Witch for the Wolf

by Annabelle Winters

Magda shook her head slowly, glancing up at the castle and then into Caleb’s eyes. He could see that she was scared. Scared, guilty, and ashamed.

  “I can’t face them,” she said softly. “I can’t face your crew. Those other women. They’ll see me for what I am.”

  “What you are is my mate,” Caleb said firmly, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at Magda sitting on the sand, her legs drawn up close to her body. “And you’re wet and cold. Stop being so dramatic and let’s go back inside. Come on. Get up. You’ve got nothing to worry about. No one is going to take our first born child. Not while I’m still standing—and trust me, I’ll always be standing between you and whatever demon, devil, ghost, or goblin wants to steal my babies.” He tried to smile as he tapped his cock-lock and winked. “Babies that still have to be made, I should remind you.”

  Magda smiled back, but Caleb could see the fear in her eyes. The metal underwear was no longer a joke, he realized. This woman was really and truly afraid that if she got pregnant, some mysterious dark power was going to show up and say, “The child is mine! Bwaahahahahahah!” What the hell, man. Benson didn’t prepare me for this shit!

  He reached for her hand, but she stayed in that curled up position, arms around her bare legs, sand between her toes, round face peering up at him. She looked like a scared child in that moment, not a dark witch with plans to conquer the world, and Caleb blinked as he wondered if this was all a trick, if the fox and the witch were making a fool out of the wolf and the soldier. After all, he’d been under her spell for two years. Was it broken just because they’d recognized that they were fated mates? Maybe. But maybe not. He didn’t know much about dark magic.

  You don’t know that much about her either, Caleb reminded himself as he drew back his outstretched arm and looked up at the massive white castle, half-lit in the dim moonlight. You might be putting everyone up there in danger if you bring her back there. It would be fine if it were just Adam and Butterball the Bear. But they’ve got their mates up there too. Babies and cubs. It could become a volatile situation, he realized as he thought back to how the women had instantly Changed to their animals when their babies might be threatened, how Bart had let his bear out, how even Adam had to fight to stay in control of his dragon when Magda had used her magic briefly.

  No, Caleb decided, his jaw going tight as he turned back to Magda. The time will come when I’ll need my crew, and they’ll be there for me when that happens. But right now it’s just me and her. Me and my mate. Just the two of us.

  “All right, we won’t go back up there,” he said softly, frowning as he realized they were both naked, with no money, supplies, or means of transport. Could Magda conjure all that stuff up? Not right now, he decided. And I don’t want her to access her dark magic right now anyway. This is on me. I’m gonna take care of this.

  He took a breath and nodded slowly as he scanned the surroundings. He knew Adam well, and this little beach nestled into the foot of the cliff seemed a bit too artificial to be believable. After all, it was just rocks everywhere else on this side of the island, and as Caleb looked beneath his bare feet, he could tell that the sand itself looked dark, almost black.

  “Sonofabitch,” he muttered, looking closely at the sand and realizing that it was indeed artificial! It had been created from pulverized rock! Adam’s dragon had built this beach by crushing the rock shoreline and then scorching the damned Earth until it turned into black sand! This wasn’t a beach! It was an escape route! Which meant . . .

  He squinted as he peered towards the far end of the beach, and then he saw it: The mouth of the cave. “Hell yeah, Adam,” he said with a grin. “Always prepared. Always a plan.”

  “What is it?” Magda said, shivering as she stared up at him. “Where are you going? Don’t leave me!”

  Caleb smiled at her. “I’ll be back. Don’t worry.”

  He strode to the mouth of the cave, his smile turning into a grin as his suspicions were confirmed. The moment he walked in, motion-sensing lights flickered on, and Caleb clapped his hands when he saw that Adam had equipped the room with everything a good Special Ops brother would need to get the fuck out of Dodge: Weapons ranging from knives and handguns to heavy artillery and even a goddamn spear; shelves full of fresh water and food rations (the good stuff, not the crap they actually give you in the military!); and, most importantly, clothes.

