by Kat Bostick
Charlie let out a gravelly sigh of defeat. “You are going to give me grey hairs, Mariella.”
“The salt and pepper look would suit you.” She smiled innocently at him. “Please let him out. He’s under control.”
Charlie relented but not before Mari stepped back and Cash stepped forward. It rankled for Jasper to see his brother protecting his mate from him. At the same time, he was grateful that the others were so protective of her. If this other witch did manage to keep her grasp on his mind, Mari would be safe from him as long as the pack was around to defend her.
Jasper wanted to throw his weight into the door to fling it open as soon as Charlie finished with the lock. Instead, he took measured and cautious steps to the doorway and waited for his alpha to set him free. He was being careful not to alarm them and land himself right back in the cage but he was also finding that his legs were too wobbly to do much more than stumble. That didn’t really matter because he wasn’t on his feet for long. The door squealed open, he took two steps out, and Mari tackled him. Cash seemed slightly astonished that she managed to slip around his broad figure for a second time.
“Damn witch is slippery as soap.” He muttered.
“I’m so sorry,” Mari muffled a sob in his fur. “I didn’t know what to do and I panicked.”
Once he was finished wheezing from the boa constrictor hold on his neck, Jasper shrugged off her needless apology and her arms. Her touch calmed him some but he wouldn’t settle fully until he knew about all of her injuries and that they were healing. He stood over her and began thoroughly sniffing every inch of her. He started with her face, pausing his investigation to lick salty tears from beneath her eyes and rub his chin on her cheek. Then he worked his way down her neck, her arms, and along her legs.
“I’m fine, Jas.” She insisted. The wolf ignored her and continued searching for even the faintest whiff of blood.
Finally he returned to the bite on her arm and nosed it. Mari obediently turned her forearm to reveal the wound to him. She winced when he licked over the dried blood and ripped skin but didn’t pull away as he got to work cleaning. She knew it would heal much faster if she let him use his own brand of magic.
“There might not have been anything you could do, Mari. We don’t know how your magic works and we don’t know how this other witch works.” Charlie said gently. Jasper agreed with a reassuring lick to her neck.
“Her magic is the same magic as mine. She is what I am. If I was more powerful than her I probably could have countered her spell.” She pressed her nose to the top of Jasper’s head and inhaled deeply. “Actually, it isn’t quite like mine. She uses incantations, not songs. And her magic tastes fizzier and coppery, too.”
“It tastes coppery? You can taste magic?” Cash asked.
“You can’t? I would have thought it would be more apparent to you than to me.” Mari shrugged one shoulder. Jasper could taste magic too, especially Mari’s. He was just as surprised to discover that the others couldn’t.
“It’s very likely that there are variants of certain types of magic. We’ll talk to Clem about it when you tell us what happened tonight.” Charlie scratched three fingers down his windpipe. “In the meantime, we need to deal with this.” He gestured toward Jasper.
“This?” Mari’s tone took on a hint of the snarl from earlier. “What exactly do we need to deal with?”
“Mari, I’m grateful that Jasper has you to defend him but I would appreciate it if you stopped behaving like a rabid she-wolf. None of us mean him any harm. I made the decision that I thought was right and I stand by it.” Charlie ground out. If Jasper could, he would be chuckling right alongside Cash. “You’re giving me unpleasant flashbacks to life as a young father.”
“Hey!” Cash whined. “Why would memories of raising me be unpleasant?” The alpha gave his son a pointed look but said nothing.
“Jasper, it’s time for you to shift back.” Charlie commanded, not unkindly.
That was going to be difficult. The skin of the wolf felt glued to his bones. Had the witch succeeded in breaking apart his two halves for a second time? Was it going to be possible for him to change? He whimpered his uncertainty.
Mari hummed thoughtfully before standing. “Can you walk now?” She looked down at him. When he gave his tail a lazy wag, she nodded. “Come outside.”
