehicle without room for anyone else.

  The air inside the vehicle definitely contained traces of the poison and the venom, both malevolent sparkles through the interior, and with it remained a trace of the culprit. An animal of some kind, perhaps canine. It didn’t feel like a familiar presence, which meant it wasn’t anyone I’d run across before. So that was good news for the pack.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying to pick up any other hints, but exhaustion started to crowd out the ability to think and perceive. Everything blended together—the aura of the culprit, the poison itself, Evershaw’s overwhelming presence, the soft breathing and movement of the other people in the garage. I’d almost found my center again when a door slammed and louder voices intruded and I knew with a sudden jolt in the air that Evershaw walked in and Smith returned.

  They both disturbed the air and auras like pebbles thrown into a pond, sending ripples out that bumped into everyone else around them. My carefully constructed facade repelled the ripples and left me serene and unaffected next to the SUV.

  Evershaw hardly spared me a glance as he took up a wide stance next to the vehicle and glanced at Smith. “Well? What’s the verdict?”

  “Deirdre?” the ErlKing said.

  I folded my hands behind my back, not caring if it was an aggressive pose for a witch since it meant I could be weaving hexes out of their sight. At least Smith recognized the danger and studied me with narrowed eyes. My voice came out tired and indifferent, despite the protection of my mantra, and I wondered if I could render my opinion and leave them to deliberate. “It was an animal. Some sort of canine. The aura was unfamiliar, so no one that I’ve run across yet.”

  “You would be able to recognize them if you saw them?” This from Smith, and the curiosity in his tone made me nervous. Surely the ErlKing himself could identify auras.

  “Perhaps.” I retreated a step and prepared to head for the door. “I’ll leave you to your deliberations.”

  “You’re not leaving,” Evershaw said, although it was an absent command that he simply expected to be obeyed.

  It set my hackles up. I’d already done more than had been required of me, and the ice queen didn’t feel like following orders. So I turned my back and stalked toward the exit.

  Not even Evershaw’s barked, “Witch,” could halt my progress.

  The two shifters who moved to block the door did, however, although at least they looked regretful. They also braced for an attack, which was a little bit of a confidence booster. The animals still feared me, even if their alpha did not.

  I took a deep, calming breath as I faced the two guards, staring at them in the hopes that they would simply move aside, but neither budged even though guilt flickered in their eyes. So I straightened my shoulders and turned on my heel to face the irate alpha and the ErlKing. An odd twinkle made Smith look a touch less intimidating, like a kid who’d mixed dangerous chemicals and waited for the explosion.

  Evershaw almost bared his teeth in fury. “You’re not leaving. Get over here.”

  “Or what?” I asked. The mantra allowed me to push away a sudden memory of him naked, and I kept my hands behind my back so that Smith, at least, would be cautious.

  “Or you will be brought over here,” he growled. Evershaw’s shoulders seemed to grow, like he wanted to loom over me from across the garage.

  For a very long moment, we stared at each other and everyone else held their breath. I refused to budge. I would not be intimidated. I might have to keep him alive to save myself, but that didn’t mean I’d somehow joined his pack and agreed to follow his orders. I was still very dangerous in my own right and I would not allow him to push me around.

  Evershaw’s expression grew progressively darker and more ominous, and the rest of his pack shifted their feet with anxiety. He took a breath, about to do something unforgivable, but Mercy abruptly bolted from where she’d lingered near the wall and slid up to my side to link her arm through mine.

  I jumped at her sudden presence, but otherwise tried to keep calm so I didn’t accidentally hex someone who didn’t deserve it. Mercy leaned close and breathed in my ear, almost vibrating with fear. “You can’t do this. Not in front of the pack. If you don’t go over there, he’ll be forced to do something to prove he’s still the alpha. You’re challenging him and he can’t allow that. Please, Deirdre. Please.”

  I hated him so much I couldn’t breathe. But I had no doubt that whatever kind of punishment he’d be required to dole out would scar me forever. Mother had always warned me about my pride. I tried to convince myself it didn’t matter if I were the first one to blink, but my stomach clenched and my knees wobbled just a bit and I suddenly didn’t know if I could walk forward.

  Mercy tugged on my arm just
a bit and bumped me forward a touch, then Smith approached at a saunter. “That’s an interesting theory, witch.”

