Enchanting the Alpha (Hex My Heart, #4) (3 page)

Since she arrived in Sweet Briar Hollow to care for her aunt, their torrid affair had gone from sizzling to soul scorching in a night.

But he couldn’t offer her the stars he saw staring back at him from the depth of her jewel-colored eyes. Lone wolves didn’t have that privilege. That’s why he’d meant to come here tonight and end things, despite the fact his wolf wanted the forever kind of relationship with the witch.

In order to claim a mate his law demanded he be part of a pack. For the most part, the idea worked and provided the normally tight kit community a sense of a large family, as the law intended. Until they turned on their own and he had no intentions on letting that ever happen again.

This close, her undiluted essence shot through him with each inhale of cold air and served as a shot of pure lust. His wolf lured him closer to the edge of losing what little control he had with every second they neared the winter solstice.

At the stroke of midnight the full moon would be at its strongest, and so would his wolf. Going in there probably didn’t sit high on the smart move list, but he had a job and it currently had McKenna’s name all over it.

A static-riddled voice crackled through the police scanner, forcing Caden’s attention away from his dick and back to the arrest warrant in his hand. He looked at the detailed description of the suspect again in the muted moonlight. No mistake, the woman wanted for breaking and entering into an exotic botanical garden a town over was one Harmony of Sweet Briar Hollow.

Female, not an inch over five feet, long brown hair that brushed against the delectable curvy ass that fit so damn well in the palm of his hands, and one kissable Marilyn Monroe-styled beauty mark just above her lip. Also said to be a witch. That last detail was the dead ringer.

The official report might read differently, but he liked his version better. They’d forgotten the sweet Southern lilt that colored her voice and light creamy skin that made him want to take a nibble just to prove she tasted as sweet as she looked.

Caden shifted in his seat for a better look at the shoppe. Soft light bathed the sidewalk through some kind of wispy curtain that didn’t block out a damn thing. He watched as she crossed from one side to the other, head down as if she was concentrating on a task.

She’d gotten herself into trouble, left witnesses, and now he got to slap cuffs on the sassy witch. Maybe he should thank her. The fantasy of having her at his mercy crossed his mind on more than one occasion.

He smiled. Harmony, her emerald eyes lit with a mischievous fire and wearing his hardware made his cock ache with anticipation.

He tossed the paper into the passenger seat. Easy boy. The minute he touched her, his wolf would take over and he’d gladly pass over the reins, all foreplay forgotten. He couldn’t let that happen. The last time they were together, he’d almost lost it and claimed her. When his control slipped and focused on not Harmony the delectable woman he enjoyed, but to Harmony, his mate and the woman that lit the fire in his belly and pulled on a deeper, more primal fiber of his being, he knew he had to leave.

Shifter law had forced him out of the only home he knew before hitting double digits as a kid and soon after, left him to care for a drunk of a father that had nothing better to do than make him understand how worthless he was to a pack. For years Caden thought it was his fault the pack had disowned his family with the way his father degraded him. It wasn’t until years later he realized it was his deadbeat father’s fault instead. Killing a pack elder while moon drunk had a way of sealing one’s fate.

In the end, he’d been left without a pack or a family, but he managed to land on his feet. One thing he would never do again, though, was give someone the power to make him feel that way again. Ever. That meant no pack, which meant no Harmony.

At first, he thought maybe a strand of all-nighters would work her out of his system and he could get back to business as usual. That meant keeping Sweet Briar tame, the otherworldlies in check, and the humans safe. Laws had bound him since birth. Some good, and some not worth a damn. The badge he wore worked like a safety net and he could deal with that.

Caden slipped from his cruiser then froze the second his boot hit ankle-deep snow and watched the vision of beauty before him. What the hell...

A small bell jangled as the brunette in question ducked out in tight jeans that outlined her curvy body on the bottom half and in complete contrast to the overlarge sweater that damn near swallowed her upper half.

A sharp wind tucked around the corner to cause wisps of hair to dance around her heart-shaped face.

Lack of air constricted his lungs. Everything slowed and all he could think of was anchoring her close to his body, protecting her against the harsh elements of the world and warming her up with the same primal heat sluicing through him. The way it burned, she’d never be cold again.

