Aurora raised her head weakly to look at the woman, her entire body shaking with fatigue and agony. “Call Grandmother.”
“What the ever-loving fuck is going on in here?”
Aurora heard the mighty roar come from Knox Channing, the alpha of the small family. Her gaze went to the doorway where he now stood, staring at her in shock. Slowly, she collapsed on the floor, unable to hold herself up any longer. “Help. Have to hurry.”
Emery rushed past Knox, slipping from her mate’s hand when he tried to hold her back. “Aurora!” She dropped down beside her, reaching out as if to touch her, until Aurora cringed. She was in too much pain already, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand anyone’s hands on her.
“Demon poison,” she gasped, closing her eyes and licking her dry lips. “Get Grandmother.”
“She’s not answering,” Briar said, kneeling down on the other side of her, a cell phone held to her ear.
“Nolan, find Emilia.” Knox’s voice was low, commanding, but laced with urgency.
“I’ll be back soon,” Nolan promised from somewhere behind his brother.
Tears filled Aurora’s eyes, and she looked past Emery and Briar to Knox. “Dying,” she gasped, hardly able to get the word out. It hurt to talk, hurt to breathe. She was afraid she wasn’t going to make it. She could feel death near. The Goddess was calling to her. “Noah.”
“He’s at work,” Knox said gruffly, crossing the room to crouch down in front of her. “Teine’s calling him now.”
“He didn’t answer his cell, and his office phone was busy,” Teine whispered from behind him. “I’m going to try back in a minute. Is she going to be okay?”
“I don’t know.”
Aurora looked at them, annoyed by the way they were talking about her as if she wasn’t there. She struggled to say something, anything, but no words would come out. She lay in silence, Briar clutching one hand, Emery the other. It hurt, but she found she needed them there. Needed their touch. If she couldn’t have her mate next to her in her final breaths, she would at least have his family. Her eyes fluttered, finally drifting close when she could no longer hold them open. Noah. His name was the last thing that slipped through her mind before the darkness took over, pulling her under.
Chapter Two
Noah slammed his phone down, cursing darkly as he fought the urge to pick it up and throw it across the room. His little witch was ignoring his calls. Hell, she’d been hiding from him for close to a month now, ever since they rescued Teine’s sister and grandmother from their skulk, and he was getting tired of it. He knew she was there when he stopped by her house the week before. When Meadow answered the door, she’d bowed her head submissively, shaking at the deep growl in his tone when he asked for Aurora. He’d heard the lie in her voice, smelled it in the air when she told him Aurora was out for the evening, and it pissed him off. The only thing that kept him from stalking past the young woman and going after what he craved, was the thick stench of fear surrounding the small shifter in front of him. She had lived a life of hell under her father’s rule until they rescued her recently, and he refused to do something that would remind her of the bastard.
His fangs threatened to punch through his gums as he rose from his chair. She was his mate! She should be by his side, not running from him. Raking a hand through his short hair, he cursed again. She was a witch. A fucking witch. After everything he and his family had gone through in the past, he hated the idea of being bonded to anyone with that kind of magic. Fate seemed to have other ideas. Aurora was his, whether she wanted to be or not. He’d come to terms with it… kind of… and she needed to, too. If not, his dick was going to stay hard as a rock for the rest of his messed-up life with no relief. Groaning, he reached down and adjusted it, shuddering as a bolt of pleasure shot through him.
He was just getting ready to pick up the desk phone and let it fly when his receptionist’s prim and proper voice came through the intercom, “Your noon appointment is here, Mr. Channing.”
Fuck his noon appointment. The only nooner he wanted was with a beautiful red-headed witch who was currently doing everything in her power to avoid him. Not for much longer, though. No, he would catch her soon, he vowed to himself. And when he did, she was going to find out what it meant to be mated to a bear. He frowned, shaking his head. Which would mean he would be mated to a witch. Could he handle that? Hell, he didn’t know, but it was becoming more and more obvious that he didn’t have a choice. What was Fate thinking?
