Bound to the Wolf

by Sennah Tate

  He snarled and snapped at her, lunging against the confines of his magical prison.

  “Oh, did you want down?” Sonya barely moved her fingers and the sphere disappeared, sending Diego plummeting toward the ground.

  At the last possible second, Sonya wrapped him in her magic and lifted him again, at least twenty feet overhead.

  “No, on second thought, we’re not through here,” she said, hands on her hips.

  “You’re going to listen to me for once, and so help me if you don’t hear what I’m telling you, you will regret it, Diego Rivera.”

  The wolf bared his great sharp teeth at her, still stained with José’s blood and Sonya felt her fury grow to untold heights. This man had taken everything from her and she refused to be afraid of him any more.

  “You are never going to hurt me or my son again, do you understand? You’re never going to bother us. You’re going to forget we exist.”

  Diego growled, his fur standing straight up as he snapped and lunged at her again, despite being two stories off the ground.

  “Oh,” Sonya pouted, “I forgot you only understand one language.”

  The glowing sphere of light disappeared again and Diego fell to the ground, landing with crack and a high-pitched yelp.

  He shifted in the blink of an eye, but Sonya already had him trapped and off the ground before he was fully human. Now his right arm dangled limply at his side, twisted in a grotesque angle. Sonya felt more than a little satisfaction at the sight. It was about time the broken bones were on the other side of this little encounter.

  “My son should learn to be a wolf not a fucking puppy dog,” Diego snarled.

  “He’s not your son. He stopped being your son the moment you laid hands on him you disgusting excuse for a man,” Sonya nearly shrieked, struggling to maintain her even hand as her emotions crashed through her. So many years of pent up fear and anger rose to the surface and nearly knocked her over with the force.

  “That’s right, you prefer lap dogs now, don’t you, simpering bitch? You’re mine. You both belong to me and I won’t let you forget it.”

  For a moment, Sonya felt that old familiar panic at his promise, but then she clenched her jaw and steeled her spine.

  “You’re wrong. I’m not afraid of you anymore and I’m not helpless anymore.”

  She raised him another ten feet and he kicked his legs wildly as if he were trying to swim through the air.

  And then she dropped him.

  Diego collided with the earth with a loud crunch that echoed through the canopy. He scrambled to move, his body broken and bloody even as his eyes were filled with pure hatred.

  Sonya took a few steps until she stood over him, “If I ever see you again, I promise you, you will regret it.”

  She bound him with her magic, resisting the urge to hogtie him like he really deserved.

  José was healing, but not enough that he could support himself, so Sonya levitated him, feeling her magical stores starting to wane with all of her activity. Could it really be over? She floated him to the car and as she helped José into the backseat, Diego called out to them.

  “You can’t just leave me out here like this! What if no one finds me?”

  Maybe she should have been ashamed of the smile brought to her lips by the fear in his voice. Maybe she should have been, but she wasn’t.

  In fact, she managed to laugh at him.

  “Well then, I guess the world will just have to find a way to soldier on without you Diego. I think we’ll be alright.” She climbed into the driver’s seat and closed the door as she started the ignition.

  “You were incredible,” José rasped from the back seat, making her jump in surprise.

  Sonya clutched her chest and laughed, “You scared the shit out of me, I didn’t know you shifted back there.”

  José flashed her a cheeky grin, “Helps speed up the healing. But really, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  She looked at him through the rearview mirror as she drove back to The Den, desperate to have her little boy in her arms again, “You don’t have to be a shifter to be a fierce Mama Bear… er… Wolf,” she grinned, feeling the toll of the day finally start to wear her down a little.

  “Was that… Juan that picked Manuel up?” José asked, his face scrunching as he tried to remember the details.

  Sonya nodded, “He followed us. Good thing, too. You needed some help.”

  “You promised to leave,” José accused.

  “I crossed my fingers,” she said, sticking her tongue out. “There was no way I was going to let that asshole take another thing I love from me.”

  His eyes went wide and Sonya tried to act like she didn’t realize what she’d said even as her face burned.

  “I love you, too,” he said, leaning between the front seats to kiss her neck as she pulled the vehicle to a stop and parked outside the clubhouse.

  Sonya turned to face him, resting her hand against the side of his face as she pulled him in for a kiss, “Don’t ever come that close to dying again, okay?”

  He nodded with a chuckle, “Deal.”

  Juan and Manuel sat outside at one of the picnic tables, Juan trying to teach Manuel how to shuffle a deck of cards, but they kept flying off in all directions.

  “I think it’s past your bed time,” she said with a grin.

  Manuel turned to her with wide sparkling eyes and jumped up from the table, running to give her a big hug. José joined in on the hug and Sonya finally felt like she was home.

  “You’re squishing my face!” Manuel groaned from deep within the family hug. The adults all laughed and Sonya scooped him up in her arms.

  “Okay, dinner, a bath, and bed, Mister.” She knew Manuel had had enough excitement for the day when he simply shrugged and wrapped his little arms around her neck, snuggling against her chest with a lock of her hair clutched in his hand.

