“Oh shit,” Smitty announced, catching Aric’s attention.
“Don’t,” Bruce warned, which irritated the wolf and Aric.
Aric’s eyes snapped open and locked on the house to find out why the other two reacted.
The pale blues above had given way to purple and navy hues as twinkling stars emerged and dotted the dark evening sky. A car rolled up to the house where Divina was reported to be. Slashing at his insides, Aric’s wolf raged within him when a male carrying a box exited the car and walked toward the house—toward Aric’s mate.
“You need to calm down.” Bruce’s voice lacked its earlier confidence but remained forceful.
The wood snapped under Aric’s grip. Struggling to keep his wolf at bay meant he didn’t feel the splinters as they pierced his skin.
“You better fix that,” Smitty growled.
Aric barely heard him. His focus was on the male strolling up to the house. Leaping over the broken railing, Aric took off. Bruce called out, but Aric ignored him. His wolf pushed him on.
The fire of fur pressed at his pores, and Aric clenched his fists. He slowed to a march as he neared the house. He knew his eyes would be bright gold. Even in the low light, anyone could see them, but he didn’t care. The only way to keep his inner animal at bay was to go to the house, to her.
Bruce was hot on his heels, the elder resting his hand on Aric’s shoulder trying calm him. Aric shrugged him off with ease. “I’ll stay back,” he promised.
“You need to control yourself,” Bruce insisted as he kept pace beside him.
“This is how I’m controlling the wolf. He can’t be this far from her. He needs to see her. He needs to see that the vampires haven’t done anything to harm her.”
Aric stopped at the end of the block. The home was the fourth one in. An older woman stood in the doorway. Aric scented the air. Though far away, he detected no hints of rot. What it must be like to live in a place where vampires didn’t go, he wondered wistfully.
He scanned what little of the house he could see. Where was Divina? Smitty said she was inside, but he could barely scent her. Though her smell was imprinted on him, it was distance that kept her aroma from wrapping itself around him. She was near, but his wolf needed to see her.
The man disappeared in the house, and Aric let out a loud rumble from deep within his chest. Shaking from the effort it took to restrain his inner beast, he continued toward the home.
“Aric!” Bruce barked.
Ignoring the elder, Aric marched closer. There was a male in his female’s space. He didn’t know the male. He didn’t trust the male. His female might be in danger. The wolf within him made his displeasure known. The vein in Aric’s neck throbbed as he struggled to keep his wolf inside.
Standing across the street from the house, near a car that had a For Sale sign in the window, Aric pretended to look it over. Bruce positioned himself between Aric and did the same. With the closer proximity, his wolf calmed, circling within him. He still wanted to see, but smelling her lessened the urgency and made it so Aric could function with some semblance of rationality.
Aric’s advanced hearing tuned in to the conversation inside the house, but everything he heard was muffled.
“They’re in the backyard,” Bruce explained.
Aric nodded. “There’s no way for me to see her.”
Bruce nodded in agreement. “She’s safe.”
Aric twitched. “She’s not with me.”
“Time,” Bruce said. “You need to give her time. You can’t just show up at the door. It’ll freak her out.”
Aric narrowed his eyes at the house. “I don’t have her number; I can’t exactly announce my presence.”
Bruce frowned. “Okay, so we need to arrange an accidental meeting.”
Taking on his wolf’s impatience, Aric paced in a small circle while he contemplated the plan. He wanted to see her, but now that the wolf had smelled her, he could be a bit more rational.
Rationally, he couldn’t charge in there. That’s what got him into this mess in the first place. Rationally, he knew he needed more of a plan. Accidental meeting.
“Tomorrow,” Aric barked.
Bruce sighed. “Yes.” He sounded defeated. “Tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 10
Spending the night chatting with Sonia and Ted felt normal. Laughing over margaritas while Sonia helped Divina understand some simple party trick spells was what she needed. All of it helped her to relax, almost like before she had met Rori. Divina felt human, something she had all but forgotten.
