Before Lothar could deny the lie, Ceva continued. “Well, it doesn’t look like Lothar is enjoying a thing.” Her eyes flash from gold to red and back again. She was quantum pissed.
“He was all over me a moment ago, couldn’t stop touching me,” she said as she made a big show of doing up her blouse. Does she have a death wish?
Ceva’s eyes changed again, but this time the red remained as she stalked across the room and grabbed the spiteful woman by the blouse and lifted her off the ground. “Mine!”
Lothar stood stock-still. Whoa. Ceva had just claimed him as hers. She turned to look at Lothar and repeated, “Mine.” She’d made her declaration then she threw the woman onto the bed. “Leave.”
Without another word, the now-frightened woman did the first smart thing she’d done since last night: she got up and left.
Ceva turned to look out the window, her chest heaving. He crossed the floor in a heartbeat and gathered her shaking frame into his arms. Her eyes were still flashing between red and gold, and she seemed like she was having a hard time calming down. Eventually the shaking stopped and her eyes returned to gold.
“You all right, beautiful?”
“I am now, but I swear if she said one more word, I wouldn’t have been responsible for the carnage,” she grated out. “Finding a woman in your room after the same night you kissed me…not cool, Lothar.”
“You’ve gotta know I had nothing to do with her coming into my room.”
“Of course you didn’t. I trust you. It’s her I don’t trust.”
“Sooooo.” Lothar grinned. “Mine?”
“Don’t go there. I’m not ready to discuss anything that happened in here this morning. I don’t know about you, but I hardly slept and I’m exhausted. We need to get some rest.”
“Would you rest here with me? You never know, she might come back,” Lothar teased knowing it was lame, but he was desperate to keep Ceva close by.
She looked deeply into his eyes, as if searching for something. Whatever it was, she must have found it. “Yes, I’ll rest with you.”
He took her hand and led her toward the single bed. They would be cramped, but that was perfectly fine with him. Ceva removed her boots and jeans, revealing her long, toned legs. He kept his pants on, not wanting to push her too far, too fast. She left her shirt on and crawled onto the bed. The sight of her half-naked crawling across his bed caused him to growl low in his throat. She smiled and slid underneath the covers. She was teasing him.
He followed her under the sheets and gently pulled her into his arms. She laid her head on his chest and ran her fingers through his chest hair. He couldn’t hold back his small growls, and he didn’t even try.
“Mine,” Lothar stated and held Ceva a bit closer.
“Mine,” Ceva purred.
By midafternoon of the following day, the team was well on their way north toward the hot zone of the ogre attacks. Lothar was driving with Ceva in the passenger seat. Joseph and Rowl sat in the back, and the rest of the team followed behind. She had suggested they take the roads leading north, in the hope they’d be able to detect any traces of dark magic in the air. For the amount of power needed to control the ogres, she thought it should be fairly easy to sense. The stench from the dark magic alone would give her a clue as to which direction to follow. So far it had led her to three battles, one destroyed town and a pack of ogres.
“So, are your parents still alive?” Lothar asked, and he knew he was trying to get to know her better. They had been quiet this morning after waking up in each other’s arms. She was unsure what to make of the rash but primal declaration she’d made last night. She’d basically claimed Lothar without his consent. Even though he didn’t seem to mind the turn of events, it still wasn’t right.
“Yes, they’re immortal as well.” She wanted to steer clear of any conversation about her parents. “And are yours back on Black Ridge pack lands?” She hadn’t been with the pack long before she was called upon to find those responsible for the influx of ogres, so she hadn’t had a chance to meet everyone.
“Only my mother is left on pack lands. My father died during the war.”
“I’m so sorry.” She reached out and touched his arm. She was only trying to move the conversation off her parents. She hadn’t intended to cause him any pain.
“It was a long time ago. He died protecting our people. I’m proud of him.”
Ceva wished she could say she was proud of her parents, but she left that topic where it belonged, buried without discussion. It had been many, many years since she had thought of them. And still, it was too soon to deal with her dark memories. She could go into eternity without ever seeing either of them. Considering she couldn’t be sure if her family would try to kill her again, she kept her distance.
“Are you feeling well?” Lothar asked.
She hadn’t realized her mind had drifted off to troubled times and quickly smiled. “Yes, I’m just thinking about the mission.”
“Yeah, it’s been a quiet day so far. A bit too quiet in my opinion. I thought we’d run into a few ogres by now,” Lothar murmured as he scanned their surroundings.
“Don’t wish for that, Wolfie. I could use a day off,” she joked as she surveyed the woods for any sign of trouble.
Any minute now, they should be coming up to Kerrock, a small town set deep in the forest. It had one road in and one out, one stop sign, and boasted the best honey to be found in the kingdom. There were roughly two hundred full-time residents.
As they got closer, Ceva sensed nothing, nothing at all. No other life forms except for their team. In the distance, she could see the rooflines of the town’s buildings, and she tried again, but still sensed nothing coming from the town.
“Something’s wrong,” Ceva announced loudly as she sat straighter in her seat.
“What is it? Ogres?” Joseph asked, while looking through the windows of the SUV.
