Forever Mated

by Penelope Wylde

  Her coven sister stayed silent on the other end, her soft breathing a comfort in a way and in total contrast to the heavy memories that pressed down over Eva.

  Grief. It left a nasty, sour taste in her mouth that twined through her body and twisted around her heart like an invisible barrier she may never break free from. But she had to try.

  With a heavy foot, Eva took the last turn on the road that led to his cabin and then gunned it as the road straightened over the final crest before dipping back into the Sleepy Briar. With the phone pressed between her cheek and shoulder she downshifted her vehicle and slowed. She pulled off the snow-covered asphalt and made her way down the deeply rutted single-lane dirt road that led into the woods and away from anyone who could interrupt her plans.

  With little ceremony, Eva switched her Jeep into four-wheel drive before continuing up the steep incline.

  “So, what’s your plan? Tell me in all your crazy… horny… dazed scramblin’ you have a plan.” That was her sister. Why hold back a punch when you could lay it all out in plain, Southern-lilted English?

  “Winging it all the way. Mostly. Best plan to follow when all the magic hits the fan, no?” Or, was about to. No telling how this was going to turn out so making a well thought out plan seemed pointless. With what she was about to do, the less anyone knew the better. Less ass-covering she had to do, too, if it came down to it.

  Truth spells were a bitch with claws and if the Elders of the Silver Circle found out what she was about to do with one of her own, her coven sister could be punished.

  She would never allow that to happen.

  Nah. Plausible deniability was the name of the game.

  Several dips and potholes made the Jeep jerk and swerve. She gunned it and turned the wheel until she rode the higher middle and side road where it was smoother.

  A shiver flushed along her spine. There was something different about the air tonight. She’d felt it earlier back at the Cauldron Bubble too. A palpable thrum pulsed through the crisscrossing lay lines with a steady rhythm. It was what fed all otherworldlies, or supernaturals, their magic.

  Hers acknowledged the ancient powers and she reached out with her powers to siphon a little off the top.

  In the quiet of the night, a faint groan broke through the earpiece followed by a slight tsking sound. “I can’t be the only one that sees a lot of mischievous deeds are playing out tonight.”

  True.

  “Can you sense Harlow? Is she all right?” Eva had swung by the Cauldron Bubble earlier hoping to catch Harlow before she drank the illegal potion their other coven sister had brewed in the hopes of helping Harlow recover her stripped powers. It was never good to go against the Silver Circle ruling and it seemed the entire coven was doing just that tonight. Harlow never was one to sit or be helpless.

  “She should be fine,” Aleaha offered in a quiet voice.

  Eva’s shoulders relaxed, but that was only a fraction of what bothered her.

  The bond she shared with Devlin had reignited the second she laid eyes on him. It felt like thousands of electrical strands of power combed through her body. With the help of a few spells, she’d managed to force the bond to lie dormant, but the connection came back with the force of a nuclear bomb the second her eyes connected with Devlin’s. The force had been so strong she nearly fell to her knees at his feet.

  Aleaha tsked again and Eva knew the meaning behind the long, drawn-out sigh that would follow. Her coven sister wasn’t happy with her and said something to that fact but she lost focus.

  Seeing Devlin with his pack mates left her gutted. There were enough she-wolves circling Devlin with hungry eyes that it was a wonder he wasn’t already mated to one of them.

  She hoped. Her sisters had limited information in that department.

  That is why she had little time to waste. If she didn’t do this tonight, she could lose him forever.

  “Earth to Eva. Did you hear me? You can’t do this on the fly. You need a plan. You know that right? Did you space out or did ya inhale too much lavender crystal today?”

  Eva huffed and rounded the last bend on the mile and a half long driveway and slowed to a stop in front of a darkened cabin.