Beneath the twinkling lights strung under the umbrella of the patio set in Sonia’s yard, for an hour or two, she was distracted from the pressures of the prophecy. She was able to see beyond Rori and the Ember Witches’ manipulation to a life without them. A life without expectations, one with laughter and no threat of humans finding out she wasn’t one, or that anything other than humans walked the streets beside them.
She put Aric out of her mind, and the alcohol did wonders for the pain in her chest. It lingered, but the more she drank, the less she felt the pangs. The alcohol managed to blunt the sensation to a dull annoyance.
Lying in bed, still laughing at a joke Ted had told, Divina closed her eyes. She didn’t want the night to end, but the pull of sleep was strong for her margarita-soaked brain. Fluttering her eyes open, she tried to stave it off as though staying awake would prevent the night from turning into day. It didn’t work; the blackness of sleep swallowed Divina quickly.
When she came back to consciousness, her tongue felt dry and swollen. The sun beamed down on her, but she didn’t want to open her eyes. However, her full bladder and queasy stomach didn’t agree that staying in bed was the best idea. She turned away from the window and opened her eyes to slits. Too bright.
Disoriented at first, she found herself in a full-size bed, wrapped in a handmade quilt. The pale green room had walls adorned with paintings of plants. A tall wooden dresser faced the bed where tiny corked jars collected dust. For the briefest of moments, she wasn’t sure where she was or, more importantly, how to get to the bathroom.
Sonia’s house.
She remembered the witch teaching her—so many spells that her head hurt. Sure, the spells and not the bottle of tequila they had downed were the source of her headache. Putting the heel of her hand against her temple, she groaned.
As though on cue, a sharp searing sensation sliced through her chest like an invisible needle. Divina lost her breath. As quickly as it came, the pain left again. In its wake, the dull ache of the previous day returned as a throbbing reminder of Aric.
When Divina swung her bare feet out of bed, she found herself in a man’s T-shirt that fell to midthigh. Pinching it, she brought it to her nose and sniffed. It smelled like a cologne she couldn’t place.
With eyes wide, she slapped a hand over her mouth. She hadn’t. Not with Ted. Had she? Her gaze darted around the room, looking for signs of him.
Her stomach rolled once more, and her bladder protested. Both urged her to find the bathroom. She stumbled out of bed, concern for her clothing abandoned for more urgent needs. She stood in the doorway and looked out to the small hallway. To her right was a small living room. To her left were two more doors.
Clamping her thighs together, she waddle-walked to the closest door. Success! Once she’d emptied her bladder and splashed her face with water, she felt she could face the day. Looking at her disheveled appearance in the mirror, she finger-combed the rats’ nest she called hair, trying to avoid thinking about how it could have gotten that way. Never again, she vowed. Never would she drink tequila with Sonia again.
“Divina,” Sonia sang from the other side of the door. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
Gurgling, Divina’s stomach protested. She hadn’t vomited yet, but the idea of bacon, eggs, and grease made it more likely. However, she hadn’t smelled anything cooking, just the coffee brewing. With a hand on her abdomen, she called back, “Be out in a minute.”
To her relief, breakfast consisted of cold cereal and coffee. Apparently, the “breakfast” that was almost ready was coffee. It seemed Sonia wasn’t much of a cook. Dressed in her waitress uniform, she stood in the kitchen with her back to the sink, finishing a mug of coffee. “I’ve got the late morning slash lunch shift,” Sonia explained as she pulled her hair into a twist. “That should give you plenty of time to study and practice. We’ll be back at it later when I get home.”
Divina nodded and poured herself a bowl of knockoff Cheerios. “Okay,” she agreed as she pulled the hem of the T-shirt down, suddenly reminded of just how little she wore. Divina blushed.
Sonia pulled a carton of milk from the fridge. “Don’t worry. It’s not Ted’s shirt. It’s my ex-husband’s. You didn’t have anything to wear, and you spilled a margarita on your clothes. They’re in the wash.” She winked.
