The Witch and the Wolf - Complete

by Lola Kidd

  Three

  “It is hot as hell out here,” Ozzy complained, wiping his wet brow.

  “We’re in the desert, dummy,” Cross said. There were only two weeks until the wedding. He and Ozzy were on a recon mission to visit a fae in the desert. He and Rory had met the fae Periwinkle when they had first come to Sienna. They’d had no luck locating Prescott even using magic locator spells. If the Cleary Coven couldn’t find the Northlands Fae, there was only one option left. And Cross had to find Prescott.

  They waited for dark outside the valley where Periwinkle lived. Once the sun was down, the two werewolves walked to where her house was hidden.

  “You stupid werewolf!” a voice screeched on the wind when they got close. “You came back and you dared to bring another of your kind into my valley.”

  Cross held up his hands. “I know. I’m an asshole. I need your help.”

  The ancient fae showed herself. “Why would I help you?”

  “It’s not for me. It’s for the witch. Beatrice’s descendent.”

  The fae tilted her head and jumped from the tree she was clinging to. “You mean that halfbreed?”

  “That’s the one.”

  The fae’s laugh boomed across the valley. “You can leave now. Thank you for giving me a laugh, stupid wolf.”

  “I don’t know if I would leave so fast,” Ozzy said, eyes glowing yellow.

  Periwinkle’s eyes turned white. “Are you threatening me, young wolf? I am hundreds of years older than you. You may want to reconsider.”

  “I’m not threatening you,” Ozzy said. “I just think the witch’s father will be mad if he finds out you ruined his daughter’s wedding.”

  “So? What does her wedding have to do with me?”

  “We can’t find her father,” Cross explained. “The witches’ magic won’t work to find him, but I think yours will. If you refuse, our wedding will be ruined because of you.”

  “I ask again, so?”

  “So,” Ozzy smiled wickedly. “Her father isn’t the most rational being, from what I understand. Do you really want him to hear from his beloved daughter that you had a hand in keeping happiness from her?”

  The wind whispered among the leaves while Periwinkle considered her options. Her voice was venomous when she finally spoke. “Fine. I will help you. This is the last time. The next time you set foot in my valley, I will kill you, young wolf.”

  Cross smiled smugly. “I don’t think you’d dare, but keep telling yourself that.”

  Periwinkle dropped the enchantment around the entrance to her house and a door appeared in the mountainside. Ozzy and Cross followed the fae into her home. Inside it was a cluttered room of stone. There were rolls of paper and empty bottles everywhere. Cross saw a black rabbit munching on purple bread on top of a bookcase.

  The nature fae lived in squalor, but the great magic she possessed made Cross’ stomach turn as they waited for her to find the right piece of paper.

  “Here it is!” she called from the far side of the rock room. She came and swept her hand across the table near the young men. The items on the table clattered to the floor noisily. “This is an old map of the world. I should be able to find the Lost Tribe members with it.”

  “We’re looking for one Northlands fae,” Ozzy said.

  Periwinkle laughed. “Stupid wolf. I can only find the tribe, not one single person.”

  “How the fuck is that supposed to help us?” Cross asked as his wolf snapped to be let out. It was already restless since the stone room was filled with too much magic. Periwinkle’s insolence was adding fire to the flames.

  “There are only three members left, not including your betrothed,” Periwinkle said condescendingly. “You can very easily find three people.”

  “We can work the network,” Ozzy assured Cross. “The Moon Brothers have favors to call in. This will help us a lot.”

  Cross nodded. “Fine. Do the spell.”

  Periwinkle started chanting an incantation. Ozzy crouched down and heaved.

  “Get out of here, man,” Cross told his friend. “Both of us don’t need to suffer through this.”

  Ozzy nodded and left the room quickly. Periwinkle kept up the spell.

  Cross gritted his teeth. “I think I’m going to have to shift.”

  “Too powerful for you, eh?” Periwinkle gloated. “Do whatever you need to, beast.”

  He stripped off his clothes as quickly as he could and dropped onto four paws. His wolf watched the fae curiously. Its hair was standing up along its spine, but Cross wouldn’t let it leave the room too. He needed to make sure Periwinkle didn’t try to lie about where the Northlands Fae were.

  Finally, the magic in the room gathered around the fae as she cast the spell. Small flames appeared on the map and danced around.

  “This doesn’t make sense,” Periwinkle muttered to herself. “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to cast again. There’s something wrong with the spell.”

  Cross lay on his belly and covered his eyes with his paw. He whined as Periwinkle began the spell from the beginning. The magic was flung out into the room once again, making Cross see spots. Halfway through the chanting, he got up and began to pace and howl. It was too much. Only the thought of Rory and their wedding kept him in the room.

