Wolf Spell: Shifters Bewitched #1 Read online

  “Yes,” I managed.

  He turned on his heel and headed back into the forest, not even bothering to ask me to follow.

  I scrambled after him. I had no interest in being alone in these woods.

  Branches and twigs snapped underfoot. I had a sense that I should stay quiet, but he was setting such a brisk pace that I couldn’t do anything but try to keep up.

  The moonlight cast strange shadows, stretching the trees and rocks like a funhouse mirror. I stumbled once or twice over roots, but kept my feet under me.

  The Lord Protector just kept walking. He turned corners without waiting for me, his confidence that I would follow was unshakable.

  And I was angry to know that he was right. Even if I weren’t designated to follow him by whatever archaic law the witches had pledged, my own instincts locked me to him as if he had my unwilling heart on a titanium leash.

  We pushed through a dense thicket of rhododendrons and he turned a corner around the hillside.

  I jogged after him, hugging the wall of the mountain so as not to lose my footing in the wet leaves.

  But when I turned the bend, he was gone.

  I sensed movement, and then something grabbed me, dragging me into the darkness.

  13

  Luke

  I never asked for a mate bond.

  I never craved the soul wrenching pull that my brothers in arms talked about in our long nights by the campfire. To me, those witches in the castle were silly things, dressing up in their gowns and marching around chanting, every one of them raised up soft in the human realm, completely unprepared for the real duties of protecting that damned library or being a guardian’s mate.

  But like it or not, I was bound now to one of them, and there was nothing I could do about that.

  As we came through the thicket and rounded the corner, an impossible scent reached my keen nose. Something I’d learned of in my training, but never had the misfortune to meet face to face.

  A hellhound.

  I took another disbelieving deep breath of the crisp air, just to be sure, but there was no mistaking the mix of rot and sulfur that followed such an unnatural beast.

  If the Order had summoned a creature this powerful, then they were getting bold, or desperate. Either way, it meant trouble.

  The thought of the girl in danger set my protective instincts on fire, as if it were my own vulnerable flesh out there thrashing through the trees.

  I regretted making her march after me. I should have slung her over my shoulder the minute I laid eyes on her.

  I stepped backward into a shallow cave on the hillside and waited for her to catch up. On my own, I might have stood and fought. But I couldn’t risk the human getting spooked by my other form and running out of my protection and into certain death.

  Closing my eyes, I called the beast forward a bit, so that I could sense her better.

  As soon as the delicious throb of her heart signaled that she had rounded the bend I grabbed her and yanked her inside.

  She gasped and struggled uselessly against me.

  I put my hand over her mouth and pinned her to the wall of the cave, covering her body with mine, to stop her making noise and to cover her scent somewhat from the hellhound that was prowling just outside.

  “Stop, human,” I breathed into her hair.

  She smelled like wildflowers and her body was soft and tender under mine. Unbidden thoughts took hold of me and it was all I could do not to claim her there and then, even with danger so close.

  She relaxed at the sound of my voice. Could her senses really be so dull that she hadn’t realized who grabbed her?

  I forgot what blundering messes humans were.

  “Wh-what’s happening?” she whispered to me.

  “Someone sent a hellhound after one of us,” I whispered back. “It’s just outside.”

  I turned, tasting the air to see if it was closer or further than before. It must have been close, its carrion scent tinged the night air, like charred, rotten meat.

  When I turned back to the girl her eyes were closed, but moving back and forth quickly beneath the lids, as if she were dreaming. Her lips moved slightly too, but no sound came.

  There was a rustling movement at the mouth of the cave. I spun to face our assailant, surprised it was able to sneak so close.

  But it wasn’t a hellhound.

  It was the sound vines closing in around the mouth of the cave, sealing us in.

  My first thought was panic at the idea that we had blundered into some sort of trap. But then I realized what was really happening.

  The vines weren’t trapping us.

  They were hiding us.

  14

  Bella

  “Bella,” the guardian whispered. “Did you do that?”

  I opened my eyes, feeling strange. Why had I closed them in the first place? It took a moment to adjust to the dim interior of the cave.

  The opening had been a sort of triangle of soft moonlight before. Now I saw only darkness with tiny star-like dots of light bleeding through.

  “We’re hidden by the vines,” he whispered. “They grew over the opening while you were… doing whatever you were doing.”

  “I-I can’t believe it,” I stammered.

  I had been trying my best to communicate with plants all day. And now I had brought out their magic without even trying.

  Maybe the magic was just my natural reaction to danger. It seemed to only come out when I was about to be hurt.

  “What did you say was out there?” I asked, sure I’d misheard him.

  “A hellhound,” he said, like it was something that a normal person would say. “It’s gone now, but we can’t leave yet. It may only be waiting for us.”

  I breathed an inward sigh of relief. It was best if we waited in here a bit. I had no idea how to undo whatever I had done with the vines, and they looked like they would be difficult to open up. I could only hope that the magic would wear off before I had to tell him I had no idea how to get us out.

