Shifters of Grrr 2 (68 page)

"I'm not sure what he wants."

"You've just told me about him and I'm sure what he wants. Is he ugly? Does he have a giant wart on the end of his nose?"

"No, he's actually gorgeous. I call him my Viking god." Cherry gasped. "What's wrong?"

"I think I know who he is. There's not many strong magic users that look like a Viking god."

"Well are you going to tell me who you think he is?"

"When I see you at your house we'll discuss this."

"I suppose there's no way to convince you to tell me now?"

"No, I'll see you soon."

Just like Cherry to give her just enough information to drive her crazy. She pulled into her driveway and hoped Cherry would be there soon. She was an impatient person and a person of action. Sitting around waiting bothered her more than anything. She parked and started unloading. Thirty minutes later she was done and fixing herself a TV dinner from the freezer and pouring a glass of sweet wine.

Cherry came just after she finished eating and pouring herself another glass of wine. She was feeling a little more relaxed and hopeful that Cherry would solve her problems instead of adding to them. "How much wine have you had?" she asked.

"This is my second glass. Have you turned into the wine police?" She giggled but she tried to muffle it.

"No, but I need you sober to be sure this works. I can't just cast a spell for this. We have two choices, well there are others but two that are likely to work. You need to decide if you want to try to catch her. It could be risky, but if she's after you, she may try in person. The other choice will just keep her out of your dreams."

"How risky is trying to catch her?"

"If she's powerful enough she'll break the trap and kill you."

"That makes up my mind. I want her kept out."

"Okay, that'll be much easier. Give me your hand." She gave her cousin her hand and she put a charm in it. "Repeat, my dreams are mine and mine alone, until I tell you to stop." Cherry began to quietly chant while she was repeating what she'd been told and she couldn't catch the words. "Okay, you can stop now. I want you to wear this until all chance of trouble is past," she said as she put the charm on a chain and handed it to her.

She looked at the dragon with an iridescent jewel for an eye. "This is beautiful."

"Then it shouldn't be a hardship to wear."

"No, not at all. Now tell me who you think he is."

"I'm not sure I should. If I do and he's unhappy about it, I'll be in a lot of trouble."

"He's that powerful?"

"He's on the council."

"What would a witch like that want with me? I'm just a human."

"You're a white wolf and you're beautiful. You're also talented, capable, strong, and smart."

She blushed a little. "I wasn't digging for compliments. I have no magical talent. I would think he'd want someone who has those."

"Believe me, he has enough of that for both of you. Supernaturals have soul mates, they don't choose them and they just exist. If you're his, you're the perfect match for him on a mystical level and he can no more forget you than he can stop breathing. So far as I know, you'll be his only perfect match."

"Oh, no. He won't stop, will he?"

"Never. He'll keep searching as long as you both live. He'll be driven and eventually, he'll find you. Maybe you should just go to him. I've heard the sex in unbelievable."

"I'm so screwed!"

"Once he finds you, you will be," Cherry said cheerfully.

"Shouldn't you be more sympathetic? I'm your cousin!"

"The man is a sex god. Frankly, I'm jealous. What I wouldn't give to find my soul mate and have him be like yours."

"You really won't tell me who he is?"

"I just can't. I want to be on the council someday. He could block it."

"Okay, fraidy cat. I get it. You're hanging me out to dry."

"Sorry Cuz, I've got no choice. I need to get out of here, Harry is coming over for a movie fest. We're eating cake and ice cream. She had a bad week with her job and I'm going to commiserate by giving her a sugar high."

"You're a good friend, Cherry."
 

She walked her to the door closing it behind her. She locked the door and exhaustion hit her. She looked at the dragon charm and picked it up for closer examination before letting it drop back down to where it lay around her neck. The eye seemed to glow as if to assure her he was on the job. She wanted to trust him and go to bed and sleep for hours but the truth was she was still afraid. She knew it wouldn't be long before she had no choice but she would fight it while she could. She yawned and that told her she would be testing the abilities of her new dragon friend soon.

She popped in an action movie hoping it would keep her awake. It was one of her newer DVDs and had a lot of explosions and fights. Her taste in movies was more along the lines of what men typically enjoyed. She got up and fixed some popcorn and got a big bottle of water. Wine would only speed sleep to her. She wished Cherry had been able to stay, she would have felt safer. She made it halfway through the movie before she started to nod off and jerked awake.

She decided to give in. Her neck had started hurting because of the jerking when she woke up. She took a warm shower, slipped on a tank top and boxers, and then laid down in bed wondering how long it would take before sleep found her. It turned out not to be long at all. It was just her luck her Viking was in her dreams. He was so tall and broad, so muscular, and so gorgeous that he made her mouth water. She had second thoughts as she wondered why she was fighting being possessed by such a sexy male. He was too alpha, too take charge, and too supernatural for things to ever work.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

Chapter 4

Serena

It wasn't easy being her especially now that Zorth and his little human mate were in her life. Chief had been enough to deal with and she had skated a fine line in her dealings with him. He was an egomaniac and in her opinion totally insane. He was attractive enough if you ignored his dark personality, insanity, and his sadistic tendencies. She'd not slept with him although he'd tried to seduce her. Whips and chains held no appeal to her, even less if it was his hand that controlled them.

