by Kat Bostick
Charlie chuckled as he returned from the fridge with a stack of ribeye steaks. Who the heck kept that many steaks on hand? Oh, yeah, werewolves. Dumb question. Charlie carried the butcher’s block of meat around the counter to a spot by the floor to ceiling windows.
Mari hadn’t been paying much mind when she walked into the kitchen but now she had to gasp at the gorgeous view that was visible from the dining room table. The forest crept up to the back of the house, leaving just enough room for small strip of grass to grow between the stone patio and the tree line.
She started when Charlie appeared next to her with a plate in his hand. “Oh, thanks.”
“Please, make yourself at home. I understand you’ve seen hard times. Rest assured that everything is going to get easier for you now. The pack will take care of you. Both of you.”
She worried her bottom lip, not entirely sure how to respond. That was the plan, right? Come to the pack and seek sanctuary. Mari just hadn’t anticipated Charlie’s kindness. She expected him to be more domineering.
And that was where she needed to be careful. She couldn’t trust these wolves simply because they were compassionate. They weren’t what Gran described but that didn’t mean Mari was letting her guard down, either. From the moment Cash led them to the house, her brain was screaming at her that all of this was far too easy. Nothing good came easy in Mari’s experience.
“Ugh, thanks.” She muttered again and awkwardly accepted the plate.
Not wanting to sit alone at the table, Mari settled cross-legged on the floor next to Jasper. The meat in front of him was untouched, presumably because he was waiting for her. He gave the sandwiches an investigatory sniff, then with a subtle nod he turned his attention to the steaks and dug in.
“And what’s that all about?” Charlie looked mildly offended.
“He’s a picky eater and for some reason that extends to what I eat too.” Mari told the alpha before taking a hearty bite of the best sandwich she’d ever eaten. Father Above, she could get used to this.
“You would be too if you had such a strong sense of smell and sensitive palate. It is both the blessing and the curse of a keen nose. We can pick apart each component of our meal, even in a complex dish. That means we can also taste every preservative and artificial ingredient.” Charlie twirled a dining room chair around and straddled it, his arms resting casually on the back. “As for caring about what you eat, that’s what a mate does. He wants only the best for you.”
Mari was saved from changing the subject by the front door slamming and a booming baritone voice calling “where is that handsome bastard? I’m coming for you, little brother!”
Somewhere in a room across the hall from the kitchen Deak called a warning. “Watch the carpet, Teal! If you don’t take those filthy boots off at the door, I’ll bite you!” Apparently he hadn’t gone far when he stormed out of the house this morning.
A delightfully deep chuckle and the twin thump of boots dropping on hardwood said that Teal heeded the warning. Two seconds later a broad shouldered man with warm umber skin slipped into the dining area. The others were visibly fitter than the average man and this guy was no exception. The seams on his olive green shirt threatened to burst as his thick arms swung at his sides.
“Well paint me red and call me a fire truck! It really is you.” Teal fixed Jasper with a mega-watt smile. His teeth were pristinely white and so perfectly shaped that he could easily be a model for toothpaste commercials.
Jasper forgot his meal and rushed over to greet the newcomer. Teal knelt to embrace the wolf. He dipped his head and buried his nose in Jasper’s scruff, inhaling deeply. Mari turned her gaze away, suddenly feeling like she was intruding on a moment.
“And you must be Mari!” She’d been too focused on her sandwich to notice Teal release Jasper and lean down beside her. Before Mari could respond, Teal wrapped her in a tight hug. She did her best not to squirm. “I’m Teal. Under normal circumstances I’d hope that Trev told you about me but I hear he hasn’t been doing a lot of talking lately.”
“I’ve seen you. As a wolf, I mean.” Now that Mari had seen Deak in both forms, she was sure she could match human faces with wolves from her dreams. It was kind of funny to sort through memories of animals in her head and match them with people.
Teal pressed his face into her scalp and sniffed. Was it polite to openly smell someone in werewolf society? Either way, Mari wasn’t about to do the same to him. “Ah, there it is.” He pulled away and nodded thoughtfully. “You’re the first witch I’ve ever scented.”
“Lucky me.” She muttered.
Teal’s answering chuckle sent vibrations through Mari’s arm because he still hadn’t moved away. Jasper interrupted the prolonged hug by stuffing his snout between the two of them and wiggling aggressively until Teal was forced to sit back on his haunches. That only made him laugh harder.
“Of all the bachelors in this house, I never thought you would be the first to fret over a mate.” Teal put the back of his hands next to his mouth and stage whispered to Jasper “She is pretty, isn’t she?”