  “A little of both, to be honest. You can huff all you want. I have to do this. And while I’m at it don’t get all high and mighty about how I’m using my magic tonight. If I recall you didn’t object to my sleeping spell you and Sadie used over the entire school staff so you could play hooky for a Pink concert back in the day.” Eva slipped from her Jeep and slogged through the knee-deep snow. She edged around a crater of a pothole left behind from an uprooted tree before making it to the edge of Devlin’s porch. With her box of mischief tucked snugly under her arm, she scanned the darkened cabin and surrounding woods for signs of the man in question.

  A sweet husky laugh cut up her sister’s words. “You always bring that up. It was years ago.” At the oddest times, her sister could make her smile. Any man lucky enough to land a girl like Aleaha would have heaven in his hands. She knew how to ease anyone without even trying and never stopped being a friend.

  Eva pushed a little more. “Or how my on the fly helped fill a special order that started with a hot love potion and ended with you and a sexy jock in the back seat senior year.”

  “Oh! You play dirty. You better never tell a soul about that!”

  She smiled at her sister’s faux embarrassment. Eva tucked the phone to her shoulder and stood on her tiptoes to run her hand along the eve of the door. Roughened wood scraped along her fingertips.

  Bingo. Devlin, you never change.

  “You play just as dirty. Probably more. That Southern charm of yours is like honey to a bee. It draws men and when you have them tied up and under your spell, the real devilish creature comes out to play. You’re a wicked temptress well hidden behind your perfect red lipstick.” Eva slid the key into the lock and turned. “Listen, I love ya, babe, but I’m here and gotta go now.”

  Aleaha softly hummed in agreement. “All kiddin’ set aside, hun, be kind to him. He’s still hurting and his heart doesn’t know how to move on without his mate. Give him time. Shifters are different than us.”

  “Sure. Any more parting words of wisdom?”

  “You betcha. Go light on the dragon’s blood for your truth spell. That shit takes forever to wear off if it doesn’t knock him out first. Trust me.”

  Sometimes Aleaha’s psychic abilities gave her the chills. She couldn’t exactly read the future, but once things were ‘set in the fabric of the Universe’ as Aleaha put it, things became clearer and easier to read. Not absolute, because free will was a fickle beast but according to Aleaha, if she concentrated on the thread of a soul long enough, she could read their immediate future. “And Eva, I can tell you’ve made up your mind. The plan you have… be careful. You mess with the will of someone else and that could get ugly, darlin’. Fast.”

  She knew the consequences, but what other choice did she have? Watch as her mate moved on without her? Not likely. The idea of seeing him with anyone that wasn’t her drained her magic and the bond they shared caused a whole other ache.

  Time for drastic measures. And past time to reclaim her man. She flicked her fingers over the various herbs and potions she held.

  Knots tightened in her belly and she swallowed the bile that always washed the back of her throat when the memory of all she’d lost to betrayal roared back to life.

  “And you know I’m not talking about just the Circle members stripping your powers here.”

  She understood. Karma was the least of her worries, though.

  If she didn’t take this final risk, she might as well hand over her healing crystals and caldron now, because nothing else in the world would matter after tonight if her balls-to-the-wall plan went south.

  Chapter Three

  “One last thing—if I promise to be a good little witch tonight, will you open the Enchanted Embers in the morning? If everything works out, I might be a little occu
pied.” In the months that she had been gone, Aleaha had opened her own magic shop and had invited Eva to join if she came back to Sleepy Briar.

  She’d been on the edge of returning anyway and her sister’s offer gave the last nudge she needed.

  “Do what you gotta do, darlin’. Call me when the bubbling cauldron you’re stirring explodes.”

  “Such little faith.” Eva pressed end and slipped the cell into the back pocket of her jeans then stepped into the cabin.

  The scent of day-old cigar smoke accosted her before the wave of a flowery perfume drowned it out. Since flowers in winter weren’t likely, her mind dredged up the only explanation. Another woman had been here or still was.

  She eased one foot in front of the other. With nothing but moonlight drenching the cabin, she couldn’t see much.