Relaxing into the chair, Divina let out her tension with a long sigh. Relief swept across her face in a smile. Sonia produced a spoon and offered it to Divina. Hoping to ease her stomach, Divina dug into her breakfast. With the full spoon hovering at her lips, dripping milk, she noted that she hadn’t felt the ache at the same intensity since the first pang that morning. She furrowed her brow and rubbed at her sternum while Sonia tied her sneakers. “I guess tequila cures that thing,” Divina declared.
Canting her head, Sonia inquired, “What thing?”
“The thing from yesterday. Where I had, like, a panic attack or something.”
With intense curiosity, Sonia regarded Divina. Deep creases formed at the corners of Sonia’s mouth as it formed a thin line. She walked toward the kitchen window, her back to Divina. Sonia stared out into the garden without a word. The silence hung heavy between them. Watching Sonia’s back, Divina chewed her cereal while she traced circles in the bowl with her spoon.
As Sonia turned to face her again, the tightness of her features caught Divina off guard. “No,” Sonia murmured.
Divina eyed her warily. “Well, it’s gone. Or mostly gone, I should say. I can almost ignore it.” Shrugging, she filled her mouth with more cereal.
Sonia pushed off the counter and strode through the house to the front door, her jaw set firm. She appeared to be on a mission. Divina heard the door open and the porch creak as Sonia stepped out onto it. Carrying her bowl of cereal, Divina followed.
Sonia stared out into the street. “He must be here.”
Pausing in her chewing, Divina’s gaze panned left and then right. She furrowed her brow. The street was empty for the most part. There was an old rusted-out car for sale across the street. A man stood in his yard, spraying his lawn with a hose. Birds chirped. The breeze carried the scent of freshly cut grass. The day was warm with the sun shining above them and a few fluffy clouds floating past. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.
“Who?” Divina asked once she swallowed her mouthful of Oat-y Rings. She knew who, but she didn’t want to admit it to herself just yet. It was as though she needed Sonia to confirm her suspicions.
Sonia turned to her with deep wrinkles and a downturned mouth, worry written all over her face. “Don’t leave the house today,” she ordered.
Divina watched the concern on Sonia’s face deepen. Nodding slowly, she said, “I don’t have anywhere to go. Except maybe to my truck for my clothes.”
Sighing, Sonia looked over her shoulder at the street again. “It’s at the diner, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll put wards up. He won’t be able to get onto the property. It’s not time yet. He’s too soon.” She cursed under her breath and looked past Divina. “Stupid wolves are always rushing things. I swear to all that’s holy, those bastards are the most impulsive creatures.”
She walked past Divina without further explanation.
Looking outside the house, Divina bit her lip, hesitating a moment before she took a deep breath and followed behind Sonia. Placing the unfinished bowl of cereal on an end table, she quickened her pace to catch up.
Sonia plucked some dry herbs from jars in her kitchen, humming as she worked. Divina watched her astutely, trying to figure out what she grabbed, but Sonia went too fast, and Divina lost track almost immediately. It didn’t help that she offered no commentary on what she grabbed or why.
Sonia then went out into the yard. She sprinkled the blend of herbs along the edge of her property line while muttering an incantation Divina couldn’t hear. She wanted to learn, but Sonia seemed intent on doing this quickly. Like a lost puppy, Divina followed when Sonia did the same out front. To anyone watching her who didn’t know better, it was as though she were sprinkling seeds along the ground while singing. Divina tried to mimic the arm movements but was cautious not to attempt to repeat the words aloud. For all Divina knew, she would mispronounce something and muddle the whole thing up.
Once done, Sonia glanced down at the delicate silver watch on her wrist. She frowned and peered up to Divina with outreached hands. Slipping her hands into Sonia’s, Divina watched the woman. “I need you to stay here today,” Sonia warned, looking into Divina’s eyes.
She’d already agreed to stay. Divina didn’t understand the grave tone or its cause. Sonia glanced around the neighborhood, mouth tightened. Something out there had scared her, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“Okay,” Divina agreed. It wasn’t like she had planned to go anywhere else.
“If you give me the keys to your truck, I’ll get your stuff,” Sonia offered.
