Pack Witch (Captured Souls Book 1)

by Brenna Clarke

  “I don’t blame them. You think I should, but I don’t,” he said quietly.

  “You wouldn’t blame them. That’s not who you are.”

  “That’s not a bad thing, Maise. They’d all do the same. For our pack to survive we have to make hard choices. I don’t think for a second they want to let me die, but that doesn’t mean they have to try to be heroes and die too. I wouldn’t want any of them to get hurt because of me. You shouldn’t be around me, either.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  He smiled sadly. “Did your witch friends tell you how long it would take for them to find you?”

  I shrugged and leaned back against the back of the sofa. I tilted my head back to rest it. “No. But it could be a while.”

  “And me?” he asked. I saw a chink in his armor in the form of a frown line on his otherwise smooth brow. He took a seat on the sofa next to me.

  “I don’t know that either. Weeks? Months? It’s impossible to tell. Hunters are apparently pretty low key. Everything about them is kind of an urban legend because if one ever shows themselves, chances are you’re not going to live for very long.”

  “Collectors,” he scoffed.

  “Apparently.”

  “Well, you can’t stay here forever. At some point, you’re going to have to go home,” Noah said.

  “Who says? I’m kind of homeless now.” At some point, I’d have to get my things from the home I shared with Mason. Though I was fortunate that he wasn’t the type to throw all my stuff out onto the lawn.

  “We gonna live together now?” Noah asked. “Indefinitely? You hate it here.”

  I sighed and scratched an itch on my cheek. “I did. Maybe. I don’t know. I guess I did after Seth. I liked being part of your family, though, even if I thought it was fucked up sometimes. But what happened to Seth and what they’re doing to you? It makes me hate this place all over again, but not the magic. And not who I get to be while I’m here.”

  “I thought you just did the spell for me. That it was a sacrifice for you to have more magic. But you’re…okay with it?”

  I could tell from the lilt of his voice that he was a little disappointed. He’d thought I’d revealed myself to the hunters for him, and I really had. He’d been the only thing on my mind at the time.

  “I didn’t know about my magic increasing until after I’d agreed to it. I really did do it for you. And Rex. You have to know I care about you. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been apart or how we’ve changed. You’ve always been important to me. If someone had told me you were hurt or that you’d…died, they couldn’t have stopped me from coming back here. Laird would never have had to threaten me to come back.” I swallowed a lump in my throat as my throat ran dry.

  He sighed and our eyes locked for a long moment. I’d just broken up with Mason, and our relationship seemed like a lifetime ago. How could that have been? He was hurting at home now, and I sat here with another man, thinking about Noah in ways I shouldn’t, like I had as a kid. Love didn’t die. I knew that because my love for Noah was buried inside of me, and being around him kicked the cobwebs away.

  “I wish I’d never come for you. I should have fought to keep you out of all of this. Laird would have listened to me. He values my opinion.”

  I shifted so my body turned inward to face him. I propped my bent elbow on the back of the sofa and rested my cheek in my palm. “Then, why did you?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. His voice was barely a whisper. “It’d been a long time since I’d seen you last. I was sure you were never coming home. I guess I wanted a reason to see you again.”

  I reached out and gently laid my hand on his. He ran so warm and the difference in our temperatures forced goose bumps along my arms. “You’re stubborn.”

  He laughed at that. “I’m not the only one.”

  “You have a point.”

  “I hate talking about personal shit. Always have. And you always bugged me about it and pushed me even when I told you to leave me alone. You’d never let things go, and I’d end up sharing just to shut you up. You drove me crazy. Seth’s nosy little sister.”

  His confession stung me. Is this how he still saw me? After two kisses that left my body buzzing with electricity and light. “Wow. Tell me how you really feel.”

  “I’m not done. I hated it in the beginning. Like really hated it. At least, I thought I did. But I got used to it. Maybe even started to like it. And then when you left, no one really talked to me like you did anymore.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Are you trying to tell me you missed that?”

  He rolled his eyes and sighed. “No. Definitely not.” The smile on his face said otherwise.

  “It’s nice to have someone you can be yourself with. Share things with. You were the only person I could ever talk to about things that really mattered. You and Seth. And even after I left, when big things happened in my life, I always thought of you.”

  “You know what I missed most?” he asked.

  “What?”

  He sighed. “The way you light up when you smile. When I saw you in the window at your house, you smiled at that guy, but it was…I don’t know. Weak. I fucking hated it. It wasn’t how I remembered your smile.”

  “You thought I wasn’t happy?”

  “I know you weren’t happy.”

  I sighed and slumped over to the side so my shoulder rested against his. I tipped my head onto his shoulder. “I wasn’t unhappy.”

  “There’s a difference.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t see it though. Not until I came home. Until I was me again, without the constant worry of being judged for doing and saying the wrong things. It was like I could breathe again.”

  “I should have killed him for not making you happier.”

  “Um, no. You shouldn’t have. He’s a good man, but he just wasn’t good for me.” I touched the back of my hand to Noah’s and left it there, waiting for him to take it. It didn’t take long. I relaxed as he joined his hand with mine and absent-mindedly rubbed the side of my thumb with his.