  But what if…

  Back against the wall, she moved an inch at a time, her box still tucked tight to her side. Over the music and rumble of the crowd, she’d overheard Devlin tell a pack-mate he was heading out for a run. Ten minutes later she watched him peel out of the parking lot in the direction of the ridge opposite his cabin.

  But what if someone else was here waiting for his return? She never thought of that.

  Her back stiffened and she froze in place. She tilted her head to catch any noise. Please, goddess, don’t let me hear anything. Hot and cold waves flushed her body and her heart pounded. Winter had a firm grasp on the surrounding forest—not a sound inside or out penetrated the darkness.

  Palm out, she ran a hand along the wall until she found the light switch. Muted yellow light flared to life, revealing a quiet room. With her gaze flicking from side to side, she didn’t notice any telltale signs of anyone being home. So far.

  To her left, the entryway opened to a tidy living space and the kitchen and dining area took up the entire front area of the cabin. To the right, the bedroom. She swallowed past her dry throat and took a step, then another.

  Books lined the back wall and the large reading space sported a leather sofa she knew intimately. Devlin had made love to her every which way imaginable on those cushions and when they’d finished, he’d carried her over to the fireplace and made love to her again, claiming her in more ways than one. They both wanted it and the new family they had dreams of forming with their coming bundle of joy. They’d found out she was two months along the night he gave her his bite. They’d stayed awake long into the morning hours talking of plans. But they forgot one important detail. What they’d done was against her people’s law. Witches and shifters never mated.

  Her heart ached at the memory.

  It was their last night together. Standing on the outside looking in, the memory felt like a lifetime ago and like yesterday all at once. Looking down at the thick cushioned rug with his scent surrounding her, everything came rushing back. There were times she wished she could settle for letting it all stay in the past. Tears burned the back of her eyes. She stiffened and forced herself to concentrate. There would be time for reminiscing later, but right now… she had to know if he was with someone else. Just one look and she’d get to work.

  Eva strode deeper into the cabin and rounded the small kitchen island. She turned and walked the short hallway that led to the bedroom. At the door, she closed her eyes and counted to five.

  Nerves made her movements jerky. With a twist, the doorknob clicked and the door swung open. Familiar scents hit her instantly. First, a pine woodsy scent with a mixture of something she couldn’t pinpoint, but leaned toward somewhat vanilla. Maybe from his cigar?

  Her shoulders slumped and her chest heaved with a heavy sigh. So he wasn’t here now, but from the crumpled sheets, he must have been here with someone. If anything, the man was tidy to the point of driving her crazy-mad. Leaving his sheets in a balled mess wasn’t like him. Her heart constricted and she turned on her heel to flick a switch on. Several photos of all their friends and his pack members stuck out from random corners of the large mirror that hung opposite his bed.

  She stroked a finger down the gilded frame he’d hand carved. Wolves with their heads angled back, howling into the ether in and amongst the moon’s cycles decorated the frame.

  Friendly faces and bright smiles caught her eye and she slipped a photo from its place. Aidan, his arm around Sadie, with Devlin and herself were all together and smiling at the opening of Sadie’s bar, Cauldron Bubble.

  Those were happier times before the magic of new love and their reality had time to smear her bliss with ugliness. Before all shit with her family and the Silver Circle had gone sideways in a flaming cauldron.

  Fresh air filled the room from the open window, causing something to glint in the light of the lamp.

  What? A warm smile spread across her face. He had it all this time? She thought it had gone missing in her haste to leave town. How had he managed to get it? Eva cupped a thick gold ring in her palm that hung from a long chain she recognized as her own. The ring was his. He’d given it to her their first and last All Hallows gathering, a supernatural mixer where funky and fun tended to lead to all kinds of naughtiness. The one time of the year the dickdouches of the Circle pulled the proverbial stick out of their conjoined asses long enough to relax the laws to help maintain the peace between the supernatural species.