  The tension receded when it became clear the ErlKing and the wolf wanted to save me from myself, and slowly dragged me a reluctant step at a time toward the SUV. Evershaw’s scowl deepened and his eyes lightened to a honey gold. I braced for him to rub the victory in my face, to make a point of humiliating me further, but instead he turned his attention back to the SUV. “What did you find, Smith?”

  I went lightheaded from the tension as everyone else exhaled in relief, and I might have leaned against Mercy just a bit more than she leaned against me. The younger woman rested her head on my shoulder and kept a tight hold of my arm as Evershaw paced and stormed around, still agitated at my apparent challenge. Smith didn’t react and managed to maintain an even tone.

  “I could not say who it was who did it, but it was both in the seat itself and on the air vents, so that you inhaled the particles. You’re looking for someone with ready access to enough nightshade they could develop different ways to deliver the poison. The venom is somewhat more difficult to pinpoint, as it can be ordered in a variety of ways or harvested from a snake directly.”

  Evershaw grunted, not looking away from the SUV, and rubbed his chin. “Todd, track down anyone in a fifty-mile radius who keeps snakes and exotic animals.”

  The other wolf, somewhere in the shadows, said, “Roger,” and then movement erupted through the garage.

  The alpha’s gaze flicked to me, as if to make sure I’d noticed how he expected his orders to be received, but I refused to even acknowledge his existence. The icy witch didn’t give a shit about what the animals did or said or how they organized themselves. It was so far below my notice that I couldn’t be bothered to care. The animals did what they wanted in the dirt, and I remained far above it all.

  Mercy cleared her throat to get my attention and whispered low enough I almost couldn’t hear, “Don’t make eye contact. He’s still…really mad.”

  “I don’t care,” I said, and didn’t bother to whisper.

  Evershaw’s eyes narrowed as his head whipped around to glare at me and Mercy flinched, quailing a bit as she ducked behind me.

  Smith stepped forward and tapped his fingers against the SUV to get Evershaw’s attention. “As you are searching for the owner of the snake, perhaps you should consider who else to pursue as likely culprits. If young Deirdre is up to it, perhaps she can accompany you in order to evaluate the auras of the people you meet with.”

  I didn’t like that one bit. I swallowed my objections and waited serenely as I stared at nothing and tried to make up a to-do list in my head, like I didn’t need to worry about what they talked about. I had to get free and then plan some kind of terrific revenge against Smith; then I had to contact the coven and figure out what I’d missed and whether any of them gave a shit that I’d disappeared for almost three days; then I’d buy the largest tuna filet I could find to try and make up with Cricket before he peed in all my shoes. Perhaps not all in that order, but definitely all three would have to be done before the week was out.

  “Get her some reasonable clothes,” Evershaw said. “And be ready to go at once.”

  Mercy started towing me backward, away from the men and the SUV. “Yes, boss. Will do.”

  My eyes narrowed as I studied Evershaw. He couldn’t possibly be serious. Before I could object or just flat-out refuse to go, Mercy had somehow gotten me out to the hallway. Henry and one other male wolf joined us; Mercy surrendered my arm to Henry, the new wolf took my other arm, and then suddenly I floated above the floor as the shifters jogged through the house.

  Well. Apparently they feared their alpha a hell of a lot more than they feared me. Not that I minded the ride, since it saved me the effort of walking that far.

  Chapter 25

  Evershaw

  Evershaw vibrated with rage that the witch openly defied him in front of his pack as well as outsiders, even though it intrigued his wolf side that she was that brave. Foolhardy and perhaps harboring a death wish, but brave. She’d returned to the cold witch he remembered meeting that first night in the cemetery. The difference made his instincts twitch in warning. He much preferred the Deirdre who teased him and even the one who seemed exhausted but still human. Still approachable. His protective instincts, driven not just by the wolf but by his place as alpha, started to kick in the moment he saw how exhausted and unbalanced she seemed. Her return to that frigid awful witch confused and distressed the wolf, since no one should have that kind of protective shell.

  And he had to deal with that even though he had cultivated the distance and go-fuck-yourself attitude she exuded after Ashley left and destroyed his pack and him. That was different. He had good reason to push everyone away. The witch was just being cold and haughty to protect her ego at being ordered around.

