by Elle Thorne
“What about the witch downstairs?” Renee asked.
“She can keep for now.” Cedric said. At least, Hawke thought it was Cedric.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alannah was on Hawke’s porch, bundled against the chill, sitting on the rocker. Next to her, Mireille and Renee sat in a glider, wide enough for two, wrapped and tucked under a shared blanket. Across from them, not far from the shed that housed the four-wheeler, was a barn, smaller and much newer than the house. Hawke said he had it built right after he acquired the property.
Jonah and Fiona were inside at the kitchen table, on the phone with Mikhail and their InterForce Unit. Contacting the Shifter Council, and the Witch Court was also on their list of things to do.
Making a pot of hot cocoa—Hawke didn’t have marshmallows, which she told him with a smile that he’d have to rectify—Alannah had served each, Mireille and Renee, and then set mugs out for Jonah and Fiona. She prepped three extra cups for Hawke, Jenner, and Cedric for when they came back inside.
Jenner and Cedric had taken one look at the falcons that had followed Alannah and Hawke from the aviary and confirmed that indeed, these falcons had been transformed.
Alannah had held back a gasp, barely capturing it. The shock of knowing so many individuals had been transformed…
“Can you help?” Hawke asked Cedric and Jenner.
They nodded.
Hawke had assembled an assortment of clothing and blankets as well as heaters and gone toward the barn.
Fiona had grumbled about how InterForce needed to be brought in to handle the scavengers and then she and Jonah had adjourned to the kitchen, satellite phones and laptops at the ready.
Now, Alannah sat on the porch, watching all the falcons in the trees, majestic and patient. Hawke would come out every few minutes and another falcon would land on his arm and he’d go into the barn.
One by one, the falcons went in, but no one came out, except Hawke to get another falcon.
It was a nail-biting occasion for Alannah. One she didn’t relish for Hawke, wondering what was going on in there, but glad she wasn’t in attendance.
She listened into Mireille and Renee’s chatter, trying to keep her mind off the ordeal in the barn. When they fell silent, she glanced at them. They were looking at a spider building a web in the juncture of the porch’s railing.
Alannah noticed for the first time, she didn’t shudder at seeing a spider. Renee’s expression was somber.
“Are you okay?” Alannah was concerned for Renee, wondering what was on her mind.
Renee nodded, but her eyes glistened with tears. One tear escaped and made its way down her cheek, slowly, cascading over the moon-shaped scar.
“I’m sorry.” Renee’s lower lip trembled.
“What for?” Mireille took Renee’s hand in hers, holding it, squeezing it gently.
“I took you captive. I put you in that cage. You were burned.” She sobbed softly. “And you,” she said to Alannah. “I was not kind to you either.”
Alannah left her chair and joined the two of them. Squishing between them on the glider, she hugged Renee. “You were doing what was right at the moment. It’s not like we didn’t attack back.” She smiled, hoping to pull Renee from the despair she seemed to be sinking into.
“Thank you.” Renee swiped at tears in her eyes. “I’m so thankful that you… I know Ilse is a bitch, but I’m so glad she brought us together.”
The door to the barn opened, Hawke strode out, empty handed. Broad shoulders carried proudly, head held high. He was in his element, and this was the happiest she’d seen him. She could tell, even from this distance without seeing a smile on his face.
Alannah thought of that man in the barn that had come to mean so much to her.
Renee sniffled, her eyes following Alannah’s as she watched Hawke take another raptor into the barn.
“You care for him.”
“I—” Alannah didn’t know how to answer. Didn’t want to answer. How could she even begin to explain feelings she was still wrapping her head around herself?
Renee’s piercing gaze shot straight to Alannah’s core.
She’s just like her brother, in that.
“Don’t deny. I’m a shifter. I can hear your heart speed up when you look at him.”
Warmth rose up Alannah’s neck to her face despite the cool weather. She released a sigh. “I care for him.”
“I was there in the cottage at the aviary,” Renee reminded her. “Remember the spider in the corner?”
The warmth turn to a searing heat as Alannah remembered the kiss and the fact that Vengeance had been watching. She turned her face away to keep the telltale blush from making things worse for her.
Renee put her arm around her. “I’ve been with my brother for years. I’ve never seen him as alive, as happy, as I see him with you.”
Alannah turned toward Renee, studied her face. Did Renee really see a different Hawke? Could that be because of her? She wasn’t sure if she agreed.
“Let’s talk about something else.” Alannah wanted the focus taken off her. Now.
“Let’s talk about the Circle,” Mireille said.
Alannah snapped her head toward her sister. “Don’t you mean you’d like to talk about our two guests?”
It was Mireille’s turn to blush. “Well, if I had to say that, I’d simply say Jenner, not necessarily both of them.”
“How can you even tell them apart? They’re identical.”
“They are not,” Mireille argued.
Fiona popped her head out the door. “They are identical twins.”
“They don’t look the same to me,” Mireille stood her ground.
“So what about Jenner?” Renee asked.
“Nothing.” Mireille clammed up.
“He’s in the Circle,” Alannah reminded her. “They don’t consort with average witches. They have their own group of elite.”