“No, not this time. I sense no living beings residing in Kerrock at this moment. The town is dead silent.”
Lothar pushed harder on the gas pedal and sped toward the town. They flew past the town limits before slowing. There was no one out on the streets. The odd bike was left lying on the road, or coffee cup on a table outside the café. But not a single person. Lothar pulled their SUV to a stop outside the empty local fire station, and the team followed his lead as they gathered in the parking lot. Each person surveyed the area with uncertainty, as if waiting for someone to jump out at them. The streets were eerily quiet, and every sense Ceva had went on high alert.
“We need to divide up into two-person teams and search for any sign of the residents. Keep your radios on you, and if you see anything, contact us immediately,” Lothar instructed the group.
Lothar and Ceva turned and headed for the town hall while the remaining team members spread out into the village. Kerrock was a ghost town. Where had hundreds of people gone? Her skin crawled as open doors and vacant windows watched as they passed. Occasionally, they’d stop and search a house to find lives interrupted, which creeped her out even further. Glasses of juice and curdling milk sat on counters and tables alongside plates of food left rotting in the morning sun. Televisions were still on and blaring, and lights were on in most rooms, computers and tablets open on tables and couches.
Outside the small, brick town hall, Ceva turned to Lothar, shaking her head. “It’s as if the people vanished where they stood.” She watched the hall’s door swinging in the wind.
“Ceva, do you sense anything at all?”
“I thought I did for a moment. Then it disappeared. I’m trying to pick it up again,” she explained. “It felt like the shadow of the person’s energy.”
“A shadow?”
“Yes, it’s strange. It feels like they are hidden perhaps, cloaked or protected,” she tried to explain the unusual sensation.
“We’ll search it out. Now let’s go into this eerie-ass building and get this over with.” Lothar smiled, clearly trying to put her at eas
e. The whole town had a haunting quality that made her want to leave as soon as possible. Who knew an empty town could be this menacing?
He led the way into the foyer of the town’s offices. The lights were on, and Ceva could hear a television in the distance, the same as they had encountered in the homes. Computers hummed and stacks of paper sat on empty desks without a soul in sight. There were no signs of a struggle anywhere—wolves would have fought. They searched every office but came up empty. Then, as they were leaving the building, Ceva felt the presence again to the south end of the town.
“I feel it again, come on.” She released her wings and quickly lifted Lothar into the air.
The presence was coming from somewhere on the edge of town. On their way, they passed other teams who were now following the flying pair. Ceva landed outside a powder blue home with flowers cascading out of the large flower boxes that sat in every window. She had never seen so many in such a small place. They were growing overtop one another. Within seconds, the remaining wolves in their team were surrounding the house.
“There’s someone in there, but it’s so weak. Let’s go.” Ceva led the way, searching out the signs of life. The front door of the house opened into a cozy living area with a fireplace. She followed her senses straight to the back of the house to the bedrooms. What she saw in the back bedroom shocked even her. There in the middle of the bed was an Omega wolf surrounded by a translucent shield, unconscious and barely breathing. Her Omega teardrop jewel on her forehead had turned black; she was near death.
Ceva moved quickly. “We need to wake her up. Holding the shield is draining the life out of her.”
Gingerly, she touched the shield with the palm of her hand, which immediately shot an electrical charge up her arm. She ignored the pain and pushed harder on the shield, chanting a spell the entire time. The Omega would surely die soon if they didn’t manage to shut down her defenses. The shield began to crack, and long spider lines webbed their way across the surface until finally it shattered into nothingness.
Ceva reached out and felt for the Omega’s pulse. It was barely there, but the young woman hadn’t given up yet, and neither would Ceva. She brought her powers in close and magnified them as much as she could before pushing pure energy into the dying woman, whose body twitched but sucked up the energy like water on parched earth. She had been moments away from death. After a few tense minutes, the pull of energy slowed and the young woman’s eyes popped open. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs as she clawed at the sheets and scurried to get away.
“Easy…we’re the good guys sent by the king to protect the outlying towns,” Ceva explained as she sat on the side of the bed beside the woman.
“You’re too late. They’re all gone,” the young woman cried. “Everyone’s gone.”
She shook violently as she cried, her head buried in her hands. At this point, Joseph and a few of the other men had come into the house.
“Karli?” Joseph asked.
The woman raised her head and looked up at Joseph. “Joseph, Rowl, thank the gods it’s you.” Karli jumped out of the bed and ran at the men, jumping into their waiting arms. There were tears in both men’s eyes as they hugged her close.
Ceva could feel the love from across the room. She wondered how the three knew each other. They certainly seemed happy to be back together.
“We didn’t know where your parents had taken you to. We missed you so much,” Rowl said before he hugged her against his body, enveloping her in his arms.
“They didn’t want me to have anything to do with the two of you. They moved all the way to the north end of the kingdom to get me as far away as they could. I’ve missed both of you every second of every day,” Karli sobbed.
Okay, now was not the time for a reunion. They needed to find out what happened here. “Karli, my name is Ceva. Can you tell us what happened here?”
The young woman turned to face Ceva, her eyes red. “You’re a white witch, maybe you could find them.”
