Love's a Witch (22 page)

I remembered being put upstairs to rest. I don’t know what exactly I did to that wolf, but I think everyone was a little more afraid to piss me off. Everyone except my mate.

Now fully awake, my body leaned on the doorway as I heard my Clan discuss how my turning would take place without even consulting me. I couldn’t believe the man I had gone to bring back into the Clan would take my choice away.

Wasn’t this the same werewolf who left his Pack because they were not treating the rest of the world with respect? The man who sat in the library with me and talked to me about literature, and his views on my lack of appreciation for it? Even when he disagreed with me, that man still respected my opinion. I wish that man was here now.

Now that same man is telling me I would understand better when I was turned. Did he think this was romantic? Turning me was convenient. Turning me was a smart strategic move, but I wanted to turn for a man who loved me.

I crossed my arms as I leaned against the solid woodwork of the house. I probably looked relaxed but annoyed. They were all a little scared of me. Good. “So as a member of the Clan, my decisions are made for me now? Does the little human get to have an opinion?”

I wasn’t going to risk using some of my new found brain invading power to get answers. I was too weak, and I didn’t want to make anyone in this room have an aneurism. Also, it was probably rude. Was there an established psychic code of ethics?

“Mary, I had to mark you. We let my mother go. If there are any in her Pack who are still loyal, they will know that you are mine. Not only would they be stealing from another wolf, they would be interfering with a mating. They may not seem like it, but that Pack values the honor of the Pack ways. What I did makes you off limits. I don’t understand why you are so upset.”

“Am I going to turn into a werewolf from your bite?” I felt like the floor was a little more solid under my feet, but the rug could get ripped out from beneath me at any moment. The world needed to stop spinning so fast.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You haven’t had any of the blood-letting or the ceremony that goes along with the turning.”

“Ridiculous? I don’t know what ‘goes along with’ howling at the moon once a month. Hell, a few months ago, I was just a crazy nutso human. Now I have to find people, save people, be the all-important link for people, and now your mate? I’m sorry I’m not jumping up and down here, Craig, but it’s a little fucking much.” There were too many people in here.

I trekked back up the stairs. Thankfully the banister was just as solid as the door frame had been and I made it back to my room without someone carrying me. Unfortunately my entire Clan followed, as did our battle buddies. The room was not big enough for all of us and I was not in the mood.

“Out.”

Nobody moved. Shelly stood dead still. I wanted to poke her eye just to see if she’d blink. She looked to Jake and Amber as if she wanted them to handle me. Then I wanted to poke her eye with a dull rusty spoon.

“Maybe I am not speaking clearly enough for all the hypersensitive ears surrounding me.” If there was any language these people understood it was sarcasm. “I said get out. I need a break.”

“You heard her. Space, people.” Amber got them moving.

“I mean you too, Amber.” I had to be alone. I know that I joined Amber’s cause willingly, but right now I needed some space before I started blaming her for bringing all this shit down on me.

“Mar…” The hurt in her voice traveled along our connection. I didn’t want to feel her pain. I wanted to be angry.

“Please go. I know you don’t really understand why I am so pissed, and that’s why I need you to go. You sent me out there knowing what would happen, and didn’t explain it to me. My best friend. That sucks.”

She lowered her eyes. One thing I knew was that Alpha’s didn’t go submissive for their subordinates. The fact that she dropped her gaze meant she was letting me have this victory. It was a nice gesture, and one I finally understood the meaning of, but the phrase “too little too late” pinged around in my skull.

“I didn’t know he’d mark you. I thought he’d profess his love for you and you’d fuck like rabbits. You both wanted it so bad. Don’t deny it either. He told me you were feeling your mark before he even bit you. You are important to this…mission, I guess you’d call it. But your value to me as my best friend, and now part of my Clan, means more than any greater good. I’d welcome the pits of Hell if I had you and Jake by my side roasting marshmallows. I love you, Mary. Take your time. We’ll be right down those stairs.” I heard her voice catch as she turned to leave.

