by Kimber White
“What the hell?” Edward started to sit up. He was groggy, his movements sluggish. But, he was aware of what was going on. I was running out of time.
There was only one thing left to try. A risk, to be sure. Exposing myself like this to a stranger...a wolf shifter no less. With any luck, he just flat out wouldn’t remember.
I took a breath and channeled my energy straight to my fingertips. Warmth flooded me. The world narrowed to a single pinpoint of light. At its center was the medallion. There was nothing else. And it was mine.
Then, the medallion fought back.
The blow took me straight in the chest, knocking me back about ten feet. I crashed into the little table, knocking it over.
Coughing and sputtering. I tried to rise.
“Zendra!” Flavia called out.
Now, Edward was struggling to get to his feet. His movements reminded me of someone deeply intoxicated. I suppose in a way he was. He’d taken the full brunt of my power. His body would fight against it, try to make sense of it. It gave me no small comfort that he never would. Because I didn’t exist.
“Be right out!” I called to Flavia. The chimes from the front door saved me. Her attention would go to the new customers coming in.
I got to my feet before Kalekov did. He was on his knees. The medallion swung freely around his neck, tantalizing me.
I was stuck. Caught. If I couldn’t get that thing off his neck, then I’d have to take him with it.
“Come on,” I said. Kalenkov’s jaw hung slack. He was strong indeed to be able to fight through my magic. Part of me admired him for it. At the same time, I knew it would take more than just me to keep him contained. And gods knew how I was going to keep him quiet.
“This way,” I said. He looked down at me, his expression was curious. But, miraculously, he stayed obedient. I prayed I hadn’t scrambled his brains too hard. That was a risk. I’d never actually done anything like this before to a shifter.
He slid his arm around my shoulder and let me lead him to the back of the room. I struggled to stay upright. He was huge, heavy, and leaned hard against me. Somehow, I found the strength to get him through the door and down the little hallway to my room beneath the stairs.
It wasn’t much, but for the last two Earth years, it had been home.
I led Edward to the couch I kept against the wall. As I slid out from beneath him, he sank down, landing more or less in a seated position, and his head banged loudly against the wall. The weight of it seemed to shake the whole building.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, raising a finger to point straight at me. “It’s a trick.”
I stood with my hands on my hips. “Maybe,” I said. “But not the kind you think.”
“I know you,” he said. “Why do I know you?”
I was asking myself the same question. Though I’d never seen this wolf before, he felt familiar. It had to mean something. Only now wasn’t the time to try and sort it out. I was due in front of the store soon. Flavia had clients lined up for me all afternoon. I couldn’t afford to arouse her suspicions or give her a reason to fire me.
“What am I going to do with you?” I said.
I sank to the other end of the couch. Edward swung his head. He was fighting to clear it. “Take me to bed,” he smiled. Oh, yes, that was the magic talking. And yet, a little flash of heat went through me. Well, he was gorgeous.
“I’m tired,” he added.
“I’ll bet you are,” I said. I pointed to the medallion.
“I’d like to buy that from you,” I said. “How much are you offering?”
Edward picked up the medallion. He struggled to focus as he held it up to his face. Then, he let it drop.
“Not for sale. You’re supposed to tell me about it.”
Did he not know what he had there? That seemed unlikely. One thing was clear. I’d need him sober if I was going to get any useful information out of him or get him to hand over the medallion. Because there was no way I was letting it out of my sight, even if he stayed attached to it for the time being.
“I have to go back to work,” I said. “Why don’t you sleep it off here? Then, I’ll come back, and we can have a proper talk.”
I started to rise. For as drunk as he was, Edward moved with remarkable speed. His fingers closed around my arm. His touch seared me and awakened an unfamiliar desire deep inside of me. I found myself zoning in on his lips.
Full, wet. He had a dusting of blond stubble on his chin, and I imagined the delicious pleasure I would feel having it scrape against my skin.