Taking a deep breath, Noah slowly let it out, and then calmly reached over to push the intercom button on his phone. “Please show him to the conference room, Pricilla. I will be there in a moment.”
“Yes, Mr. Channing.”
Rising, he slipped his cell phone from his slacks to switch the ringer to silent. His client was the mayor of Stanton, a wolf shifter two towns over from Blue Creek. The man wouldn’t like it if they were interrupted by one of Noah’s brothers. He shook his head when he saw the call he’d missed just moments before was from home. He loved his family, but sometimes they could be a little overbearing. Lately, there had been so many questions about Aurora, so much pressure to accept her for who she was and get on with the mating, that he’d been avoiding them. He was confused enough as it was. Although, he did agree with one thing his oldest brother, Knox, had said: Something had to give soon.
Noah.
Noah froze, his eyes widening as his mate’s voice floated through his mind. For just an instant, he heard the regret in that one word, felt an agony rush through him that almost put him on his knees, and then it was gone. “Aurora!” He rasped her name as he ran from the room and past his startled receptionist.
“Sir, Mayor Harman is waiting.”
“Reschedule.” It was all he could say before he was out the front door. His phone buzzed when he reached his truck. Climbing in, he started it and slammed it into gear before answering. “Noah.”
“Noah, you need to get home now.”
It was his sister-in-law, Teine, and he heard the fear in her voice.
“How bad is it?”
“What?”
“Aurora, dammit. How bad is she hurt?”
There was a pause, and then, “How did you know?”
“Teine…”
“It’s bad, Noah. Really bad. From what we were able to get out of her, she was poisoned by demons.”
“What the hell?” Hitting the open highway, Noah floored it. Demons? “What was she doing messing with demons?” His heart was pounding hard, terror flooding him. He’d never met one personally, but he knew about them, and what he knew scared the hell out of him. If his woman took on one of them, and had their poison in her system right now, there was a good chance she wasn’t going to make it.
“I have no idea. She just appeared in the middle of the freaking living room, Noah. Like, out of nowhere. She’s in pain. So much pain. She’s just lying there, hurting, and there’s nothing we can do for her.”
“Don’t move her!” The one moment of agony he’d felt when she connected with him, and he knew for sure now that it had been her, was enough for him to know the hell she would endure if anyone picked her up off the floor. “Stay away from her, Teine. If someone hurts her…” He couldn’t go on.
“We haven’t touched her except to hold her hand, Noah.”
“Call her coven,” he demanded, taking the right-hand turn onto the gravel road leading to his house a bit too fast. “And Doc Freya.”
“We have no idea how to get a hold of her coven. Nolan went to find her grandmother, and Briar called Doc Freya. Although, I’m not sure what Freya will be able to do.”
He wasn’t sure what any of them would be able to do. All he knew was that they had to try.
“Noah? You better hurry.” The words were whispered through the line, and the worry and fear in them were like a punch in the gut. His sister-in-law was badass. A fighter. She didn’t do fear, not unless it came to her niece, Athena. Which could only mean
one thing. His mate was in serious trouble.
Seeing his driveway ahead, Noah ended the call before taking a hard right onto the narrow road. Soon, he was parking in front of his house and on a full out run across the yard and up the porch stairs. He heard a vehicle behind him, but didn’t turn around to see who it was. All he could think about was getting to Aurora.
The minute he set foot in the living room, a loud roar of denial left Noah’s throat. His beautiful mate lay on the floor, her auburn hair spread out around her, her face pure white against the dark red of her lips. Her eyes were closed. Those beautiful, bright green eyes that always seemed to snap with anger in his presence, hidden from him. She lay still, as if in death, not a muscle moving.
Briar and Emery quickly moved out of his way as he charged across the room, knowing not to get between a shifter and his mate at a time like this. Kneeling beside her, he slowly reached out and ran a hand over her head, down her cheek, and placed two fingers against her neck. His entire body shook as he leaned down, placing his ear by her lips, praying for the soft whisper of her breath across his skin and the beat of a pulse beneath his fingers. At first, there was nothing, and his bear began to go crazy trying to break free. Noah fought him back down. He may not know what to do for Aurora right now, but he sure as hell wouldn’t be any use in bear form.
