Wild and Witchy

by J. D. Winters

  Wild and Witchy

  Wicked in Moohaven 4

  J.D. Winters

  Dakota Kahn

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Mailing List

  Also by J.D. Winters and Dakota Kahn

  Chapter 1

  You’d think I’d know better, wouldn’t you? Maybe it was sort of like a dare. I still have nightmares about drowning in a car accident at the lake a few years ago, so why would I go tempting fate by swimming out into the open ocean?

  Secret death wish?

  Maybe. I can’t explain it.

  But actually, that came later. First were the werewolves.

  Hold on, I’ll try to explain.

  The day started off pretty well. A picnic at the beach – what could be better on a late summer weekend? Rennie drove and we were pretty carefree at first. Half the town seemed to be there, and why not? It was the last day before the beach officially changed over to fall hours, so everyone wanted to squeeze the last drops of sunshine out of the day and a small group of us had come for a picnic with a big old hamper packed with snacks and drinks.

  The plan had started out with a decent sized bunch of us, but one by one as the date got closer, people peeled away for one reason or another. My used-to-be boyfriend, Sheriff Deputy Shane McAllister, had planned to come along, but at the last minute, he had law enforcement duties to attend to and he bowed out.

  I thought about asking my good friend, the vampire Bentley St. Ames, in his place, but I quickly realized that wasn’t going to fly. He’d developed the ability to withstand normal daylight using some special lotions from the local Supernatural Clinic, but hours spent frying on a sandy beach were a bit beyond what any nocturnal creature was going to be able to tolerate.

  So it ended up with just the three of us, Rennie and Mandy and me. In other words, just me and the two people who were driving me crazy lately with their nonstop nagging. They both wanted something from me that I wasn’t in the position to give them.

  The truth was, I had some sort of amnesia, so I didn’t know much of anyone or anything anymore. Moonhaven was my home town. It was where I grew up, but the only parts of my life I remember start about a year ago. The rest is gone, so I live with strangers who know all about me. I spent a lot of time wondering who was trying to manipulate me and who was just being open and helpful. Living on the edge of .…something.

  But today was supposed to be free of all that. Today, my friends and I were going to rest and eat junk food, stare at the beautiful ocean and soak up the sun.

  In the end, we arrived at Moonhaven Beach a little before noon, only to see a threatening fog bank lurking off shore. To add insult to our grumpy response to that, a jellyfish warning was posted on the entrance to the pier.

  “Oh bummer,” Rennie moaned. “Now I can’t even go swimming.”

  I glanced at her. “Because of the jellyfish?”

  She nodded. “I break out like crazy from stuff like that. And so does Gordon.”

  I forgot to mention that Gordon was with us too. Rennie’s little brother. He had developed quite a crush on Mandy and seemed to pop up wherever we went lately.

  “I do not,” he said when Rennie suggested he was a prime candidate for breaking out in a rash.

  He was gifted with the same red hair and pale skin color his sister had, so I tended to believe her.

  “Yes, you do,” Rennie insisted. “I remember once….”

  She went on and on about her skin concerns until I finally had to kid her a little.

  “Are you sure you’re not half vampire?” I said.

  She looked startled, then smiled. “No sweetie, I’d know it if I was.” Rennie laughed. “But you see, that’s what you get when you grow up in a haven town. You may not be genetically one supernatural thing or another but you get a little bit of everything sprinkled into your life. You can’t help it. It’s in the air you breathe. Even the people we call Normals aren’t really normal, but they don’t realize that until they go somewhere else, and then that loss of memory thing seems to hit them anyway.” She frowned, looking at me. “Hey, maybe that’s what happened to you.”

  Something jagged sliced its way through my heart and I had to force a smile. “No.” I said softly. “No, that wasn’t it.”

  I turned and stared out at the ocean, letting Rennie go on with her reminiscing without me.

  I’d been spending a lot of time lately going through official archives and record books at the library and at City Hall, looking for anything I could find on my family, the mother and father and younger brother who’d vanished a couple of years ago during a fight with demons that had wracked the valley. That fight had been won and most of the life here had been restored to normal. But my family hadn’t returned.

  Why not? The questions were my agony. If only I could figure out a way to find out what had happened to them. Until I did, I knew I couldn’t rest and I had a hard time enjoying a day like today. But here I was, trying to force myself to relax.

  Despite the jellyfish warning, the water close in was crowded with swimmers and further out, the small waves had a few surfers trying their luck. Looking beyond the breakwater, I saw people on jet skis, and even a few boats, including a cabin cruiser and two graceful sailing yachts, out in the deep blue ocean waters. Something in me yearned to join them.

  I looked back at my friends who were busy spreading out mats on the sand. Rennie had on a long green beach dress that kept tripping her up. She was busy chattering at Mandy, since I hadn’t been very receptive to her complaints. She was in charge of lots of things in Moonhaven, being the wife of the mayor and all. But right now she was helping Gran Ana with some sort of festival they had been planning. I was trying to stay out of it. So Mandy was taking the brunt.

