“What happened?” He rushed toward Bramble and gripped her chin, turning her face this way and that. “You’re bleeding.” He bared his teeth and turned on Sloane. “What happened?”
“Banshee attack.” Sloane’s tone was calm, but her shoulders tensed.
“On the grounds?” The man swiped his thumb across Bramble’s cheek to wipe away some of the dried blood.
“Yeah,” Sloane replied. “Can we get inside, Arne?”
But Arne was still preoccupied with Bramble. He’d pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and was wiping at her face.
“I’m fine.” Bramble smiled up at him with a softness I hadn’t seen in her face yet. “I need to get properly cleaned up before Charlotte sees me.”
“Yes, fuck, yes,” Arne said. “Get in the house. I’ll mobilize a patrol.”
The interior of the house was like stepping into a hug. Warmth skated over skin I hadn’t realized was so chilly. Huge windows let in buttery sunlight, which lit up the dark hardwood floors. Comfy looking sofas, bean bags, and rugs made up a sitting area. A huge flat-screen TV hung on the wall, and a hearth crackled with merry flames.
This wasn’t just a house, it was a home, and the aroma of freshly baked bread was the icing on the cake.
Arne spoke gruffly into his phone, issuing instructions.
“I’ll be back,” Bramble said to me before disappearing through a door across the lounge.
Arne got off the phone. “Leif and his team are running a sweep of the grounds now.”
Sloane nodded. “Yeah, we’re checking the wards.”
Ward failure again. “First the potentials’ hideout, now this? You can’t believe it’s a coincidence.”
Sloane fixed her eerie blue eyes on me. “Never said I did. We’ve had these wards up and running for decades. Never had a breach like this before. It’s no coincidence.” She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth as if to say something, then snapped it closed. “We’ll look into it.”
“Arne? Is everything okay?” A woman stood partway down the stairs.
A shawl was wrapped around her shoulders, and dark smudges sat beneath her brown eyes. Her chestnut hair, streaked with gray, was pulled back into a braid. She held onto the banister with a white-knuckled grip.
“Charlotte, what are you doing?” Arne was across the room in a flash.
He swept her into his arms and cradled her to his chest. “Sten!”
Another huge golden-haired man came barreling through an arch to the left. He had a tea towel slung over his shoulder and a scowl on his face.
“What the fuck, Arne, you don’t bug me when I—” He skidded to a halt at the sight of us, and then his head whipped up to where Arne was standing with Charlotte in his arms. “For fuck sake, woman. How hard is it to stay in bed?”
“Take her, please,” Arne said. “I need to contact Toke and get him to increase patrols.”
“What happened?” Sten climbed the stairs and took Charlotte from Arne before dropping a kiss on her forehead.
“Ward breach on the grounds.”
Sten made a low growling sound in his chest and looked down at Sloane. “That shit is your responsibility. Can’t you fucking do your jobs?”
Sloane didn’t flinch. “We’re on it. Trust me. This isn’t something we take lightly.”
Sten looked like he wanted to unleash some more, but Charlotte pressed her palm to his chest and nuzzled in.
“I’m tired, Sten,” she said softly.
Sten’s expression immediately relaxed. He looked into Charlotte’s eyes and sighed. “Come on, love. Let’s get you back to bed.”
Charlotte locked gazes with me across the room. “Cora, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Come, I need to speak with you.”
Both Arne and Sten’s attention was now on me.
“Fuck, you’re her, aren’t you?” Sten said.
Charlotte answered for me, a beatific smile blooming across her face. “Yes, Cora is going to free me.”
* * *
Charlotte’s room was pink and purple and totally girly. The bed was huge—a double king-sized thing, and she looked tiny parked in the center of it.
Sten closed the doors softly behind him as he left.
“You’re probably wondering why I need such a huge bed,” Charlotte said.
“Not gonna lie, that was exactly what I was wondering.”
“It’s the perfect size for the four of us,” she said.