  Although it gave him pause when even Smith interceded to save the witch’s pride after she refused to acknowledge his status as alpha. Evershaw would have a word with Mercy about her effort to convince the witch to obey; he couldn’t decide if he was pleased with Mercy’s initiative or annoyed that she prevented him from teaching the witch a lesson. He’d almost been looking forward to a knock-down drag-out confrontation, just to see what the witch could do.

  He stalked back to his quarters after Smith departed to investigate whatever the fuck it was he did during the day and how he intended to figure out who put the poison in the SUV. No one else dared enter the halls as Evershaw passed, since clearly word had gotten around that he was in a bad mood, and only Todd appeared in the living room while Evershaw paced and growled to himself.

  His cousin seated himself in one of the armchairs near the window, not making eye contact. “Edgar Chase is helping to run down the underground exotic animal trade in the city, and we’ve got people out searching the pet stores and internet ads for snakes. There aren’t many venomous snakes nearby, even at the zoo.”

  “The witch will be able to tell if it’s RedCloud at the meeting this afternoon. If it’s not them, it’s got to be the coyotes.” Evershaw kept pacing, unable to account for the bolts of energy racing through him, like he needed to work through a massive adrenaline surge. “We’ll deal with it at the meeting or shortly after. That’s all we need to know.”

  Todd put his feet up and didn’t respond, although Evershaw knew his cousin had something to say. He didn’t bother to look at him. “What?”

  Todd studied something in the ceiling. “Maybe you should go easy on the girl.”

  “Why? She’s here for a purpose. I don’t need to coddle her. When the job is done, she can go on her way—so she should be interested in getting the job done faster. It’s not my problem that she’s dragging her heels.” Evershaw didn’t believe all of that, though he couldn’t show too much of it to anyone in the pack. He couldn’t afford even a whiff of weakness getting outside the walls of the pack house.

  “Come on, man.” Todd lifted his head to meet Evershaw’s gaze. “She’s a kid and we kidnapped her, and she’s clearly exhausted from saving your ass two or three times over in the last forty-eight hours. Give her a break. She’s not another shifter that you can intimidate and get into a fight with. The last thing we want is for you to get poisoned again and for her to drag her feet so there’s some kind of permanent damage. Smith’s little trick just means you have to be alive—what if the next poison they use turns you into a vegetable? The witch doesn’t have to keep you conscious and strong enough to stay alpha. We need her help.”

  Evershaw grunted, unimpressed. He couldn’t argue with Todd’s logic, but that didn’t mean he liked it. His cousin gave up and retreated to deal with the security team who would accompany them to the meeting with the other pack. Evershaw kept pacing even after Mercy crept in to hand over lunch; when he turned to thank her for the delivery, she’d already disappeared. He frowned at the door, something tightening in his chest. He didn’t like that at all. He’d always been able to rely on Mer
cy, and the thought that perhaps she sided with the witch over him made Evershaw very uneasy.

  He was still pondering the implications even as they walked into neutral territory to meet RedCloud.

  The witch rode in a separate car and remained in the background next to Henry; Evershaw had had a word with the wolf to make sure he knew to protect the witch from RedCloud. He couldn’t risk her. He tried to convince himself it was because he wanted to live through the next week, but there was a niggling little doubt in the back of his mind that there was some other, much more important reason to protect her.

  He pushed aside the thought as he faced the arrogant little shit, Holden, and the taller blonde. Serena eyed him like something good to eat, but Evershaw hardly saw her. Evershaw didn’t wait for them to speak and instead set the tone himself. He didn’t have time to fuck around, and he didn’t want to give them time to think he’d been intimidated. “Have you made your decision?”

  Serena’s long nails had been painted black instead of red, almost matching the dark lipstick that was meant to be sexy but instead just made her look older. “We’re willing to split territory but we won’t be... submitting to you.”

  The way she said it was meant to appeal to a dominant male, like she already expected to show him her throat and get on her knees for a good fuck. It made his skin crawl. “Either your pack disbands to join mine or the BloodMoon pack, or you stay the fuck out of my city. Those were the choices.”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed as she studied him, as if she couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t falling for the catch-me-fuck-me routine. “Not interested.”

  “There is a middle ground,” Holden said. He slid her a warning look and folded his arms over his chest. “I am willing to swear fealty to you. I control my pack but I take orders from you. In return, we’d like access to your territory and some of the economic benefits of joining your group.”