  “What is a hellhound?” I asked.

  “It’s the kind of thing I protect you from,” he said gruffly, letting go of me.

  I felt the absence of his body like he had taken a piece of me with him, though he was no more than a few inches away. I wanted to find any reason to press myself against him again.

  “That’s a conveniently vague answer,” I said instead.

  “There are people out there who would like nothing more than to capture a witch like you,” he said. “They send their minions to hunt for the vulnerable.”

  I didn’t have time to be offended about being called vulnerable. I was too busy being shocked at the idea that something was hunting me.

  “Why would they want me?” I asked.

  “They would twist your magic to their own dark ends,” he explained. “It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “So if I decide to stay with you, you’ll protect me?” I asked.

  “I’ll protect you to the death,” he growled. “Whether you decide to stay with me or not.”

  I stared at him in confusion, glad it was too dark for him to see my face.

  He sounded so angry, like he was being forced to protect me against his will. But he was the one who picked me. I hadn’t asked to be chosen. I was only on this mountain so that I could learn to help my brother. And he was taking that away from me.

  I was tired, angry and overwhelmed. The frigid air suddenly seeped into my bones and I began to shiver. I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm.

  “You’re cold,” he said, his voice gentler. “Come.”

  I moved to him in spite of myself, my body doing his bidding automatically, even as my mind rebelled.

  Then he was wrapping his arms around me, pulling me close, and I forgot about my fear and anger.

  When he held me before, I was slammed into the rock wall, heart pounding and terrified. But this was something different.

  He pulled me tenderly to hi
s chest, one huge hand splayed between my shoulder blades, the other cradling my head. His body was feverishly hot. It was no wonder he was wandering around the woods in October with no shirt on. His intense heat enveloped me, warming me through deliciously.

  Against my will, I felt my guard going down.

  “Is that better?” he asked.

  I nodded, nuzzling his bare chest. His scent was intoxicating.

  He groaned and the hand that was between my shoulders slid down to my waist, pulling me closer.

  A jolt of need went through my body, like nothing I had ever felt before. I pictured him throwing me to the cave floor, covering my body with his.

  “Stop that,” he whispered into my hair.

  “I didn’t do anything,” I told him.

  “Stop thinking,” he growled.

  Oh.

  “Can you… hear my thoughts?” I ventured, praying the answer was no. I had enough trouble watching what I said. I’d never manage to keep my thoughts in check.

  “You know what I am,” he said, nuzzling my hair.

  “A guardian?” I asked.

  He pulled away slightly and it was all I could do not to try to drag him back closer.

  “They told you about the promise between the guardians and the school?” he asked, his eyes glowing in the darkness.

  “L-lord protector?” I stammered, frightened.

  “Luke, my name is Luke,” he said.

  “Luke, your eyes…”

  “What exactly did they tell you about me?” he demanded.

  “They said the witches protect the library, and the guardians protect the castle,” I told him. “They said you had the right to choose me as your mate, as our tribute to the guardians for protecting us.”

  “I see,” he said. “And did they tell you anything else about me? About what I am?”

  I thought back, but there was nothing more, not that I could think of. I shook my head.

  “Gods of the underworld,” he muttered.

  I waited, terrified.

  “The Brotherhood of the Guardians is an ancient organization,” he said. “But our kind is dying out.”

  “Dying out?” I echoed.

  “We live longer than you, but our kind is not as abundant as yours,” he said. “We have no females left.”

  “What do you mean your kind?” I asked.

  “We’re different from you, physically,” he said carefully.

  “Bigger,” I said, feeling embarrassed almost immediately at the appreciation in my voice.

  “Yes,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his. “But there are other differences too.”

  “Your eyes,” I said.

  “Everything about me, Bella,” he whispered. “I’m a beast.”

  Beast.

  The word hung in the air between us. That was the way I’d first thought of him, when he’d stalked into the courtyard like some kind of predator. But it didn’t make any sense. He was clearly just a man. What could he be talking about?

  “You’re a man,” I said, voicing my thoughts as I stupidly gestured at him in the darkness.

  “Would you like for me to show you?” he asked.

  “Will you hurt me?”

  “Never.” His voice sounded strained.

  “Then yes,” I said. “I want to see.”

  “Don’t scream,” he said.

  Before I could ask why I would scream, there was a sound in the air, a sort of hush of movement.

  My eyes strained against the darkness, hoping for some hint as to what was happening.

  A heartbeat later, the cave was still and silent.

  “Luke?” I whispered.

  There was no answer, but I heard a huff, almost like a sigh.

  I reached out into the darkness. Something soft and warm met my hand, like thick hair.

  No.

  Fur. It was fur.

  I froze and then the dark shape butted against my hand, as if eager for more contact. It felt almost like a dog, but way too big and too high off the ground for that. Whatever Luke had become, his head was at my chest level.

  I let my hand run up the top of the head and down the neck, where its fur grew shaggier.

