by Leia Stone
“Full on stalker mode, bro,” I told him as the fever hit me again and sweat broke out on my upper lip. What the hell? I felt menopausal.
Jax nodded and threw the car in reverse, peeling out.
After a short ten minute drive, Jax pulled up to a small blue craftsman-style house in northeast Portland.
“His grandparents live here. He stays here on school breaks and does his laundry here every weekend.”
“Jesus, Jax!” My brother had gotten in trouble over a dozen times for hacking; he was a computer science genius. Could do coding in his sleep. The FBI even paid us a visit when Jax was twelve. He was a total tech guy and I had no doubt that in the five minutes spent on his phone, he had Gavin’s social security number, favorite foods, and God knows what else.
My hand rested on the car door handle. “This is crazy, right? I’m going crazy?” I turned to look at my twin.
Jax’s blue eyes twinkled. “We need to find out why you keep heating up and sweating like a pig, sis. It’s getting gross.”
I chuckled. “You’re such a jackass.”
Jax winked and opened his door, but I put out a hand to stop him.
“What are we going to say?” I pictured a sweet old couple answering the door and me fumbling to explain what exactly? That I was a werewolf and their human grandson might be my mate and might be in trouble? Geez, when I thought about it like that, it made me want to go home.
Jax looked beyond me into the garden. “You might not have to say much to convince them.”
Following his gaze, I saw an elderly gentlemen half dragging Gavin out the front door. Gavin was flushed and dripping sweat. He had one arm around his grandfather and his head was drooping.
My wolf rose up inside of me as I opened the door and bolted across the lawn toward them. Just as I reached Gavin, a nice older woman came out of the front door, her purse clutched in her hands.
Frowning, the grandfather met my eyes and then glanced at the tattoo on my neck. He didn’t look afraid like most of the old timers and I took that as a good sign. People his age had lived through the great vampire war and remembered that we were once a fighting people, but hopefully he remembered that we fought on their side. Even though peace now reigned between all the species, the younger generation seemed to either be fascinated with my kind or disgusted.
“Has he been getting fevers often?” My body heated up as I stood near him. I had no idea what was going on because this sort of reaction was unheard of.
The grandfather seemed surprised by my question. “Medicine won’t bring it down. Doctors say there’s nothing they can do, but we’re going back to the hospital because it’s one hundred and six. We’re desperate.”
I gasped as sweat rolled down my back. 106F. He shouldn’t be standing, he should be having a seizure or some shit. The grandfather looked at Jax hulking behind me.
“You friends of Gavin’s? I didn’t know he had friends of your kind.” He meant no harm by the words your kind, but they stung nonetheless.
“We’re new friends.” I figured a half truth was best here.
Gavin’s head had been drooping the whole time but now he raised it and met my eyes, panting, out of breath. His caramel-skinned face was beet red, sweat rolled down his cheeks, and his eyes … the irises were yellow like a wolf and the part that should have been white was blood red.
I gasped and backed up into Jax, completely caught off guard by how ill Gavin looked. He seemed fine when I had seen him last night at the club.
Gavin’s hand reached for me. “Help me,” he rasped before collapsing into my outstretched arms. I nearly keeled over with his dead weight, so Jax scooped in to help.
Oh my God. This was bad. My wolf surged to the surface wanting to break free and when the grandmother stepped forward to help Gavin, I growled.
Her hand froze about a foot from Gavin and I tried to cough to cover the growl, but it was too late.
“I’m sorry, I can’t explain it but I think he’s one of us.” I knew my eyes were yellow and if Gavin’s grandparents had been caring for him the last few days, they would have seen his eyes go yellow, too.
The grandmother shared a look with the grandfather and nodded.
They were hiding something. “Tell me, it could save his life. Was he bitten?” Because suddenly that made perfect sense. Although, my father would be furious if a rogue wolf had bitten a human on his land. It hadn’t happened in twenty years and none of my pack members would do this.
The grandmother shook her head. “No, the hospital checked him for bites, but …”
Jax dropped Gavin in my lap and stood to his full height, muscles flexed. I had to resist the urge to smack him.
