by Tasha Black
Bear Charm
Shifters Bewitched #2
Tasha Black
13th Story Press
Copyright © 2021 by 13th Story Press
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may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
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About Bear Charm
I was the worst witch at Primrose Academy.
Until a guardian chose me for his mate…
Every day is a battle to keep my place. The Legacy witches laugh at my magical accidents. My own friends cringe when I get called on in class. And even though the professors say powers like mine are difficult to restrain, I know it’s only a matter of time before I’m stripped of my school colors and sent home in shame.
I might be able to harness the weather one day, but right now I can’t even control my own life.
The only escape is in my dreams, where a beautiful man with golden eyes haunts my mind and warms my body. But it’s only a dream…
Until the night of the Choosing Ceremony, when he appears in real life to make me his mate.
But as much as I crave his touch (and I really, really do), my friends need our help. If we don’t hunt down a list of magical ingredients in time to stop a dangerous spell, hell will rain down on us all.
The situation is desperate enough that they even want ME, and my jacked up, unpredictable magic, fighting on their side.
But my power comes at a terrible price - a price that could be fatal to Reed. So if I love him, I have to resist the mating bond.
If only the stubborn bear shifter wasn’t willing to face down death itself to make me his.
Shifters Bewitched is a brand-new Paranormal Romance series from USA Bestselling Author Tasha Black. Be sure to read them all:
Wolf Spell
Bear Charm
Panther Curse
Raven Song
Contents
Bear Charm
1. Cori
2. Cori
3. Reed
4. Reed
5. Cori
6. Cori
7. Reed
8. Cori
9. Reed
10. Reed
11. Cori
12. Cori
13. Reed
14. Cori
15. Cori
16. Reed
17. Cori
18. Reed
19. Cori
20. Reed
21. Cori
22. Reed
23. Cori
24. Reed
25. Cori
26. Cori
27. Reed
28. Cori
29. Cori
30. Cori
31. Cori
32. Reed
33. Reed
34. Cori
35. Reed
36. Cori
37. Reed
38. Cori
39. Cori
40. Reed
41. Cori
42. Cori
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About the Author
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Bear Charm
1
Cori
Mine.
The word echoed through my head as I awoke alone in my bed.
I was trembling and heated, my cheeks flushed. The remnants of the dream were evaporating too quickly, leaving behind only the memory of a muscular male body pressed to mine, and the echo of a deep roar.
No.
That last bit wasn’t fading at all.
That raw, animal growl was real. It split the air again, along with a dull pounding from somewhere far above.
My eyes went automatically to Bella’s bed, but my friend and roommate was gone now. I was on my own.
I sat up, listening hard. Maybe the dream really was just bleeding over into reality.
The castle was silent, the air strangely cold and coppery.
I closed my eyes and tried to recall the dream, but all I could remember was a pair of glowing, golden eyes, and the feel of strong arms pulling me close.
Those eyes, they reminded me of something, of someone…
There was another roar, the notes of anguish clear, even in such a primal state.
I slipped out of bed without thinking and headed into the hallway, inexplicably drawn to that sound.
My regulation nightgown flowed out behind me. Primrose Academy loved tradition. Witches in training had been wearing these billowy white nightgowns since the school was founded. Truthfully, I kind of liked it.
Once I got out into the hallway, it was clear that the sound was coming from the tower.
I reached the stout wooden door that led to the tower stairs, and paused for a moment to think. Students weren’t allowed to go up to the tower, everyone knew it. And just in case anyone forgot, a sign had appeared on the door a few days ago, reminding us of that fact.
The tower is off limits to students at all times.
- Headmistress W. Hart
Another moaning sound echoed from above.
My heart pounded, but I needed to know what it was. The sound felt like it was reverberating in sympathy with my own heart, and I had to find the source. I tried opening the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
There was only one thing to do.
Cori, no…
But I didn’t have a choice. Something was pulling me up into that dark tower, and I wasn’t about to stop until I found out what it was.
I squeezed my eyes shut and called on my power, even as I cringed at the thought of the outcome.
Things usually went wrong where my magic was involved. My friends said magic as powerful as mine was always unwieldy in the beginning. But they were just being nice, like friends are.
