by Rain Oxford
Jordan’s pack mates were floored. Most of them were outraged by her decision, especially Greg and Buck, but they all knew that if they killed Jordan, none of them would be welcomed.
“Any of us would make a better mate for you than Jordan,” one of his pack members said. Jordan cringed, not daring to defend himself against Tank. The shifter was twice Jordan’s size and ridiculed him daily.
Tammy glared at Tank. “I can pick out a mate for myself and if you have a problem with it, keep your mouth shut because I don’t care.”
Tank wanted to challenge her, but he knew his life depended on being accepted into Sytro’s pack. “Jordan will become the alpha of your pack for one month,” Tammy said. “If you stay within your boundaries, don’t kill any shifter, and protect your alpha, you will become members of our pack.”
No member of the tiny pack blamed Jordan or wanted to stop the union. There were many more females in Sytro’s pack. Furthermore, Buck didn’t have a problem with Tammy marrying Jordan, because he figured she would be willing to fool around with him after the merge. Greg figured that Jordan being alpha was just a test to see how well they could protect pups and elderly members. He wanted it to work as well.
Once again, I caught sight of the familiar woman. I spread my power around, but no one in either pack was looking directly at her. If it were the present instead of a memory, I could have made someone look at her, which just made it more frustrating.
* * *
I withdrew my power and opened my eyes to see Dorian sitting on the table in front of me. He was studying me patiently. I opened my mind to him. “Did you find them?”
“It wasn’t easy, but I found the mother. She’s in a hospital, unconscious. I can’t find the daughter since I’m a cat.”
“Shit. I was too late.”
Jordan must have figured out that I was done because he opened his eyes and jumped a foot in the air when he saw Dorian. “How long has that cat been in here?”
“A few minutes, I suspect. Thank you, Dorian. I’ll send Rocky to keep watch over her. You should protect Remington.”
“I have no interest in being neutered today. I’m going to make a sign stating that I’m a homeless familiar and stand outside the wizard council until someone who isn’t psychotic decides to claim me.”
He wasn’t serious. He was bonded to Remy and neither of them could change that. I considered suggesting that Remy be nicer to him, but I didn’t like my chances of survival if I did so. I let Jordan return to his cell, knowing that Greg and Buck would protect him for their own good, and pulled Maseré aside.
I explained everything I had learned, including that Maseré probably ruined Jordan’s chance at a mate and his pack’s chance to join a better pack. I also told him about the dressed woman who no one looked directly at.
“I’ll talk to them,” Maseré said. “Sytro will take them in.”
“How can you be sure? Are you friends with him?”
“Just the opposite. If Sytro doesn’t take them in, I will, and that means I’ll gain Wilson’s Canadian territory. Sytro would do anything to keep me out of Canada short of challenging me outright. Plus, Tammy isn’t going to let her father stand in the way of getting her mate. If she chose Wilson, it’s because she wants him.”
“Pack politics are crazy.”
I decided to call Stephen and let him know I was headed back. To my surprise, my phone was off. I didn’t remember turning it off and half expected it not to come back on. My magic must have flared and killed it during the interrogation. It did light up, fortunately, and I saw that I had a voicemail from an unknown number. I didn’t think much of it until I listened to it and immediately recognized Remington’s voice.
“Devon, we need your help and I don’t have time to explain.”
I called the number back and it went straight to voicemail with a generic, automated message. When it beeped, I said, “I got your message and I’m on my way. If you need me quicker, send Henry through the shadow pass.” I hung up. “Maseré, something is going down at the school. I have to go.”
“I understand. I’ll go with you.”
“Alpha, you can’t leave us when someone is after our pups,” Jasko argued.
“Darwin is at the school. A lot of our pups are students there.”
“I’ll protect Darwin,” I promised. The alpha had to put the good of the pack above everything else, but his son and wife would always come first.
Maseré nodded and I didn’t give him time to change his mind. I jumped in my car and broke every speed limit. Around hairpin turns and beside cliff drops, I drove at a dangerous rate, using magic to detect the presence of any nearby people. Endangering myself was one thing; I wouldn’t let someone else get killed because of my recklessness.
* * *
I made it to the school in record time and parked haphazardly. There was no fire, screaming kids, or monsters running around. Nevertheless, I rushed straight for Remington’s bedroom. I tried not to break her door with my insistent knocking. A few seconds later, she answered the door wearing a red silk negligee and frowning with worry. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d tell me.”
She gestured that I enter and then shut the door behind me. “I don’t understand. Did something happen?”
“I got your call.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t call anyone.”
“You’re not in trouble?”
She shook her head. “No, not that I know of.”
Chapter 5
I was torn between lying to Remy to get her away from the school and calling Vincent, but instead, I was so relieved that she and the school were safe that we ended up in bed.
I had never been into kissing until I started kissing Remy. I had thought it was just not my thing. With Remy, however, it made sex better. I felt her passion when we kissed, like I was the only thing in the world to her. It wasn’t coercion or a distraction like how Regina used it, and it didn’t feel like one of us was trying too hard.
