Sarah accepted the mug and took a small sip. She made a satisfied moan of appreciation, and he relaxed.
“Thank you.”
“My mom always says chocolate fixes everything,” he offered.
“Your mom is a smart woman.”
She smiled at him and leaned back against the headboard. The scent of the hot chocolate was enticing, but her citrus scent was even better. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his thoughts away from stripping her naked and tasting every inch of her delicious body.
“What are you thinking about?”
He opened his eyes and met her hooded gaze. “Nothing...everything.” What was wrong with him? He couldn’t do this to her. She deserved a chance to find her true mate with her wolf, just as he did. She’d already said it was too much.
She set the mug on the nightstand and scooted closer to him. “Kiss me.”
Air fled his lungs. “Sarah, I... You said...”
“I was wrong.” Her hands lifted to his face and pulled him closer. Their lips met and pressed together gently. She tasted like heaven laced with orange blossoms. His hands clenched into fists, and he fought to hold himself back. The kiss had even elcited a response from his ever-patient wolf.
“There is something about her.”
Shut it! You’re not helping.
“You don’t want me to help you stop.”
“Sarah,” he said, pulling her hands from his neck and breaking the kiss. “Please, it’s not fair to either of us to do this. You weren’t wrong before.”
Her green eyes were glassy. He didn’t want to hurt her, but it would be worse if they started a bond that they had to break.
“Why?”
“When your wolf wakes, with it comes the instinct to know who your mate is. Until that time, we would be creating a false bond. It’s not fair to either of our wolves.”
“Damn the wolf. I’m not a wolf. I’m a woman.”
He stroked his hand through her silky hair, and she rubbed her cheek into his palm. Every fiber of his being, even his wolf, wanted to take her right then and there.
“Precious Sarah, You’re both.”
“No!” She pushed him away and slid off the other side of the bed. “I’m not both. That voice or whatever she is clawed and screamed at me for years.” She paced to the window and stared out. “Do you want to know what first crossed my mind when I got here last week?”
Probably not, but he asked anyway. “What?”
“I thought this would be a nice place to end the pain. I could just wander into the forest and get lost. Fall asleep in the cold and never wake up. Never have to hear her scream or feel her pain and lonliness again.”
He waited. It felt like there was a “but” coming.
“Then you came in that morning and made me smile. You let me eat your food, and you made me talk about Brad. After that, I knew I couldn’t do it. You helped me find a little bit of joy again after losing the only man who’d ever accepted and loved me in spite of my nightmares.” She turned to face him, tears slowly trickling down her cheeks. “Now I’m not good enough for you because I’m not letting a wolf have a say in my love life. What about earlier in the meadow?”
He stood and backed to the door. The wolf had driven her to consider killing herself. How was that possible? How could it be that bad?
“You will understand when your wolf wakes,” he whispered. The doorknob squeaked as he turned it. “I want you more than words can say, Sarah, but you’re not mine to take.”
He slipped through the door and ran down the hallway.
***
“Chris.” She breathed his name and leaned her head against the closed door. Tears burned on her cheeks, and she sank to the floor, allowing them to flow as freely as they wished. “I am yours. She said I was.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The lock on the door to Siobhan and Kate’s shop, Herbal Brews, popped open and Renata slipped quietly inside. Vials lines the shelves, dried plants hung from the ceiling, and the distinct scent of freshly burned incense piqued her interest.
Someone is here.
She took a deeper breath, sorting through the vast array of scents until she settled on the most recent. A vampire? Damn it. It must be the little vampire Edward Taylor’s son married a few years ago. She was a witch, too. She’d never met the girl and never had the desire to do so.
How Siobhan’s wolf tolerated working with a vampire was beyond her. Still, if the little bitch meant anything to the pack, she might be a useful hostage. She could certainly be useful for sorting through this mess of a store. She needed ingredients to poison the New York pack’s royal’s mate.
Peter’s sister could not be allowed to continue helping the rebellion. Her husband went along with whatever his mate said. How he’d ever managed to beat out his competitors in a mate hunt and take Melinda Demakis was baffling. He was a computer genius though, and the Council was pissed that New York had broken ties.
A short and angry phone call to her mother in Athens had served to irritate her further, but it had given her a direction for her hatred. Carlotta Antipas was a harsh woman, but fair. She said she’d gotten the Council to lift the kill-on-sight order by agreeing to remove Melinda and Phillip Demakis from power by any means necessary.
New York was first. Melinda would be easier. Phillip was in LA and would present a more challenging target, especially after hearing that both of his siblings were dead.