Noah shoved his fear aside, concentrating on the woman in front of him. The mate he had rejected months ago, but refused to let go of now. She couldn’t leave him. He wouldn’t let her. He couldn’t live without her. “Aurora, sweetheart, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Oh, my God! Is she alive?”
He heard his sister, Miracle’s, voice behind him, but blocked her out. Closing his eyes, he focused on his mate, reaching for her through a bond that wasn’t quite there, yet. They hadn’t completed the mating ritual, but he could still feel her sometimes through that light thread that held them together. Her warmth, her courage, the love she had for others. The love he wanted for himself, but knew he wasn’t worthy of when he couldn’t push his dislike for what she was away. He reached for that thread now, pulling it taut, trying to somehow bind her to him. After a moment, he felt it. That small flicker of awareness. The soft breath on his skin, the very faint pulse beneath his finger. Then, she seemed to shy away from it, from them and what they were.
Noah stiffened when he felt Aurora begin to fade away from him, as if choosing death over their life together. A low growl built in his throat, and his fangs dropped. No, she couldn’t go. She was his, even if they weren’t at a place where they could fully accept each other. He wasn’t giving her up. He couldn’t. “Don’t you leave me, dammit,” he growled, lowering his head to bury his face in her neck. Then he did something he never did. He begged. “Please, sweetheart, stay with me. I know I’m not the easiest mate. Hell, I’m not the easiest man. But I’ll try. For you, I’ll try. Please, just don’t leave me. I need to hear your sassy mouth telling me to kiss off. Need to see those green eyes sparkling with anger when you glare at me. I need to feel this thing between us, whatever it is, binding us together. I can’t go on without it. If you go, my witch, I will follow.”
“No!” Miracle gasped. “No, Noah! You can’t leave us!”
He ignored her. Ignored them all. The only thing that mattered to him at that time was the woman next to him. “Come back to me, Aurora. Let me prove I can be the man you need me to be.” He had no idea how he would do that, but he would. For her, he would do anything.
“What you are feeling is a combination of your mate bond and the pull of witches.”
Noah swung around, baring his fangs at the unfamiliar voice, a growl of warning rumbling in his chest.
“Do not worry, bear. I’m only here to help.”
The woman’s shoulder length black hair was tinged with a light purple, her violet eyes sparkling with energy. She kept her distance, her steady gaze on him. He was a threat to her; she was smart enough to realize that. Claws sprang from his fingertips, digging into the floor where one hand sat. The other was on Aurora’s arm, and he was careful not to let the sharp points harm her. The woman took a small step toward them, stopping when his growl deepened. She was a witch. He could smell it on her. It triggered instincts in him, killing ones. As he watched, more of them appeared in the room, as if they were arriving out of thin air.
“Get over it, asshole,” one of the others snapped, her pale green eyes darkening in anger. “We don’t have time for your prejudices right now. The Goddess is calling my sister home, and I’m not ready for her to leave this world, yet. Are you?”
Sister. This was Aurora’s coven. A part of him had known that, had even wanted them to come and try to help save his mate, but after what happened years ago, his hate for all witches was hard to control. He knew it was wrong, but after suffering the loss of a loved one at the hands of a powerful male witch, it was hard to differentiate between the idea of good and evil ones.
“No!”
It was the gasp of pure anguish in just that one word from the last witch who appeared that was able to fully wrench him from his past, pulling him back to the present and what was happening with Aurora. Shame filled him, and he gritted his teeth, forcing his fangs to recede. The female with the green eyes was right. He was wasting time being a complete asshole, when all that should matter was his mate.
“This is all my fault!” Noah’s gaze narrowed on the woman standing in front of him, her large grey eyes filled with tears. Ignoring him, she rushed across the room, dropping to her knees beside Aurora. A small whimper leaving her, she covered her mouth with a shaky hand. Tears streamed down her face as she rasped, “I never should have taken her there with me.”
