“They shouldn’t be able to send anymore, dear,” Maggie assured her. “Our Coven just finished placing the last of our fire stones around the territory. Patricia’s potion and our curse should keep the Salici Sacri and their spells out of Black Bird. We are also working on establishing a ward for the entire territory. It’s quite an undertaking,” she said giddily.
“We would appreciate that. I’m going to need a more in-depth description of what you did exactly and what you are planning on doing,” Ben said. He looked around the table. “I think that will have to be on a different day though. We need a break.”
“Of course, Alpha, it would take a while to go over the details. I have a feeling we might need to go over the basics of magic before we get to the meat of our spell,” Maggie said it in such a sweet tone that the condescension was hard to notice.
Ivy just sighed. There would be bad blood between the Pack and the Coven for a while. She was just glad that both leaders were willing to work through their pasts though.
Ben turned to Ivy, “Before we call the meeting to an end though I wanted to know if you found out what the knotted heart was.”
Ivy opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted.
“That’s not something we are willing to discuss at this time,” Lawrence said with a smug smile. “Given what has happened in the last twenty-four hours, the Coven would like to keep that information from getting into the wrong hands. I’m sure you understand.”
Ben’s eyes twitched. “We still need to discuss you, Mr. McDowell. Your father declared you a rogue. I don’t allow rogues in my territory. Will you be petitioning to join the Pack?”
Lawrence didn’t look flustered by Ben’s glare at all. He took a slow sip of his coffee before sitting back in his chair. “The Black Bird Coven has invited me to stay as a visiting expert. Temporarily.”
“What does that mean?” Ben asked.
“Since I am the most knowledgeable about the Benandanti and Salici Sacri, they felt it would be worthwhile to have me around to help out with any further run ins.” He smiled, barely keeping his teeth from showing.
Ben turned to Maggie for an explanation. “He isn’t a member of our Coven but is still bond to our rules.”
Ben leaned his chin on his hand. “Does that mean he’s your responsibility?” Maggie nodded. “And you will keep him in line?”
Maggie scoffed, “I hardly think he’ll need to be ‘kept in line’. We run our house a little differently than yours. We have explained our rules and he will abide by them though.”
Ben let out a deep breath. “Alright, we can talk about that in our next meeting.” He looked around the room. “Dismissed. Call me if you run into anything strange.”
Anne stood up and gestured for Ivy to call her. The rest of the Pack left to go about their business. There was a lot of cleaning up to do.
Ezra and Ezekiel wrapped their arms around her and practically dragged her out of the diner. She saw Holly and Anne chuckling as they watched. Ivy just shrugged.
When they were out of earshot of the rest of the Pack Ezekiel asked, “So, what is the knotted heart?”
“Didn’t you hear Lawrence? It’s witch business,” she teased.
“We’re honorary witches now so, spill,” Ezra nudged her.
She smiled. She still wasn’t entirely sure what il cuóri annodáto was. She was still learning but she’d had a small glimpse now that she was completely connected to it. “It’s a collective, living memory. When the first witches and shifters mate bonded, they created an eternal bond that connected them with their ancestors. It’s just like what Jack said with shifter mate bonds. It added something to the people involved. It made something different, stronger.”
“So, I’m hearing the voices of dead witches?” Ezekiel asked.
“And shifters,” she added.
“Are we going to start using magic?” Ezra asked, looking slightly nervous.
Ivy sucked a breath in through her teeth. “I’m not sure. You already have wild magic so I’m not sure if it will start interacting with that. I know that its been using my magic for weeks now with some really dangerous results. So, we should probably keep an eye on you two.”
“Cool,” Ezekiel nodded.
“Does the Coven need you for the rest of the day?” Ezra asked.
“No, we all need a break after that curse,” Ivy answered.
The brothers gave each other a wild look and started pulling her along the street.
“What are we doing?” Ivy asked.
“You,” Ezra growled sexily.
Ivy rolled her eyes. “Alright there, big guy. I meant where are you taking me?”