Chapter 44
Mari
Mari felt magically impotent. Even as Cash and Charlie reminded her that it wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t yet learned her craft, she was inwardly sulking. The worst part was that she hadn’t been incapable of doing something tonight. She’d been too panicked to connect with her power, too wrapped up in her personal insecurities to help.
It really pissed her off that she let Lyse do this to Jasper.
It was time to reclaim her power and banish that feeling of helplessness. Meeting Lyse, seeing what she could do under the wrong influence, filled Mari with a newfound sense of determination. She would learn her craft and she would learn it well. Not to control wolves but to be an ally to them. That much she could give them. Especially after the trouble her presence had caused.
Once they were outside, Mari pushed all thoughts of Lyse out of her mind. She needed to have singular focus and unwavering confidence in her ability to achieve what she set out to do. Jasper followed clumsily behind her, blinking back the last of the sedative effects.
Truthfully, she had no more idea of what to do now than she did earlier this evening. Clem found a video series for Mari that taught Kulning techniques and she’d been practicing as often as she could. So far Clem deemed her attempts as “well intentioned shrieking,” which didn’t make Mari feel hopeful.
The problem was that she still didn’t really understand how to infuse magic into the songs. There were some that she just knew and they were undeniably magic. But if she tried learning a new song it was only that; a song. A herd of cows might come running but probably not wolves.
Focus. Mari needed to focus. Somewhere buried in her head was the song taught to her in dreams. The song of the moon. It was the music she sang silently to Jasper during his first change and she was confident it would help him change again.
They found a spot away from the barn, out in the open under the waxing moon. Mari settled on the cool ground, letting the hum of life grow her determination. Jasper slumped beside her, looking up at her expectantly with those beautiful emerald eyes. Charlie and Cash wore similar expressions and Mari suddenly felt an enormous pressure to do this and do it right.
Very well. She would. She was a witch, a true witch. A powerful witch. No, amend that to badass powerful witch. And smart, way smarter than some luminary with a cool accent. Mari heard two stifled chuckles and a wolfish chuff and realized she must have been giving herself that pep talk out loud.
I am a witch who sings with wolves. She reminded herself, mentally this time. With a final breath she focused on drawing that same potent energy she experienced during her rites. The moon wasn’t quite full overhead but she was close and the power she lent to her children was growing stronger. Mari closed her eyes and felt for that power, that beautiful gold aura that glowed around Jasper, inhaling as much of it as she could into her lungs.
“I don’t know how this will affect you.” She warned Charlie and Cash without opening her eyes. “You don’t have to stay.”
“We’ll stay until its done.” Charlie answered.
Under the right circumstances and with training, it was Mari’s understanding that she wouldn’t always need to work so hard to draw on power. Gran described magic as a muscle and the more often she worked it, the stronger and more consistent it would become. Well, this was the first of many workouts.
“Guide me mothers, sisters, ancestors. Grant me your strength, your will, and your blessing.” Mari sat back on her heels, digging the soles of her feet into the soil. “Earth Mother, I seek power to free the soul of your sister’s child. I repay you with worship as I walk among the wolves that bring
balance to your forests.” She tilted her head up to feel the caress of moonlight on her face. “Huntress, Mother Moon, I carry your song in my lungs. I sing it into the hearts of your children so that they may walk freely on two legs or four.”
Hey, that wasn’t half bad for improvisation.
Mari refrained from giving herself a pat on the back just yet. She finished her plea, planted her hands on Jasper’s shoulders, and waited. Nothing happened, not even a tingle. The silence between the four of them grew heavy and Mari was beginning to worry that something was wrong with her. Then magic irrupted into her from everywhere; her feet, her palms, her heart, her lungs. The rush of it was so sudden, intense, and pleasurable that she moaned. Yeesh, hopefully it didn’t sound as sexual to the wolves as it did to Mari’s own ears.