‘Seriously? They’re a hundred years old,’ I scolded him.
He met my eyes quickly. ‘I don’t care. They’re hiding something. I don’t trust liars.’
Jaxon took his role of being my protector very seriously and clearly thought that meant that every eighty-year-old man was a threat to my existence.
“Tell me, I want to help him,” I pleaded. My upper lip was beaded with sweat and I could feel Gavin’s body heat burning through my jeans. He was completely unconscious now, his heavily muscled body felt like a ton of bricks in my lap. I could see now that we were connected, Gavin and I. His heat, my heat, I could no longer deny this guy might be my mate. Holy Shit. This was not how I dreamed of meeting my mate, half dead in my lap smelling like half human half … something else.
The grandmother’s face looked pained at the sight of Gavin in this state.
“This morning when I went to check on him, his arms were … furry.” She seemed to be in disbelief.
The grandfather put an arm around her and met my gaze. He held it for longer than I thought he would be able to. My lips quirked into a tight smile. This man had just earned my respect. Staring a dominant werewolf in the eyes took major cojones.
“We adopted Gavin as an infant through Catholic Services. He was left on the orphanage door step. Could he be … wolf-born?” The grandfather’s voice seemed unsure.
I shook my head. “No, wolf-born begin shifting in the womb. You would have seen the signs as an infant.”
Jax interrupted my thoughts. ‘Not Mom. She was wolf-born but was changed human as an infant before the first full moon.’
My heart picked up at my twin’s words. Jax was right! My mother had a complicated past but it was possible to be wolf-born and live life as a human. But for that you would need a very, very powerful witch and it was extremely rare. The spell didn’t just wear off either; he wouldn’t be showing signs. Suddenly, I knew where we needed to go.
“I need to take him to some of my friends I think can help him,” I told the elderly couple.
‘Jax, get him in the car. We need to take him to the witches.’
The grandfather turned to his wife. “Betty, go on back in the house and wait for me. I’ll call you with news.”
I suppressed a growl. “You can’t come, sir. These friends like their privacy.” The coven would straight up kill me if I outed their race to the humans.
The grandfather stepped closer to me. “That’s my kid, I’m going.” His voice was stern and I knew that if he had been a wolf, we would have been a dominant.
Sighing, I shrugged. “Fine, but you’ll have to stay in the car. No exceptions.”
He nodded. “My name is Tomas.” He extended his hand.
Jax had already loaded Gavin into the backseat so I shook Tomas’ hand quickly. “I’m Anya, and it’s nice to meet you.”
The relationship between humans and wolves was strong right after the vampire war but since then it had dwindled. After they made us tattoo ourselves, they also had us write on job applications if we were wolves and it made us feel like second-class citizens, so slowly we all kind of drifted apart, did our own thing. But this guy, he seemed like he was okay with the supernatural world, with us.
“Come on.” I jogged to the car, my wolf clawing to get out and protect
Gavin from unseen danger. But I knew we couldn’t do a damn thing about this fever until I knew what it was. I jumped into the front seat and Tomas piled into the back, Gavin’s legs strewn over his lap.
“How’s he doing?” I asked Tomas.
He met my eyes through the rearview mirror. “Unconscious and burning up.”
My wolf rose to the surface and my arms broke out in furry patches.
‘No! Stop it!’ I shouted at her. WTF! She was going completely rogue on me.
Suddenly, Tomas gasped and I turned to see what had shocked him. Gavin’s arms were breaking out in furry patches as well. White, thick fur like mine. I acted on instinct, yanking a few of the hairs off and putting them in my pocket. Hair was a witch’s best friend. It might help me help him.
Tomas looked from my arms to Gavin’s. “I thought your kind was supposed to be able to control the shift.”
I groaned. “We are.” I faced forward and rode the rest of the way to the witches’ house in silence. When Gavin’s arms finally ceased their furriness, mine did as well.
Jax met my gaze as we pulled up to the coven house. ‘He’s your mate, sister. I feel it.’