“Back to your apartment,” Ezekiel answered.
“Where’s Cassidy?”
“Passed out in our house. We set up a salt ward about a foot thick. She won’t wake up until dinner time.” Ezra was practically dragging her down the sidewalk.
“You’d be surprised how much teenagers can sleep,” Ezekiel muttered. “We have the entire afternoon to ourselves.” He wagged his eyebrows.
Ivy laughed. She was feeling lighthearted. After yesterday, the world was looking bright. “So, what are we doing for the rest of the day?”
Ezekiel gave her a confused look, “I think Ezra already answered that question.”
“Alright,” Ivy shrugged. “I’m down.”
Ezra’s eyes widened. Before she could brace herself, he picked her up and starting running for her apartment. Ezekiel shouted and started chasing him. Ivy laughed so hard she couldn’t breathe.
Thank you!
First off, thank you so much for reading Resented.
I read every single comment and I love them all. I love the one stars all the way up to the five stars. Its cheesy but it is true. So please, if you have an opinion, SHARE IT! I love the feedback.
This was a book written three minutes at a time. I cannot express how grateful I am to everyone who read Rejected and somehow stuck around for Book Two.
I hope you all had a good time reading Resented. Stay safe!
About the Author
Amelia Rademaker is a writer from Seattle. Growing up listening to scary stories in the woods led to a lifelong interest in fantasy, reading and things that go bump in the night. Currently, she lives in the South with her husband, her son, two cats, and massive dog.
Other books by Amelia Rademaker
The Wolves of Black Bird Series
Rejected
Resented
Reclaimed
Stay Tuned for a Snippet from Rejected
Chapter One
Grace stopped what she was doing. She couldn’t help it. It was an involuntary response every time she caught his scent in the air. Grace stood still, eyes closed, in the middle of the sidewalk trying to pinpoint what made Jack Taylor smell so damn good.
It could have been his aftershave. No one else in the small town of Black Bird used his aftershave. It could have been the sawdust that was always lingering on his clothes. It could have been that wild smell that permeated through everything else. Whatever it was, it added up to one thing in Grace’s mind. Mate.
The one person that was destined for Grace.
“Hey, crazy, how about you stop daydreaming and help me with these boxes.”
“Sorry, Anne,” Grace ducked her head embarrassed that she had been caught, nose in the air.
Anne Kane, Grace’s best friend, just shook her head and walked into her boutique. Grace was helping Anne part time with her store while Anne looked for a permanent assistant. Her last one had moved to a different town. The two women were supposed to be bringing in new merchandise but Grace was frozen where she stood, box in hand, looking for the source of the distracting smell.
The bell over the door of Chic Chick rang as Anne walked back onto the sidewalk.
“He walked by while you were in the back. You missed him, Grace.” Anne sighed, exasperated. “Now, can we get on with business? I want to get these dresses up before
lunch.”
Grace picked up another box from Anne’s car and followed her inside.
Rows of clothes hung on galvanized steel pipes that serpentined through the single room store. The exposed metal, coupled with the antique white hutches, gave the store a rustic feel. Anne’s ability to pair modern and old-world styles was what made her main street shop a success. Grace may have helped build the clothing racks and paint the walls, but it was Anne who kept selling out of merchandise.
Without a word, the two women started opening boxes and shaking out dresses. They had done this so many times in the last four years since Chic Chick had opened that they had it down to an art. Anne pulled out the steamer while Grace started making room to hang the metallic and jewel toned dresses.
The weather was cooling. The snows were coming and the holiday season was just around the corner. The shiny dresses Anne had picked out would give ladies the incentive to buy new dresses. The front window was the perfect way to lure people in during their lunch breaks.
It also gave Grace an excuse to keep an eye out for Jack. In case he walked back this way again.
“I thought you had a sure-fire plan to corner Jack yesterday,” Anne said breaking the silence.
Grace barely contained a growl, “I did.”