Bramble’s earlier words came to mind, the ones before we’d been attacked by banshees.
“You love one another.”
She nodded slowly. “Have a seat, Cora.”
I perched on the window seat.
She clasped her hands together. “You look like an angel with the sun lighting up your hair like that. I’d love to paint you sometime.”
“You paint?” I wanted to kick myself. “Of course you paint, otherwise why say you wanted to paint me.”
Her eyes twinkled with humor. “I do believe my boys will adore you.”
“Your boys?”
“Leif, Rune, and Torsten, of course.” She pursed her lips. “Although Tor can be difficult. He’ll come around, though. You’ll see to that.” She was talking about them as if they were her sons.
“I’m so confused.”
“About?”
“They’re not your sons.”
Her eyes were sad. “No. Not biologically, but they’re my mates’ sons, and so they’re mine. I love them, and they love me, and soon they’ll love you.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. I’m doing this anchor thing to make sure the people I already love are kept safe. I don’t plan to fall for shifters I can’t have a proper relationship with, especially not three of them. I’m a one-man woman.”
“That’s exactly what I thought before it happened,” Charlotte said. “But the mate bond is strong. It’s unavoidable and inescapable. You will be drawn to each other.”
She didn’t know me, and she didn’t know about Jasper, but she looked pale, tired, and weak, and I wasn’t about to argue with her. I smiled and nodded.
“Ah, you’re humoring me,” she said. “No worries. Time will show you the truth. The connection you’ll have with them is primal. How much do you know about shifters, Cora?”
“Enough.”
“So, you know they have a mating instinct? A mate their wolf connects with.”
“Yes. Their wolf mate.”
“That’s right. But when the alpha’s bind to you they voluntarily give up their chance of finding a wolf mate and choose you as their mate.”
My pulse spiked. “What the fuck?”
“How else do you think we’d benefit from the miasma they produce? The anchor becomes their mate.” Once again, there was sadness in her eyes. “And it’s impossible not to love them.”
I struggled to wrap my mind around what she was telling me. “But… They can never consummate their love for you, with you…”
“We’ve become inventive over the years.” She gave me a cheeky grin.
“Well, I’d expect so. Bloody hell woman, and what happens when I take over as anchor?”
Her smile dropped. “Then I’ll be free, and so will they.”
“I don’t get it…”
“They’ll no longer feel mated to me, and then… Then we’ll see how far our love can take us before…”
“Before what?”
“Before they each find a female wolf to satisfy their primal mating instincts.”
Oh shit. “You think they’ll stop loving you.”
“I only know what’s happened in the past. The last anchor died a year after I took over. They say her heart gave up, but I know now that it broke. It broke when her mates moved on and found wolf mates. It broke when the bond they shared was taken from her.”
Fuck. There was no way this was going to happen to me. “Seems to me the best way forward is to keep a guarded heart.”
“Good luck wi
th that, Cora. I mean it. You’ll need to be strong. Your mates will need to procreate, and they’ll choose female wolves to bear their pups. I was lucky with Toke and Arne’s choices. We became friends, and they never laid claim to my mates. They moved on and mated with other wolves.”
“What about Sten?”
“Sten decided he didn’t need to produce an heir. Sten is Torsten’s uncle. Torsten’s father was supposed to be my mate, but he was killed a few years prior to my becoming anchor, so Sten took his older brother’s place. Sten knew Torsten was there to bind with the next anchor, so he decided to leave the bloodline growth to his nephew.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
She snorted. “Oh, believe me, it wasn’t a decision taken lightly, but Sten can be…difficult.”
Like Torsten, it seemed. Looked like they were cut from the same cloth.
“This thing we do is important,” she said. “But I want to warn you…” She frowned as if searching for the right words. “Pick who you surround yourself with carefully. Be wary and be wise. Trust your mates above all others because they will always have your back.” She lay against the pillows and closed her eyes. “I’m so tired, Cora, and as much as I dread giving up this bond, the blood moon can’t come soon enough.”