Rumors of his sexual liaisons abounded and the outcome to most was the disappearance of his sexual partners. She would not be surprised in the least to discover he'd gotten over zealous and beaten them to death. It wasn't like she thought the vamp capable of love or any tender emotion. He was cold as ice and had no desire or interest in any kind of affection. It was his mind alone that fascinated her. She believed his cruelty and need to inflict pain interfered with his ability to move his cause forward. His business would be increasing instead of caught in this terrible decline because it was his sadistic tendencies that had brought him to the attention of all supernatural and many human law enforcement organizations.

It had begun with a witch that had somehow escaped his less than tender mercies. She had known much about him due to the time she had spent in his company. Apparently the joy of inflicting pain loosened Chief's lips and he had shared many of his plans and past accomplishments with the female. The disgust the wardens felt at the woman's condition and the experiences she had shared, moved Chief up to that top of the list as far as priorities of three separate councils if not more.

He had been foolish enough to be proud of his new status until he saw that it was killing his business. She wasn't sure what he had thought it would do, get him an award? The odd thing was, that even knowing that his personal choices had started his downward cycle, Chief continued in his slave trade and his personal use of said slaves. The only thing she could credit him with is he wasn't consuming the blood drugs. It was rumored they wouldn't effect vamps, but she didn't believe rumors readily. She intended to test that theory as soon as a chance came her way.

She wished to bring Chief down, but not for any idealistic reasons. She wanted to claim his empire for herself and once she rid herself of him, it would be easy to do. He was already using her as a go to person. She was his messenger, his negotiator, and his manager. He didn't have the sense to see that he'd given her the kind of position that made him no longer necessary. She knew all his secrets, his distributors, his slaves, and his suppliers. What did she need him for? Nothing.

She tried to reach her goal but she was repulsed. She tried again and again and still she had no luck. She let out a screech of frustration. She'd been blocked from the female's dreams and now she'd have to find another way to get to Zorth's mate. He thought her actions were for revenge. They weren't but revenge was the cherry on top. She needed breathing room and she knew the loss of his mate would throw off Zorth's pursuit of her and Chief's supply line. She didn't care if they got Chief, she'd even considered informing on him but if he escaped he might find out her duplicity.

She just wanted to insure when she inherited or downright stole Chief's business, there was something left to work with. His distributors were being hunted ruthlessly and his suppliers were being systematically taken down. At the rate they were being removed, there might be nothing left for her. It didn't help that her interaction with Zorth had probably made him more dedicated to ending Chief, her, and the operation they ran. Zorth had the power to pull the witches into the campaign against them with more than the casual interest they'd shown so far. The witch council devoted to their destruction would bode ill for them.

That was why she had gone from seeking to destroy Zorth to seeking to destroy his mate. He would be worthless, consumed by grief and unable to concentrate or help with the investigation and actions being taken against Chief. She would just wait until she'd decided he'd suffered enough and she'd finish him.

She would then see if more action needed to be taken and the next one she would target, if needed, would be Damon since he was their leader. She wasn't worried about his mate. She couldn't be much of a witch since she was better known for her lingerie websites. She was sure Marissa must be a mindless sexpot.

She had plans, big plans and someday she would be wealthy beyond all description, and the most powerful witch in the whole world. She wouldn't resemble the young witch that had fallen for Zorth and had her heart crushed so easily. It came to mind as easily as if it had been yesterday. She'd been minding the small magic shop that sold herbs and trinkets. Witches came for the ingredients for their potions and spells and the odd humans came out of curiosity to buy a trinket to show their friends and brag that they'd been in there and survived. As if they would bother to kill humans. They were as common as knots on a log and even more plentiful.

She'd heard the door open because the bell rang. She'd paid it no mind until the air had somehow changed. It had become heavier and laced with energy. The man who'd come into her line of sight had stunned her and her mouth had opened as she gasped for air like a fish out of water. He was the tallest man she'd ever seen. He was broad shouldered and muscular but not so much so that it was over the top. His hair was long and blond, and his lips captured her attention and refused to let go. He was speaking but she couldn't hear him.

"Miss," he said loudly and it seemed to break the spell she was under. She would have sworn he'd enchanted her but he denied it later when she'd asked.

"Yes, sir. Can I help you with something?" she'd asked hoping beyond hope that the answer would be yes.

He leaned in and his voice dropped low. "I'm looking for a teacher of the magical arts," he whispered.

She looked around at the empty store and wondered who he feared would hear him. She whispered back just as softly. "You're in luck. I'm such a teacher." It wasn't true technically, but she was no longer a novice so she could teach if she so desired. She had a handful of neat tricks that were impressive if he questioned her skill, she could do all the basic spells and potions and she had all the books required for a much higher level than she herself would ever attain.

"I've always relied on my luck," he said with humor coloring his voice and visible on his face.

She wasn't sure what to make of him. Was he laughing at her or happy to have found a teacher so easily? Her uncertainty had never changed where that man was concerned. She was no surer of him today than she'd been the day she'd met him. It was the only thing that hadn't changed between them.

He'd accepted her offer to teach him and she thought she'd found true happiness. He'd been a magnificent lover. Not her first, but her second. The first had taught her nothing but that some men could be selfish. Zorth had taught her everything. He'd shown her the joys of love, how to please a man, and how a man could please her. She'd fallen totally in love and she'd felt loved. She'd been such a fool. They spent nearly every waking hour together until he started to pull back.

At first she thought it had been her imagination. A man like Zorth would make any woman feel a bit insecure. She finally realized he was putting distance between them and she called him on it. "Why do you pull away from me?" she asked.

"We aren't right for each other, Serena. We're not forever lovers," he'd admitted.

"Why can't we be whatever we want to be?"