Mireille shrugged. “One more.” She pointed to the barn door where Hawke was coming out to collect another falcon. “Two left.”
Alannah looked at the trees. Indeed, there were only two falcons waiting.
Two. She wondered what it was like in the barn. What kind of people had been falcons? Were they all shifters? Or were they also witches and wizards?
The wait wasn’t much longer.
Hawke, Jenner, Cedric, and a few more than a dozen men and women came out of the barn. Hawke was beaming. Renee jumped up from the glider and ran to her brother, hugging him. The assortment of individuals behind Hawke were talking and gesturing excitedly. They stood outside the barn, while Hawke headed toward the porch.
Tears streamed down Alannah’s face. Such a miracle to behold, so many imprisoned in falcon bodies.
She hated her own kind at that moment, disgusted that witches would do this to other supernatural beings.
Off to the side, Jenner and Cedric kept to themselves, walking toward the house.
Fiona and Jonah stepped out the door at that precise moment.
“Good timing,” Alannah told them. “Seems they’re done.”
“Every single one, a shifter,” Hawke said. “Every. Single. Damned. One.”
“I’m sorry,” Alannah whispered under her breath, figuring he wouldn’t hear her, but still sad that her kind had done this.
“It’s not your fault.” Hawke stepped onto the porch.
She should have known he would have heard: super sensitive hearing and all that.
Jonah clapped him on the back, pulled him into a shoulder hug. “You’ve done a good thing, man. A very good thing.”
“It’s been years. Years.” Hawke’s jaw was clenched with anger. “They don’t know where their families are, if they’re still alive, they have no money, they have nothing.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“We’ve been on the phone with the Shifter Council and the Witch Court, as well as Mikhail and InterForce. We’ve got a solution for where they can stay, not far from here.”
&nbs
p; “I can take care of some long term, I’m sure. I need to do some thinking,” Hawke said.
“We’ll shuttle them to the health resort we’ve booked nearby, for now,” Jonah told him.
“Health resort?” Hawke frowned.
“It’s the best we could do and still keep them nearby. It’s the closest thing to a hotel,” Jonah explained.
“It looks more like a Bed & Breakfast,” Fiona elaborated. “They’ll enjoy it.”
“Sounds like a place I should visit,” Renee added with a laugh. “Especially if they offer massages.”
Hawke put his arm around her. “Not a chance. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Renee pouted, but it was clear she was happy with her brother’s announcement.
Cedric and Jenner joined them on the porch. One of them was putting a phone away. Alannah guessed it was Cedric because her sister was staring at the other one.
“The Witch Court said they’d been in touch with Fiona. That we’re to take Ilse with us.”
“Works for me,” Hawke said. “I want her out of my house and life. Forever.”
“What he said,” Renee concurred with her big brother.
Hawke lanced Alannah with that look, the one that made her feel like the only thing in his world. “Perhaps we could talk later?”
He probably wants to tell me I was right. That he doesn’t need my help anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jenner and Cedric had driven off, a gagged and squirming Ilse in the back seat of their car.
Alannah would be happy if she never saw that witch again. Mireille and Renee were out in the field near the barn, talking with animated hand movements and lots of laugher. Alannah had never seen Mireille bond with anyone the way she did with Renee.
Alannah and Hawke were on the porch, sitting in the glider, the world around them quiet except for the occasional giggle that drifted their way from their sisters. Alannah couldn’t help fidgeting because she had this feeling Hawke wanted to talk to her so he could break it to her gently.
God, just get it over with. Rip the bandage off, already.
Hawke cleared his throat.
Here we go. She braced herself.
“Our sisters are close.”
Talk about throwing her a curveball. What the heck was that about? Casual conversation? Okay, she could give as well as she got, but she’d drive the subject back to where she was sure he wanted to take it.
“They seem to be doing well together.” She agreed, then added, “You don’t have a mission anymore, now that your sister is here, you don’t have to hunt for her, or find out what happened to her.”
“True.”
That hurt. He’d just agreed with her.
“And you have all those shifters. They gravitated to your aviary for a reason, I’m sure.”
“It’s not exactly an accident.” His lips were a thin line, his brows drawn down. “Jester is actually someone I know. He’s my second cousin. He was taken in the same raid Renee was.”
“Unbelievable. And he found you.”
“He and several others, it seems.”
“What are they doing? What will you do with them?”
“Short term or long term?” His laugh was strained.
“Either, both?” she asked.
“Short term, as you heard, Fiona and Jonah are helping with accommodations.”
“And long term?”
“I wanted to talk to you about it first. But maybe, it looks like I have some building to do on the property. A few cabins. Luckily the guys are strapping.”
“Luckily. So, it’s safe to say you don’t need me anymore. I mean, since there are no missing family members to find or answers to seek.” God, that hurt to say.
“You’re wrong. I need you more than ever. You can’t tear our sisters apart. They need each other. Renee needs someone. She’s attached to Mireille and you. The shifters…”
But he wasn’t saying the magic words. She couldn’t stay for Renee and the shifters. She’d thought initially that she could. That she’d do anything just to be around him. Now she knew that wasn’t the case. If she couldn’t have him, she couldn’t be around him.