She had bribed old man Johnson at the lumber yard to call Grace when Jack arrived to pick up his shipment that week. What Grace hadn’t anticipated was that old man Johnson’s loyalty to Jack was greater than his love for butterscotch brownies. The old coot had taken the brownies but never called Grace.
That type of solidarity was typical when it came to Jack Taylor though. Jack had only lived in Black Bird for a year, but somehow, he had gained more loyalty from the town than Grace ever had. And Grace had lived here her whole life! Yet she was a second-class citizen. The last twelve months had hammered that point home.
“You would not believe how cunning that man is and how much people like him.” Grace grumbled. “Hell, I’ve only managed to talk to him once and I’m already in love.”
Anne shook her head in disbelief. “How has he been able to avoid you for this long? The town is so small the school is K-12.” She leaned around the dress she was steaming to purse her lips at Grace. “Only you could get mated to a man who can hide like a chameleon in a town of less than five thousand.” Anne cringed. “To be mated,” she amended.
That was the problem in a nutshell. Somehow, Jack Taylor had roped the whole town into helping him avoid Grace. Not that he had done it knowingly. They’d helped him without being asked.
When he had moved to Black Bird last year, Grace had been a part of the welcoming committee. The instant their hands touched it felt like lightning had struck. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and Grace’s wolf howled. Grace had seen Jack’s eyes widen in surprise. She had been sure he felt it too, but he had dropped her hand like it was a snake and had gone out of his way to avoid her since.
For a while, Grace let him do his own thing. She assumed it would be stressful moving to a new place. Not that Grace had ever moved. She heard people complain about boxing up their houses often enough though. Meeting your fated mate on top of that must be overwhelming. But when she started making an effort to meet with Jack, she couldn’t find him. It was only after the tenth time of “just missed him” that Grace started to suspect he was avoiding her.
“He’s meeting with Ben and the other Enforcers to talk about a group of rogues that are making their way here.” Anne finally said.
The dress in Grace’s hand slipped from her fingers as she whipped her head around to see Anne’s expression. Anne was pointedly focused on steaming the wrinkles out of a gold sheath dress but Grace could see the tension around her friend’s eyes. Anne was worried.
Rogues were groups of wolves who didn’t have territory. They had been kicked out their own Packs or left to avoid the law. Rogues were half feral destructive forces.
Considering Ben Thompson was Black Bird’s Alpha, and Anne’s boyfriend, Anne would know if there was a reason to be worried. Ben scheduling a meeting with the Pack’s Enforcers did not bode well either.
“Are they here for us?” The question dropped to a whisper on the last word.
In the last few years, the American Packs had become volatile. With was no central leadership to police interactions between Packs groups were taking advantage of that. There were territory wars going on all along the West Coast and the smaller more isolated Packs were being preyed on.
That scared Grace the most. Black Bird wasn’t big and it wasn’t well allied. A rogue Pack of wolves could sweep through and decimate the territory.
No one could prepare for rogues. They weren’t like other Packs who organized direct attacks. Rogues were groups of lawless lunatics driven crazy by their duel natures. They didn’t strategize or maneuver in any way that could be predicted. They attacked. They gave themselves over to their animals and slaughtered.
The thing that scared Grace the most was that they had no self-preservation. It didn’t matter if the fight was one against ten, they fought. And they kept fighting even as their lifeblood drained out of them. There was no defense against that. One rogue wolf could take out three Enforcers because he was too enchanted with the bloodlust.
Grace hadn’t heard anything about the Packs around them being attacked but with the increasing aggression, it was only a matter of time. No one outright said it, but the town was nervous.
“No,” Anne’s voice was clear, definitive, “they’re just a group of rogues that a few Alphas have seen passing through. They haven’t approached anyone and they haven’t been violent. Ben’s just,” Anne let out a breath, “being cautious. You can’t be too cautious.”
Grace nodded. No argument there.
Attempting to lighten the mood, Grace bumped Anne’s shoulder as she went to grab the next stack of pressed dresses. “How would our illustrious Alpha feel if he knew you were giving out his schedule to strangers?” Grace teased. “Word might get around that you have loose lips.”