She’d successfully evaded her mother’s questions about Stefan’s disappearence, banking on the fact that the North American packs didn’t communicate with the Council any longer. No one would ever tell her parents she had ruthlessly killed her own brother. The Council wouldn’t care either if they knew Stefan had betrayed them, but her parents would be devastated to learn they’d lost their only son at the hands of their only daughter.
Oh well, life goes on. And so does revenge.
“I was right to lock you away. You really are a heartless bitch.” Renata’s voice whined in the back of her head like an annoying mosquito she couldn’t manage to swat. She’d had to bring her closer to the surface to mimic her voice on the phone with Carlotta. Couldn’t have mommy dearest suspicous that the wolf was the one in charge and not her darling daughter.
Footsteps upstairs caught her attention. She put down the spell book she’d been rifling through and moved to the back of the store. A narrow flight of steps led to a second floor, and she could hear a female’s voice singing and water running.
She moved silently up the stairs, pausing at the door. She turned the doorknob and paused. The singing stopped and so had the footsteps.
The door burst open on her, and she tumbled down the stairs, a hissing vampire in her face the whole way. She shifted a hand into a claw and swung out, missing the little bitch by millimeters.
At the bottom of the stairs, she righted herself and glanced around. The vampire had vanished. No heartbeat and no breath, unless they chose to mimic the humans around them, made them nearly impossible to track. Her scent was strong though. She was still in the building.
“There’s no one here to save you, little witch,” she taunted.
She gasped as something hit her with the force of a wrecking ball, sending her flying into the far wall of the shop. Bones and boards splintered alike. She growled as her magick flowed through her body, already starting the process of healing. Those ribs would hurt most of the day though. Bitch.
A large splinter protruded from her arm. Blood dripped from the wound and splattered on the floor. She pulled the fragment out and licked the cut. It was deep though and continued to bleed. The coppery taste of her blood triggered even more rage to bubble inside her.
Movement at her left warned of another charge. She was ready this time and grabbed the offending woman by the hair before she could knock her into the shelving on the other side of the store.
A screech of pain tore from the little vampire’s lungs, but she hissed in pain as the bloodsucker’s claws tore t
hrough the skin of her arms. It didn’t matter; she had her now. She was older and stronger. The little witch didn’t have a prayer, vampire or not.
She slammed the woman’s head into the ground and then against the stone of the sales counter. Blood oozed from a forehead wound, and then the flailing body in her arms went completely limp. She dropped her to the floor and wiped her bloody hands on her worn jeans.
“Finally, I thought I might have to bash your head a few more times.”
The vampire growled but didn’t move.
“Now, I need you to help me find the ingredients to make mortum somnus.”
“Sleeping Death doesn’t work on vampires,” the woman on the floor croaked. “Why would I help you anyway?”
“If you don’t, I’ll kill Kate and Siobhan.”
The little vampire scoffed, and Renata kicked her in the stomach.
The small woman spit out a little blood and laughed. “The pack won’t let you get near them. And you couldn’t kill Kate even if you had an army.”
“I got to you, didn’t I?”
“Luck.”
“How old are you?”
“Younger than you, but not by much, and I’m not telling you shit.”
“You know the Council would pay a pretty penny for your head. They don’t like witches who practice outside of the Old City.”
“The Council can go fuck themselves.”
Renata laughed. “I intend to oversee that very event.”
“What are you doing here then? Shouldn’t you be on a different continent?”
“Taking care of a few loose ends to get back in their good graces. You know the best revenge comes from allowing the monster to swallow you whole.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I’ve been told that on more than one occasion. It’s starting to get old.” She glanced out the front window at a passerby. They better keep walking if they know what’s good for them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the vampire pull something from her pocket. Before Renata could react, the little witch had blown it into her face. The fine powder smelled atrocious and made Renata’s eyes water.
She roared, chasing the swiftly moving vampire out the front door. But it was too late. The ceiling-climbing-spell-casting-night-crawling nuisance had disappeared. She’d have to find the ingredients and the formula on her own.
It would be slower but, by no means, less effective. It wasn’t like she couldn’t read the damn spellbook herself. She just didn’t want to.
***
Chris walked over to sit on the porch steps next to Kate. The sun had just risen, and she was finishing her patrol shift.
“The girls said it was rough last night.”
He sighed. “That’s an understatement.”
“Give her time, Chris.”
“It’s not just that, Kate. I have feelings for her. Feelings I think she shares, but...”
“But without a connection between your wolves, it’s not fair to either one of you to start something.”