  Poor Mandy. I felt a surge of remorse. She was looking for answers, too. Her sister had been in the car with me, the one that had gone into the lake. It was hard trying to explain why I was back with only my memories missing, when her sister, Piper, hadn’t come back at all.

  Still, I didn’t have any answers to give her. There was only one person who could satisfy her need for information, and that was Gran Ana, my grandmother and the sorceress in charge of all things supernatural around here. At least, that was what she would like us all to believe.

  We sat in the warm sand and ate potato chips and drank cold sodas and had a beachy time. I tried to be good company, but it was hard. I felt like a caged animal, so restless and filled with some nameless anguish, some smoldering anger that I couldn’t identify clearly. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Was I just hurt that Shane had put me off again? Or was it something deeper?

  Suddenly, Rennie grabbed my hand and yanked, hard.

  “Werewolves,” she hissed. “Quick. Don’t make eye contact.”

  “Where?” I looked around the beach. “I don’t see any….”

  And then I did.

  There were three of them marching abreast across the sand, coming toward us but obviously aimed at the pier. I swallowed hard and tried to look away, but it was impossible. They were large and incredibly manly—if you can say that about werewolves--walking like they owned the beach. They were definitely in human form but the slightly untamed look was overwhelming. Tight jeans, muscle clinging t-shirts wit
h the sleeves rolled, wide belts with huge buckles.

  One had jet-black hair, the second silver grey, and the middle one had a full head of beautiful auburn hair. And he was the one with the roving eye.

  He grinned at me as they passed, then gave me a wink before marching on. I felt myself reddening. But still, I could not look away.

  “Wow,” I said. I just couldn’t help myself.

  “I told you not to look at them,” Rennie scolded. “That handsome one with the reddish hair? That’s Randy. He’s pretty much the leader of the pack these days.”

  “Wow,” I said again.

  Rennie frowned. “Luckily they seem to have somewhere to go.”

  “Things to do, people to eat,” I muttered, watching them start down the pier toward the surf shop. “So where do they live? I can’t picture them sashaying around downtown Moonhaven.”

  “They’ve got a sort of reservation outside of town. They have a lot of autonomy out there. Even the cops have to make an appointment to go onto werewolf land and question the werewolves. Over the years they’ve managed to negotiate their way into a pretty cushy situation. They don’t just automatically get treated like outlaws here like they are in most places.”

  I was still completely bowled over, but beginning to be embarrassed about it. I looked for Mandy and was surprised to see that she was hiding under the pile of towels we’d brought along.

  “Hey.” I pulled up the corner of a brightly colored bit of terry cloth and peeked at her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Are they gone?” she whispered, her eyes very wide.

  “They’re gone,” I told her.

  “You sure?”

  She made me think of an orphan hiding in the woods, like a runaway in a fairy tale and that made me smile. Somehow I’d developed a strong affection for her. I almost felt as though I needed to take the place of the sister she’d lost. But that didn’t really make any sense, did it?

  “What is it, Mandy? Do you know them?”

  She shook her head. “Not those three. But I’ve had run-ins with werewolves before. They don’t like foxes.”

  She peeked out, didn’t see the wolves, and came back out into the light. Being a fox shifter, I knew she had to be careful.

  “And I wouldn’t want them to see Shrimp,” she said. “They’d think he was a snack.”

  Shrimp was her constant companion, a little rodent-sort of a creature with big ears and big eyes and a wiggly nose. He looked a lot like a cartoon character, and acted like one, too. I caught a glimpse of him hiding in the folds of the towel and gave him a smile. He was so cute.

  We spent a few more minutes on the mats and finally, I jumped up.

  “I’m going swimming,” I said firmly. I wasn’t going to be talked out of it. “It’s the last day of summer at this beach and I don’t want to miss out.”

  Rennie looked alarmed. “Swimming? What are you talking about?”

  “We’re at the beach,” I reminded her.

  “But the jellyfish!”

  “I don’t break out for jellyfish.”

  “How do you know ?”

  I just smiled and began to pull off my sweatshirt.

  “The fog is rolling in,” she warned, waving her hand in the general direction of the ocean.

  “That’s why I’ve got to hurry,” I said, and pulled off my sweat pants, leaving them behind as I began to jog toward the shoreline in my sleek, blue one-piece suit. “I’ll be back.”

  Famous last words.

  Chapter 2

  The water was cold as ice and I gasped as I dove in, stroking hard right away, heading for whatever was out there waiting for me. That was how I felt, as though I’d been chained for too long and now I was going to break out.

  I had to fight my way through the rolling waves, getting out beyond the surf. I knew it was dangerous, but I didn’t care. The harder I swam, the more the darkness began to lift and a sense of joy uncurled that tight knot that had been forming inside me. I was shedding the terrible mood that had haunted me for days. I was going to be free in the sun and the water, free as nature, free of all these maddening constraints that had been put on me lately.

  I soaked it up and let it in. It was glorious.