“She’s also right here.” Mari pointed out.
“Ooh and she’s got spunk.” Teal gave Charlie a look. “I like her already.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Trevor’s witch almost hexed Cash this morning. We’re going to have our hands full.” Charlie replied.
Alright, apparently they were just going to keep talking about her like she wasn’t two feet away from them. And like she wasn’t even a person. Mari wasn’t anyone’s witch. She didn’t appreciate being made to feel like a belonging. Though, she had to admit, she was already far more fond of Teal than any of the other pack mates she’d met. Except maybe Clem.
Jasper was still shielding Mari when Teal jabbed him with an elbow. “I guess I can forgive you for running off like that. Looks like you had something important to take care of.”
Mari refocused on her food when Teal pushed up from the floor to retrieve his own sandwich. She was about to take a bite when Charlie caught her wrist. The sandwich fell from her grip as she prepared to jerk her arm away but he let go almost immediately. Probably because Jasper was growling unhappily.
“Forgive me. We are a tactile bunch.” Charlie put his hands up and leaned back in his chair. “Your tattoos intrigue me. Are they recent?”
Mari tucked her wrists as close to her side as she could and shook her head. “I got them when I was in college.”
“And you knew nothing of our kind?”
“I barely knew what I was.” She shrugged, not really wanting to explain her tattoos or anything else about herself lest she accidentally give away too much.
“A coincidence then. Or perhaps another one of God’s playful games.”
“Not exactly.” She cleared her throat. “I was inspired by a story my grandmother used to tell me.” She wanted to talk about Gran even less than she wanted to talk about herself but for some reason the God comment irked her. Mari’s divine was not the same as Charlie’s.
Charlie detected the crack in her voice at the mention of Gran and was kind enough to relent. “I’d love to hear it someday.”
“Sure.”
Other than the rather loud sound of Jasper ripping into meat, the kitchen grew quiet. Teal munched happily on sandwich after sandwich while Mari pushed the crumbs around on her plate. She could feel Charlie watching her but she didn’t know what to do or say. She’d never planned this far ahead. And, for some reason, she imagined that the very first thing to happen after finding the pack would be Jasper’s change. Now she was here indefinitely with a wolf and not a man.
Charlie interrupted her growing uneasiness by stating “You’ve never witnessed a change before.”
“Not necessarily.”
“It’s not pretty.”
“I don’t expect sparkles and rainbows.” Actually, she had no clue what to expect. When asked, Jasper confirmed that the change was grisly and painful. That night when she performed her rites
, however, his shift pretty much was sparkles and rainbows. Did that have less to do with him and more to do with her magic?
It didn’t matter because Mari had no intention of using that magic again. Not until she understood it better and knew how it worked.
“The more time that passes between changes, the harder the change is when it comes. He’s going to be in a lot of pain. It’ll be a fight. A long change is a risky change. It’s rare but a werewolf can get stuck halfway.”
“Stuck?” Mari straightened. “How do you prevent that?”
“Don’t distract him. I need his focus to be on breaking through whatever is blocking him.”
“Got it. I’ll zip my lips.”
Charlie smiled then. “I won’t warn you twice because I don’t think it will discourage you but if you come out there with us, you must stay. He wants you there and it will distress him if you leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere. He knows that.” Mari shot Jasper a reassuring look.
“Good.” Charlie clapped his hands together. “The moon rises full in two days’ time. That is when we will try for a change. You should both get some rest before then. The night of the full moon will surely be a long one.”
The alpha didn’t know just how right he was.
Chapter 27
Mari
Mari was relieved to finish the day in Jasper’s room. She assured herself that it was because she was tired, not because she was hiding from the pack. Her excuse turned out to be truer than she thought. The “quick” nap she and Jasper settled in for lasted more than sixteen hours.
They only got up the next day because Charlie knocked on the door to deliver late breakfast. Jasper got his standard steaks while Mari was offered an enormous plate of pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs, paired with a homemade cappuccino. Werewolf life was much more luxurious than she pictured.
With a full belly, Mari intended to lie back down and sink into Jasper’s ridiculously comfy mattress until her muscles atrophied. Charlie had other plans for her. When Clem came to collect their breakfast plates, she also collected them. An unexpected silence blanketed the first floor of the house. The ticking of a grandfather clock in the office was the sole noise to penetrate the quiet.