  “What’s your favorite color?” he yelled, his voice echoing off the walls of the cave. “Please say black, because that’s all we’ve got.”

  Magda’s voice came back, and Caleb realized she was walking towards him. “I like black,” she said, a hint of excitement in her tone. “Ohmygod, this is like a . . . a . . . stash!”

  “Stash is in fact the technical term for what this is,” Caleb confirmed, pulling a set of waterproof black pants from the shelf along with a plain black t-shirt. He turned to Magda with the clothes, and almost fainted when he saw her standing there naked before him, her curves illuminated in the yellow light of the cave. “Oh, God,” he groaned, feeling his cock harden inside his metal underwear to the point where he wondered if he could just snap the lock with his erection. “Oh, my God, Magda. You’re . . . you’re beautiful. So fucking beautiful.”

  “Stop saying that,” she said softly, her arm covering her nipples, the other hand placed between her legs, covering her feminine triangle. Even in the dim light he could see she was blushing bright red, and everything in him wanted to scoop her up in his arms, kiss her on those big red lips, show her that she was his, now and forever. His woman, his mate, his goddamn witch!

  “You stop saying that,” he said, looking her in the eyes and then letting his gaze move along her curves. “How can you not know you’re so gorgeous? Why would you even want to hide this body?”

  Magda frowned, a half smile breaking on her face. She shook her head and sighed. “You don’t know what it’s like to be teased as a girl, as a teen, as . . . as a woman.”

  Caleb shrugged, still unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of his mate, her curves looking smooth and perfect, the elegant manner in which she was covering her nipples and sex adding to his arousal in a way that made his breath come in gasps. “Well, no. Not as a woman,” he said softly. “But I know what it’s like to be teased. Made fun of. Bullied.” He grunted as his face hardened, memories of his youth coming through in flashes. “That didn’t last long, though. Not when I found my Wolf. Found out who I was. What I was.”

  “You were teased as a kid? Bullied?” Magda said, frowning as her gaze moved up and down along his ripped, toned, tattooed soldier’s body. “I don’t believe that! What did the others kids say?”

  Caleb grunted, turning away and holding out the clothes for Magda. “We were talking about you, not me. Here you go. I won’t look. I promise.”

  He felt her take the clothes from him, and although everything in him wanted to turn and take in the sight of his mate in all her naked glory, he managed to hold firm and respect her privacy even though he thought it was ridiculous that a Shifter would feel ashamed of her natural body. Hell, he’d spent so much time naked that he wouldn’t even wear clothes if not for the annoying rules of society! Not that he’d ever been interested in conforming to society, but whatever.

  “You can look,” came her voice, soft, trembling, unsure, but real.

  Caleb felt his cock push against its metal cage as the blood rushed down from his head, making him sway on his feet. He grinned as he felt his wolf howl inside him, yelping like a horny teenager as it whipped around in frustration. But Caleb was actually enjoying the build-up, the restraint, the joyful misery of being held back from something he knew he was going to get eventually.

  “No, it’s OK,” he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “I don’t want to embarrass you. I’m a gentleman.”

  “Since when?” she teased.

  “I’ve always been a gentleman,” Caleb said, t
rying to make his voice sound regal and sophisticated. “That’s how my father raised me. While he was getting drunk and throwing empty beer bottles at me for sport, of course. But he made a man out of me. A gentle-man, I mean.”

  “What? Really?” she said, her voice brimming with emotion in a way that sent a tremor through Caleb. Did she actually give a shit? Did someone actually give a shit about him? He could count on one hand the number of people who’d actually given a shit about him, and the realization that this woman, this mysterious creature who was dark witch and bashful teenager all in one was part of that select group made him want to howl out loud. “That’s awful, Caleb! Where is your father now? I’ll cast a spell on him! He’ll be haunted by drunk ghosts for the rest of his days!”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care. He was gone the day after I Changed for the first time. Smart decision, because my wolf would have ripped him to shreds without hesitation. Hell, the boy I was would have done it too if I wasn't just a kid!”