I knew the problem was me. I was too timid, too nice to really take control of my gift. That weakness in me sabotaged my magic every time.
At least I would need so little of it this time that it could hardly go wrong. And had been preparing as much as I could, so hopefully I wouldn’t have to pay much of a price for it.
The price of my magic was high, when I really used it. Too high to waste it on anything that wasn’t super important.
I cupped my palms and concentrated.
There was the usual tingling sensation in my hands as my magic rose to the surface, lifting its senses to take in the light.
I pushed and pulled, shaping it into what I wanted. My magic was elemental and finicky, and it stretched like taffy before finally succumbing to my will.
At last, I felt moisture in my hands and opened my eyes.
A tiny thunderstorm hovered over my open palms. The puffy gray cloud roiled and rumbled like the purr of a cat, releasing a mist of rain.
The first time I’d managed this. I had been so charmed by the storm that I tried to cuddle the little thing.
But I learned the hard way that even a palmful of lightning had a nasty bite. Hopefully, just enough to open a door.
“Okay, Misty, do your thing,” I murmured to it, holding it against the lock just above the handle.
Purple lightning flashed. The first
tiny bolt headed right for me, but I managed to dodge it. I was pretty sure the little storm hated my nickname for it.
“You little rascal,” I scolded.
The second lightning strike hit the door right in the keyhole. A resounding click told me the lock was released. Thin smoke rose from the site.
“Good work,” I told the impudent little storm.
It rained down even harder on my hands so that water dripped through my fingers onto the floor.
“Okay, okay,” I told it. I was sapped anyway, there was no point holding onto it. “You can go.”
I closed my eyes and released the magic.
The tingling sensation was gone. The only traces left behind were the small puddle and the light scent of ozone.
My hand closed around the doorknob and then things went hazy.
What am I doing here?
It seemed to be the middle of the night, but I was in the hallway, in my stupid nightgown.
There was a sign on the door I was trying to open.
The tower is off limits to students at all times.
- Headmistress W. Hart
I was going to the tower?
My hand dropped away from the doorknob like it was burning.
Students weren’t allowed up in the tower, everyone knew it.
My heart pounded and I ran my hand through my hair. I must have been sleepwalking, or… I shook my head to clear it, trying desperately to remember.
The price of my magic was confusion, and short-term memory loss. So I was used to having to piece things together anytime I unexpectedly used magic.
Had I been using magic? For what?
If I had come here in the middle of the night and used magic without paying for it in advance, I must be in some kind of trouble. No witch would casually pay the price for magic when her price was as high as mine was.
There was a groan from somewhere above and then a thud.
Everything came back to me in a heartbeat. I sighed in relief. I had succeeded in unlocking the door to the tower.
I was still doing something stupid, but at least I remembered deciding to do it. I twisted the knob before I could change my mind, and began climbing the stairs.
I don’t know what I expected. It’s not like I thought there would be a fancy elevator or anything. But I hadn’t pictured the endless circle of stairs winding up and up and up.
I gathered up my gown in my hands and moved as quickly as I could, pulled like a magnet to whatever was at the top.
At intervals I would pass a window showing me the darkened grounds of the school. As I got higher, the view shifted to one of the nearby treetops under a blanket of stars.
Here on the mountaintop, the stars were visible every night. It was nothing like the bustling suburban hub where I’d spent my childhood.
I could almost believe I was a real princess in a castle from medieval times, stealing away in the night. Except that storybook princesses were always tall and graceful with long, pale hair.
And I was short and curvy with a mop of dark, unkept curls and no innate grace or charisma to speak of.
If this were a fairy tale, I would be the luckless scullery maid, trotting up the tower stairs to bring the kindling for the princess’s fire, noticed only if I were eaten by a dragon or if the princess did me a kindness.
There was another groan from above and I redoubled my efforts, my panting echoing back to me on the cold stone walls.
At last, legs burning, I reached the top of the stairs. There was another door, just as sturdy as the one at the bottom.
Moonlight poured in a window at the landing, revealing strange etchings on the door.
No, they weren’t etchings. They were claw marks.
I lifted my hand to trace them in wonder. They were furrowed deep into the hard wood. Whatever made them must have been huge.
Suddenly something on the other side of the door rasped in a deep, panting breath.
