Wolf Magick

by Cynthia Cooke

  “A piece of me?” Rena thought of her mother standing in the doorway beckoning to her, and then she remembered the large gold locket that had always hung from her neck. “She was wearing a locket with a cutting of my hair.”

  “That would do it.”

  “But how can I help her? If I go in, can she come out? Is that what’s keeping her locked inside?”

  He shook his head. “There is nothing you can do to save her. The demon wants you to call its name, to become its vessel so it can come out. If you do, you will be lost.” His face hardened. “Somehow, we have to get that locket. Then we can close the portal. I will take care of it. It’s important that you stay away from there and away from the cat. Do you understand?”

  “I can’t just leave my mother there.” Her voice sounded shrill, but she didn’t care.

  “Do you really believe after fifteen years there is still a trace of your mother left? What you saw was a shell. A skin for a demon. Your mother is gone.”

  Horror-struck, Rena stared at him as his words barraged her. Before she could fully grasp the implication of what he said, a loud screeching howl lifted the hairs on the back of her neck.

  “What was that?” she asked, turning toward the window, her voice shaky.

  “The demon’s cat. It’s found you.”

  Chapter Five

  The cat hit the window shaking the glass within its frame. Rena screamed.

  Kaydin came to her and pulled her into his arms. “Shh. It’s okay. It can’t get in.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “What does it want?”

  “You. It won’t stop until it has you.”

  She shuddered. “How can this be happening?” She backed away from him. From the painting. From the glowing eyes of the cat at the window. “I don’t understand.”

  “Rena, come to me. Come where you belong.”

  “I’m here to protect you. If you listen to me and trust what I say, I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise,” Kaydin said, his eyes softening. “I’ll get the locket and close the portal. It’s your only chance.”

  “Rena!”

  He opened a panel in the wall and hit a button. Heavy shutters slid over the outside of the windows, blocking her sight of the cat.

  And yet, she could still hear it. Calling to her. Begging. Pleading.

  She pushed her hands against her head, trying to block out the voice, but knew it was no good. The voice came from within.

  Kaydin placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. “Are you all right?”

  The voice stopped. She looked up at him. “I am now.”

  He dropped his hands and stepped away from her. She reached for him, pulling him back. “Please. When you’re near, when you’re touching me, I don’t hear its voice.”

  He sat on the bed and took her hand in his, pulling her down next to him. “I want to help you. You have to trust me.”

  “I…it’s just so hard to comprehend. You’re talking about demons.” She stared at his face, his lips. She wanted him to hold her, to make her feel like the world was normal like there wasn’t a demon’s panther waiting outside the window, that her mother wasn’t stuck in some demon dimension, that everything was as it should be.

  But the world wasn’t normal. And she feared it never would be. Not for her.

  Seeking his warmth, she leaned into him and he put his arms around her. She could hear the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and it comforted her. She’d thought about touching him, wishing she could hold him ever since she’d first met him. But did he want her the way she wanted him? She nuzzled closer, taking a deep breath, inhaling his masculine scent and wishing he would kiss her. She wanted to feel his lips against hers; she wanted to feel his passion for her.

  She lifted her head and pressed her lips against his neck then moved them gently across his collarbone, kissing and tasting until she reached the hollow of his neck where she pulled the tender skin into her mouth.

  He inhaled a quick breath. She looked up at him and hoped he wouldn’t move away. His deep green eyes locked onto hers and she could see the indecision warring within him. He wanted her, she could feel it. But she could also feel him trying to fight it.

  She moved closer to him, her breath running shallow as she felt his temperature rising, his muscles stiffening. Before he could pull away, she shifted over him, pressing her breasts flat against his chest, resting her hands on his shoulders, pushing her lips against his.

  Slightly embarrassed by her wantonness, she held her breath as she waited for him to respond, to kiss her back. It was unlike her to be so brazen, but at this point she didn’t care. She wanted to feel his arms around her. She wanted him to kiss her back.

  “This…is not such a good idea,” he said, pulling away, even as his hands moved over her shoulders and down her back. His words might be pushing her away, but he was drawing her closer.

  “I need you,” she said, and ran her hands up the side of his neck until her arms twined around his neck. Expectation thickened between them. “Please,” she murmured, moving until she was only a breath away.

  As if a dam broke, his mouth fell over hers, crushing her.

  He kissed her long and hard, until finally she had to break free to breathe. Her heart fluttered erratically in her chest, and all she could think about, all she could feel was his touch on her skin and his taste lingering on her lips.

  Which was exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want to think about what he’d said or what any of it meant anymore. She didn’t want to sleep or dream. She only wanted to lose herself within him.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised on a heavy breath while he ran his lips down her neck, nibbling her tender skin, setting her nerve endings ablaze.

  Heated, her body turned liquid beneath his strong touch. She swept her hands up his massive chest, feeling the swells beneath her fingertips, marveling at his perfection. His nipple peaked at her touch, and she played with it, pulling a deep gasp from within him.

