Her Professor Mate Read online

  He splayed his paws wide, ready to land on the intruder’s chest and knock him to the ground.

  But as he sailed through the air, the shadowy figure lifted his hands.

  Mac watched as bolts of purple fire erupted from the stranger’s palms and slashed through the air toward him.

  Magic.

  He had known, but hadn’t anticipated the man to react so quickly.

  Mac closed his eyes and let the magic wash over him. It felt like a shower of electricity, soaking into his fur, reaching for his soul as if it had fingers.

  But Mac was no cub.

  He was a powerful wolf. Beta of his pack.

  And he’d trained to resist magic under Ainsley Connor’s tutelage.

  He shook the sparks from his pelt as he landed on his opponent’s chest.

  The man’s eyes grew wide.

  Mac was ready to bury his teeth in his throat, when he saw those obsidian eyes narrow.

  “Tenebris,” the man whispered.

  There was a strange electronic thud from above.

  Mac looked up to see all the street lights blink out.

  Good thing Mac didn’t need light to see in the dark.

  But the man had taken advantage of his distraction to slide out from under Mac’s big paws.

  He danced away, lifting up his hands again. Purple flames flickered between his palms once more, building quickly.

  But Mac charged him like a bull, smacking into his middle and pinning him down.

  Mac roared, furious that this twig of a man would defy him, the anointed beta of Tarker’s Hollow.

  “Mac, no.” Parker’s voice was a hollow whine.

  Blood pounded in Mac’s ears. Instinct demanded that he express his dominance over this intruder.

  “Please. You have to stop,” Parker moaned. “He’s my brother.”

  Brother.

  Mac stepped back, releasing the man, who instantly pulled the darkness around himself and disappeared into the woods as the streetlights flickered back to life around them.

  Mac turned back to Parker again and sensed something different about her. The smell of magic still hung close to her.

  When she lifted her hands, he almost expected purple flames to come from them.

  But she was putting her hands up and taking a step backward in fearful submission.

  She was afraid of him. His mate was afraid.

  The realization hit him like a physical blow.

  He was too distraught to shift.

  His head fell back, and he let out a mournful howl.

  24

  Parker

  Parker wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes as Mac’s howls filled the woods.

  The sound was pure sorrow. And it resonated in her heart until she was sure it would break, like an opera singer shattering a crystal goblet.

  But she had seen what he was capable of.

  Until now Parker thought it was cool that Mac was a wolf shifter. She honestly thought it was kind of sexy. She’d always been firmly Team Jacob, and she thought Mac wore his animal side well.

  That was before she saw him as he was tonight, horrible, huge and bloodthirsty.

  She shuddered as she thought about him looming over her brother, teeth bared and ready to go in for the kill.

  Suddenly the haunting sounds of his keening stopped.

  She opened her eyes to see the wolf was gone.

  In its place stood a very familiar man.

  Mac’s face was handsome as ever, but it seemed careworn tonight.

  “Parker,” he said simply.

  “I had no idea,” she said, grateful that her voice wasn’t shaking.

  “Please, let me explain,” he said softly.

  His hands were spread, as if to show he had no weapon.

  The idea was ludicrous. He needed no weapon. He was a weapon, danger in every cell.

  “You don’t have to explain,” she said. “I was here. I don’t know what I thought it meant for you to be a wolf. I was a fool.”

  “You weren’t,” he said fervently. “What you just saw, it’s only because of our bond. My instinct tells me to protect you - I-I have to protect you.”

  “You didn’t know he was my brother,” Parker said.

  Mac shook his head, eyes earnest.

  “You were following me, because I was with another man,” Parker said coldly.

  Mac’s expression was stricken.

  “You only went after him because I was with him,” Parker said.

  In the back of her mind she still felt a little bad for not telling Mac about her brother. But his reaction had been way out of proportion.

  Or maybe it was in perfect proportion.

  He was an animal, after all.

  “Parker, please, can I explain?” Mac asked.

  “No,” she said. “There’s no need. I saw what I needed to see.”

  She ran back up the darkened sidewalk to her house, her backpack thumping against her back ironically, as if to remind her of how happy she had been earlier.

  And when she finally reached her front door, she knew without looking that he was watching, making sure she got in okay.

  But she didn’t turn around.

  He’s a monster, she told herself. Go inside and lock the door.

  25

  Mac

  Mac watched after Parker for a long time.

  Long enough to see lights go on in the house, and then out again.

  And though he was sure she could feel him through their bond, Parker didn’t come out again.

  At least there was no sign of the man.

  Her brother…

  The idea was disturbing, to say the least.

  Parker was his mate, of that he was sure. But how could she be his mate if her brother was some sort of dark magician?

  Mac headed into the woods, determined to keep a vigil over Parker’s home, but not wanting to bump into anyone while he was naked.