Glued in place, Caden continued to watch as she bent and scooped up what looked like a handful of snow. The complete mystery of a woman had him at a loss. One minute he wanted to unravel her one thread at a time at least three times a day and all night when the lure of the full moon called. In the next, he wanted to backtrack out the same way he came in, but he knew one way would burn him and the other would likely leave him for dead. Soulless.

She scanned the area, but passed right over his presence tucked beneath the only tree on the street—an evergreen that had seen the birth of a nation and probably the last of its kind. Bless the city council’s love for historical landmarks.

When she retreated, Caden crossed the street in a slow stride. If he walked in there, brandishing his warrant and cuffs she might balk and toss some hexed spell at him that would leave him green and slimy. If she wanted to be nice.

He cringed.

No, if he wanted to get her in hand, he’d have to plan this right. Pulling a John Wayne might not go over too well. What did they say about walking up on an unsuspecting witch? He didn’t have a clue, but whatever it was, he knew for damn sure it warned a man against it.

Careful not to expose his position, he lowered his radio volume and edged closer to the brick building to listen. He angled his head and took a couple of beats to make sure Harmony had settled inside.

Stepping cautiously along the snow-covered walkway, Caden grimaced when the fresh powder crunched beneath his heavy boots as he approached the front entrance. He suspected there would be several inches to deal with come morning. Being snowed in with the feisty witch wouldn’t be such a bad idea and it made his blood rush south. Never in his adult life did he ever wish he could set aside the badge that had saved his life.

For her, though, the thought crossed his mind often. He clenched his back teeth and shoved the thought aside. He didn’t need to tempt his wolf with a treasure he couldn’t keep and a future he knew damn well didn’t stand a chance.

Thunder rumbled overhead, cutting him off mid-thought.

Torrents of air beat against him and sent a flurry of fresh snow to white out his surroundings.

Another quake hammered down on him, the kind that reached into a man’s body and made every fucking bone vibrate. “Son-of-a bitch.” Caden clenched his jaw. He knew that sound. He raised his head and scented the air just to make sure as he reached for his shoulder holster. His lips pulled back and a deep, guttural growl ruptured from his throat in warning to the approaching shifter.

Muted silhouettes danced and weaved in between the shadows cast by the neighboring buildings.

Another rumbled shockwave thundered overhead, shaking the ground beneath his feet, but he caught traction with the grooved soles of his boots.

If the creatures thought they could come sniffing around his woman they had another think coming. He moved toward the door. Harmony was inside. Alone. He needed to move her to safety. The station made for the best option. Dragons never did a fly by without a fight ensuing. Shit was about to get real and his office-issued 9mm had no chance against the flying lizard’s scales.

Caden lunged for the door handle.

Energy crawled along his skin, the force of the shift luring him to answer the call of the moon.

Not yet, dammit! Not yet.

Everything slowed.

They say when a man faces death time slows to a full stop. That the three sisters of fate steal a few seconds of a person’s life, taking that moment to measure out their worth on earth versus their need for souls in Hades.

He hoped like hell the caverns of the underworld were at full capacity.

Scenes of blood on his lips, his arms wrapped around Harmony, her neck within reach of his wolf’s teeth flashed across his mind as if he was on the outside looking in.

Time fast-forwarded with a blast of red light that sent him to his knees, all air knocked from his lungs. What the fucking hell was that?

Ears ringing, he threw himself at the door. Wood cracked, gave beneath his weight.

Warm air rushed him while the frigid winter chased him from behind. “Harmony.” Thick smoke clogged the whole room and his hearing couldn’t pick up a heartbeat.

“Harmony, sweetheart, answer me!” Only silence greeted him and his blood pressure soared. Fear rose like an ugly beast. “Harmony McKenna, I’ll toss everything is this place to find you! Answer me, woman. Let me know you’re okay.” A couple of shelves along the back wall had tipped over, the contents smashed and littered the floor between him and blocked the way to the back.

He pulled on the power of the moon and gave his senses full rein. Open to everything around him, he had little defense against the invisible wave that crashed into him.