  “I…I haven’t. It’s been a while,” he confessed.

  She smiled. “How about if tonight, we take care of each other?” She lifted his shirt and clasped her lips around his stiff nub, flicking her tongue until it tightened in her mouth and his breath turned ragged.

  She had to have him next to her. Touching her. She raked her nails down his back in her effort to remove his shirt, to feel his skin, now almost hot to the touch. Overheated, she struggled with one hand to take off her sweatshirt and almost cried out loud when he helped her out of it then took the tender skin of her breast into his mouth, sucking as if he couldn’t get enough of her.

  Fiery passion rose within her and she pulled him closer, her own breath coming in short heated gasps. She took off the rest of her clothes and within seconds was pressed against him. Mercy, he was beautiful. Large, strong, hard and so male. She clung to him as he shifted and in one deep, ragged breath, buried himself within her.

  She held on tight and with each stroke, rode their passion as he went deeper and moved faster. Her temperature spiked. Her body quivered. Her lungs constricted, until she felt like she couldn’t get enough air.

  The room around her spun, as the hunger building within her tightened all her muscles until they were taut enough to snap. Unbelievingly, he moved even faster, harder, holding on to her as if she were a part of him, and he a part of her. The room darkened, but sounds intensified and all she could hear was the pounding of her blood rushing through her veins, all she could feel was the stretching of her skin as the tension within her reached the breaking point.

  She screamed, her back arching as she pulled him deep within her and let loose a bellow that rattled the windows. Desire, hot and fluid, moved through her in wave after wave, stealing her breath and her strength as she fell in an exhausted heap against him. He grasped her tighter as he approached his own release, his already hard body stiffening. He gasped a deep breath, then threw back h
is head and roared.

  The sound shot terror straight through her heart.

  She looked up at him, fully expecting to see the beast. But it wasn’t there. It was Kaydin she was clinging to, Kaydin who was still buried deep within her, Kaydin who sounded so much like the wolf from the clearing. Only his beautiful forest-green eyes were now jet-black.

  Rena scampered off him, moving as far across the bed as she could.

  He fell back against the pillows, his hand reaching for her. “Come back,” he said, his voice gravelly.

  Wide-eyed she stared at him, trying to comprehend what just happened.

  He took a shaky breath then turned to her, his eyes once more deep forest-green speckled with amber flecks. “What’s the matter?”

  “Your eyes,” she whispered and climbed off the bed. “They were black. They were different. They looked like…”

  She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t think it.

  “Like a wolf’s?” he asked.

  The cat was going crazy outside.

  With one arm, Rena struggled back into her sweats, then leaned against the wall, trying to still the trembling in her legs.

  “Don’t be afraid,” he said.

  Rena didn’t say anything, but if there was any way she could push herself through the wall to get away from him, she would have done so.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you.”

  “What are you?” she asked, her voice trembling.

  “I’m the portal guardian.”

  She started to shake her head. The beast? “No. Not possible.” She slipped down the wall to the floor.

  He got off the bed and walked slowly toward her. “It’s all right.”

  “Stay away from me.”

  “I’m here to protect you. To help you.”

  “I don’t want your help.” She scrambled to her feet and backed away from him out of the room.

  He followed. She had to get away from him. She didn’t care if it was storming or pitch-black outside. She couldn’t stay in here with him. Not a moment longer.

  “Rena, you need my help. I know now why you can see the lights. And why the demon wants you so badly.”

  “What are you talking about?” she screamed, as she continued down the hall and into the guest room she’d slept in earlier. She grabbed her purse, checking to make sure her keys were inside.

  “You aren’t a witch,” he said. “It’s why they couldn’t help you at Vindecare. Why you weren’t making any progress.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I was making progress. I was remembering more and more of my dreams.”

  “But you couldn’t stop the voice. It calls to you. It’s why you are compelled to paint the portals, opened ones and closed. It’s why you feel the need to come back here over and over again.”

  She narrowed her eyes as fury filled her. “The only reason I’m compelled to come back here is because this is where I lost my mother and faced a beast.” She yelled the word so loud her voice broke into a high-pitched shriek.

  “I am not a beast. I’m a shapeshifter. And I’m here to help you. If you’ll let me.”

  “The only way you can help me is to leave me alone.” She turned and ran from him, but hesitated at the front door, knowing the demon’s cat was out there somewhere. But better she take her chances out there than trapped in this house with him. She ran then, out of the house and into the dark.

  She had to get as far away from him as she could. How could he have fooled her so completely? She made love to him! She rushed around the front of the house but didn’t see her car. Where could it be? Was it still on the main road? She hurried down the wet gravel drive, hoping her car wasn’t too far. Luckily the rain had stopped and the moon had come out to guide her.

  She ran until her sides ached, then stopped, bent over and took a deep breath. She started moving forward again, but froze when she heard the peeling cry of the panther.

  Terrified, she stepped off the drive, crouched low into the bushes and held her breath.

  Please don’t let it find me.