“Where?” Noah demanded, his eyes back on the other witches as they formed a loose circle around them. “What the hell happened to her?”
The woman shook her head, slipping her hand in Aurora’s as she lowered her head and sobbed. “Aurora, please, I’m so sorry! I should have stayed with you. I should have…”
“Mist, please, you must tell us what we are up against,” a woman with long, black hair and eyes a golden hue spoke up.
When Mist couldn’t seem to form any words, Noah growled, “She said something about demon poison when she first got here.”
The woman’s gaze met his, and he froze when he saw fear replace the calmness in them. “Demon poison?”
Noah looked back at Teine for confirmation, who glanced helplessly over at his sister. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t in here.”
“I was,” Briar cut in. “She specifically said the words demon poison.” She licked her lips, biting the bottom one in hesitation before going on, “And she said she was dying.”
Noah bit back a snarl as he moved to hover protectively over his mate. She was not dying!
“It was demons,” Mist whispered hoarsely through her tears, reaching out to place a hand gently on Aurora’s forehead. “They killed my charge.” Raising grief-filled eyes to the woman beside them, she rasped, “This is my fault, Zara. I insisted we bring Jana back with us. I knew she was dead, but I didn’t want to leave her there.”
Zara held up a hand, halting Mist’s words. “Start the healing chant, Luna,” she ordered, her unusual golden eyes taking on a warm glow. “We need to figure out how to get that poison out of her, now!”
Immediately, the room was filled with a low, clear voice, the words flowing in a sing-song chant from the witch with purple hair and violet eyes, as she began to rock back and forth. Soon, the others joined in, and Noah could practically taste the magic that emerged from them, coating the air thickly. They moved in unison, back and forth, side to side, as if dancing in place. The room shimmered with their energy, several different colors surrounding the women as they swayed and chanted. He looked down at Aurora, watching closely for any sign that whatever it was they were doing was working. There was nothing. She was so still. If he didn’t have that small thread still holding her to him, he would think she was already g
one.
“No! Aurora!”
Noah glanced over to see Aurora’s grandmother rush into the room, followed by his brother, who moved to stand beside Teine, sliding an arm around her waist. Noah gritted his teeth at the sight, wondering if he would ever be able to hold his mate in his arms like that. If she would lean against him trustingly, looking up at him with love. A loan tear slipped free, sliding down his cheek as he looked back down at Aurora, reaching out a shaking hand to push a lock of long, auburn hair back from her face. The Goddess had given him a gift, one he had pushed away because of his past. And now, he may have lost her forever.
A loud, keening wail radiated around the room as Aurora’s grandmother fell to her knees beside Mist. “She is leaving us! I can feel it!”
Noah’s heart clenched at the woman’s words, terror racing through him. The chanting around them grew louder, almost to the point of deafening as Aurora’s coven fought for her.
Noah.
Her voice slid into his mind, so faint he almost missed it. “Aurora?” He leaned down closer, kissing her gently on the temple. “I’m here,” he rasped, rubbing her cheek with his. “I’m right here.”
So sorry.
“Sorry?” Noah frowned in confusion.
I couldn’t be what you need.
“You are everything I need,” he growled into her ear. “Everything. Don’t you leave me!”
Witch.
“My witch,” he snarled, nuzzling her cheek with his again. “Mine.”
So tired.
“I know, sweetheart, but you have to fight. For me. For us.” He hesitated, before going on. “For your grandmother and your coven.”
Can’t.
“You can!” he insisted, slipping a hand into hers and placing soft kisses on her neck. “Come back to me, Aurora. Please.”
“What the hell is going on?”
Noah heard Knox’s snarl behind him, but he never took his attention from his mate. She was reaching for him, and he knew she wanted to live. He felt that spark of life in her that hadn’t fully dimmed yet. She wasn’t ready to move on, and he wasn’t going to let her.
Accepting His Witch’s Sass (Sass And Growl Book 3) Page 2