“It’s no big deal. I can get my clothes out of the dryer later,” she said with a weak smile. The book from the Ember Witches was in her truck, and she wasn’t sure it was meant for another’s eyes.
Sonia nodded. “Probably safer.” She held Divina’s hands a moment longer before frowning again. “I’m going to be late.” There was a hint of sorrow in her words, and it struck a nerve in Divina. She knew more than she admitted.
CHAPTER 11
Since they stayed with Smitty, Aric used the insomnia induced by the ache as an excuse to be useful. Instead of pacing the whole night, he spent the time fixing the porch railing he had snapped. In doing so, he identified some boards on the porch that creaked, so he fixed those, too. Once the damage he’d caused had been repaired, he sat in a chair on the porch and stared out, watching over the home housing his mate.
In the morning, Aric wanted to let his wolf free. Caging his beast had prevented him from fucking up further by showing up in the witch’s backyard but had done nothing for his mental health. The animal couldn’t be denied much longer. It needed to explore the new area. Plus, Aric could get closer to his mate in wolf form, since it wasn’t as creepy when an animal lingered in a neighborhood. A man hanging around could be suspicious, but a wolf that most people would mistake for a husky? Well, that could be explained away as someone’s lost pet or just a wild animal milling about causing no harm.
In Smitty’s backyard, lined with tall, solid wooden privacy fencing, Aric stripped off his faded ringer T-shirt and jeans. He folded them neatly on a chair before he stood in the dewy grass as the sun broke the horizon. He shook out his limbs, closed his eyes, and gave himself over to the wolf.
While always a painful experience, the shift from human to wolf could be speedy if both parties agreed. The fire of fur sprouting from his pores was always unavoidable. Bones cracked, breaking and then realigning, sending Aric to his knees. When his muscles stretched and reshaped, his tall human form transformed into that of a larger-than-average wolf. He felt as though he were on a medieval rack, being pulled end to end.
The energy it took to change forms often left him drained. Expecting the animal to sniff around the new area, he planned on recovering from the process and receding deep within the recesses of the animal half of him. However, his wolf had something else in mind. It had a mission and couldn’t give two shits where he went or who saw him. He needed to find his mate. Lacking the energy to resist his wolf’s intentions or to try to change his mind, Aric relaxed and hoped the
beast would be considered a harmless stray.
Spending the earliest part of the morning sniffing around the witch’s property edge, the wolf gained familiarity with the space. Divina’s delightful earthy tones were thick in the air. Surprisingly, the herbs and plant life didn’t drown it out. His wolf was highly attuned to her.
Once the wolf had the lay of the property and marked it as his territory, he circled an area between the witch’s house and the one next door. He identified a cracked open window, and the wolf believed Divina was inside due to the potency of her scent. He flopped down for a nap beneath the window ledge. Aric and his wolf could hear her light snores and steady breathing. Deep within the wolf, Aric smiled. The sound reminded him of when they had slept together in his den, where she belonged. Vowing to get her back there soon, he relaxed within his wolf.
First, he had to convince her, charm her, romance her. Bruce had insisted it would be the only way. He had to court her as a human would. She’d been raised with humans, apparently—Aric hadn’t had a chance to delve into her upbringing—and that meant he’d need more patience. Either way, she hadn’t been raised wolf, so she didn’t know their ways. She didn’t know about mates. Aric would teach her if he got the opportunity.
Knowing he’d forced enough things on her, he swore not to force anything further. She had a choice. He needed to give her the knowledge so she’d make an informed decision. If she didn’t choose him, he would come up with a way so she wouldn’t suffer. The mate ache should be his burden and his alone; if she chose not to accept him, he’d bear the pain of his mistake but find a way for her not to hurt.
The wolf dozed and only stirred when his female rose. Getting to his feet with a wagging tail, the beast tried to look through the curtained window for her, eager to play with his mate. His rear end bopped back and forth, the wolf vibrating with unspent energy. The pain of separation had been dulled by proximity but wasn’t quite gone. He needed to see her, needed to touch her, even if it was a mere pat on the head for his wolf form.
The Wolf of the Prophecy Page 8