Her breathing slowed and evened out.
She was asleep.
The door opened with a soft click, and Bramble popped her head round it. “The others are here to meet you. Come on.”
“What others?”
“The ascending alphas, their mothers, and a few other pack members.” Her gaze flicked to Charlotte, and her mouth pressed in a thin line. “The blood moon can’t come soon enough.”
Honestly, after everything Charlotte had told me, I wasn’t too sure about that.
Chapter Fifteen
The lounge was filled with people. Hulking males and tall, regal looking women. I’d been around shifters before, the Loup Garou, to be specific, and they came in all shapes and sizes, but these guys…
We climbed down the stairs, unnoticed, our scent masked by the delicious food laid out at the back of the room, hot buffet style. “Why are all these shifters so huge?”
“Nordic blood,” Bramble said. “You know, Vikings and Norse gods. The dire wolves are said to be descended from Fenrir himself.”
I had no clue what she was talking about, but I’d find out. Not now, though, because heads swiveled my way and attention settled on us like a thick, potent cloud with probing fingers.
I scanned the unfamiliar faces and latched on to one I recognized. Halle waved from the back of the room. Where was Rune?
My question was answered a moment later when the huge, shaggy wolf appeared at my side. He looked up at me with hazel eyes as if to say, how you doing?
“I’m good. You?”
He chuffed.
Nice.
The crowd parted to admit Arne and Leif. And yes, my heart may have done a little pitter-patter at the sight of the crimson-haired Adonis who’d saved my ass from the varga. His gunmetal blue eyes locked on me then swept over me as if assessing for damage.
“Thank you for coming, everyone,” Arne said as he came to stand abreast of me.
Bramble slipped away, making space for Leif, and I was literally surrounded by wolves.
“We’d like you to meet the witch who’ll be taking over from Charlotte as anchor.”
Yep, all eyes were on me again. I raised a hand. “Hey.”
“Cora Dawn is vital to the existence of the seal. Her life is essential for the protection of our world, so you will do whatever it takes to keep her safe, just as you have done all these years for Charlotte.”
A murmur of agreement skittered over the gathered.
“As many of you know, there was a ward breach on the Grimswood grounds today.”
The murmurs intensified.
Arne held up his hand, and the crowd fell silent. “This is the second ward breach in the past few days, and The Elites are looking into it. Our potential was attacked by banshees on the way to meet us. We’re lucky she survived the attack, but we cannot take any more chances.” He looked at Leif, and so did I, only to find him staring at me.
My neck grew warm, but I arched a brow.
He smiled and turned to speak to the crowd. “Patrols have been increased for now. We don’t know if the ward failing was a glitch or an act of sabotage, but we do know the target was Cora. The Order wants her dead before she can take on the mantle of anchor. While on the grounds, we keep her safe. While off the grounds, The Elites will guard her. We remain extra vigilant until the blood moon.” He looked at his father, passing the floor back to him.
“Everyone, please enjoy the food,” Arne said.
He patted my shoulder. “Mingle and get to know us. This will be your family soon.”
He wandered off, leaving me with Leif and Rune.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you,” Leif said.
I looked up at him in surprise. “Why would you be?”
“This is my territory. The cabin and surrounding lands which overlap onto Grimswood are Vita land. You should have been safe.”
Rune made a low rumbling sound, and my hand sunk into the fur at his neck instinctively, massaging to soothe him.
“I’m fine. I can usually take care of myself.” My free hand went to the amulet.
Leif’s attention dropped to my neck. “I heard about that thing. It’s muting you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I thought it was worth the sacrifice to keep Jasper at bay, but I don’t know now.”
“Jasper? That’s its name?”
“His name.” I don’t know why it bothered me that he’d called Jasper an it, but it did. “Jasper’s a guy.”