One day he’d find someone, and Alannah would be there, on the sidelines, watching him with whomever he found. She looked over the field. Out there, the aviary stood a short drive away. The other direction, Moscow. And she hated this place, so why did it bother her? Why did it feel like she wanted to cry because she’d just lost—everything.
“Alannah.” His voice was soft. “I have a hard time saying things.”
She nodded, still unable to look at him.
“No, please, look at me. Look.” She turned toward him, memorizing his every feature, though she knew she’d never forget him.
His gaze was mesmerizing, pulling her into a place unlike she’d ever been, a place where passion collided with desire and exploded with a fierce and overwhelming need.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispered, her voice hoarse as if belonging to a sexy stranger. Stop making me want you more than I already do. Stop making me fall in love with you more than I already have.
Her eyelids fluttered shut, a defense against the look in his eyes that was pulling her deeper and deeper.
He was leaning closer. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know. She could smell the scent of him, all male, all sexy.
His lips were soft and warm, but at the same time, commanding and firm.
His tongue traced her bottom lip, then pushed its way in, claiming hers. His fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her head back, exposing her neck. His tongue abandoned its quest as it traveled the column of her throat, leaving goose bumps and tremors.
Alannah fisted her hands against the desire to release the savagery in her that was boiling to come out. She squeezed her eyes tightly against her passions.
This is pointless, isn’t it? It won’t go anywhere.
And yet, a part of her urged her to claim this moment and take it for all she could and treasure the memory forever. If she couldn’t have him, at least she could have this.
She unfisted her hands and wound them around his neck, pulling him down. Her tongue sought his, seeking the promise of passion that he offered.
His tongue took over, dipping inside, exploring, conquering. Her legs grew weak when his hands dropped to her ass and pulled her against his body.
“What you do to me, woman.” His voice had a husky sexy quality.
She breathed out slowly, fighting to gain control of the wild horses her emotions had become.
Hawke pulled away, studied her. In the depths of his eyes, a silver flame made its presence known. “There’s someone I want to introduce you to.”
She gave him a look. Now what? She’d had so many surprises since she’d come to Russia, she wasn’t sure she could handle anymore. “Okay,” she said tentatively.
“Come on.” He took his jacket off and put it over her shoulders, then took her hand, his large one completely enveloping hers.
* * *
Hawke had to introduce her to his bear. It was one thing to have her embrace his kiss and his feelings for her, it was something else completely for her to meet his bear. He pulled her into the woods, into the thickest part of the forest, where they’d be able to have privacy.
This woman, this beautiful, curvaceous, redhaired green-eyed spitfire. This woman had to be his. She had to accept his bear.
Hawke called his bear forward, embracing and ready to endure the discomfort of the shift. The bear was eager, more than eager, and gave Hawke no chance to prepare himself for the morph. His bones creaked, the sound as painful as it was loud. The elongating had begun.
Alannah’s eyes grew wide.
“It’s okay,” Hawke assured her, his voice a low growl as his bear was beginning to take over.
His thick white fur began to emerge while his skull widened and lengthened. His teeth grew, sharp and lethal. He shook his bear head, dug his claws into
the dirt as he threw his head back and roared.
Alannah stood her ground.
And when his bear rose to his hind legs, revealing the majesty of his size, she didn’t flinch.
Instead, Alannah looked into his eyes, her emerald ones gleaming with an emotion he hoped was love. She put both hands on his muzzle and studied his bear face.
“Nice to meet you.” She ran her fingertips over his bear face, down his neck, to his paw.
Hawke dropped to all fours, nuzzled her with his head while she wrapped an arm around his neck.
Before he realized, he’d lain on the ground and she’d leaned against him, letting his warmth keep her from being cold.
They sat in silence, their spirits communing until Hawke could stand it no more. He had to take his body back and hold her the way he wanted to.
He morphed from his bear form, his clothes now a wrinkled mess. She was still against him while he held her.
“What do you think?”
Tears glistened in her eyes. She didn’t say a word as one trickled down her cheek.
He would say the words. “I need you. He needs you. Say you’ll stay.”
Epilogue
The bed creaked slightly. Was Hawke getting up? She wasn’t going to let her warmth source go. Not just yet. She snuggled in further under the blankets, nuzzling backward while her nude body sought out the furnace that Hawke created with his muscular body.
A hand—Hawke’s, of course, who else’s?—ran over her thigh, leaving goose bumps where it had gently coursed. His hand crept lower, over the curve of her ass, lingering, tracing tiny circles with the pad of his thumb, circles growing larger and larger.
She repressed the urge to moan, not wanting to break the beauty of the silence. Outside, she could see in the dawn’s light the falling of snow glistening in the rays. She relaxed, leaning backward. So easy to sleep next to this man who’d given her his heart, soul, and his bear. Easy to sleep except for one thing. There between her legs, his touch had awakened a passion for him that was relentless, throbbing and pulsing, screaming for his touch.