“Ach,” I said, trying to pull away. “Magic.”
Edward held firm. I sank back to the couch beside him.
“Who are you?” he said.
“Do you promise to behave?” I asked. “You came here for answers. Maybe I have some. But I have to go back to work now. I can’t keep Flavia waiting. I won’t be long, though. An hour or two. Then, we can talk if you want.”
His eyes narrowed. He still wasn’t all there. Not by a long shot. But, it was clear he wanted something from me too. He loosened his grip, and I backed away from the couch.
“I’ll stay,” he yawned.
“Good,” I said. “That couch is more comfortable than it looks. You need some rest. You’re very drowsy.”
It was a cheap trick, I know. Simple hypnosis. Most of the time, it didn’t even work unless the subject was already highly susceptible. For now, Edward Kalenkov seemed to be. He yawned so wide, he looked more like a lion than a wolf for a moment. For some reason, that made me smile.
Then, Edward fell sideways. He was snoring as his head hit the armrest. His feet dangled over the front of the couch.
I don’t know what made me do it, but I reached for his legs. With great effort, I managed to get them up, so he was lying fully on the couch.
I stood back and surveyed my work. My magic might hold. Or...it might not. But, I had one last trick up my sleeve.
I opened the wooden chest I kept at the foot of my bed and pulled out a long length of gold chain.
Dragonsteel.
Kalenkov might hate me for it when he fully woke. If he yelled and made a racket, I wouldn't be able to explain that away. I just had to hope his need for information would outweigh his outrage.
As he snored like a buzz saw, I looped the chain around him.
No shifter could escape Dragonsteel. Like it or not, Edward Kalenkov, mystery Alpha wolf shifter, was my prisoner for now.
Chapter Three
Edward
I’d never had a hangover. Shifters don’t get them. We can get drunk, for sure. But, it never lasts long, and our heightened ability to heal comes in handy in that respect.
Except for now.
I’d actually been hit in the head with a sledgehammer once. It was back in my younger days in Russia. During the pack war that temporarily ousted my uncle as pack leader, I’d gotten in more than my fair share of dustups with a rival pack. I’d been sucker-punched, by a human, no less, when her shifter mate was busy digging his claws into my back.
It made my ears ring, and I think I threw up. This was like that. Only hours had passed, and it wasn’t getting any better.
I struggled against the Dragonsteel chains. Where the hell had she gotten her hands on so much of the stuff? It was the most powerful, mystical metal on earth, and the only thing strong enough to restrain a shifter. Sure, Wolfguard had a pretty big stock of it on hand. But, it was extremely rare and astronomically expensive. Plus, you’d have to have some pretty shady black market connections to get it.
Who in the hell was this chick?
More importantly, what was she?
Somehow, I managed to sit up. She’d looped the chains around my legs and hips. But, my arms were free, for all the good that did me.
I couldn’t shift. It was a byproduct of the Dragonsteel’s magic. In some ways, that might be a good thing. For a moment there, as Madame Zendra came toward me, I knew I lost control of my wolf.
It was her. It had to be. She’d done something. Cast some spell to try and draw out my wolf. Only why would anyone in their right mind want to do that? I could have torn her apart. I would have torn the entire shop apart.
“Zendra!” I tried to shout. I could pretty much only manage gritting my teeth.
She was close by. I could still smell her. Intoxicating. Sweet. A different kind of magic, though. Not one that repelled me like witches do. With her, it was like the best candy you’d ever tasted. It actually got my mouth watering.
It stirred something else as well. Dammit if I didn’t want to taste her. One little nip. When I closed my eyes, I could see her bending to it. Her lips slightly parted and a little groan of pleasure escaping them.
“Zendra,” I whispered. Something told me she could hear me. She wasn’t far. I had vague, dream-like memories of stumbling through a door to another room in the shop. I was still inside the Oracle. I had no doubt.