I expected Leif to argue that Jasper wasn’t a guy but a malevolent spirit, and why was I ready to defend his ass?
“We’ll figure it out,” Leif said.
Okay, wasn’t expecting that.
He reached out to touch the pendant lightly with his index finger and grazed mine, sending an electric shock through me. I sucked in a sharp breath and dropped my hand. His gaze snagged on mine, and his mouth flirted with a smile. Something passed between us, a weird zing that made my skin flush and my pulse kick up. Fucking hell, this was not on my to-do list, especially not after what Charlotte had told me. To love like that, knowing you were going to lose it… Nah. No way.
I lifted my chin and composed my features. “Yeah, I’ll figure it out.”
His almost-smile bloomed into a wry one. He’d noticed the emphasis on I’ll.
“Once the ceremony is complete, even with your power muted, you’ll be strong enough to defend yourself,” he pointed out.
Thing was, I wanted to be more than that. I wanted to be able to attack the bad guys, not just hold them off. Hiding and being protected wasn’t me. But the thoughts were drying up because he was looking at me in that intense way again, like he knew a secret and couldn’t wait for us to be alone so he could tell me.
I stepped closer, my hand sliding from Rune’s neck.
“Leif, there you are.” A woman with long silvery locks and huge gray eyes joined us.
The moment shattered, and I stepped back on my heel.
My heart lurched because, for a moment, I’d thought she was Fee. She had the same coloring and build, but there was a coolness in her eyes and a hard edge to her smile, which was nothing like my warm, loving best friend.
“Astri.” Leif offered her a perfunctory smile. “Meet our new anchor.”
Astri fixed a totally fake smile on me. “Oh, hi.”
I was no fool; I recognized the possessive way she gripped Leif’s arm and sidled up to him. Frankly, I didn’t give a shit. She could hump him right here for all I cared, but the way she was stealth dagger-eyeing me told me she expected some kind of response from me. I dunno. Jealousy, perhaps?
My stomach grumbled. “Fuck, I need food.” I grinned up at Leif. “Catch you later?”
He looked dow
n at me with an unfathomable expression, then extricated himself from Astri and gently gripped my elbow.
“Why later?” he asked. “This meet is about getting to know you. So, allow me to do that.”
Astri looked stunned. “Leif, I thought we were—”
Leif sliced a sharp look Astri’s way. “You’ll put your name forward like everyone else, Astri. I’ll make my choice when I’m good and ready.” His attention swung back to me, and he missed the flash of anger on her face.
I didn’t, though. I recognized a potential problem when I saw it, and Astri was exactly that. A potential problem.
* * *
Rune stayed by my side as we made our way outside with a plate of food and some drinks.
“Over here.” Leif led me to the seating area where someone had lit the fire pit.
Rune sat by my feet and dropped his head onto his paws. He looked perfectly relaxed and at ease, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was ready to defend or attack at any moment.
I set my plate on the bench between Leif and me. He’d piled it with ribs and barbecue chicken wings, and I was perfectly happy with that.
He started at the food now with a slight frown on his face. “Shit, did you want some salad with this? Bread? Potatoes?”
“Nah.” I picked up a chicken wing. “I like meat.”
“Do you now?” He pressed his lips together. “Sorry.”
I tore a hunk off and chewed. “You have a dirty mind, dude.”
“Yes. Yes, I do. I was hoping to hide that fact for a little longer, but now the cat’s out of the bag.” He reached out and swiped the pad of his thumb across the corner of my mouth. “I have a dirty mind, and you have a dirty mouth.”
He popped his thumb in his mouth and sucked it clean, and my lady bits throbbed.
I shook my head. “I think I need to reassess my evaluation of you, Leif. You come across all serious and business, but you have some moves.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “And you don’t hold back, do you?”
I shrugged and reached for more chicken. “Nope. But I guess that’s something you’ll learn about me in due course.”
Witch Unexpected: The Thirteenth Sign Book 1 Page 12