She took in another long breath, intending to let it out slowly and pace herself, but when she exhaled the first note, the song glided smoothly from her throat unbidden by her. The rest came on instinct, billowing from her lungs like something inside of them was pushing the music and the magic out all at once. Her eyes were still closed but beneath her hands she felt Jasper twisting and shifting. She removed her hands when skin started to split, not wanting to cause him anymore pain than he was already in.
Plus, it was kind of gross to be touching all of those moving parts.
Mari’s eyes whipped open when two strong arms caught her waist, squeezing a grunt out of her. Jasper was damp with sweat and his skin probably raw but Mari embraced him anyway. He was panting, the movement of his chest so violent that it knocked her off balance and sent them both to the ground. They remained there in the grass for as long as Mari could stand before his weight began to crush her.
So much passed between them in that short moment. Relief, regret, wild fear and even wilder desperation. For once, Mari didn’t care that they had an audience. The insecurity and rejection she’d felt earlier came to the forefront of her mind and she let the tears fall freely. Believing that he hated her was probably what scared her the most.
“You’re safe.” He whispered, rubbing his face in the crook of her neck. Mari wasn’t entirely sure if he was reassuring himself of that or her. She couldn’t do more than nod meekly.
Jasper sat up, tugging her with him. His body trembled and his temperature was hot enough to kill a normal person but Mari was learning that those were regular occurrences after a change. She looked over at Charlie and Cash, expecting to see impatience or one of Cash’s perverted smiles. Neither man was smiling. They were crying. The two big burly werewolves standing over them had silent tears collecting under their eyes.
“Mariella Sowka,” Charlie’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “We are blessed to be in your presence.”
Mari shrunk back from the overwhelming affection and awe in the alpha’s gaze. Sure that spell had been powerful and she was pretty proud to have successfully done it but did it really warrant that look? And from Cash, too? Maybe it was a werewolf thing. They were total softies.
“That was…incredible.” Cash sighed dreamily.
Mari untangled herself from Jasper and stood, wavering as dizziness made her see stars. Hopefully using a spell like that wouldn’t always take so much out of her. She felt like she could sleep for a hundred years and still be tired. The only thing driving her to get up and go inside was the odd looks Cash and Charlie gave her. “You guys are weirding me out.”
“I told you.” Jasper smiled smugly at his alpha. “I told you she was an angel.”
“Ha, okay, yeah.” She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “Let’s get you some clothes, Red. And we should probably make sure that Lyse and her coven didn’t follow us here for some witchy ambush.”
Charlie managed to pull himself out of his stupor with that comment. He frowned and nodded seriously before motioning for Cash to follow him back to the barn. He returned alone a minute later with sweatpants for Jasper. They were a little snug but it was good enough to get him into the house so that he could dress in his own clothes.
“Send the others out.” Charlie ordered. “Clem will take care of you two.”
✽✽✽
Clem busied herself fixing tea and heating up a massive pot of beef stew in the kitchen while Mari helped Jasper up the stairs. Or at least her pride made her claim she was helping him and not the other way around. They were probably a sad sight, wobbling to Jasper’s room, clutching each other to stand. Jasper was already sweaty from the exertion of his change and by the time she twisted the handle on his door, she was as damp as him.
“I feel like I ran a zillion miles.” She groaned, plopping herself on his unmade bed and hoping he didn’t care if she coated his sheets in sweat. “How am I ever going to be useful if I almost pass out every time I cast?”
“Your magic requires a lot of power. It’s just like learning to change at will. You’ll get stronger with practice.” Jasper answered in his perfect, silky voice. Mari let the smooth tone caress her drained soul. When had the sound of his voice become such a comfort? It wasn’t that long ago that he couldn’t speak at all.
“I’m glad one of us is so confident in me.”
Jasper gave her a sly smile over his shoulder. It was only then that Mari realized he was naked. She didn’t bother pretending she wasn’t looking. Her mind was reeling from the whirlwind of the night and she needed a distraction. A naked and glistening Jasper was an excellent distraction.