  Before they could get away from the clubhouse, Carlos came out through the front doors and spotted José, “There you are!”

  José still wasn’t fully healed, his neck was purple and red and when he spoke his voice was scratchy and hoarse, “Here I am.”

  Carlos didn’t seem to be in the joking mood, his expression grim.

  “This all seems to have been a big distraction,” he said and Sonya shifted uneasily, stroking Manuel’s back gently.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Diego’s pack is on the move and it looks like they might be planning an attack on the other shifters, framing us for it.”

  José growled and then coughed, clutching his throat, “That witch, I’m sure,” he said to Sonya before turning back to Carlos, “Gather all the intel you can. They’re not going to make a move tonight without their Alpha and neither are we. I’m taking the night off to recuperate and have some much needed family time.”

  Carlos pulled a face, but nodded, “Well, alright.”

  José slipped an arm around Sonya’s waist and walked with her back to her little home.

  “What’s that smirk for?” he pressed as the walked.

  “Was I smirking? I didn’t know I was,” she laughed.

  “Well?”

  She shrugged, “You called us your family.” Her heart swelled at the thought and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get rid of the smile that stretched her cheeks.

  “Well… duh. I told you, I’ve known since I met you that we’re all meant to be together. Or… my wolf did. I was just a little slower on the uptake.”

  She nudged him playfully with her hip, “Well, at least you finally caught on,” she joked.

  “Oh, yeah, like you were on board from the beginning,” he teased back as they entered her new house and she set Manuel down.

  “Go wash up and get ready for bed, dinner will be ready when you’re done,” she said, kissing her son on the top of his curly-haired head with a little nudge towards the bathroom.

  José settled his hands on her hips and pulled her close for a kiss,
“You are most certainly my family. There shouldn’t be a doubt in your mind.”

  Sonya smiled; she’d never thought she’d be able to trust again — especially not a wolf — but José was different. Better. Perfect. All of her dreams come true and then some. He was tender and gentle, he loved Manuel and had put his life on the line for both of them.

  Together, they could face anything.

  “There isn’t,” she whispered, her lips hovering millimeters away from his, “I trust you.”

  When he kissed her, Sonya felt for the first time in a long, long time, that everything was right with the world.

  The End.

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  Catching the Tiger SAMPLE

  It took everything in Emily Westcott’s arsenal to keep herself from panicking. This was a big day. Huge. Monumental. If she screwed this up, she might as well kiss her reputation — and her career — goodbye.

  She paced around the tiny second bedroom that served as her office, nibbling at her freshly manicured nails. She swatted her hand away. She had to make a great first impression. No. Great wouldn’t be good enough. It had to be fantastic.

  “Ready for your big day?” Emily’s assistant and best friend Sonya asked with an all-too knowing smile.

  Emily groaned, “Don’t remind me!”

  She sat behind the second-hand desk and drummed her fingers against the top. When she’d bought the desk she thought it was cute — shabby chic and with just enough character — now, it seemed ratty, worn and out of place. This was all wrong.

  “What are you so nervous about?” Sonya asked.

  It was so easy for her, Emily thought. Sonya never seemed to get self-conscious. Despite her bountiful curves, she was a knock-out and she knew it. Nothing ever made Sonya second-guess herself and it was that confidence that made Emily — and everyone else — love her so damn much.

  “Um, maybe because I have Sean Simons coming to my house in half an hour for a consultation?”

  Sonya shrugged, her bountiful raven hair bouncing with the gesture.

  “You’ve done hundreds of these consultations and never gotten nervous about them before,” her friend reminded her.

  “Well, none of them were Sean Simons,” Emily emphasized again.

  “Oh, it can’t be all that bad,” the brunette said with a roll of her eyes. In her mind, Emily was just worrying too much.

  But Emily knew better. Sean Simons was rich. Like, royalty rich. Like he could buy a small country on an impulse kind of rich. Emily had no idea why he wanted to hire her as an interior designer. Her business didn’t exactly cater to the upper class. She’d never even really had any wealthy clientele.

  So when Sean Simons requested a consultation only twenty-four hours ago, she’d entered full-blown panic mode.

  “You do realize that if I screw this up, it’s going to be the end of Whimsical Witch Designs,” Emily reminded them both with a groan.

  “Okay, but you’re not going to screw it up. You’ll be amazing as always,” Sonya said with a confident grin.

  Emily wished she knew where her friend got the never-ending supply of cheery optimism.

  “How can you be so certain? No one knows anything about him.”

  Sean Simons acquired his fortune at an early age. An entrepreneurial spirit and unwavering drive for hard work put him on ‘Most Successful’ and ‘Up and Coming’ lists for years. The only problem was that Sean refused to do interviews. He never gave permission for his image to be used and after some time, people just accepted that he would remain an enigma. If someone with that much money wanted to stay hidden, then by-God he could afford it.

  “No one knows anything about him. He never goes out in public. But he’s coming to my house,” Emily said with another strangled groan.