She had to tug on my damn heartstrings.

“The woman,” I said. “The one who ran away. Craig’s mom?” Amber stopped by the door and nodded. “She went to the Matheo. I saw it in a dream. Or she’s on her way there now. Either way, the Matheo is behind this, and he is offering to work with her. Kari’s there too. Huge mansion. I need her back, Amber.”

My Clan leader, my queen, gave another nod to affirm she understood what I had just told her, then shut the door behind her. I heard the glass knob catch and hold in the frame.

I pulled my knees up against my chest and held myself. At that moment I didn’t want to be a witch. I wished for my Sunshine Care Bear sheets that had been on my bed in my college dorm. I bought them to have something I never had as a kid. I really wanted my Bath and Body Works lotion collection. I wanted to see the latest episode of True Blood. I realized I also wanted to finish that mural at the children’s hospital.

I didn’t want this. I had let fate guide me, and now any chance of me controlling what happened next seemed to have flown right out the window. I was alone, and the only woman who understood what I was going through was being tortured and fed upon.

I didn’t want to pull strength from Amber and Jake anymore. I wanted to have my own. I needed to find my own well to pull from. But first, first I would let the tears fall. I could grow tomorrow. Right now I needed to mourn the loss of my humanity. Even if I somehow fought the inevitable of being turned into a werewolf, I could never go back to the blissful ignorance I had before. Sure life sucked when I thought everybody was the same species, but at least I knew what to expect. Someone had changed the game on me. I wasn’t even sure what board I was playing on anymore.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Craig

We didn’t talk about what Doc did with the rest of the bodies. They had been after Mary. Burned, buried, it didn’t really matter what was done to them. My duty to my father was fulfilled. Disowned or not, I took comfort knowing he went back to the earth as he should.

Now I just had to deal with the fact that my mate had shooed me out of her bedroom like a scolded child. I wanted to hold her, for my comfort as much as hers.

“I’m going back in there.” My wolf was growling at leaving my female alone and in pain. I needed to fix it.

“Sure, go ahead, be an idiot, and I guarantee you will only push her further away. She needs some space.” Amber had been told to get out, just like the rest of us. She could have exerted her power over Mary, but this was about preserving her friendship, and she let her humanity rule over her sense of hierarchy.

“Why was she so upset? She’s on the run from homicidal vampires and was almost captured by harvesters. Who knows what’s next? You would think a little change of species would be useful.” Thinking that way had to be the reason I was sitting down here with everyone else. “Right now I’m mated to a woman who I will outlive four times over. Even if I believed in reincarnation, I don’t want to find a different version of her. I want this Mary with me. Why is that so hard for her to understand?”

Jake’s hand lay atop mine on the table, an Alpha trying to calm his Beta. That was a new one. If I was going to mate a human witch, there was no place I belonged more than the world Amber and Jake were creating.

“She needs a little adjustment time,” said Amber. “Besides, she’s right. She didn’t get a choice. Not like this world ever gives us a ton of choice, but that’s not the point. You felt something in the adrenaline rush of battle and acted on it. In a Pack, you would be applauded, and any shewolf would have been swept off her feet.” She spoke from experience. No one had been able to tame her, and Mary was cut from the same cloth.

“See, you get it. Too bad you don’t look as cute in a sundress.”

Jake pulled his hand off mine and smacked me upside the head.

“Wasn’t finished, Craig.” Amber smiled, and I was glad my bit of insubordination could make one of us happy. My head was ringing.

“Oh.” I would have said more, but Hybrids pack a punch.

“You aren’t dealing with a shewolf from your Pack. Mary needs the romance and the fairy tale. She wants to be swept off her feet, not to have them knocked out from underneath her.” Amber let her words settle around me and reached for Jake for comfort.

I left them and went out onto the porch. That’s what I wanted. I wanted Mary to reach for me. She was so determined to stand alone. Why couldn’t I convince her that she didn’t need to? Mary never really discussed her past with me on campus. All she did was read. She devoured books for course work and pleasure. Come to think of it, I needed to get her one of those e-readers.