  She hid in the darkness, her tears mingling with the rain dropping from the leaves and dripping onto her face. How was it possible that Kaydin wasn’t…human? A shapeshifter? A portal guardian. What was that anyway? And how was it that he could make her feel so safe? So wanted?

  It doesn’t matter. It had all been a lie.

  She wiped the tears off her face and looked around her. She had no idea where she was. As the rustling of the underbrush filled her ears and the dank smell of the damp earth filled her nose, she wished she was back at Vindecare. Wished she was anywhere but here.

  When she could no longer hear the cat, she stood and started moving again. This time, staying in the trees. Before long, she was standing back in the clearing, looking at the lights, watching the demon’s cat glide into the circle. The rectangular darkness in the center shimmered, opened, and her mother stepped into the doorway. Why did she always end up here?

  Because this was where she was supposed to be.

  “Rena.” Her mother gestured toward her.

  Tears burned Rena’s eyes as she walked toward her, remembering the sound of her laugh, the gentleness of her touch.

  She didn’t care what Kaydin said. How could she believe anything he said? It didn’t matter how she felt when she was with him, or what it felt like when he touched her. He was the beast.

  He was the cause of all her nightmares.

  Rena had to help her. If there was even the smallest chance that Kaydin was wrong, that her mother was still in there, stuck inside that horrible place, then Rena would get her out. She wouldn’t leave her there.

  She remembered now why her mother had come here. Her grandmother had threatened to take Rena away from her. Grandmother was afraid of what her mother was. Afraid she would go to hell.

  And maybe she’d been right. Maybe her mother was in hell. But if she was, she went in there to keep Rena, now Rena would bring her back.

  Determined, she stepped into the lights and toward the doorway. She heard the snarl of the panther behind her and thought that maybe she heard the low growl of the beast. But she knew now, it wasn’t a beast. It was Kaydin.

  The man who had saved her.

  And let her mother walk into hell, leaving her daughter alone to be raised by a crazy woman.

  How could she ever get over that?

  “You came,” her mother said, smiling.

  “Yes. I’ve come to bring you home.”

  “I am home, Rena. Come, join me. As you were meant to do so many years ago.” Her words touched an empty spot in Rena’s heart and she realized that since her mother had left, Rena hadn’t been anywhere that she’d felt wanted.

  Could this place really be why? Was this what she’d been missing, what she’d been longing for all these years?

  Her mother held out her hand and Rena took it. And the moment she did, the moment she felt her mom’s warm, familiar touch, she knew she’d made the right decision.

  She knew she’d finally found her home.

  Chapter Six

  Kaydin ran after her. She’d seen what he was and horrified, she’d run from him. He was what she’d always feared and what had haunted her nightmares since she was a child. As he ran into the clearing, he saw her reaching for the shell that was her mother, her hand outstretched.

  “Rena,” he called! “Don’t!”

  She turned back to him, her eyes gleaming with moisture, a small smile lifting her lips. He ran toward her but it was too late. She stepped through the doorway and the demon in her mother’s skin stepped out.

  “No!” he yelled. But it was no use. It was too late. Rena was gone.

  The demon sauntered up to him, her red hair flowing around her shoulders, her green eyes gleaming with an otherworldly glow.

  “Hello, Kaydin.” She reached out her hand, running her fingers along his jaw, tempting him, like the wicked temptress she was. But it wouldn’t work on him
. Not while he still had Rena’s scent in his mind.

  “So are you going rogue or going soft?” she taunted. “You could have killed the girl and closed the portal years ago. Why didn’t you?”

  He snarled at her and she drew back, but she didn’t lose that wicked smile.

  “I know you’d like nothing more than to take me to the ground and have your wild, ferocious way with me. But that isn’t going to happen. Not if you ever want to see your precious little Rena again.”

  “You got what you wanted. Leave her alone.”

  “Oh, I plan to. By the time you go in there and bring her out, I’ll be long gone.”

  “And how do you know I won’t kill you right now?”

  “Because if you do, the portal will close and you will never see your sweet little Rena again. And you’ve already sacrificed so much for her. I know. I’ve watched you.”

  “You don’t know what I’ll do.”

  “Don’t I? Happy hunting, Kaydin. I really hope it won’t take you too many years to find her and then find your way back out. As you know, it’s a maze down there.”

  She turned and walked away and he knew she was right. Knew he was making a critical mistake. Again. By letting her walk away, he was letting a temptress demon loose in the world to cause all kinds of hell on earth. It could take him years to track her down, years that this portal would stay open, unguarded and unprotected. It went against his creed, his honor, his principles.

  And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to kill her. If he did, the portal would close trapping Rena inside with no hope of rescue. She’d go mad within days. And she’d be lost to him forever.

  He couldn’t do it.

  He couldn’t let her die today any more than he could let her die fifteen years ago. Something about her had reached inside him, grabbed hold of his human heart and refused to let go.

  He turned his back on the demon, stretched up on his hind legs and roared as he began his transformation. He only hoped he’d be able to find her. And soon.