  Magda was quiet, and Caleb could hear her slipping into the pants and t-shirt. He sighed as he realized he’d missed his chance, ruined the moment by bringing up the worst part of his life, the worst person in his life.

  “You would have killed your own father?” she said after a while. “Is that what we are when we’re in animal form? Killers?”

  Caleb snorted, folding his arms across his chest. “Humans are killers too, Magda.” He sighed and slowly turned to face his mate. “But yes. Of course we’re killers when Changed. Isn’t that why you and Murad want an army of Shifters? Isn’t that why I was training those misfits, trying to whip them into shape for . . . for what, exactly? I’m still not clear on what the hell you and Murad were planning to do with those beasts.”

  “I don’t know if I’m so clear on it anymore either,” Magda said softly, patting down the front of her t-shirt and reaching behind her to straighten out the pants that seemed wonderfully snug around her bottom. “How do I look?”

  “Killer,” said Caleb with a grin. “I can see the outline of your nipples through that shirt. Wow, they’re big. May I just . . .”

  Magda gasped in indignation, covering her boobs and raising her eyebrows. “I thought you were a gentleman!”

  “I’ll be gentle,” Caleb said with a grin. “Just a quick pinch. Perhaps a tweak. Just to make sure they’re real.”

  “To make sure they’re real? Are you accusing me of having fake boobs?”

  “Who knows with you witches,” said Caleb, his eyes flashing with mischief as he stared at the outlines of her big, beautiful globes pushing against the thin cloth of the military-issued t-shirt. “One moment you’re a skinny, starved-out, twig of a woman, the next minute you’re a voluptuous goddess that makes my cock so hard I can barely see straight.”

  Magda shrugged, raising her eyebrows and smiling as she hugged herself and turned sideways. “Well, you had your chance. Now you’ll just have to wait.”

  Caleb tightened his jaw and took three swift steps towards his mate, going close to her and slipping his arm around her waist. He heard her gasp, felt her body tighten, smelled her scent rise up to him. He knew he was in control of this dance, and he loved it. He damned well loved it.

  “You’ll have to wait too,” he whispered, bringing his lips close to hers, grazing her cheek as his right hand moved down along the small of her back, stopping just above the curve of her ass. He almost groaned out loud at the restraint it took to not squeeze her magnificent buttocks with both hands, squeeze them so hard she screamed. And then he’d pull those pants right down, flip her over his knee, spank the naughty witch until she released him from his spell. Hell yeah, that sounded good! What was he waiting for?!

  “You’re a tease,” she whispered, her breath hot as she looked up at him. But he knew that she knew he was right. They both knew they had to wait. Jokes aside, Caleb couldn’t forget that there was dark magic at play, that deals had been made in the past, that the dark powers were insidious, secretive, manipulative. They ebbed and flowed like the tides, retreating and advancing, using subterfuge and trickery to get their way. They were fated mates, yes—and certainly there was powerful magic involved there. But Caleb knew that the dark powers that lived inside his mate were part of this dance too. They wanted the two of them to mate. Which meant Caleb couldn’t claim his mate until he fully understood why . . . why they wanted his first born child.

  How the hell are we going to find out, though, Caleb thought as he held his mate close, heard her heart beat next to his, smelled the woman in her, the animal in her, his future in her. Does she even know?

  “Do you?” he asked, completing his thought in words. “Do you know?”

  “Do I know what?” she asked softly, nuzzling into him as he looked down at her. She looked so innocent with those rosy, full cheeks instead of the sunken cheekbones of a witch. Who was she, Caleb wondered. Which woman was real? Was he being played? Was she being played?

  “Do you know who, why, what?” he said, feeling his mind start to kick into gear. He thought back to the early days when John Benson had recruited him out of Seal Team Nine, asking him if he was ready to serve his country, serve the world, serve all of mankind. Caleb was an American patriot down to the bone. He bled red, white, and blue, and he teared up every time he mouthed the words to the Star Spangled Banner. But he’d also been feeling restless as part of the Seals. Even in his small, close-knit team he’d felt like an outsider, a lone wolf, hiding from his own military brothers, hiding his true self. How the hell Benson had found out he was a wolf was anyone’s guess, but Caleb was grateful for it. Benson gave him a chance to be his wolf, to let the Change come and go as the moon waxed and waned, to save the goddamn world along with a crew of beasts like himself, monsters living in the skin of men.

