by Lola Taylor
“You’re tapping your foot,” she said, pointing.
He looked down, finding his foot had begun patting out its own nervous rhythm. He hadn’t noticed.
“It’s the same habit I have when I get worked up over something. Drives my coworkers crazy when I’m wearing heels.”
I’ll be damned. He had the feeling she could read him like a book if she wanted to. The only other person who could do that was Nik.
Gage bit his lip, bouncing back and forth between his decisions and getting all the more anxious for it.
On the verge of telling Nik to turn around so Gage could place Danica under maximum security, he started to open his mouth when she reached over and grabbed his hand.
He blinked, looking down.
With a small, confident smile, she squeezed his hand, and his agitation slipped away. He squeezed back, enjoying her nearness and the strength it gave him.
“Teammates work together,” she said.
He slowly smiled. “That they do.” He wasn’t used to sharing power. The closest confidante he had in his pack was Nik, but even he knew his place. With Danica, he would have to start thinking about her as a partner and not as her protector, though he intended never to stop that aspect. He already knew the first he kissed her he’d die for her.
Several cars followed them, about half his pack, a string of trucks, SUVs, and two door sports cars that made an odd caravan. Witches were clever. If she became aware of their approach, she might call for help herself. They needed to be prepared for the worst, though he hoped through a little diplomacy it wouldn’t come to blows, magical or otherwise. After dealing with so much death and destruction in the old regime of his pack, he’d vowed to work hard toward peace, in any situation. “Tell the others to wait about a mile out and to surround her property,” Gage said. “I don’t want her growing skittish.”
“Yes, sir,” Nik said. He pressed a button, giving Gage and Danica privacy as the opaque black glass scrolled up.
Danica looked tense. She was wringing the bottom of her blouse with her free hand, staring out the window while tapping her foot. He smiled at that. “What do you think will happen once we get there?” she asked.
He sighed. “It’s anyone’s guess. It depends on how hostile she is. I won’t draw first blood, but I will defend my own.” He squeezed her hand tighter.
She relaxed somewhat, staring at the back of her hand. “So, are all new werewolves made by Marks?”
“Yes. Though mates can only be Marked by touch. All others have to be bitten while in wolf form for the Mark to appear.”
“So you and your brothers…”
“Yes. The were transformed then attacked us.”
Gage closed his eyes. He could still see the blood in the snow in the back of his mind, where he’d buried all other dark memories of his past. Like if his oldest brother, Jason, had died in a pack brawl or in a gutter. He was always hanging around a rough crowd, even by were standards. No one had heard from him in forever. He’d given up hope he’d find him alive. He wouldn’t know what he would say to him if he did. Some ghosts were better left buried.
He opened his eyes, banishing the thought of a once well-loved smile he’d grown to despise.
Danica cocked her head to the side. “You okay?”
He looked at her and smiled. “I am now.”
That pretty blush returned to her cheeks, and she stared at her lap. The skirt she wore was short, showing off her smooth, creamy thighs. He may or may not have planned it that way. He wanted to run his hands over her legs, feel their softness, and touch other parts of her.
“So we’re to be mated,” she said softly.
“Yes.” There was no beating around the bush. It was either going to happen or it wasn’t. Throat tight, he said, “I would never force you into something you didn’t want. The Change will still happen. I can’t do anything about that. But I can give you your freedom if you want to walk away from this pack… from me.”
Danica was silent for so long, his heart nearly pounded out of her chest waiting for her to respond. “I don’t want to walk away,” she whispered at last, meeting his gaze. “Even saying it out loud feels like I’m ripping my heart out, corny as it sounds.”
His own heart sped up a beat as relief flooded him. “I don’t want you to, either. I want this, more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”
He leaned in without realizing he was doing it. Her breath caught right before his lips covered hers in a questioning kiss. The question is, he thought to her, do you want it too? It wasn’t just permission to continue he sought. He needed to know she was committed to this, to him.
She responded, closing her eyes and kissing him back. For a few precious seconds, their kisses were innocent and sweet. Her tongue flicked out to meet his, and he deepened the kiss, reaching around her and pulling her close. She still had hold of his hand. Before he fully realized what she was doing, he felt his fingertips slid up her skirt and touch her soft curls. She was soaked - and not wearing any underwear from what he could feel.
He leaned back to look her in the eyes as he touched her. She gasped as his fingers caressed her wet folds, his thumb running along her sex. She arched her back, and he kissed her beautiful neck as his fingers slid deeper, probing a little further each time.
“Yes,” she whispered raggedly, bucking her hips to his movements. “Just like that.”
“I can’t wait to be inside of you,” he said into her ear.
A groan was his answer. He knew the two wolves up front could sense and hear everything going on, but hell if he cared. His mate was opening up to him, and it made him the happiest - and the horniest - he had been in years.
She lay her head back against the seat, sighing softly as he touched her. He wanted to please her, more so than any other woman he’d been with. He needed to make her happy. He wanted her to come with him inside her, sealing their bond permanently, but he knew he’d have to be patient.
That can wait.