I bit the inside of my cheek. ‘Then help me keep him alive because I don’t even know his middle name.’
My brother chuckled. Throwing the car in park, he got out and went around the back to pull Gavin out. I opened my door just in time to see his grandfather get out.
“No, Tomas, sir. You have to stay in the car.” I put a light hand on his chest. I shouldn’t have even brought him at all. Seeing this house, he could tell people.
“Why? I’m not afraid of werewolves, I don’t mind,” he stated calmly and I debated on what to tell him.
“There aren’t werewolves here. Please, for Gavin’s sake, get back in the car.” My voice was stern but pleading as his thick, white eyebrows drew together in concern.
“How can I trust that you will keep him safe?” There was a vulnerability in his voice.
Taking a deep breath, I told him the truth. “Because I think he’s my mate.” Saying it out loud brought the realization crashing into me. My mate, my soul’s other half, my person. He was sick and he needed help and I barely knew him. Awkward didn’t even begin to cover it.
Tomas’ mouth opened in shock but my answer seemed to be good enough for him.
“Alright, Anya, alright.” Tomas nodded and slipped back into the car without a fight.
Thank God. I exhaled the breath I had been holding.
“Anya!” Jax was at the door now, banging on it fiercely. I took off running just as Gretchen opened the door, wearing a lime green bohemian dress and with her pearl white hair in a bun atop her head.
She took one look at Gavin and shook her head. “Oh, dear. Come in.”
Jax placed Gavin on Gretchen’s couch and I saw that Muriel and Saben, sister and brother witches, were also there. Good. Gretchen had an affinity for healing, and Muriel and Saben were both powerful witches. Together we would be able to find out what was going on. Muriel was my age and Saben only a few years older. They both had pale white skin, blonde hair, and green eyes and Jax and I hung out with them at witch events often. We weren’t as close with them as we were with our pack mates, but I trusted them enough with this.
Gretchen pulled back Gavin’s eyelid and gasped at the glowing yellow eyes and blood red whites.
“This is Gavin, the person I have been getting visions about,” I told them, and before I could wuss out, I blurted out, “And I think he’s my mate.”
Gretchen looked surprised even though it was her and Jax’s theory to begin with. She even leaned forward to smell him. I quickly caught the group up on what had happened, my heating up, the furry arms, and what his grandparents had said about being an orphan. Then I handed Gretchen the fur from my pocket.
She took it and raised it to her nose, inhaling. “Wolf,” she said with surety.
My mouth dropped open. “How?”
Gretchen placed the hairs into Saben’s outstretched palm, then quickly crossed the room to the spell room. Then I saw Saben begin to grind them in a stone pedestal.
Meeting my eyes, Gretchen held my gaze. “Not just a wolf, your wolf.”
“What?” I asked dumbfounded.
Jax stepped closer to me offering support as I tossed her words around in my head. “My werewolf, like the hairs were …?”
Gretchen placed two hands on my shoulders. “Call your father, dear. I’m going to need his blood to keep your mate alive. Call your mother too, I need her to confirm my suspicions.”
My breath sucked in at the doom in her voice, the surety at which she felt Gavin’s life hung in the balance. Shit! The blood of an Alpha werewolf made for powerful spell casting. It meant Gavin needed to be hit with the heavy, lifesaving magic.
Nodding, I spoke to my father through the pack bonds. ‘Papa, we need you and Mom at the witches’ house.’ I paused before I decided to tell the truth. ‘My mate is dying.’ What else was there to say? My father may not be ready for me to meet my mate, but he wouldn’t want him dead.
I felt his shock ripple through the pack bond. ‘We’re coming,’ he sent back and I knew they would come as fast and they could.
Gretchen pulled out some scissors and cut off Gavin’s clothes leaving him only in his tight black boxer briefs. I tried not to look, to give him privacy in his time of sickness, but my eyes roamed over his body taking in his tight muscles. Jesus, he was gorgeous. Feeling Jaxon’s eyes on me, I looked away clearing my throat.
‘My arms are bigger. I bet I can bench more than him,’ Jax stated and I rolled my eyes.