I took my time stripping her clothes off, caressing her bared skin, as she repeatedly and incoherently insisted that I speed up. Instead, I slowed down and teased her more. I bit her throat gently— gentler than she wanted me to— as I stroked her thighs. She tried to push my hands, but I pinned hers over her head. She growled with frustration.
“Patience,” I said.
“Patients are for doctors, and you’re going to need a doctor if you don’t fuck me.” She never made me wonder what she wanted.
I didn’t immediately fulfill her request, however, as much as I wanted to. “You have condoms right? I’d prefer not to make a run to my room.”
“We don’t need them. You know my sexual experience and I trust you.”
“I haven’t slept with anyone other than you since my ex-wife, and I got tested, so…”
She kissed me. “Then we don’t need them.”
“Are you on the pill?”
She dropped her head to the pillow and frowned. “What pill?”
“Birth control. I don’t think either of us needs a baby in our lives right now.” I hated ruining the moment, but I wouldn’t risk an accidental pregnancy. We had never needed to discuss it because we always used protection.
“Oh. Yeah, we don’t take pills. There’s a birth control potion that people take once a month. It’s for men and women, there are no side effects, and it works within an hour of drinking it. In fact, they now make it in fruity, candy, and chocolate flavors for teens.”
“I think I should try that potion. Extra protection can’t hurt.”
She kissed me again. “I couldn’t agree more. Tomorrow. Tonight, I want to make up for you being gone for two days.”
And we did.
* * *
Sunday, November 20
A hard pounding on the door woke me from a deep sleep. I opened my mouth to shout that someone had better be dying, but then I remembered that I was at the school. I dread
ed the day I would wake up because one of the kids was killed. The paranormal world was dangerous.
I glanced at the clock and groaned. “It’s four in the fucking morning!”
“I’m sorry, but it’s urgent.” I recognized Dani’s voice.
Remington’s assistant wouldn’t have bothered us if it wasn’t serious. When I tried to get up, Remy groaned and wrapped her arms tighter around mine. Despite living in New England, she didn’t like the cold. Thus, she was very cuddly at night.
At that point, I realized we had fallen asleep in Remy’s room for once. “Come in,” I said, speaking just loud enough for Dani to hear me. Her key entered the lock and she opened it. Light spilled into the room as she raised her lamp.
“I’m so sorry to wake you, Ms. Hunt… and Devon. We have a situation.”
“Spit it out so I can go back to sleep,” Remy grumbled.
“The council just passed a law banning marriage between wizards and any non-wizard paranormals, including throwbacks. When this gets out to the---”
“Excuse me?” I interrupted. “They did what?”
“You heard right.”
“That’s fucking ridiculous. Do they want to be overthrown again? That’s what ended the first one! They can’t handle another scandal.”
“Maybe someone is trying to stir up trouble,” Remy suggested. “Are you sure you got the information directly from the council?”
“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t bother you if I weren’t certain.”
“That doesn’t make sense, though. Becky’s married to Brian, a hyena shifter. She wouldn’t have approved a new law like that.”
“She’s a member, not the leader of the council,” Remy said.
“I went to school with that woman; there’s not a person alive who can take her right to love who she wants. She’s all about rights. We need to go talk to her.”
“It’s not our job to fix the council, but you’re right. It’s my job to protect these kids, and the entire community is going to suffer if we don’t do something.” She kissed me and gave me a mischievous smirk that told me she was up to no good. “If they give us trouble, you can mind-whip them and I can shoot them.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I playfully smacked her ass.
She rolled over me to get off, carefully avoiding my sensitive anatomy. She didn’t bat an eye, standing naked in front of her assistant. She had nothing to be ashamed of.
Dani turned her face away. “I’ll just be on my way, then.”
“Oh, get us a driver,” Remy said.
“I can drive,” I argued.
The look in her eyes shut me up quick. It was the perfect chance for us to spend time alone where she didn’t have the responsibility of the school and I didn’t constantly have to deal with fights and pranks.
Clearly, Dani knew that expression. “I’ll get you a driver.”
* * *
It took us two hours for Remy to get everything in order so that she could leave the school. I recommended that she stay behind and let me deal with the council, but she refused. “Our students and staff need to hear the facts from me. If the council can’t see reason, I’m going to deal with the fallout head-on.”
“You know that your father is probably going to be there, too?”
She sighed and tossed a bag of weapons in the back of the black SUV. “I can’t avoid him forever.” Remy loved her father, but he was overprotective and she hated feeling like she didn’t live up to his expectations.
She kissed me and got in. An instant before I got in next to her, I heard, “Don’t forget me!” Darwin was running through the small parking lot to reach us. I wasn’t surprised that he was dressed in pink pajama bottoms and an iridescent sequin hoodie.
“What’s wrong?”
“I heard you’re going to the council.”
“How’d you hear that already?”
“My job is to get the scoop and verify it before anyone else.”