  I felt shoulders, and the slope of its spine.

  It huffed at me again and head butted me in the hip.

  The movement was slow and gentle, but the creature was big enough that I nearly stumbled.

  “I can’t see you,” I said. “Move closer to the light.”

  I stepped toward the mouth of the cave, to the place where the pinpoints of light that bled between the vines illuminated the cave floor slightly.

  I looked back toward the creature I had touched.

  It moved to me slowly, glowing blue eyes appearing first, and then I saw its full shape, its thick coat shimmering slightly in the moonlight, shoulders rolling with a fluid quality that suggested incredible power.

  My heart leapt in my chest at the sight. But somehow, I was not afraid.

  “You’re a wolf,” I breathed.

  15

  Luke

  I slid quickly back into my man form before she could scream or cry out and give us away.

  The wolf let me go without a fight, though he usually resisted without a hunt, or at least a run.

  Or a fight.

  But he knew how important this was. More important to him than to me, really. I had no desire for a mate.

  Though tonight was changing that, in spite of my best efforts.

  Bella stood before me, gazing at me in awe, but not screaming or cowering away. Amazingly, she didn’t seem frightened at all.

  This girl was brave and interesting, not the spoiled witch I’d expected. I kind of liked her, even though it was hard not to resent her for caging me with her bond.

  “Luke,” she said again, in wonder.

  “So they didn’t tell you that part,” I said, wondering vaguely whether that violated the agreement.

  It only seemed fair that both parties knew what they were getting into. Though, I didn’t actually remember anything like that being in the ancient contract now that I thought about it.

  She shook her head.

  Gods, they hadn’t told her much at all. They had sent her to my bed without knowing what she was going to find there.

  “Fuck,” I said, slamming my fist into the wall, and wishing it was the face of the person who had put her in this position.

  “Luke?” she murmured.

  “They should have told you,” I said, spinning on her. “You shouldn’t have come to the school without understanding and agreeing.”

  “Well, they didn’t tell me,” she said sadly.

  She was trembling again, her arms wrapped around her small body once more.

  I wanted nothing more than to hold her, to pull her close and drink in that intoxicating scent. I longed to warm her, comfort her, and press my body close to hers until she begged me to take her…

  But she didn’t want to be here with me. It was all obviously too much for her.

  Frustrated as I was that I would have to wait another night, so be it. A true mating could not begin with uncertainty of any kind. If I thought I wanted her now, it was nothing compared to how I would feel when she wore my bite. If the legends were true, my need for her would be a sweet agony.

  I wanted her to feel it too, without reservation.

  “You’re beautiful,” she said, so softly I almost missed the words.

  I blinked at her.

  “When you’re a wolf, I mean,” she said, looking down in embarrassment. “The wolf is beautiful.”

  I wanted to tell her she was beautiful too, that looking at her made me ache with need. But I restrained myself, barely.

  “You’re cold,” I said instead. “Let me warm you, in my other form. We’ll rest here for a while. He can make that more comfortable.”

  “Really?” she asked, those dark blue eyes wide with wonder.

  I nodded, and she smiled back at me.

  Every
fiber of my being told me to claim her, so I did the only thing I knew could stop me.

  I closed my eyes and called on the beast once more.

  Sleep, just sleep, I told him. Keep our mate warm and protect her.

  I could feel his agreement as I faded backward, giving him room to take over.

  16

  Luke

  I take in the scent of our mate. It is cool and green, like the forest. She is fragrant and lovely, better than any prey.

  She smiles at me and I smell her tomato red happiness when I butt my head into her hip again.

  Her clever fingers slide through my fur and I close my eyes at her touch.

  She is gentle and kind and she is not afraid of me, not even a little. I would smell it on her right away. Fear is a specialty of mine.

  She yawns, and I can taste everything she ate today on the air she releases. She likes sweet things and herbal teas. She is no wolf.

  But I like her anyway. I adore her.

  I stretch back on my haunches and yawn too, and she laughs. The sound sparkles and flows like the waterfall in the forest. It is as stimulating as when she ran her fingers through the thick fur of my ruff.

  But my other self was right. She is cold.

  I stretch out on the floor of the cave. The cold stone feels good to my hot pelt.

  I lift my snout at her and she understands that I am beckoning.

  She moves close to me and lowers herself to the ground, curling up in a ball, as if to conserve her own body heat.

  I wrap myself around her. Satisfaction blasts through me at the knowledge that I am marking her with my scent.

  She snuggles in and makes a happy noise in the back of her throat as we share our warmth. Her contentment is a mist of greens and blues.

  Soon her breathing slows, and I can taste the flavor of her dreams, but I don’t know what she is dreaming about. Whatever worries her in her waking life has not followed her into her dreams tonight.

  I close my eyes and drink her in. My other form would be wakeful with his need to claim her. I remain awake with the desire to protect. I am afraid someone will come to harm her or to claim her before he can.