Wolf Ridge- Complete Series

by Jayne Hawke

  There wasn’t a single word in the book. There was nothing but constantly moving lines that meant absolutely nothing. We’d been through all of that and made no progress.

  I tossed the book onto the back seat in frustration and tried to push the rage down so I could think of the next step. Cole was depending on us.

  7

  “MY COVEN IS TRYING to assign me to the duty of bringing you two before the council,” Sky said drily.

  I dropped the useless book on the kitchen table and sighed.

  “Amy’s pack. I’m not a witch. End of discussion.”

  Sky laughed.

  “That’s about what I told them. The last I heard they were looking through their by-laws to see if Amy could be considered part of a garou pack or not. Did the book you stole give us what we need?”

  I pushed the book towards Sky.

  “It’s just squiggles for me. Maybe it’ll work for you.”

  Sky opened the book and glared at it as though trying to make the ink submit and behave.

  “Whoever enchanted this did a very thorough job. I could break through it, but it’d take me a week. Maybe more.”

  “So, what’s the next plan?” Briar asked.

  “We dig through the books and information we do have,” Amy said brightly.

  I rolled my jaw. She wasn’t wrong, but it was taking too long. I wanted to be out there getting Cole back.

  “I’ll go to the Grim, see what I can figure out.”

  “I have a couple of bars I can ask around,” Sky said.

  I was tempted to join her; it sounded far better than sitting in front of the laptop.

  “I’ll join you,” Adam said.

  “You want to go to a bar?” Briar asked incredulously.

  Adam shrugged.

  “I want to help.”

  Sky put her arm around the younger boy’s shoulders.

  “Come on, I’ll show you how to knock heads together so the information falls out.”

  I felt as though I was supposed to say something motherly, but I was happy to do whatever was necessary.

  “Briar can help me with digital research. Why don’t you watch over Adam?” Amy said.

  “Hey!” Sky retorted.

  “Deal,” I said with a grin.

  I could do with a drink after the day I’d had.

  ADAM LOOKED NERVOUSLY between Sky and me as we approached the bar Sky had picked out. It wasn’t one I was familiar with, but those were few and far between. She brushed her hands on the thighs of her jeans, walked a little taller, and plastered a wide smile on her face. I glanced back and saw Adam’s expression of complete awe as he watched her strut into the dark bar. I rolled my eyes. He didn’t have a chance in Hell with the witch.

  We entered the bar, and the sensation of magic covered my skin and coated my tongue. Adam sneezed and shook his head, a very canine motion that drew the attention of a group of male witches nearby. I smiled at them with sharp teeth on display; no one was hurting my pack. They narrowed their eyes but returned to their beers without a word.

  Whoever had designed the bar appeared to be allergic to lighting. A few small lights had been recessed into the ceiling. Weak, pale silvery light barely made it past head height from their paltry attempts. Deep shadows clung to the corners and almost appeared to slither along the floor.

  Sturdy tables were scattered throughout the space, but the tall bar was the focus of the room. It stretched to cover most of the back wall and looked to be made from heavy chunks of dark wood and black marble. The impression of its being a fortress against the patrons of the bar only grew as I approached it. The width of the bar was far more than I was used to seeing, and the taste of magic was thicker near it.

  The scent of old dry blood caught my attention, and I swore I saw patches of dark red against the grain of the bare wooden floor. Shrugging, I concluded it really didn’t matter. It would only make the head-banging we were here to do a little easier. If the staff was used to fights breaking out, they’d be less likely to intervene before we had the information we needed.

  Sky leaned over the bar and gave the barman a sultry look before she ordered us all rum and cokes. Did I mention I hate rum?

  “What’s the plan?” I asked.

  Sky shrugged and gave me a mischievous smile.

  “We bang some heads together.”

  Adam looked at her with mild alarm.

  “Literally?”

  “If necessary.”

  I allowed my wolf side forward a little. That sounded like something I could get behind. The clock was ticking, and the gentle information-hunting method was getting us nowhere. Adam pursed his lips and slowly raised the rum and coke to his lips.

  “I’ll stick with Sky.”

  “I’m engaged,” Sky said while looking around the bar.

  Adam’s gaze turned to her bare ring finger.

  “Since when?”

  Sky snorted.

  “Birth.”

  “An arranged marriage?” Adam asked in horror.

  “Yes. By the gods no less. No getting out of it.”

  “I read something about that.”

  Sky patted him on the shoulder.

  “Trust me. I’ve checked for loopholes. I’m stuck with whoever he is.”

  “You haven’t even met him?” Adam asked softly.

  “I won’t until the wedding day.”

  A deep furrow formed between Adam’s eyes.

  Sky grinned and nodded towards a cluster of quiet, well-dressed guys. They looked like low-level business guys just starting to climb the corporate ladder.

  “I bet they know something,” Sky said as she pushed off the bar.

  The barman glared at her back as he looked at the untouched drinks. Adam put his drink back down and followed Sky. I rolled my shoulders. They could handle them. We’d cover more ground if I went after my own target.

  The witches that had glared at us when Adam had sneezed were sneering at me. Perfect.