Zendra’s room. I sat immobilized on a purple couch against the wall. Beside me was Zendra’s bed. A double with an antique wrought-iron frame painted white. She had colorful scarves draped over it, almost like a canopy. One mirrored dresser leaned against the opposite wall. Zendra had various gold and silver necklaces hanging from it.
She had a heavy, wooden chest with leather straps shoved at the foot of her bed. It’s where she’d gotten the Dragonsteel. I remembered that much. But, how the hell had, she moved it in here? It would have weighed close to a ton.
I heard voices coming from deeper in the building. I recognized one of them as the woman, the shopkeeper who’d greeted me when I first walked in.
Flavia. Zendra had called her Flavia. Were they related? Only, I’d almost stake my life on the fact that Zendra wasn’t a witch.
There were no windows in this room. I couldn’t even really tell if it was night or day anymore. How long had I been out?
I heard the tinkling chimes of the store’s front door. More voices, then they faded. Heavy footsteps drew near. I tensed. They came so close, then changed directions and went directly above me.
So, I was under the stairwell. Hidden. I just had to decide how much of a stir I wanted to make. Dragonsteel or not, the girl couldn’t keep me here for long if I didn’t want her to. Could she?
I waited. Sweat poured down my back. The urge to shift made me tremble. A feral need rose inside of me. Instinct told me the moon was out now. It called to me.
Oh, yes. She was lucky to have the Dragonsteel. Otherwise, nothing would have stopped me from punching through every wall in this place.
“Relax,” she said. I startled. How the hell did she manage to sneak up on me like that?
Zendra stood in the doorway. I heard a door close far above. Was that Flavia retreating to her own rooms? Likely.
“Take these off,” I said, rattling chains.
Zendra stood with her arms crossed. She looked so different from the first moment I saw her. A trick. A glamor. Which one was real? Was she the gnarled old woman hiding beneath the hooded robe? Or was she the beautiful creature I saw before me with silken white hair that flowed to her waist and violet and gold eyes that sparkled in the shadows?
She dressed simply in a pair of fitted jeans and a thin, pink top with a deep vee at the collar.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said, pointing to the chains. “But you looked like you needed some help.”
“Help?” I said.
“Yes,” Zendra said, her tone forceful and determined. She came fully into the room and closed the door behind her. I raised a brow as she locked it from the inside.
“How long have you been having trouble like that?” she asked. Zendra pulled a small, round, velvet-covered ottoman away from the wall and placed it in front of me, just out of my reach. She sat down and leveled a hard stare at me.
“Trouble?” I said. “Lady, you’re the one who seems determined to bring trouble into your life. How long do you think you can keep me chained up like this?”
Zendra regarded me. I found myself with a desperate need to know exactly what was going on behind those brilliant eyes of hers. She didn’t seem scared. Curious, maybe. I felt a little like an animal in the zoo. As if perhaps she’d never seen a real, live shifter this close before. Her eyes darted back and forth over me. Her cheeks flushed.
“You really should be thanking me,” she said after a pause.
I mustered the strength to heave myself forward, straining the chains to their limit. I was no more than an inch from Zendra’s face, but she was just outside my reach. How had she so precisely placed that stool like that?
She tilted her head to the side. “Your wolf is with you,” she said. “He thinks?”
“What?” I said.
“He sees what you see,” she said. I realized it was a question. It seemed my zoo analogy might not be that far off.
I leaned back. Fine. I’d play her little game for now. As long as the chains held, I was more at Zendra’s mercy than suited me.
“You talk like it’s two separate beings,” I said. “That’s not how it works.”
“How does it work?” she asked.
“I...it just...does.”
“Do you talk to the wolf? Inside your head?” she asked.
“What? I don’t...it’s just part of me. I don’t have to talk to myself.”
“Hmm,” she said, crossing one leg over the other. “But you did. I heard you. When you started to shift but you didn’t want to. You told the wolf to stay inside. He wasn’t going to listen, though. So he is separate from you. Isn’t he?”