He went deeper and deeper, reaching for her sweet spot. He knew he’d found it when she gasped sharply. Her nipples stood erect against the white blouse, showing through the sheer material of the thin lacey bra she wore. She was so damn sexy. Her hip thrusts became more frantic as he reached into her, nipping her core, growing harder as he watched chills break out over her skin.
“Yes. More. Faster,” she breathed.
He obeyed, all too willing to give her what she wanted. Her panting steamed up the window, and sweat broke out over her chest. “Gage,” she whimpered.
“Come for me,” he said.
A strangled cry escaped her throat before she clamped down on her bottom lip, bucking several times before lounging like putty in his arms. She lay there panting.
He kissed her damp cheek. “Feel better?”
“Much. Thank you.”
“The pleasure was all mine.” Giving her one last stroke, he pulled his hand out of her and licked his fingertips, one by one.
She went silent, staring at him. Her tongue ran over her lips, and she leaned forward, kissing him slowly. When she leaned back, she licked her lips again, tasting herself.
That alone was almost enough to make him jerk down his pants and thrust into her right there in the car. The ritual be damned. He needed to mate with her, and soon, otherwise he’d lose his mind.
The car came to a stop, and Nik’s voice spoke through the intercom. “We’re, er, here, sire,” letting on he had heard them. “Not picking up on any paranormal signatures. I don’t think she’s here.”
“All the better. We’ll still scope her place out.”
Gage reached over and straightened Danica’s skirt and blouse. He helped her pull on her jacket, leaning in to kiss her one last time. “You don’t have to come in.”
“I want to. This whole thing started because of me.”
He cupped her face. “And I thank God it did, because it led me to you.”
She smiled, leaning into his hand and clos
ing her eyes. Kissing his palm, she twined her fingers with his and let him help her out of the car after he’d gotten out and walked around the back. He pulled her close as they walked to the door, with Nik on the other side of her. Erik stayed with the car, in case something went down outside.
Nik and Gage listened by the front door of the old log cabin a moment before trying the door. It was unlocked. Nik shoved the door open, both of them waiting to see if any wards would go off.
Nothing happened. The place had been abandoned.
Gage swore, feeling that crushing despair sinking in. They were already too late to catch the only lead they had.
“Let’s see what we can find,” he said gruffly.
“I’ll go first.” Nik went in without waiting for Gage’s response.
Gage slapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Be careful.”
“Aren’t I always, cupcake?” Nik said with a grin, and went inside.
Gage had never known a more loyal friend. They’d die for each other. Gage did owe him his life. Without Nik, he’d be lost, probably starving in a gutter somewhere. It was Nik who’d earned them the right to try out for the pack, being the stronger of the two brothers at the time.
After a moment, Nik reappeared and gestured them to come inside. “There’s not much here. Smells like a hundred cats took a piss in here.”
“So witches do keep cats,” Danica murmured as she and Gage stepped inside.
Gage smiled slightly. “Familiars, to be exact. A powerful witch or warlock can look through the eyes of her or his familiar, often using them as spies. The more familiars they have, the more powerful the witch or warlock tends to be.”
Danica looked fascinated by everything around her. Gage couldn’t imagine her hanging out in any New Age shops, so she probably was intrigued by all this. Pentagrams, cursing dolls, rows and rows of potions and dusty spellbooks took up every inch of free space in the tight cabin. One room was set off to the side, complete with a crystal ball and spooky lighting. It was cleaner than the rest of the place, probably where the reclusive witch met her clients and ripped them off. Most people didn’t believe in magic, thus falling prey to the more cunning witches and warlocks. All it took was one charm, and the client would get home only to discover their bank account was emptied and they couldn’t remember where they’d been.
Gage kept Danica close as they set about tearing the place apart for any clue as to if Onyx had hired her, or if someone else had hired both witch and wolf. Nik wasn’t kidding when he said the place smelled like a gigantic litter box that hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. Danica was handling it surprisingly well, her cute little nose curled up in disgust the only indication it was bothering her. Her full wolf senses wouldn’t develop until after her first Change, bless her heart.
It became clear within the first few minutes this witch was anything but tidy. It became apparent that as they sifted through her dusty junk it was going to be highly unlikely they’d find anything of any value in here. Gage was about ready to call it quits when he moved aside a stack of papers and his eyes fixed on a familiar symbol. “Check this out.”
Nik walked over to where Danica and Gage stood. “It’s another one of those charms.”
“We’re at the right witch’s house, all right. It’s identical.” Gage frowned. “Now if we could just find a ledger or a receipt book.” Paranormals weren’t exempt from tax laws; the Underworld’s government didn’t differ much from the human’s on that note.
They nearly tore the place apart trying to find a receipt book, but at last they found one. They combed through it, not seeing Onyx’s name but finding a “Mistress Black” scrawled across several receipts. None of them indicated any patterns or gave any clue as to what the buyer was needing the spells for. Most were standard potions, though several advanced cloaking charms of the variety Gage found on Onyx had been purchased.
“Do you think this Mistress Black is connected to Onyx?” Nik asked.
“I’m not sure. Possibly. She could be involved in one of the witch mafias we’ve heard about being active around here lately.”