  I allowed my teeth to sharpen and my eyes to amber while I dug deep for my guardian magic. They were witches, and there was a chance they were going to throw magic at me. I wanted my magic shield thing on hand.

  I dragged a chair over from the next table, ignoring the complaints of those sitting there. Sitting down next to the tallest guy with a thin silver scar running down his cheek, I gave them my most predatory grin.

  “Who’s going to tell me about the Apophis witch?”

  Silence.

  They turned into statues as they completely froze. I was pretty sure the dainty blond even stopped breathing.

  Turning my full attention to the scarred guy, I leaned in close.

  “Tell me everything,” I growled.

  Magic filled the space between us. My shield burst to life and wrapped around me just before an explosion of brilliant white light blinded me. My vision cleared a few seconds later, just in time to see one of the men Sky had gone to speak to fly over the bar.

  “I can’t take these witches anywhere,” I muttered.

  Adam held his own. He headbutted the red-haired guy straight in the bridge of the nose and sent him reeling. I spun around and drove my fist into the throat of the scarred guy as he grabbed onto my wrist and spat out some vicious sounding spell. Pain seared my wrist and left a ring of red burnt flesh. Unfortunately for the witch, I heal remarkably fast. He was gasping for air while he moved his hands through the air, his eyes burning with magic and rage. I stomped down on his foot hard enough to hear the crunch of bones and stop whatever he was casting.

  The dainty blond threw himself over the table with his hands stretched out to grasp onto my throat. I grabbed a handful of his hair and wrenched him sideways onto the floor, where he landed with a thud.

  “Tell me everything before I show you just how dangerous garou really are,” I snarled.

  The smell of blood filled my nostrils. Witch blood.

  My attention darted to Adam and Sky. Adam had a witch bent backwards over a table
and was snarling in his face. I’d expected the young garou to be quiet and reserved in a fight. My wolf side was proud of him.

  “Talk,” I said as I wrenched the witch’s head further back, making him gasp and choke.

  “There’s something weird going on. A house about an hour from here,” he managed to whisper.

  “I need better than that.”

  The witch with spiky blue-black hair pushed a piece of paper with an address written on it over towards me.

  “There. I suggest you leave before the barman feels the need to step in,” he said coolly.

  “Sky. I have it,” I shouted.

  The witch paused with her fist drawn back ready to punch the man she had pinned against the wall. A look of disappointment spread over her face. Adam strode over towards the front door; Sky and I joined him.

  “That went pretty well,” Sky said brightly.

  “Remind me not to go drinking with you,” I said.

  8

  AMY AND BRIAR WERE laughing on the couch when we walked in. Briar got up and went to Adam, where she checked him over. He gently pushed her away.

  “I’m fine. I kicked some ass,” he said with a great deal of pride.

  Briar pursed her lips and gave Sky a disapproving look before she muttered something about the witch being a bad influence.

  I bit back a laugh.

  “We have an address from some witches. They froze when we mentioned the Apophis witch and said something weird was going on here,” I said.

  Amy took the piece of paper from me.

  “This isn’t too far away.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Sky said as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

  The electricity in the air meant that none of us could stay still. We were going to end all of this ridiculous mess. Even Amy was enlivened by the buzz passing between all of us. There was a constant sense of movement as Sky bounced and Adam’s hands made small delicate motions in front of him.

  Everyone piled into Sky’s car. Sky still refused to step foot in my car despite its being the far more practical option.

  I was squeezed against the door while Briar sat in the middle of the back seat. Sky drove far too slowly for my tastes. We were so close, we shouldn’t have been sticking to the stupid speed limits. We needed to get there and end this.

  “Would you relax, Rosalyn? You’re distracting,” Sky complained.

  I looked out the window and tried to think happy relaxing thoughts. The feeling of Cole’s arms wrapped around me brought a soothing warmth to me, and I allowed myself to sink into it. It wasn’t going to be long now.

  THE THING ABOUT LIVING in a state full of beautiful forests was that were a lot of cabins around. Sniffing the air, I made sure there weren’t any scents of death or old blood. We’d had enough run-ins with blood witches. I wasn’t ready for another one.

  Adam and Briar walked just behind me, watching my back. Amy and Sky spread out as we approached the innocuous old cabin. The roof sagged a little, but otherwise it was well maintained. Ugly lilac-spotted curtains covered the windows, but there were voices inside.

  Keeping my ears pricked, I checked for any other people around us. Everyone walked with quiet efficiency as we closed in on the cabin. This didn’t seem right. I thought witches were supposed to have a clean ritual space. And Apophis was an Egyptian god. Surely he needed sand or something?

  Sky barged through the front door, and we all crowded through the narrow hallway behind her. She had her black sword in her hand and was starting to swing it around when I managed to get into the cramped kitchen. Everything was wood on wood - with bare floorboards, exposed logs for walls, and of course the furniture was all rustic pine too. It was not at all what I had expected for Apophis’s grand ritual.

  Sniffing the air again, I realised I hadn’t caught Cole’s scent at all. Not even a hint of it. Baring my teeth, I turned my attention to the fae that were backed against the stove and adjacent cupboards while Sky closed in on them.