  “I’m not sure what I’ll do if I can’t fix this,” I said.

  “You don’t have to worry about anything. I’ll handle this. That’s what I do, right?”

  “They’ll kill you, Noah.”

  “Then I’ll go down swinging. A warrior’s death.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s stupid. Your pride is stupid.”

  “Sticks and stones, sweetheart.”

  “You’re infuriating.”

  “Maybe,” he said.

  “Definitely.” I nodded. “If you think I’ll let that happen you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

  He shifted in his seat and his expression became severe. “You can’t stick to me every second of the day.”

  I looked him dead in the eyes and said, “Wanna bet?”

  Nineteen

  It was late, and we were both tired. There was one bed in the cabin, a double on the other side of the room not far from the small, white-tiled bathroom. There was no question we’d share the bed.

  My stomach began to flip as he stripped off his shirt. I desperately tried not to stare at the defined curves of his abdomen and the small patch of hair that peeked out from above the button of his jeans that hung low on his chiseled hips.

  I gulped and as if he could hear my heart rate kick up a notch, he glanced my way and grinned. I couldn’t look away fast enough. When I looked back, he’d shucked off his pants. He crawled into bed the same way he shifted into a wolf—bare-ass naked. And I had to sleep next to him. Every nerve in my body was firing, and heat rushed to my cheeks.

  I removed my sweater, but hesitated to take off more clothes. He lay on his back, his head on his pillow, and his head tilted in my direction. He wasn’t embarrassed to watch me, and he didn’t care if I knew it or if it made me uncomfortable.

  “It’s not polite to stare,” I told him.

  “Good thing I’m not polite.”

  Sigh. I lef
t my tank top and my underwear on and crawled under the covers after turning off the single overhead light, which was more of bulb than a light fixture. We lay in the dark, arm to arm, with me facing him. My eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness yet, so I couldn’t see him clearly. Though I felt his eyes on me.

  I’d slept with him so many times, but not like this. This felt different somehow. It wasn’t him staying to keep me company or me falling asleep on his bed when we were hanging out. We were older, and things didn’t feel as off-limits as they had before, and I had more confidence than I had as a teenager. Still, I was too afraid of messing everything up between us to start anything.

  “Should I keep water by the bed in case you start a fire with your mouth?”

  I elbowed him. “I think it’s stopped. Thank god.”

  I nestled into the cotton sheets and got comfortable. His breath fanned my face and sent shivers down my spine.

  “Why do you think your father hid from them?” he finally asked, his voice cutting through the silence.

  “I don’t know.”

  “If you had to guess.”

  I blew out a breath slowly. “My dad taught me so little. I had magic, that I didn’t need spells or potions for, and he tried to help me with that. He tried to teach me about it, but just theoretical stuff. I didn’t know what a young witch was supposed to know or learn, so I never asked a lot of questions. He was my dad, and I assumed he was doing the right thing.”

  “You don’t think so anymore?"

  I thought about that. “I don’t know. I wonder if he’d known he was going to die if he would have done things differently. If he’d have prepared me a little more. I’m so in the dark now. I don’t know how to navigate my life. My magic is part of me, but I want to use it safely, you know?"

  “I do.” He shifted, and the bed ruffled. He reached out an arm, and I felt it above my hair. I lifted my head, and he rested his arm on my pillow. I skooched in closer to him and turned inward so my cheek rested on his shoulder. He was warm, and it soothed me and also made me tired. “I turned the first time when I was eleven.”

  “That’s young, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. But my parents were open about what they were so I wasn’t scared. Though it hurt like a bitch.”

  “You were lucky.”

  “I was.”

  I laid my hand on his bare chest. “You never talked about them with me.”

  “We don’t talk about the dead, remember.”

  “Oh, I remember. But I don’t believe in out of sight, out of mind. I think you all grieve. I don’t understand why you have to do it alone. It’s not healthy. Look at Marco.”

  The silence grew, and I felt as if I’d lost him. I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have pushed, should have let him talk without bringing it to his attention that he might actually be sharing.

  “My parents weren’t like that,” he said softly.

  “Like what?”

  “I’d only lost a grandmother and an uncle on my dad’s side. They talked about them after they died. I didn’t realize that was unusual until I came to Clover.”

  This surprised me. He was a vault most of the time. I found it hard to believe he’d changed so much.

  “Mom was an over-sharer, and she asked a lot of questions. Kind of like you.”

  I gently hit his stomach and felt his body buckle a little. Then he simply snickered.

  “So you must take after your dad.”

  “I guess I do.”

  “If it hadn’t been a rule for you, then why wouldn’t you talk about Seth with me after he died?” My chest constricted, like it always did. I wondered when it would stop hurting, or if it ever would.”

  “When my parents died, I lived in foster homes for months. My mother wasn’t close with the wolves in Clover. I’ve never been sure what happened there. But, it took a while for social services to talk with Kira and Rex and for me to move in with them.”

  “I’m so sorry about your parents. And I’m so glad you found another home.”

  “You did too.”

  I made a face, and said, “I was glad I had Seth.” Some things we’d never agree on. I changed topics quickly to avoid an awkward conversation. “Female weres are rare, aren’t they? Your mom must have been special.