  “I bet he’s impossible to please,” she continued, “he’s going to hate everything I suggest and the next thing you know I’ll be the laughingstock of the community.”

  Emily cursed her luck. It was only in the last few months that her business had really been starting to see some success. She was able to hire Sonya to help with the day-to-day stuff while she was free to let her creativity take flight.

  Sean Simons was the kind of client that could either make or break her for good. She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grow her business, but the stress of failing had her nearly at her breaking point.

  What she wouldn’t give for a taste of her magic right now. Her tanks had been running on empty for months — ever since her break-up with Daniel. Without sex, a witch couldn’t use her magic and without a relationship, Emily wasn’t interested in sex — magic or no magic.

  When her stores were empty, it felt like a crucial part of her was missing. The part that made her feel whole and able to do anything. Without that part she was just like any other girl on the street. She wasn’t anything special — long chestnut hair, usually pulled into a bun, a heart-shaped face with a little more plumpness than she liked and almond-shaped green eyes that were more muddy than bright. Without her magic, how would anyone ever notice her?

  Better yet, how in the world had Sean Simons?

  “Maybe he’s really hot and single and looking for a wife,” Sonya teased.

  It was just the kind of ludicrous thing that was perfect to break the tension in the air.

  Emily laughed until tears threatened to smudge her carefully-applied eyeliner.

  “Phew, I needed that.”

  “Nothing like a good laugh to cure the nerves,” Sonya added, “but it wasn’t a joke. For all we know, that could be exactly the case.”

  Emily rolled her eyes, “If Sean Simons is looking for a wife, I’m pretty sure he’ll be over-run by super-model applicants.”

  “Fair enough,” Sonya said.

  “Anyway, I better head out of here. I wouldn’t want to encroach on your private exclusive meeting,” she teased, quoting the billionaire’s email.

  “Right,” Emily answered, massaging her temples to ward off the incoming migraine.

  No sooner had Sonya left when the doorbell to Emily’s tiny bungalow chimed.

  Her heart leaped into her throat. Was that him? Her eyes darted to the entryway, her pulse hammering in her ears.

  “Okay, Emily. You can do this. He’s just like any other client,” she told herself as she stood and smoothed out her pencil skirt. “Just turn on the charm,” she walked with a purpose to the front door, plastering on her confident professional façade, “he’s not special. He’s just…” her hand closed on the knob and the door swung open on silent hinges. Her eyes fell on the man on her front step.

  Really hot… She thought, her mouth suddenly going dry.

  She stared at him for a moment – golden skin covered his features, a strong chiseled jaw free of any stubble, a straight nose and eyes that glowed with an orange warmth beneath the coppery irises. Her mind buzzed with the sudden tizzy of activity throughout her body. Her chest swelled and felt tight underneath her button-down blouse. She suddenly became aware of how the buttons strained over her chest.

  Her gaze fell to his mouth. She still hadn’t managed to say anything to the stranger and he stood there with his hands clasped behind her back, waiting for her. The corners of his lips turned upwards in a smirk and Emily caught a glimpse of pointed canines. She took in his whole image – a trim athletic build in an impeccably tailored suit – and finally shook her head to clear the lusty turn her thoughts had suddenly taken. Sonya was certainly right about one thing – he was definitely hot.

  Emily’s magic crackled and sparked in an attemp
t to remind her of its existence.

  Ignoring it, she allowed an easy smile to slip onto her face, “Mr. Simons? Welcome, I trust you found my location without issue?” She gestured him into her house; the front room was a sitting room for clients – the coffee table was already prepared with swatches, sketches and inspirational pictures that she pulled out for the meeting.

  “Please, call me Sean,” he corrected. The smooth baritone of wrapped around Emily like a silk scarf, extravagant and indulgent, she could melt into his voice.

  Get a grip, she reminded herself. This was business, there was no time for entertaining any ideas about Sean.

  “Emily,” she offered her hand.

  He didn’t take it, he nodded in the direction of the display she’d created.

  “Is all of this for me?”

  She nodded. Right to business, of course. She shouldn’t have expected a man with his responsibilities to waste his time with pleasantries. She was surprised that he was doing this much on his own.

  “Yes, your email didn’t give me much to go on, so I pulled some inspiration to see what you may be interested in.”

  His eyes never addressed her hard work. They never moved from her. His eyes felt like a physical weight on her. She squirmed and felt heat rush to her face – how could a simple look from the man make her feel so exposed?

  “I appreciate the effort, but I trust you to do whatever you see fit.”

  “I… I’m sorry?” Emily asked, suddenly confused. If he was going to give her carte blanche, why waste her time with a consultation?

  He smiled and seated himself without waiting for her to offer.

  “I’ve admired your portfolio for some time, Emily,” her name coming from his lips sent shivers down her spine.

  “You have?” she stammered, feeling frozen in place. She found the whole situation difficult to believe.

  “Yes, I have. Well, to be more to the point, I’ve admired you.”

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