I pulled my hand back quickly, forgetting that I had been tracing the claw marks. A splinter lodged itself in the pad of my index finger and I cried out.
The sound echoed around me as I ripped the splinter out. A drop of blood welled up in its place.
I was putting my finger to my mouth when the thing in the tower slammed itself into the door with a thunderous crash. I half expected the door to splinter to shreds and whatever it was to explode out.
I screamed and flew down the stairs, nightgown flying out behind me.
The steps were endless, and the darkness seemed to close in all around me. My heart pounded so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t even hear whether or not I was being pursued.
At last, I burst out of the lower door and back into the main corridor, crashing headlong into something.
“Ow, hey,” a familiar voice said angrily.
“Kendall,” I said in relief, patting her arm and then reaching behind myself to be sure the door to the tower was locked.
It was.
“Damn, Cori,” Kendall whispered. “Watch where you’re going.”
“I’m so sorry,” I told her, grabbing her arm. “But there’s something up in the tower.”
“Shh,” she said, snatching her arm back. “We can’t get caught in the halls after midnight.”
I watched in shock as Kendall hurried away to her room.
She was fully dressed, I realized belatedly, and wearing make-up.
Of course I had heard the rumors that Kendall had a townie boyfriend, but I hadn’t really believed them. The witches of Primrose Academy were supposed to remain celibate as we learned to harness our powers. We were told this was one more way to pay in advance for our magic.
Well, most of us were, anyway.
Of course, there was also the school’s arrangement with the guardian shifters who patrolled the forest to help us protect the sacred library.
Every month, under the light of the full moon, we held a ceremony in which a shifter could choose a mate from among the students. Only the guardian shifters never showed up. At least, not in the time I’d been at the school.
Until Bella.
She’d been chosen last month, on her very first day at the school.
I felt a pang of sadness about losing Bella to the guardians. I would miss having her as a roommate. At least she was still coming to school during the day, so I hadn’t lost her as a friend. And I knew she really loved Luke, the guardian who chose her.
Bella had her mate, Kendall apparently had her boyfriend in town. Who else was sneaking off for some action? Was I the only witch in the castle who wasn’t getting that kind of attention?
Of course, some fumbling townie boy probably wasn’t really worth the effort. A guardian, on the other hand…
The golden gaze from my dream came back to me and I gasped.
I did know those eyes. They belonged to the guardian who had come back to the school with Bella and her mate. The one who had stared at me until I flushed and looked away, overwhelmed by his masculine beauty.
I scurried back into my room and crawled into bed, expecting to feel afraid. I was alone, and there was something in the tower, something big. I had heard it, and practically felt it.
And it had noticed me. It had scented my blood.
But as I thought back to the gashes in the door and the anguished roar of the thing in the tower, somehow, I didn't feel scared.
I felt exhilarated.
2
Cori
The cafeteria was bustling the next morning, like it was just another normal day. The scent of maple syrup and coffee filled the air along with the soft chatter and clinking silverware of my fellow students.
I grabbed my breakfast and stood at the end of the line, looking around.
Bella was with her mate, of course, so she usually didn’t show up for breakfast. And Anya had a special lesson before class this morning. Nina and Lark were nowhere to be seen. I suspected they had eaten early and headed to the library. They had both worked hard to translate the page that
had been ripped from the book Bella had “borrowed” from the library. And now they were trying to track down the sources of all the components for the spell outlined on the page.
The original page was in the hands of the Order of the Broken Blade now, after a run in with a nasty warlock that I’d rather not think about. Fortunately, Nina’s note-taking spell had provided us with a copy of our own. And once we figured out the most likely locations of the rare spell ingredients, Bella could relay them to Luke, and the Brotherhood of Guardians could do their best to keep them out of the hands of the warlocks.
The last thing we needed was a group of fanatics trying to bring back the Raven King for their own dark purposes. Anya didn’t think such a thing was even possible, and I was inclined to agree. But just the fact that the Order was working so hard to make it happen was reason enough to try to stop them.
Which meant that everyone had been busy lately, and today, it meant that I had to sit with Kendall and her friends for breakfast. I stifled a sigh.
Kendall was a little snobby and a lot aggressive, but she was part of our Bellwether house, and seemed to like me, even though she pushed me around sometimes.