Mari was almost disappointed when he slipped into another pair of sweatpants and tugged a t-shirt over his head. Alright, fine, she was totally disappointed and by the way that sly smile stretched further across Jasper’s face, he could tell. When he crouched between her legs at the foot of the bed his teasing expression evaporated and the look he gave her was so lost and uncertain that she felt her eyes water again.
“I thought I hurt you.” He whispered. “I thought she made me—“ Jasper cut himself off and pressed his face into her stomach.
Mari stroked his hair. “You would never hurt me.”
“I’m glad one of us is so confident in me.” He forced a smile.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a long heartbeat. Jasper’s emotion trickled into her, their connection rekindled with the absence of Lyses’ magic. Mari experienced all of his temporary heartbreak, his fear, his helplessness. Every one of those feelings was caused by her.
I did this to him.
“I will never let that happen to you again.” Mari promised Jasper.
“Is there nothing I can do to keep you from coming after me if it does?”
“I told you I would come for you.”
“Yes, I remember.” He kissed her cheek. “And I remember that you always keep your promises.”
“Always.” She agreed.
Which is why I never promised I would stay.
A tired silence settled over them. Jasper climbed onto the bed beside Mari and hauled her further back so she could lie on his chest. Any minute the pack would return from their patrol, ready to be debriefed. Charlie would want answers and she could only give him so many. Mari would do as she had done since she arrived, be honest where she could and justify her lies to herself later.
Until then she was enjoying this moment of peace.
Jasper pinched the fabric of her shirt and tugged lightly. “What’s this?”
“A shirt?” Mari had a feeling she knew where he was going with this.
“My shirt. Why are you wearing my shirt, Mari?”
“Um, it’s cozy.”
She could hear the smirk in his words. “Uh-huh. And where did you get this shirt?”
“From your laundry.” She mumbled.
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you.” Yeah right, he couldn’t hear her.
“I took it from your basket when I was doing laundry. Okay? There! Are you happy now?” She sat up and scowled indignantly.
“Don’t you think that’s a little creepy and stalkerish?” Jasper teased.
“At least I don’t follow
you.” She grumbled, rolling over to give him her back and hide her embarrassment.
“Oh no, you would never climb out of a two story window to follow me into a cemetery in the middle of the night.” He said with a sardonic twist. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you liked me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mari yawned. “You have your charms.”
Jasper wrapped his body around hers and burrowed his face into her hair. “Rest for a minute, sweet honeysuckle. I’ll wake you when its time.”
True to his word, Jasper woke her twenty minutes later when Deak came to fetch them. Mari joined the others in the study and told them every single detail she could remember about the events of the night, excluding most of her conversation with Lyse and why she’d chosen tonight to enchant Jasper again.
Though she received a handful of reproachful looks—which she totally deserved—the conversation was easier than anticipated. Charlie wasn’t pleased that she’d run off to deal with the witch on her own but he understood her logic and appreciated her consideration for the pack’s safety. That made her feel so guilty that she couldn’t make eye contact. They wouldn’t be at risk in the first place if not for her.
A filament of unspoken discontent lingered between Mari and the alpha following their heated disagreement about how to handle Jasper but both managed to be civil. Charlie was even patient enough to let her take bites of stew between sentences.
At some point the pack ceased asking her questions and began discussing strategy. Not having anything useful to offer to the conversation, Mari leaned into Jasper’s shoulder and let her gaze soften. It quickly became clear that this was the first time the pack had to develop a strategy for dealing with a witch. Their ideas ranged from Deak’s brilliant “just find her and kill her” to Teal’s suggestion that they report Lyse to the police for trespassing.
No one, even Charlie, had much better solutions. Tracking Lyse and Patricia from the cemetery proved fruitless as apparently they used magic to cover their scent. The alpha wasn’t keen on the idea of hunting them anyway because there was no telling how big the coven truly was. So far Mari had met three members other than Lyse. That didn’t mean there weren’t twenty more lurking around in Humble Springs.