  As soon as the trees closed in around him he felt better. He could still see the glow of a single light in Parker’s bedroom. His heart swelled with love for her.

  Her family comes from dark magic.

  The little voice in his head took no prisoners. It was the anointed beta, who saw the world in simpler terms.

  He would have to tell Ainsley about this.

  He tried to imagine what would happen.

  He would tell Ainsley about Parker’s brother.

  Ainsley and the pack would run the stranger out of town, at best. More likely they would capture and interrogate him.

  And that was the right thing to do. Dark magic had no place here. And if this magician had come, there could be others.

  Mac was sure to his core that Parker meant no harm to Tarker’s Hollow.

  But if Mac reported her brother to the pack, she would never forgive him.

  He felt a wrenching pain in his chest, as if his heart were being torn like a paper towel.

  Loyalty to his alpha ran as deep as his bones, but duty to Parker was his nature now as well - she was his mate.

  He closed his eyes, saw her smile, tasted her kiss.

  But the pack had been everything to him, all his life.

  The faces of the people who trusted him swam in his mind: Ainsley, Carol, Hector, Erik, Cressida, Javier.

  Michael Connor…

  Defeated, he allowed himself to sink into his wolf form.

  The wolf thought in broader brush strokes. His pain was usually simpler, his joy more intense.

  But as Mac’s paws hit the soil, he felt only the same anguish, amplified.

  Mate and pack were the wolf’s twin loves.

  The animal could no better choose between them than his human side could.

  So Mac did the only thing he knew - he ran. He crashed through the undergrowth and sailed over fallen logs, trying to outrun his agony. And though that was impossible, he ran still, wearing out his body systematically, so that later sleep might help him escape his pain.

 
; And it worked about as well is it could.

  He awoke in his bed the next morning, exhausted, the sheets tangled, as though he had been running in his sleep too.

  But in the clarity of the pink light of dawn, he knew what he had to do.

  He showered and got dressed, all the while trying to refine his focus, to find the words that might convince Parker to compromise.

  She was not a dark magician, no matter who her family was. That much was clear to him.

  If Parker could acknowledge that, then it might be easier for her to look critically at her brother’s intentions.

  Mac didn’t know exactly what those intentions were, but he had no doubt they were nefarious.

  26

  Parker

  Parker woke up at the usual time and got ready for school.

  After the events of the previous night, she’d resolved to go with her newfound brother and unravel the mysteries of her past.

  It seemed odd to go in and teach when she was planning to leave. But she didn’t know what else to do with herself.

  And she was going to miss her students horribly. Seeing them one more time was irresistible.

  Am I really leaving?

  Thoughts of turning her back on her life were difficult. And the thought of never seeing Mac again was…

  No. He’s a monster.

  But he wasn’t really. She knew that instinctively, in spite of what she’d seen last night. Still, it had cemented her decision to leave with her brother after the ceremony at the amphitheater in the Tarker’s Hollow woods.

  In a way, she was thankful. At this time yesterday, the choice seemed too hard to even consider.

  Her phone buzzed, rousing her from her thoughts.

  * * *

  Mac:

  Can we talk?

  * * *

  She bit her lip. It was impossible to ignore him. But she couldn’t keep this up. She was leaving. The decision was made.

  * * *

  Parker:

  We have nothing to talk about.

  * * *

  Mac:

  Please.

  * * *

  Parker sighed and glanced at the time.

  * * *

  Parker:

  I only have a few minutes. I need to get to school.

  * * *

  Mac:

  I’m right outside. I won’t make you late. I promise.

  * * *

  She went to the window.

  Sure enough, Mac stood a respectable distance away, phone in hand.

  * * *

  Mac:

  If you really don’t want to see me, I’ll leave so you don’t have to. Just say the word.

  * * *

  The thought made her feel like her stomach was dropping through the floor.

  She had to see him one more time.

  Even if it was only to say good-bye.

  * * *

  Parker:

  I’m coming out.

  * * *

  He grinned at his phone in a way that wrenched her heart. She grabbed her bag and headed outside.

  “Hi, Parker,” Mac said.

  She’d been half afraid that he’d stood outside her house all night. But she could tell immediately that he’d gone home and showered.

  His hair glistened golden in the pale light of dawn and he smiled at her, his eyes crinkling.

  “Hi, Mac,” she said, more gently than she meant to.

  “I’m very sorry again about your brother,” he said. “You know I wasn’t really going to kill him, right?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Really, Parker,” he said. “Do a little reading about wolves, okay? Pecking order is important to us, and asserting dominance in a confrontation is the only way to diffuse it.”

  “So you were… asserting dominance?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said, smiling in a relieved way.

  “That’s… that’s insane,” she said shaking her head.

  “Read up on wolves,” he said. “Or think about kids on a playground. I know I’m frightening when I’m in my other form, but it’s mostly just for show - to be scary. I’m just so sorry I scared you in the process.”