Charlie was waiting for them in the kitchen. He didn’t speak until they followed him out the back door and onto the stone patio. “Welcome to Humble Springs territory. I’m going to be your tour guide today. My lovely assistant Clementine is here to correct me when I inevitably get the story wrong.” Clem pinched the sides of her skirt and curtsied. “Come along, Mariella. There’s a lot to see.”
“I bought this property as a mating gift for my lovely Viola, God rest her soul.” Charlie explained as he led them around the side of the house. “Smart woman that she was, my mate only agreed to marry me if I promised to build her a house.”
Mari mentally mapped the house from the outside, trying to imagine just how many rooms there really were. “I think she got more than she bargained for.”
“Aye, in more ways than one.” Charlie laughed his agreement. “The house has grown, as has the pack. I never planned to become an alpha. I wanted a humble home for my family, tucked away from the rest of the world. As a young man, I got myself in quite a bit of trouble and once I married Viola, I was ready for my wild days to end.”
“You wanted a humble home like a deer wants to be dinner.” Clem teased.
“Each man has his own definition of humble, Citrus Sweet.”
Charlie went on to tell Mari the story of surprising his wife with plans for the house, occasionally swiping a stray tear from beneath his eye. He pointed out the barn—remodeled to serve as ten car garage, storage area, and secure facility, whatever that meant—and highlighted the original parts of the structure. Some of the greying wood had lived there longer than Charlie, though he wouldn’t tell her exactly how long that was.
Moving on to the southward side of the house, the alpha revealed a massive greenhouse. The temperature inside was sweltering and the air muggy. Much of the garden beds were in disarray—obviously having gone more than a season without being tended to—but Mari saw a great deal of potential. As they circled the elaborate mini-pond and waterfall, she had to remind herself not to get carried away with daydreams.
This was temporary. The pack would shelter her while she figured out her next move and put space between herself and Lyse. To imagine it any other way was idealistic and impractical. Mari thought she saw a passing glimmer of wolfish eyes watching them from the tree line when they made their way back into the house. She wondered if perhaps Charlie had sent the others away to avoid drama. More reason for her not to get comfortable. If the pack had to be kicked out of their own home just to keep the peace, Mari’s presence would quickly grow to be resented.
“What about the lodge?” She asked Charlie when he showed her into the parlor. Yup, they actually called their living room a parlor. “Not to be rude but, surely it can’t fund all of this. Even tourist season doesn’t pay this well.”
His lips twisted into a secretive smile. “Like I told you, there was trouble in my youth. Trouble pays well if you go looking for it in the right places.”
The alpha described himself as a yegg, claiming his heightened werewolf hearing made him the best safecracker in North America. Again, he wouldn’t tell her when he was using his skills to crack safes, only that he was particularly good at it. The absurdity of the story struck her more than once but it was hard to discount his words as fictitious when they were standing in a house that was probably worth more than Mari could make in her lifetime.
“I named my first born after my second favorite thing.” He joked.
The more she learned about Charlie and his pack, the more she wanted to know. If Charlie had this many stories to tell, Jasper was sure to be a goldmine of entertainment. She inclined her head to catch the wolf in a sidelong glance. He’d been her silent shadow for the entire tour, brushing along her hip but otherwise paying her no mind. Did he sense her hesitation now that the pack thought they were mates? Judging whether he was upset was difficult when his features lacked diversity in expression.
Mari mentally harrumphed. He had no right to be upset.
“Down there you’ll find the laundry room.” Charlie pointed to a staircase beyond the parlor. “The fitness room too. And over here,” he waved dramatically, still playing the part of cheerful tour guide. “we have the library.”
“Library? But I thought the study…” her words were cut short with a gasp.
Charlie wasn’t misusing the word library. Before them was a room twice the size of the study with triple the amount of bookshelves. Each one was laden with leather bound tomes, history books, and every imaginable type of fiction. Aged scrolls and unfurled maps littered the wide wooden table in the center of the room. Soft leather couches, wingback chairs, and several other desks filled the scant square footage that wasn’t occupied by shelves.
“Sweet baby werewolf Jesus.” Mari said under her breath. “This is incredible.”
“Wait until you read some of them.” Clem strode over to a shelf on the furthest wall and heaved a heavy book down onto a nearby desk. “I’ll have to continue my research but I do believe there is information about your kind in here.”
“My kind?” Mari asked nervously.
“Sibylline Dreamers.”
“You have books about witches?”
“Of course. Werewolves, vampires, demons, you name it. I suppose you could call me the pack’s record keeper. I maintain a collection—“
“Hoard!” Charlie fake coughed.