Unsteady, he fell to one knee. Flashes of heat and cool tumbled up his spine on a continuous assault. Tingles rushed along his skin, over his arms and legs, then morphed into a heavy throb that wrapped around every fiber of his body. He snapped his head up, eyes narrowed to the source of all the thick, mushroomed fog billowing up behind the counter.

Harmony.

With each beat of his heart, the ice filled his veins. His wolf snarled and clawed to get out. Air, he needed air. His wolf pulled him deeper into the building.

Find Harmony.

A voice in the back of his head played the message on a loop.

Midnight black closed in on him and he stumbled forward.

Find Harmony.

He gave a violent shake desperate to pull himself from the tar that clung to him.

Cool hands clasped his face. “Oh, why did ya have to show up now, Sheriff?”

Good question. A dark-haired dreamy vixen weaved in and out of focus, the deep emerald pools of her eyes the only thing anchoring him in place. “Had to save you,” he bit out between gulps of red air.

“You picked a fine time to play hero, buster.”

A
knot formed in her throat from the sound of the sexy deep rumble, and Harmony barely managed to work a gulp of air in to fight against the white dots blurring her vision.

In. Out. In. Out.

A groggy half groan, half growl made her bite at her lower lip with the way it stroked along her libido with an easy grace.

This close, she could smell the same spicy, intoxicating scent that had hit her so hard from the vision. Only multiply it by ten.

Damn crazy wolf. He’d scared the holy Hades out of her bursting through the door as if it was made of nothing more than wet paper towels. One more thing she’d have to clean up.

“I’m here, I’m here,” she assured him. Her spells never backfired. Goddesses divine, help her if she caused any harm to him. She’d never forgive herself.

Silence settled over the room as thick as the smoke. “Roarke? You okay?” She waved a hand through the air in front of his face, but it didn’t help. Every wisp she managed to fan away rushed right back at them twofold. The stuff was hell bent on suffocating her. Like a fog straight out of sci-fi movie where some damn alien monster would pop out of nowhere and snatch her up. She almost laughed. That option might be easier to deal with than her current situation.

Particles danced around the edges of her eyesight. Another wave rushed over them only this time the effects of her spell dug its claws deeper.

Harmony let her hands slowly drop as she scooted back a couple of inches. A hexed werewolf even in human form was still a force to reckon with. By all accounts, Caden didn’t look so good. Sweat dotted his forehead and the vein in the side of his neck pulsed. His normally deeply tanned skin now looked pale.

She raked her free hand through her hair, which had slipped from her sloppy bun at some point and tried not to show the panic inching up her spine. Did that freak out shifters? The scent of fear? That and the power from so much potion bombarding them probably didn’t bode well for either of them in such a small space.

She gave a faint smile when he flashed a glance her way and tightened her fist around the edges of her sweatshirt. She had two options, let him work through the lure of the energy and hope he didn’t shift or help him stay un-furry for as long as possible. Not that shifting would be a bad thing, but she’d never handled a hexed werewolf in full on fang mode.

On bended knee, Caden braced himself against one shelf while she waited, unsure what to do next, if anything.

He raised his head and they locked gazes. Brilliant golden flecks pierced by rays of crimson stared back at her. Her heart did an erratic two-step. His eyes narrowed into thin slits that glowed with an ethereal power.

Wow. He had the most gorgeous set of eyes. She’d never seen them so red before. Hades, she’d never seen them anything other than deep brown, and never would again. She knew it, just like she knew she needed a closer look. Caden this so out of control...goddesses divine!

Captivated by the crimson shards of color in his eyes, she slowly ran a hand along the stubbled line of his jaw. “Beautiful,” she managed in a controlled, quiet voice and smiled at the dark skinned man and his unruly hair.

Mesmerizing more like it, but beautiful worked too. This close the shafts of red in his eyes filled with angry storm clouds that swirled and shifted with uncontrollable emotions. Shifters were so mysterious and she’d never been this close to one on the verge of shifting. Her line of work brought in numerous races of otherworldlies, but she never worked with them in their
other
form. A small voice in her head warned her to tread lightly with the beast, but she pushed it aside until the whispers were nothing more than background noise.