My intuition enabled me to overhear things, but he was actually skilled at getting rumors. He made an excellent investigator. He jumped into the car before I could. With a groan, I closed the door and got in the front passenger seat.
“Why are you coming?” Remy asked.
“You’re going to the council. I know how to deal with politics and I can leak information the best way.”
“He has a point,” I said. He was also brilliant.
“If we tell you, you can’t panic and you have to keep it quiet until we know the full story,” she told Darwin.
“I’m totally trustworthy.”
Remy’s gaze met mine and I nodded. He stayed quiet as she explained what little we knew. Afterwards, she asked what he thought.
“Well, we need to get the story from them, because no one on the new council is this stupid or corrupt. That suggests someone is intentionally trying to destroy them.”
“So you agree that it’s a mistake?”
“Passing the law? Yes. The law itself? Hell no.”
“You’re for it?”
“Of course. From a biological standpoint, it’s ridiculous that paranormals can marry and breed outside their species. Look at how many kids at this school are throwbacks. They should never have passed a law to allow it in the first place. However, taking a right away is a lot harder than it is to never give one.”
“But your parents…”
“Yeah, I know. Don’t get me wrong; they’re perfect, they couldn’t love each other more, and I’ll kill anyone who tries to separate them. But they were forced to marry each other and have me. A couple of years ago, I was a lonely throwback. Now I can shift and have friends, yet I’m still a freak. No one can touch me except for Amy.”
“But they want to tell people who they can marry.”
“If a human wanted to marry a dog, would that be okay?”
“No, of course not. But that’s completely different from a shifter and a wizard marrying.”
“It’s not the marrying that I disagree with; it’s the baby-making. Throwbacks don’t ask to be born. When half of interspecies paranormal breeding results in a throwback, it’s a dangerous risk. Plus, it takes months for them to pass laws.”
“So?”
“So, I watch their agenda. This hasn’t been on the list.”
“How do you watch their agendas? They’re private.”
“Nothing is private to me. Let’s go.”
Remy sighed and leaned forward to talk to the driver. “To the wizard council, Lee.”
“Yes, ma’am.” We got to the end of the driveway before the car died.
“Shit.”
“Whoa,” Darwin said, grabbing his seatbelt. “Someone’s doing magic.”
“Huh?” Remy asked. “I don’t feel anything.”
“I can feel it. It’s… dark magic. It feels disgusting.”
“I know how to get the car going again,” Lee said, getting out. Since I wanted to know how to do it as well, I got out. Before he could get the hood open, an earthquake struck. Loud explosions in the sky drove Lee back into the vehicle. I ducked beside the truck and drew my gun.
Bursts of green, red, and blue light resembling fireworks shot through the air and spread. Over the explosions, I heard the crackles of electricity in the air and the colorful flares spread around the school like we were in an invisible dome.
“It’s the protective ward,” Remy said, joining me. She also had her gun out.
“Are we under attack?”
“No, earthquakes and magical flares are perfectly normal!”
Students and staff began rushing out of the buildings to see what was going on. Darwin got out of the car. “It’s bad, really bad!”
I went on intuition. “Shift and get your father.” He could run faster than us by far.
He didn’t question me; thirty seconds later, he was a wolf and took off without looking back. By then the quaking was starting to calm. He got a hundred feet before a current of magic ripped through the air and Darwin skidded to a
stop with a yelp.
“The ward just went down,” Remy explained, worry filling her voice. She was hard to scare.
Darwin spun and ran back towards me. I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, when red lightning struck the ground. A glowing red sigil appeared on the ground where the lightning had touched. It was ten feet to my right, but it wasn’t the only one. More lightning struck, leaving behind circles in their wake. They looked sinister and appeared every fifty feet across the entire school grounds, including on the buildings. Finally, the ground grew still.
“I take it that’s a curse?” Sigils were symbols of magic, and their design depended on the type of magic they were used for. Although I didn’t know them all (or very many of them) these ones made my skin crawl.
“That’s fucking old magic!” Remy said. “Way older than the magic we use today.”
“What does it do?”
“It’s a trap, but I can’t tell what it does just by looking at it. I’ll need to talk to my father. For now, we need to get the children inside. We don’t want them spread out for whatever is about to happen.”
My intuition told me she was right, and I realized that was why I hadn’t been forewarned to get out earlier; I needed to be here to protect the kids. I wondered why my intuition hadn’t warned me to get the children and staff off the grounds, though.
Darwin shifted into a person. “I couldn’t get through in time.”
“I know. We’ll figure it out. Tell the staff to get the kids inside.”
He nodded and turned to go, only to stop when he saw Henry approaching. “We have a problem.”
“No shit,” I said.
“Students are having reactions.”
“What kind of reactions?”
“A few passed out, some…” he trailed off as three shifters in front of the West shifted. “Did that. My jaguar is trying to claw his way out harder than ever. Do you feel your wolf?” he asked Darwin.
Darwin shook his head. “My wolf is quiet… but I feel something.” And then he vanished.