“You know everything, don’t you?” He shook his head.
She patted him on the shoulder. “When you’re as old as dirt, it just comes naturally.”
A laugh rumbled from his chest. “I don’t know how Daniel puts up with you. It would drive me nuts to be married to a woman who always knows what to say and never loses her cool. How do you argue? Or have a fight?”
“Sex,” she chirped.
“What about sex?”
“It’s why we never fight. When it’s as good as I give, a man forgets why he ever thought to argue in the first place.”
“You’re bad.” He chuckled.
Kate stood and grinned. “You have no idea.” She pulled out her phone and looked at the screen.
“Something wrong?” Chris immediately picked up on her tension.
“Camila was watching the shop in Vegas. She hasn’t returned my call. Something is wrong. I can feel it.”
“I think Heath was thinking about heading into town today for a grocery run. I’m sure you could catch a ride with him to the airport, but what about the awakening tonight?”
“Siobhan can go check on Camila and the shop. I want to, but I can’t leave Sarah another month like she is.”
He nodded. Sarah needed to change now. Another month of this mess might push her further than any of them suspected. “She told me she’d thought about killing herself, Kate.”
She nodded. “Siobhan told me she could see darkness in her aura. If the ceremony doesn’t happen on this full moon cycle, I don’t think she will make it.”
A cold chill crept into his heart. He couldn’t lose her.
“Don’t give up hope. She might really be your mate after all,” Kate murmured over her shoulder as she disappeared into the inn.
If only Fate would be so kind.
***
Sarah walked downstairs slowly, praying she wouldn’t run into anyone. Her stomach had been growling for an hour, but she’d been unwilling to come out of her room. She listened for his voice. Part of her wanted to hear him, and part of her hoped she could grab something for breakfast and disappear back to her room before he noticed she’d been up.
She’d practically thrown herself at him last night, and he’d rejected her. Stupid reasons about her wolf not having a say. Well, the coward had run from her room before she could tell him her wolf had plenty to say about him being her mate.
Mate.
Like she was an animal.
I am not an animal.
Silence filled her head. The voice was gone. It always was when she was awake. Why would it be any different this morning? Did she really want it to be different?
If it meant Chris would accept her feelings...maybe.
She padded barefoot through the dining hall, gazing out the big windows. No wolves out running today. Using her shoulder, she lazily shoved the swinging kitchen door open and ambled inside. Her jaw dropped open, and she stood, stunned to silence.
Her mom and dad both sat at the breakfast bar sipping coffee with Sam, Chase, Scott, and Margaret.
“What is going on? More of deciding my fate without my opinion? Whose wolf are we asking today what’s best for me?”
“Sarah Katherine McLain.” Her father’s voice froze her. “Apologize to your friends. They are just—”
Chase’s voice rumbled through the kitchen. “It’s perfectly fine, Mr. McLain. She has a right to be upset. If I were in her place, I doubt I would be taking it as well as she has.”
“Sarah, we are just trying to protect you,” Margaret added quietly.
“You take your perfect husband and get out of my face,” Sarah hissed. “Every single one of you is trying to tell me how my life is supposed to be. Nobody’s even thought to ask me how I feel. It’s all about the damn animal stuck in my head!”
Her friend’s face darkened with hurt, and Sarah instantly felt guilty, but before anyone else could react, Scott was in her face.
“You don’t get to treat your friends this way. I don’t care what Chase says!” he roared, his eyes mere inches from hers. She watched golden strands swirl in the brown irises. She thought she’d seen glowing eyes last night but had dismissed it as part of the dream. “You should be grateful we’ve gone out of our way to make sure the Council lost track of you and couldn’t get close to your parents either.”
He huffed a scary and not very human sound.
A second later he was knocked away from her and was rolling on the floor with a snarling...Chris!
When the hell had he come in?
Everyone was yelling and screaming, although she thought there were a few giggles mixed in as well. No one was moving to pull the two giant men apart, quite unwilling it seemed to lose a limb to break up the fight.
Scott was easily six inches taller and fifty pounds heavier. Chris couldn’t possibly have a chance. Scott’s fist pounded Chris’s face, and Sarah turned away at the sickening crunch of bone and flesh.
She looked around the ro
om frantically. Moving swiftly, she grabbed a full bucket of mop water from the corner and ran toward the still growling pile of Scott and Chris. She heaved the bucket, and water sloshed straight into their faces. Both men turned, and Scott’s fangs descended from his jaw with an angry roar. Chris’s did the same, and he kicked the bigger man in the face.
Waking Sarah Page 5