“Find them?” Lothar asked. “Where did they go?”
“I’m not sure, but a few days ago, around ten in the morning, the first person vanished right in front of her husband. Then, one by one, each person disappeared. My parents vanished right in front of me. I used my personal shield, but I had to put so much energy into it to fight the pull that I lost my strength.”
“You’re safe now, we swear it,” Joseph confirmed, refusing to let her go.
Looks like we have another person on our team.
“Help Karli pack a few things,” Ceva ordered. “Both of you are responsible for her safety during this mission, or we could leave her in the next town over, which may be safer for her in the long run.”
“No,” all three yelled in unison.
Okay, then she comes with us.
“We’ll watch over her,” Joseph promised. Rowl nodded his head in agreement.
“Okay, get packed. We’re leaving once we report in with King Leonidas,” Lothar instructed.
Ceva walked outside where the rest of the team was waiting and took a deep breath. Lothar followed with his phone stuck to the side of his head. No doubt he was speaking with the King. There was only one person she knew of who could pull off something like this. Could it be him? And were these disappearances related to the ogres or was this something completely different? What the hell was she going to do now?
“The King is sending out soldiers to the town to begin the search. Where could they have been taken and how?” Lothar asked.
“It’s a portal spell made by exceptionally strong dark magic. The town stinks of it,” Ceva responded.
“Do you know who it might be?” he asked quietly.
“Yes,” she answered solemnly.
“Who?”
“Penrod. He’s a particularly nasty wizard, and he is the only one I know of with enough specialized power to teleport large objects and, apparently, hundreds of people anywhere he wishes.” She could feel the blood rushing from her face.
“Ceva, are you okay?” he growled as he gathered her close.
She looked into his worried eyes and nodded, unsure her voice would have come out without a wobble. She never expected to be confronted with the evil wizard ever again, or at least hoped she’d never have to see him again. The last time they were in the same room, he’d tried to kill her…for the fifteenth or twentieth time. Over an eternity, one loses track of specific incidents and they blur into one another, so it could have been one hundred times, but it made no difference.
“Let’s get moving. We need to check the next town over,” she ordered, trying to direct attention away from her.
“Ceva. Tell me what’s wrong.” Her wolf’s eyes were full of worry.
“A whole town is missing, that’s what’s wrong,” she snapped, trying to use deflection. She wasn’t ready for him to look at her differently or turn his back on her. She’d never be ready to lose Lothar.
“If you think I believe that, you’re crazy. But I’ll leave it alone for now.” He tightened his hold on her. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
She looked deeply into the beautiful green eyes of this kindhearted warrior and knew she could easily love him to distraction. “Thank you.”
A few members of the team let out wolf whistles when they saw the two of them hugging. Ceva turned to face the group, letting sparks fly from her hands. “If any of you children want to get electrocuted, keep it up.” They stopped the badgering immediately, though they still wore sly grins.
Ceva and Lothar gathered the rest of the team, as well as their new Omega, and headed back to their vehicles. They had many more towns to check. They’d previously contacted the Alphas in the area, but obviously they’d missed something. The ghost town they were standing in was a prime example of the magic they’d failed to detect yesterday.
If Ceva knew anything, it was that Penrod wouldn’t stop until he was forced to, and she’d have to be the one to force him.
Lothar knew she was
hiding something, but he let it go for now. She would tell him when she was ready. They had bigger problems. A whole town of people had disappeared, and the team had no idea where to start searching for hundreds of people. Ceva sat quietly in the passenger seat, deep in thought. The next town was a few hours away, and when they contacted the Alpha, he informed them his town was safe—so far.
What did a wizard want with hundreds of wolf shifters?
Karli was asleep in the backseat right between Joseph and Rowl. Lothar couldn’t help but wonder what her powers were and if she might be helpful during their mission. Helena, the Omega of his pack, was powerful beyond measure with many unique abilities in her arsenal.
“So tell me how you know Karli,” Lothar asked his men.
“We grew up together before her parents took her away from us,” Rowl explained in a growl.
“Took her away?”
“I was seventeen. Rowl and Karli were sixteen. The family left because she wanted to date us. But because she’s an Omega, her parents wanted her to mate a powerful Alpha, not two nobodies,” Joseph explained.
Lothar knew that matings came in all kinds of shapes and sizes. For Karli to want both men as mates wasn’t out of the ordinary. Although if an Omega wanted anyone other than an Alpha, it was allowed, but it was still controversial.
Rowl took up the story again. “When they’d realized we were serious, they took her away and never told anyone where they were going. We would have never found her this far north. We’ve been looking for so long with nothing to go on. And now that we’ve found her, we’re never letting her go again.” The last few words were said with a possessive growl, as if the thought alone brought out part of his shift. “She’ll be safest with us back in Black Ridge. She belongs with our pack.”
“We’ll have to contact Alpha Aldric. I’m not sure what he’ll decide. Since her whole town is missing, right now it’s safer if she stays with the team,” Lothar decided, looking at the three in the rearview mirror. If they still loved each other so many years later, then they deserved a chance to explore those feelings.
Ceva's Chance Page 3