A throat cleared from the doorway into the kitchen. I was surprised to see Annabelle there. Most everyone else had scattered. Some of the wolves had gone for a run in the forest. Others went to relax in their tents. The witches had taken over the house. They were picking up all the food and putting away the items that needed refrigeration.

No one was going to get them inside nylon walls again for a while. The freedom had them a bit overwhelmed, and a lot excited.

“I couldn’t help overhear. I was on my way to the kitchen helping with the food. Your friend doesn’t know me, but I do understand receiving a calling you don’t expect. Maybe I could talk to her?”

I hugged her. Probably a little too hard by the way her breath left her body. The woman was always so caring.

“Are you sure you don’t want to rest? You’ve been through a lot.”

“I’ve been under another’s control for so long, it feels like I just woke up. When Kari released me from my compulsion to hold the witches, she saved more than just me. She’s a wonderful lady. When do you think you will bring her home?” She looked at me with genuine question in her eyes.

“I wish I knew, but believe me, if she’s still alive when we get there, we won’t leave without her. I’m so glad you’re okay.” I hugged her again, and the same warmth I felt as a young wolf eased into my body. Maybe I hadn’t lost all of my family after all.

“I’m sure I will crash later, but right now I just want to keep moving. I hear your girlfriend played a big part in our freedom. I would have paid to see one of those bastards heads explode.” She paused. “That’s not very nice to say, is it? Nice or not, I would still be grateful for the opportunity to help in some small way.”

“In that case, I would be eternally grateful for someone who can comfort Mary. I seem to be doing a horrible job.” My heart pounded at the hope she could talk some sense into Mary.

“Kari saved me from a spell I had been under for years. I had been helping the wolves kidnap and ship out hundreds of women. The ten we saved today, it’s a start, but I grieve for those I impacted so negatively. I’ll do what I can for anyone who needs my help.”

She moved out of the way as three cubs came barreling through the house. The kids were playing tag. One raced around the woman and used her as a shield before tearing back out the way she came. They weren’t as interested in chewing holes in each other now. They had time to play. Time they used to spend hunting. It made things a bit better.

“Just try and make her see how much we belong together.” If I had Mary, everything else would work out. I knew it would.

She shook her head. “So long for this world and yet so much to learn. I can’t make her feel or see anything. Maybe it is you who should open your eyes.” She turned her back on me and grabbed a tray of food before heading towards the stairs. This was the second time in an hour I had been told off by a witch. This was getting out of hand.

Jake and Amber came outside smelling of food. I really needed to grab something to eat myself.

I didn’t have much time to think about it. Shelly, Doc and Alpha Paulson had returned from their run. Shelly’s hair had a few leaves sticking out of the top of her head, tangled in her hair. That was interesting. Was something going on between her and one of the males? Jake noticed it as well. He looked at me and raised a brow. I just shrugged. Not my concern, unless it was Alpha Paulson. Then Amber might need restraining to keep from hurting the vampire screwing her father.

Doc pulled one of the larger pieces of detritus from her hair while Amber’s attention was diverted. Then the Alpha smoothed the blonde strands. Interesting, but there were other things I needed to focus on before I found myself gossiping.

Shelly brought us all back to the matter at hand. We needed to figure out what to do to stop the Matheo and this whole harvesting ring. Not just because it was kidnapping and using humans for cattle, but because there was something we were missing.

Amber filled us in on Mary’s dream. Even Shelly didn’t discount Mary’s visions. I was right. Mary was the key to everything.

I should have known the night Amber turned Mary would become a force of nature I had no chance of controlling. I felt like such a failure at not containing a human, but when Shelly came along and told us she needed Mary to save Amber’s life, there had been no stopping her from charging into the heart of the battle zone. Mary’s loyalty to her friend, despite having no clue what was going on, amazed me that night.