  “This isn’t right,” I growled.

  Sky paused.

  “I hate when you’re right.”

  “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Amy commanded.

  “We’re arranging the uprising to give fae the land they are owed,” the smallest of the group said.

  None of them were much past 5’6”; each had delicate bone structure with sharp edges and startling blue eyes. My guess was they were pixies, which meant they had needle-sharp teeth and were downright vicious in a fight. Nothing was quite as bad as elves, but pixies certainly came close.

  “And the Apophis witch?” Amy pushed.

  The pixies all looked at each other before giving Amy a puzzled look.

  “We don’t have time to deal with a fae uprising,” Sky huffed.

  “Let the council handle it,” I said.

  Amy pursed her lips. Her eyes went glassy for a moment before she nodded.

  “The council can deal with it. Our priorities are clear.”

  The fae were always trying to take patches of the earth plane for themselves. That little group was nothing new. There was a chance that the council would call me in to put them down once we’d gotten Cole back, but I’d deal with it then.

  9

  “SO, WHAT NOW?” BRIAR asked.

  “We keep looking,” I said.

  “Where? How?” she pushed.

  “I’ll try my guardian magic again. I have the shadow bond to Cole, too.”

  “No,” Sky and Amy said in unison.

  “You cannot headbutt your way through the witch’s magic,” Amy said gently.

  I wanted to glare at her and argue. That was my Cole. He was out there and who knew how much pain and suffering he was going through. If headbutting my way through that awful dark magic was what it took, then that was what I would do.

  “Someone must have seen something,” Adam said.

  “We can dig into Natasha’s past. There might be a clue there,” Amy said.

  I didn’t want to waste time chasing shadows, but I could see on everyone’s faces that I was outvoted. They weren’t entirely wrong. Looking into the bitch’s past was a good move and would give us some insight into how she thought, who she was connected to. That didn’t really make me feel any better. I wanted to be moving, fighting.

  I pulled out my phone and opened up the Grim. Throwing myself into the new task, I did what I could to focus. The longer Cole was trapped wherever he was, the harder I had to work to be calm and rational.

  I put Natasha’s name into the search bar on the site and found her profile immediately. Her profile picture practically screamed pack princess with the heavy filters and smug smile on her face. My lip curled and a snarl bubbled up unbidden. Briar pulled away a little.

  I calmed myself, not wanting to upset the younger garou. She had done nothing wrong, quite the opposite. Alphas were supposed to be in control of themselves and look out for their pack.

  Looking down through Natasha’s obnoxious posts only irritated me further. She had been in my home. She had run her hands over my Cole. She had taken him from me.

  After a few posts about how amazing her life was, and something about expensive shoes, I noticed that two people commented on every post. A Cleo, and an Ellie. I clicked on Cleo’s profile and saw a mousy garou with desperation in her eyes. Her profile showed she was the bottom rung of her pack, and I bet that Natasha offered her something more. She could be my in.

  Chewing on my bottom lip, I tried to decide if it was a good idea to contact her via my profile. Would Natasha have talked about me?

  Putting all of that aside, I sent her a quick PM saying I was worried about Natasha. She’d just disappeared.

  It probably didn’t sound very sincere, but I’d tried. It was difficult to pretend to be worried about the bitch who kidnapped your life-bond.

  “BRIAR, CAN YOU HOLD Rosalyn down? She’s vibrating and it’s really distracting,” Sky said.

  “We’re almost home,” Adam said.<
br />
  “And if Rosalyn doesn’t calm down, we’re going to crash before we get there.”

  I glared at the witch. I was on edge, but I wasn’t that bad. The Grim hadn’t offered up much. Natasha’s profile had been too locked down, and her friends’ were even worse. I kept refreshing and waiting for a PM notification that never came. It had been a slim chance, I knew that when I tried. Still, it meant that I had nothing productive to focus on, and that left me with a lot of nervous energy.

  “Why don’t you guys go for a run?” Amy asked.

  Ever the diplomat. I appreciated her role in the pack. She knew how to smooth things out and bring a little light to the darkness.

  I slowed my breathing and tried to focus on happy positive things. Amy was right. A run would do us good. We hadn’t really spent much time together in our wolf forms.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll keep digging into Natasha and what we can find about this Apophis witch,” Amy said with a warm smile.

  I ignored the feeling that I was being sent away. That was just my anxiety talking. Amy was being a good friend, and I needed to stop being a dick and let her help us. She was pack, too, now.

  Sky’s phone rang for the third time in five minutes. The witch rolled her eyes.

  “My coven is trying to get hold of me. If they’re this determined, I’m probably in trouble.”

  “Why don’t you answer?” Amy asked.

  “I’m driving,” Sky said with a grin.

  “So, you’re avoiding them,” Briar said with a laugh.

  Sky shrugged.

  “We don’t always agree on the best way to approach things.”

  I looked pointedly at Briar.

  “Packs work differently,” I said.

  Briar held up her hands.

  “I’ll behave.”

  “A coven isn’t so different from a pack. We all have our place, and we’re supposed to listen to the leaders,” Sky said.

  Amy snorted.

  “And how many times to do you actually listen to them?”