  “It’s fine,” Parker said.

  “There’s something unusual about your brother,” Mac said carefully. “I wonder if you know what it is.”

  Parker’s defenses went up immediately. She stared at Mac, not answering.

  “I know you saw what I saw last night,” Mac went on. “Your brother made purple lightning come out of his hands.”

  Parker nodded slowly. There was no point denying it. They’d both been there.

  “Did you know that Ainsley Connor isn’t just a wolf, she’s also a formidable magic user?” Mac asked.

  Interesting.

  “Magic can be used for good,” Mac went on. “There are many examples of it. And though wolves and magic traditionally don’t mix, in this town we have a truce that has been to the benefit of both.”

  Parker nodded. There was so much she didn’t know. So much that had been right under her nose the whole time. Was everyone as blind to it as she was?

  “But there is light magic, and there is dark magic,” Mac said. “Parker, I’m afraid that what your brother practices is dark magic.”

  “What are you saying?” Parker asked.

  “I’m saying that his magic could be dangerous - to you and to this community,” Mac said. “We need to talk with Ainsley about it.”

  “What?” Parker asked, horrified.

  “Think about it, Parker,” Mac said. “If we go to Ainsley, she will know you have nothing to do with it. And maybe she’ll help us find a gentle way to encourage your brother to move on. I don’t want to harm him, Parker, I swear it.”

  “But you want me to rat him out to your… alpha?”

  Parker couldn’t hide her disgust.

  “You say I have nothing to do with this,” she said. “But I do. Those shadows in the woods the other night, the ones that scared the horses? Those were following me.”

  Mac’s jaw dropped open.

  Parker felt her heart disintegrating as she taught him how to fall out of love with her.

  “I have dark magic inside me,” she went on. “I could be a danger to you and to this community.”

  “Parker,” he murmured.

  “Right now I have no control over my powers,” she said. “But tonight I’m meeting Arkady in the amphitheater. We’re going to do a ceremony with our amulets to strengthen our magic. It’s unstable when split in two.”

  Mac glanced down at the amulet on her chest.

  “I never knew,” she said quietly. “I never knew what was wrong with me. But then Arkady came the other night, told me who and what I was. And it all clicked into place, for the first time in my life. I have a brother, Mac. I can’t believe it. And I have a magical gift. And that means I have a responsibility.”

  “Parker,” Mac said helplessly.

  “After the ceremony tonight we’re going back to Glacier City to meet with his order, so I can learn to use my powers for good,” she said. “I already bought the plane ticket.”

  “Parker, their view of what’s good may be different from yours,” Mac said quickly.

  “It figures you’d see it that way,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter. We’re flying out tonight.”

  “So you won’t even think about this?” Mac asked, his voice taking on a pleading tone. “It’s a monumental decision. And it doesn’t sound like something you can undo. Can you wait a few days?”

  “The moon is full tonight,” Parker said simply. “I’ve already waited long enough. This is who I am. And there’s no reason for me to stay somewhere my kind isn’t wanted. This is my destiny.”

  “I see,” Mac said coolly. “Good luck.”

  He turned on his heel.

  “Mac,” she heard herself call out.

  He turned back to her, his eyes brimming with sadness.

  “I can’t, Parker,” he sa
id simply. “I can’t be with you if you’re part of that world.”

  He turned again and walked away.

  She watched him until he disappeared down the hillside, fighting the instinct to run to him.

  When he was gone, she clutched her amulet in her hand.

  Tonight things would be different. Tonight she would finally belong to something. Tonight the nightmare of her unchecked powers would be over.

  This was her fate.

  This was her life.

  Even if it felt more like dying.

  27

  Mac

  Mac kept walking after leaving Parker’s house.

  It took everything he had not to turn back, but he knew there was no other way.

  He stopped for a moment to text Helen Thayer and let her know he wouldn’t be in for office hours.

  Then he continued to wander the streets of his hometown.

  He watched the sun rise pink over the little village as he crossed Yale.

  It was so early that there were no people bustling about. Instead the whole thing looked like a model train set - perfect little store fronts on a tree-lined street.

  The bakeries were already making fresh bread. He could smell the blueberry muffin scent coming out of the café, Oedipal Complex. Soon Javier would open up the hardware store.

  But for now the little town was all his.

  Mac adored Tarker’s Hollow. It was all he had ever known. He had grown up on its streets, played in its woods, cherished its community.

  But it felt empty without Parker by his side.

  She was leaving. And it felt like all the colors were disappearing from his life.

  Mac continued his walk, down Park to Elm.

  Instead of heading back to his own house, he kept walking, without any thought to where he was headed.

  The bare branches of the trees met overhead on these little streets. They had always given Mac a sense of shelter.