She had me dumbfounded. Worse than that, she’d sensed something in me I wasn’t really ready to admit. She was right. Lately, my wolf had felt more separate from me. I’d brushed it off, but there were two times in the last couple of months that I suspected I might have shifted without remembering it. A blackout of sorts.
I knew what it could mean. It was the nightmare of every wolf shifter. It might be nothing. Just the effects of extra stress in my life. Or...it could be the first signs of a more ominous diagnosis.
“No,” I barked. For the first time, Zendra flinched.
“No,” I said, more softly. “I am the wolf, and the wolf is me. You’re mistaken.”
“No, I’m not,” she said. “But I’m not interested in arguing with you. The chains are helping you. I can sense it. You’re calmer. You’re not...sweating or trembling like you were. I’ll bring you some food and water in a bit, and we’ll see how you feel and decide what’s to be done.”
“Look,” I said. “You probably think you’re doing me a favor. I get that. But, you’re meddling in something that could cause trouble for you. For your boss. Flavia? Is that her name? So, I suggest you unlock these chains, and I’ll be on my way.”
She bit her lip. All traces of confidence left her eyes. “I can’t do that,” she said. “You could hurt someone. And...I have more questions.”
“Lady,” I said. “I’m hungry. I’m thirsty. You seem all worried about what happens when my wolf comes out. You have any idea what Dragonsteel does to a shifter like me after a while? I’m guessing you don’t seeing as how you’re asking a lot of questions about shifter fundamentals.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, her concern seeming genuine. Ah. So I had my first inkling how to get out of this.
“Contact with Dragonsteel can kill a shifter after a while. But, it’s a slow, painful death. Before all that, it’ll start to drive me mad.”
“You don’t have anything to fear from me,” she said. “If you don’t hurt me, I won’t hurt you.”
I raised my arms and my legs as much as I could, rattling the chains. “You are hurting me. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
She shot to her feet. Zendra went to the other side of the room and opened a small refrigerator. She pulled out a water bottle and a plastic container with a red lid.
She sat back in front of me and opened the container.
My stomach growled as th
e scent of fresh venison hit my nose. It looked like pot roast leftovers with carrots, onions, and potatoes. Point of fact, I was actually starving.
“You planning on spoon-feeding me?” I asked, smirking at her.
She chewed her cheek. “No,” she said. “I told you, I’m not trying to torture you. I’m just trying to make sure you have control of your wolf. You can bluster all you like, but I know what I saw. You’re either lying to me, yourself, or both. It’s a full moon out there. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let you roam. This is Luna Point...strange things happen when shifters come to town.”
“You’ve been listening to too many old wives’ tales,” I said. She was right about one thing. Since I set foot in this town, that off-kilter feeling inside me had grown. Damn. Maybe the woman had some kind of twisted point in all of this.
“One arm,” she said. “A compromise.”
She set the water bottle and container down and got close to me.
I sucked in a sharp breath as her fingers grazed my upper arm. God, the scent of her. I licked my lips. One taste. Even just to brush my nose against her hair.
She loosened the chains around my left arm, letting me pull it out. She started to rise, and something feral came over me. I grabbed her arm. A growl ripped from my throat, and my fangs dropped.
God. I wanted her. Badly. Two spots of color rose high in her cheeks, and her own eyes went from violet to gold and back again.
She felt it too.
“Kalenkov!” she shouted.
I let her go. She staggered backward, knocking the stool over.
“How do you know my name?” I growled.
“How did you find me?” she snapped back.
“I wasn’t...I’m not here for you,” I said, though every cell in my body told me that wasn’t true. I was here for her. It was more than just Payne’s informant who had led me straight to Zendra’s doorstep.
At that moment, I knew the truth in my heart. Whether Wolfguard sent me here or not, I would have found my way to Zendra no matter what. Something even more powerful had drawn me here.