  And then, it wasn’t.

  I was getting out too far and I knew it. My muscles were aching with the effort and I pulled up, rolling onto my back to float for a bit and catch my breath. The sea was a little rough and even small waves seemed to want to slap me in the face, over and over, and I sputtered and went vertical to look around and see what was going on.

  The first thing that hit me was the fact that I could barely see the shore. The fog had come in with a vengeance and I was going to be socked in soon. That didn’t really worry me. I was a strong swimmer and I knew I could make it back with no problem as long as I knew where I was going. It wasn’t as though I was trapped in a car like I had been at the lake that time. Still, I decided I’d better start the return now, while I could still see the beach.

  I started back slowly, using a sidestroke, taking it easy and enjoying the pull on my muscles, the swell of the waves tugging at me, the spray a plume like a sail behind me. I was out there all alone and it was great to feel like I could handle this, like I didn’t need any help.

  I’d grown stronger and more confident over the last few months. I no longer went into panic attacks thinking about what had happened to me when the car I’d been riding in had gone into that lake. I no longer had that nightmare that had haunted me ever since…ever since Gran Ana had lured me here to Moonhaven.

  I was feeling pretty sure of myself now. Maybe…maybe I didn’t really need anyone else. Maybe I should stop depending on Shane and stop trying to figure out what my grandmother wanted from me. I was whole and strong and I could take care of myself. It was good feeling this way.

  I lifted my head and looked in toward shore. I could just make it out. I felt like I’d been swimming back for quite awhile and yet I wasn’t any closer. That made me uneasy. I put my head down and began to stroke more strongly.

  But as I did, I began to feel it—the inexorable pull of a rip tide. It was working against me. Every stroke I took was erased by a stronger force taking me backwards. It was planning to take me right out to sea.

  Oh boy. Now I began to feel the first shivers of fear. What was the rule of rip currents? Don’t try to fight it. Swim parallel to the shore. Wasn’t that it? Hadn’t I seen that on a sign right where we’d parked?

  Parallel to the shore. Relax, but keep swimming.

  I tried that, but it didn’t seem to be working and I wasn’t sure how much longer I would even see the shore.

  I was getting tired.

  Don’t panic. That was the worst thing to let happen. Fear will sap your strength and take away your clarity of thought. You can’t let fear take over. And I was so tired. How was I going to keep this up?

  Wait.

  Suddenly I remembered an article I’d read about a new theory about rip currents. Supposedly, they form a big circular movement of water, and if you do it right, you can float with the pull of the water that takes you out toward the ocean, pretty sure that it will eventually turn and take you back to shore.

  Eventually. Eventually?

  Just how long exactly did eventually take? That was pretty much the crux of the matter.

  I was going to try it, regardless, because I really didn’t have much choice. I was getting so tired. My muscles were aching and it was getting hard to breathe.

  I turned onto my back and tried to relax. Water kept washing over my face, making it even more of a struggle to breathe and it was hard not to panic, but I was trying.

  And then…something bumped my leg!

  I almost shot out of my skin and I gasped in a mouthful of water. As I choked, trying to clear my throat, I felt it again, and then I saw it. A shark, long and silver. As it came close, it showed off jaws full of teeth, rows and rows of them.

  My heart stopped. Panic swept through me. Shar
k! How did you fight off a shark?

  I fumbled through the few spells I knew that might help, too scared to think straight. What was that Latin phrase I needed to ward off danger? I couldn’t remember. I muttered something that sounded about right, but I didn’t know it well enough to use it under pressure like this. And the shark didn’t even twitch.

  It cruised past me twice, then disappeared but I knew it would be back. I looked around wildly, praying for someone, anyone, in shouting distance. I couldn’t see anyone through the mist, but I did see the yellow cabin cruiser. It wasn’t close, but it was close enough to see a man on the deck, leaning on the railing, watching me.

  “Hey!” I tried to call, waving my arm. “Hey, there’s a shark!”

  He didn’t seem to hear me. He was shaking his head and seemed to be talking to someone inside the cabin. And then the shark slashed itself against me, pulling me under.

  I fought my way back and tried to get the man’s attention again, but he wasn’t there. There was no one standing on the deck of the cruiser, no sign of life at all, and as I watched, gasping for air, the whole boat disappeared into the fog and I could only make out a faint outline of it. My heart sank.

  “Oh!” I cried out, sick and scared and frustrated, and then the shark was back, bumping against me with its hard snout, hitting again and again, just a touch, but testing.

  I yelled and splashed and tried to get it to give up and go away, but it stayed, coming close, then backing off a bit, then close again. As it came up to take another look with its cold, flat, emotionless eyes, I couldn’t breathe, I was so scared and so tired. There was no one to help me. I was on my own for real. This wasn’t good.

  I felt the shark charge my back, harder this time, sharply painful right between my shoulder blades, and I whipped around, hitting at the water, making a splash. He dove and that was when I felt the tearing and ripping at about my knee level.