  He’d slid it on her finger with a look in his eye that meant more to her than his pack ring ever could. Then fate came rushing in with a whole other plan both knew nothing about until it was too late.

  She slipped the chain from its perch between carved teeth of a wooden wolf’s mouth and let the cool metal of the gold chain puddle in her hand. The band was made of a wolf’s body formed out of gold and the head resting at the top of the finger with a single amber eye accent. The same color of Devlin’s eyes before their bonding.

  He’d kept it on her chain all this time. A few months after leaving, she’d mailed it back to him as a way to give him closure. The second hardest thing she’d ever had to do.

  White curtains waved in the breeze and broke the shafts of moonlight and brought her out of the past.

  Right, she had work to do. Coming in here was a mistake and cost her precious time she didn’t have.

  She unclasped the chain and slid the ring onto her thumb, not wanting to think about what it would be like to have it back on the same finger he’d first slipped it on, then replaced the photo back where she found it. Keeping her eyes trained anywhere but the bed, she made her way to the kitchen.

  The open-style floor plan accommodated floor-to-ceiling windows to the side of the kitchen and flooded the entire space with natural light by day and moonlight by night.

  Just what she needed.

  With a flick of her wrist, the box lid flung open, revealing the key to her regaining her past. Her sister had worked hard over the last several months on making Enchanted Embers the go-to alchemy shop and thank the goddess for that. Coming by some of the ingredients her charmed truth spell called for was no easy task.

  In the center of the table, she placed a small mortar bowl usually left for grinding herbs, then set out three small crystal vials, two thick white candles and her athame, a witch’s ritual blade, for the most important step.

  In one hand she palmed a candle, carved in Devlin’s name along the side then scribed her own in the second candle and placed them both in the grinding dish. With precise care, she peeled back the lid of first one vial to coat the rim of the candle with a single drop of lavender. Then followed that with two drops of pure lemon extract on the wicks of each candle from the other vial.

  A clock chimed from somewhere within the cabin. Hades to blazes. One stroke and counting. If this was going to work, she needed to hurry before the clock struck a minute past midnight. Only one more step. As if the fate of every soul she knew depended on her, she palmed the last vial.

  Dragon’s blood.

  In all her twenty-three years, five years of which she spent working multiple levels of magic, she still sweated using the scaly shifter’s bl
ood.

  She tipped the vial over until one rich crimson drop mixed with all the ingredients on each candle. Casting a spell with dragon’s blood wasn’t a game, and one mishap could land her in some real hot water with the Dragon Lords. Not only did they forbid the use of their blood in ritual work, they tended to get pretty snappy about it.

  Bowl in hand, she turned to the moondrenched windows and began in a soft chant…

  Spirits of earth, spirits of fire

  Send to me my heart’s desire

  Brightest blessing, brightest light

  Bring to me truth this night

  With open hearts and secrets revealed

  Hear my words, this spell be sealed

  By my will, so mote it be.

  With a single snap above each wick, Eva lit the wick to Devlin’s candle then hers. If she was going to do this, she had better be ready to give the same truth she demanded from him. An easy price to pay.

  Whether he wanted to hear it at first or not. Painful as it was, he had a right to know.

  Bursts of golden flames licked high only to spiral around her head, her chest, and feed into the candle in a fierce spin. Mixtures of oranges and ginger tendrils of magic trailed behind to settle over the mortar bowl. In a blink, the white candle crumpled into a pile of fine pixie-like dust, infused with her charm and ready to do her bidding.

  No going back, Eva.

  But she still needed one missing ingredient. Devlin.

  Speak of the wolf.

  A deep rumble preceded the bright light that bounced off the front window to cast a long shadow along the back wall.

  Heavy footsteps pounded up the front stairs a millisecond before the front door slammed open. Hades to blazes, here goes nothing.

  Time froze. Blue eyes bored into her and everything ground to a full stop. He still had the eyes of a mated shifter.