Danica’s eyes widened. “Witches have mafias? Weird….”
Gage grinned, nudging her. “Bet you didn’t expect that, did you?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t expect any of this. It’s a lot to take in.”
He winced, reminded how different she was from him. When his eyes fell on the Mark, his regret went away. It didn’t matter where she’d come from - she belonged with him now.
Intending to hold onto the receipt book, Gage tucked it into his pocket, then checked his watch. “We should get going. Our scents will be all over this place, and though it looks abandoned, I don’t want to take any chances.” He reached for Danica’s waist and tucked her against him as he said it.
They walked quickly toward the door. The instant they set foot outside, Gage and Nik immediately tensed.
“What is it?” Danica said, wide eyes searching the woods around them. Fog had descended upon the place, but there was something off about it. It was shimmering. Things moved within it as it stirred restlessly over the ground.
Nik growled. “Black Magic.”
Gage swore. He hadn’t been able to detect what type of witch they were dealing with inside. She looked more like a dabbler. It wasn’t until the flock of wraiths came swarming out of the trees like a hoard of angry bees that he knew they’d made a grave mistake in coming here.
Chapter 9
At first, Danica thought there was no way in hell she was seeing what she was seeing. Several slow, hard blinks later, she knew without a doubt that she was seeing ghosts. Or at least, they looked like a mixture between a zombie and a ghost. Skin peeled off their exposed bones, and they were a murky green color and see-through. They whipped through the air, screeching and howling like a pissed off flock of birds.
As the commotion increased, Erik got out of the car. The moment he turned around, he opened his mouth to scream when the zombie-ghosts attacked him, tearing him apart.
Bile rose in Danica’s throat, and she forced it back down. She leaned into Gage, fighting hard to tear her gaze away from the eviscerated werewolf but finding it impossible to do so. It was like watching a train wreck. She wanted to look away but couldn’t.
“Run!” Nik yelled. With the monsters swarming the car, the trio of wolves bolted back through the house and out the back door. Danica nearly tripped down the rickety wooden steps as they barreled toward the surrounding woods. She’d give anything to be laying back in Gage’s bed at the mansion. That was safe. Curiously, it was also starting to feel like home, crazy as it sounded, and she had no idea why. Her shack used to feel like home, but the joy she felt at actually coming home had waned over the long, hard years. Maybe the difference was at the mansion, she had someone to come home to.
And now she may never see shack nor mansion again. Her calves burned as they ran. That horrible screeching filled the air behind them, growing louder, spurring her on. Muscle burns be damned. She was going to haul ass away from those things.
The toe of her shoe caught on a rock, and she nearly went down, making her heart slam against her sternum.
“I’ve got you,” Gage said, holding her up and never breaking stride. “Keep going.”
“Easy for you to say, Mr. Gold Star Gym Membership,” she gritted out between heavy pants.
He chuckled. It was exactly what she needed, considering they were probably going to get eaten alive at any minute by those ghost-piranhas.
“Just keep moving,” he said. “We’re going to make it. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Okay, considering what those things did to Erik, she knew good and well Gage had to be bluffing. Still, it sparked a small ember of hope inside her to hear him say that.
Nik crashed through the trees ahead of them. The woods seemed to grow thicker the farther into the forest they went, like it was trying to choke out all the sunlight. That eerie mist crept along her peripheral v
ision, closing in on them and making her run harder.
“We have to get to the river!” Nik shouted. “Wraiths can’t cross moving water.”
“What did he call those things?” Danica yelled.
“Something not of this world,” Gage answered, a dark look on his face. Fear swam in his eyes. Since meeting him, this was the first time she could honestly say he looked scared. He seemed so fearless.
Branches snapped above them, and something clawed at her hair. Danica screamed as Gage snarled, his nails turning into claws and lashing out at the wraith that had hold of her.
The sound of rushing water encouraged them to keep running.
“Almost there!” Nik said.
There it was; the river lay only a few feet away.
Run faster. Harder.
Fists pumping, she ran with everything she had toward the rushing water. Nik leapt clean over the river, bounding over it as easily as if he were playing hopscotch.
There was no way she could do that. She was going to slam into the water.
“No matter what, don’t stop moving until you get to the other side,” Gage said.
Danica screamed as white-hot pain lit up her left shoulder; one of the wraiths had clawed her. It swooped down, going for her head, when Gage ripped it out of the air and stomped it beneath his boot. It screeched, writhing before lying still. “I’ll hold them off!”
“No!” Danica yelled, pulling on his arm. “You can’t do this!”
“I can.” He kissed her fiercely, then shoved her backwards. “Don’t watch!” The words were barely out of his mouth before he was jerked backwards with a cry.
“Gage!” Danica screeched, skidding as her footing slipped.
Gage was surrounded by wraiths. He swung at them, grunting and snapping his jaws like a beast. Through the blur of shadows, two gold eyes burned.
“Get her, Nik!” Gage shouted.
Nik bounded back across the river, seizing Danica. She struggled as he pulled her toward the river. “No! I can’t leave him.”
“You don’t have a choice! I’m not risking him killing me if something happens to you.”