‘He’s dying, no jokes please,’ I scolded him.
‘Sorry, I can’t help it,’ Jax retorted.
“Anya, run a cool salt bath. Three drops lavender, one drop sage.” Gretchen gave me a task for which I was grateful. I needed to busy my hands and not let my mind run rampant. I was going over last night in my head. He said I looked familiar, and he touched my wolf’s fur in a sensual way. Did he recognize on some level that I was his mate? Did touching my fur do something to him?
I walked into the large guest bathroom just off the living room and drew the bath to Gretchen’s specifications. I wasn’t a healing witch but I was a witch, so I let my hand swirl over the water, sending magic mist into it with intentions of healing. I stepped aside as Jaxon and Saben lowered Gavin in.
Seeing my unconscious, half-naked mate lying in a witch’s bathtub was a really low point for me. Was this seriously how it was going to go down? No romance or cute conversations. Just … this …
Suddenly, my father stormed into the house, my mother in tow.
“Anya!” he shouted frantically down the hall.
I pushed past the boys to meet him head on in the hallway. Standing there in front of my dad, I felt like crying. My emotions were raw, I may have just met my mate but before I could even get to know him he was going to die. My throat tightened.
At my thoughts, I felt a surge of Alpha power flood the pack bond. My father was lending me his strength, and for that I was grateful. Now was not the time to fall apart. I nodded and addressed them both. “Gretchen needs Alpha blood for a spell.”
My mother pushed past my father and reached for my hand. “Tell us everything.”
Before I could say anything, Gretchen was there wearing knee length cut-off jean shorts and a peace sign t-shirt. She had an eagle feather tied in her hair and ash on her forehead. Whoa. Okay. Shit just got real. Gretchen was in full on hippie witch mode.
“Aurora, I need your help in confirming my suspicions. You of all people will know what the boy is,” Gretchen told my mother.
“Mom?” I looked at her confused, but my mother just stared at Gretchen, something unspoken passing between them and a lightbulb seemed to go off in my mom’s head.
Gretchen moved to my father’s side to take his blood as my mother slipped off her shoes and walked into the bathroom. Upon seeing Gavin limp in the bathtub, shal
low breathing, her hand went to her mouth. Her motherly instinct had kicked in and she crossed the room quickly, shoving Jax and Saben aside. She rolled up her pants and stepped into the large bathtub, leaning over Gavin to smell him. Her mouth hung open in shock and as she reached down to grab his hand and smell him again, she was sucked into a vision. I had seen my mother have visions hundreds of times; far off look in her eye, rigid body stance, but never had I seen such horror cross her features. Whatever vision she was having, was not good. I swooped in to catch her as she slowly sat on the edge of the tub, coming out of the vision and looking at me, tears in her eyes.
The entire group crowded at the bathroom door as my mother touched my face. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”
Fear clenched my gut at my mother’s words. What did she see? “What is it?!”
My mom looked lovingly at Gavin. “He is your mate, but he’s a shaman and he’s dying.”
My wolf went apeshit at her words, bones cracked as she tried to force the shift and protect him. I had to push her down hard to remain human.
Gretchen nodded. “I thought so.”
“Shaman?” Jax and I said in unison. My skin burned from fighting the shift, but I was more help as a human. My wolf just didn’t seem to agree right now. The shamans were shrouded in mystery. A long time ago they had cursed the werewolves with infertility because we were overpopulating the earth and not sharing our resources. They thought it would protect Mother Earth, and it did, but it ended up also letting the vampires rise to power and our race began dying off … until my mother came along. Now it was easier to find our mates and have children and the shamans blessed our mating ceremonies with giving us fertility again. Other than that, we knew nothing of their kind, their powers, or their purpose. My mom had a close relationship with Nahuel, her shaman friend and some type of spiritual guide, but I had never talked to him. Only seen him a few times through my bedroom window on the rare occasions she called for his help. She said he could do crazy shit like stop time and shape shift, but she barely saw him since the vampire war. She said it’s because he was needed elsewhere.