  I felt his hand cover mine, and without intending to, I moved in closer to his side. His breath washed over my face. “Most born weres are males. Very few females are born, though I’m not sure why.”

  “Can they be turned?” It was something I’d been curious about but had never really asked about.

  “Most turned weres go feral. Females more than males. We don’t turn humans as a rule. Too much risk for us being exposed. And well, you know what happens to people that threaten to expose us.”

  “I guess I’ll have to strike that off my bucket list,” I teased to try and lighten the conversation.

  “Don’t joke about that.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Swear you’ve never considered it?” he asked, his voice tense.

  “I swear. Never.” I paused, just to make sure it wasn’t a lie. “Honestly, never.”

  He seemed to believe me because he let it drop. Then he released a long, heavy yawn.

  “What are we doing tomorrow?” I said sleepily.

  “Work.”

  “Oh?” It occurred to me he still hadn’t told me about his life before I returned. I assumed he worked at the scrap yard with the rest of the pack. “But I thought they didn’t want you around them right now.”

  “They don’t. I don’t work at the scrap yard.”

  “Then where do you work?”

  “I guess you’ll find out in the morning.”

  It surprised me how well Noah slept next to me. With everything going on, I half expected him to be up all night. He slept the exact opposite. Instead, it was me who couldn’t settle. My eyes grew heavy, and then the roar of the wind and the gentle tapping of a branch against the wooden cabin dragged me to full consciousness.

  Sighing, I pulled out my phone. The phone told me it was after three. I had hours left before morning, so I tried to find sleep again. Noah stirred. His lips puckered with each breath that escaped his lips. A thin layer of sweat covered me. He was so damn hot I felt like I was sleeping next to a woodstove. And yet, I didn’t want to get out of bed. There might have been a time in the not-so-distant future where I would never get to see him again. If I failed. Damn it, I couldn’t fail.

  He shifted position and rolled off of his back toward me. His arm slid over me to rest on my stomach. I stared at his peaceful face. My feelings for him rose to the surface, and it choked me up.

  I settled in close to him, relishing his touch and feeling somehow whole with him beside me. He was something I hadn’t known I’d been missing. Not until I knew what it was like to be in his orbit again.

  “Maisie,” a whisper in the night said.

  I tensed and didn’t dare move for fear I might miss out on a noise or a sound that might help protect me and Noah. Or was I dreaming? Was this a dream now?

  “Maisie,” the voice quietly called out again.

  I pinched myself and it definitely stung. “Noah?” I shook his shoulder gently. He didn’t move. I shook him harder and nothing. That wasn’t like him at all. “Noah, I heard something. You need to wake up.” Harder and harder I shook him. I removed his arm and sat up and my head spun around to the four corners of the room, looking for a shape. I swallowed hard and felt my pulse hammering in my neck.

  “Maisie.” The voice sounded female, but I couldn’t glean anything more than that. Only that I’d never heard her sweet, melodic voice before.

  “Who are you?” I said out loud. I felt around on the bed for anything to use as a weapon. I had my magic, but it never worked when I wanted it to, and the need for a hard, solid object made me feel safer. I snatched the small lamp on the table by the bed and crawled out. I took one last look at Noah. Was he under a spell? I reached down and pinched th
e back of his arm. Still nothing.

  The bathroom door flung open, and I nearly jumped clear out of my skin. With the lamp over my shoulder, ready to be thrown, I inched forward in my bare feet. I shouldn’t have gone there. It was like something from a horror movie where the stupid girl did the stupid thing every one yelled at her not to do. But I couldn’t stop myself. It was like there was a tether around my middle tugging me gently forward.

  I wanted this, I told myself. I wanted the hunters to find me. This was my chance to face what my father had hid us from and for me to beg for the lives and souls of my friends. Or die trying.

  I took a deep breath when I reached the bathroom. There was no window, and it was pitch black. I reached inside, my hand trembling, and I flicked on the lights. My reflection stared at me from the mirror over the sink. But there was nothing else there. Just an empty tub with the curtain pushed to the side and a toilet.

  I let out a huge breath I was holding and tried to calm my nerves.

  Then a flicker in the mirror drew my attention to my reflection. It was me, but it wasn’t. My mismatched eyes were both brownish red. My hair straight and shorter, more brown than auburn. And my reflection wore a black top, snug against her curves.

  I stepped forward, so my hips touched the porcelain vanity top. I turned my head to the side and my reflection mirrored my movements to perfection.

  “You’re not me,” I said.

  She shook her head, and I startled.

  “Who are you?”

  “You don’t know?”

  I shook my head. “Is this a dream?” Like the nightmares I’d had as a child?

  “No. This is very much real.”

  If she was real and in my head, I wanted her out. I pinched my arm again to try and wake myself, and then I pinched harder.

  “That won’t work.”

  “Did you do something to Noah?”

  “Is that his name?”

  “Did you?”

  “Yes.” Her intense eyes held mine. “The spell will fade in an hour or two. I needed to make sure we weren’t interrupted.”

  I leaned in closer, almost pulled toward her like a magnet to metal.