Anne snorted. “I would rather have the town calling me loose lips than a loose woman. Also, considering you were planning on hunting Ben down to ask him if he knew where Jack was, I am sure he will thank me later.” Anne cocked her eyebrows tempting Grace to deny it.
Grace huffed at being found out. To be fair she had pulled that move often so often that it wasn’t as subtle as it used to be. And Anne had reason to get upset about it. Grace had crashed a few dinner dates between Anne and Ben trying to find Jack. Grace couldn’t be too upset at the bite in Anne’s tone.
“You just have trouble sharing Ben’s time.” Grace said playfully. Not that Grace could blame her. Ben was a hunk. He was tall and built, with thick black hair. Having known him her entire life, Grace could safely say that he was one of the best men on the planet.
Grace punched a price tag into a dress with too much force and the gun jammed. Throwing it down in frustration Grace snarled, “I’m so pathetic, Anne!”
“I know, honey,” Anne stopped steaming clothes and gave Grace a sad look, “but if you can’t be pathetic about your mate, what’s the point?”
It hurt that Anne was agreeing with her so quickly. Grace sank down into a chair.
“Being pathetic is one thing, but I’m turning into a creep! That man doesn’t want anything to do with me and I’m stalking him all around town.” Grace sniffed.
It was time to throw in the towel. If Jack had wanted to get to know Grace, he had had ample opportunity. Jack acted like he didn’t even want to be around Grace. If Grace walked into the diner, Jack walked out the back. If Grace turned down the same grocery aisle, he would drop his basket and hightail it out of the store.
She didn’t even know why he was doing it. This was the main reason she had started her militaristic campaign to corner him and call him out. In the last few weeks, she had started gathering intelligence and planning her ambushes. Grace was going crazy just trying to get a minute of her mate’s time and
he was doing his best to deny her.
She sniffled louder.
“Oh sweetheart,” Anne walked over. “Don’t even go there. It’s not you.” Anne wrapped an arm around Grace’s shoulder. “The man probably has some rare brain tumor. He’s trying to save you the grief of having to be mated to an invalid. Or, more plausible is that his penis is tiny.” Anne wiped a tear off Grace’s cheek. “He’s a hero for not subjecting you to his tiny dick. We should throw him a parade.” Anne jumped back throwing her arms wide. “We could put banners in every storefront and we could make a float depicting his miniscule package. Mrs. Henderson’s Pomeranian could pull it through Main Street.” Anne winked.
Grace laughed weakly. “Based on what I overheard Becky Jameson say at the bar last night, we might need Clydesdales to pull a parade float of that man’s junk.”
Anne pulled her lips back in disgust. Anne hated Becky Jameson. It all began when they had worn the same dress to junior prom.
“Well, that girl dated Cory Tate for years. I’m sure in comparison, Jack’s mini weenie looked like the Rock of Gibraltar.”
Cory Tate had landed himself on Anne’s bad side after he “accidentally” mistook Becky for Anne at the junior prom and had gone home with her. Anne couldn’t take a breath to insult Becky Jameson without throwing a barb at Cory Tate too. It was as sure as an Amen after a prayer.
“I don’t know why he doesn’t want to be my mate. That’s the problem. The man is involved in everyone’s life in this town. He helps with Pack security, he visits the old folk’s home, he found Mark Boone a job but I can’t even have a single conversation with him.” Grace threw her hands up. “I can’t even make a good excuse for him because I haven’t ever talked to him!” A tear fell down Grace’s cheeks. “Why doesn’t he want me?”
This was the final blow to Grace’s self-esteem. Growing up in Black Bird was hard for a half breed wolf. It also didn’t help that her mom was infamous. Grace’s mom loved her dad so much that she had broken up with her high school sweetheart, who also happened to be her mate, and married Grace’s dad. They had been madly in love. Grace’s mom called her dad, “My heart’s mate.” And after her dad passed away suddenly a few years ago, her mom had passed on quietly only a month later. They just couldn’t live without each other.
Resented Page 34