  “Who, what, and why?” Magda repeated, looking up at him and scrunching her face up. “Am I being interrogated?”

  “Trust me, babe,” he said with a smile. “You’ll know when you’re being interrogated.”

  “Really? I thought the most effective interrogation happens when the subject doesn’t know she’s being interrogated.”

  “Exactly,” said Caleb, his smile broadening to a grin. “Which is why I’m assuring you you’re not being interrogated while I’m interrogating you. See what I’m doing?”

  “Oh, the trickery,” she murmured, resting her head against his chest as they stood there in the cave, witch and wolf, man and woman, fated mates facing their . . . fate? “You’re such a good spy.”

  Caleb grunted. “Not really, though I was the most suited out of the three of us to be a spy. Adam’s dragon was too full of rage and fire to handle finesse operations. And Bart the Bear . . . hah! No way was Butterball sneaking up on anyone! He was a battering ram!” He smiled, his heart suddenly filling with the most unbelievable warmth as he held Magda close. For one fleeting moment Caleb’s life felt complete, full, overflowing with love and affection. He had a crew, a tribe, brothers in arms at his back. And here before him was his mate! Everything was laid out before him! A future he’d never imagined could be possible for a lone wolf!

  But that future isn’t here yet, Caleb reminded himself as that warmth quickly transformed into a chill when he looked down at Magda and thought he saw a flash of the witch in her. You’re gonna have to fight for that future. Fight for your fate. Fight for your mate.

  And then suddenly Caleb knew what he had to do.

  “Where did it first happen?” he asked, frowning as he brushed a strand of hair from Magda’s face.

  “What?”

  “You know what. The deal you made. The moment you allowed the dark power to enter you.”

  “It wasn’t me,” she said. “It was my animal. It was scared, terrified of being killed.”

  “Killed?” Caleb snorted. “No one can kill a Shifter’s animal. You can kill a Shifter, sure. It ain’t easy, but it can be done by an
other Shifter. But killing just the animal? I’ve never heard of that happening. Not even with magic.”

  “It wasn’t magic,” said Magda. “It was science. Your government’s science.”

  Magda’s words struck Caleb like a hammer, triggering a hazy memory from back when he and Bart the Bear had downed a couple beers (more like a couple dozen beers) and had a surprisingly deep conversation. The two Shifters had connected over the crap their own parents had subjected them to. Caleb had opened up about being insulted and assaulted as a boy too young to defend himself. And Bart had talked about how his parents, Bear Shifters themselves, had tried to “cure” him of his animal—of the Shifter “disease” as they called it. Cure him of his animal? Wasn’t that just a nice way of saying “kill” his animal? Could it be . . .

  The dots connected in Caleb’s mind so fast he almost stumbled. American government scientists? Bart’s parents? Could it be?

  “How?” he said, his voice almost a whisper. “How did they find you? How did they know you were a Shifter?”

  Magda shrugged. “They took me from my boarding school in Europe. I don’t know how they knew I was a Shifter. It happened a few months after my first Change—at least the first Change that I remember.”

  “Where was the school?”

  “In a small town in Germany,” said Magda. “The middle of nowhere. On the fringes of the Black Forest. That’s where I Changed for the first time.”

  Caleb’s mind raced, the blood pounding in his temples as bits and pieces of his military knowledge came pouring in: snippets of conversations with Benson; patches of classified information from his time in Seal Team Nine; even conspiracy theories from the underground press and the goddamn National Enquirer!

  “The U.S. military has a significant presence in Germany,” he said, thinking aloud. “After World War Two we set up bases all over the country. And there’ve always been rumors that the Department of Defense likes to do its most controversial research outside the borders of the United States, just to maintain plausible deniability. There could be a secret research lab in the area near your school. Maybe they just . . . they just saw you, Magda. Pure coincidence. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the answer.”