  Mercifully, the magic gathered around Periwinkle again. A scattering of flames appeared on the map again. Cross looked at the map. There was one flame in the US that had to be Rory. That flame was almost white while the rest were orange-red. There was one orange-red flame in New Zealand, one in eastern Japan, and one in southern Brazil. There were two clumps on the map too. They were close together in Iceland. Cross took it all in and then ran from the room.

  He shifted back to human when he hit the fresh air. He fell to his knees and retched.

  Ozzy put his hand on Cross’ shoulder. “You okay?”

  He wiped his mouth on his hand and wiped his hand on the grass. “Yeah. She had to do the fucking spell twice.”

  They went back into the stone room.

  “I can’t help you!” Periwinkle said. She was tossing things into a bag. “I’m sorry. I tried, but it’s no use. The spell isn’t working right.”

  “What are you talking about?” Cross asked, pulling his clothes back on. “I saw the flames. They’re in New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, and Iceland. Rory was the white flame in the US.”

  “That’s four,” Ozzy said, confused. “I thought you said there were only three left besides Rory.”

  Periwinkle picked up the black rabbit and stuck it in her bag. “There are only three left. The spell didn’t work.”

  “Why are you packing?” Cross said. “I don’t understand what you mean. I saw the flames. Maybe you were wrong and there are four. Or maybe it was some leftover mojo or something.”

  Periwinkle shook her head wildly as she added a loaf of purple bread to her bag. “No. The spell didn’t work right. You need to leave now.”

  Cross was mad. He had seen the spell work. The fairy was losing it. “But…”

  The air in the room turned red and books flew from the shelves. “LEAVE NOW!”

  The fairy’s hair was a pile of snakes and her skin was mottled. Ozzy pulled at Cross’ arm. “Let’s just leave.”

  The pair hiked out of the valley. While they were resting on their bikes and taking a drink of water, a streak of pale purple flew up from the valley and disappeared over the horizon.

  “What the fuck was that?” Ozzy asked Cross.

  “No fucking clue, man. I saw the flames. The spell worked just fine. Maybe the Lost Tribe doesn’t want to be found?”

  “I don’t know, maybe. She looked spooked.”

  “Whatever. I know where we need to look now.”

  Cross knelt and wrote three countries in the dirt with his finger. “Who do we know in these places?”

  “New Zealand is easy. There is a clan of wild boar and a tribe of Tuatara there.” Ozzy smiled. “My dad knows one of the boars, so that’s our best
bet.”

  “Good. I think there’s a club of bats in Brazil. I met one of them at a gun show two or three years ago.”

  “Yeah, I think they live in the rainforest, though. Is that even close to where you saw the flame appear?”

  Cross tried to remember. “Yeah, I think so…or maybe not. Shit. I’m not good with geography. I should have stolen that map. That would have helped me a lot.”

  “Too late for that now.” Ozzy leaned on his bike. “I don’t know anyone in Japan.”

  “I almost think there’s some silkworms in China.”

  Ozzy looked skeptical. “Do you really want to trust worms with finding Prescott?”

  “Who else is there?”

  “Hold on.” Ozzy looked through his phone. “There might be a clan of monkeys that we know.”

  “Yes!” Cross howled and clapped Ozzy on the back. “That’s it! Let’s start making calls.”

  Ozzy and Cross made calls for over an hour. It was well after three in the morning before they had secured contacts in all three locations.

  “Damn, that was hard.” Ozzy yawned and stretched. “You want to sleep here tonight? I don’t want to ride anymore tonight. I’m way too tired.”

  Cross nodded and took off his shirt. “Sounds great to me.”

  Ozzy sank down to a wolf and started pawing at the ground by his bike. He curled up next to the front tire and laid his head on his front paws.

  Cross was about to shift down when he had a thought. “What about the ones in Iceland?”

  Ozzy didn’t move, so he toed him in the side with his boot. “Ozzy, man? What about the one in Iceland?”

  Slowly, Ozzy shifted back to human. “What the hell are you talking about, man?”

  “There was a clump of flames in Iceland. Two of them. We didn’t send anyone to look there.”

  “Fuck, Cross! Are you kidding me?” Ozzy put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath. “Who the hell do we know in Iceland?”

  “Bjork?” Cross joked. Ozzy didn’t laugh so he pressed on. “No, I can’t think of a soul in Iceland.”

  Ozzy paced back and forth. “Shit. Wait! Fish. There is a school of fish up there. They don’t talk with us much, but I remember them buying something from the Golden Bears when we were teenagers.”

  Cross tried to think back. “I don’t know. I can’t remember that at all.”

  Ozzy threw his hands in the air. “The only other supes out there are the vampires, and they aren’t going to be doing us any favors.”

  “Fuck. Let’s call the fish, then. You call the bears first and see if they’ll help us.”

  Ozzy looked pissed, but he started making calls. He got the son of the Golden Bears’ alpha to take his call. A little bit of wrangling and the bear agreed to take care of locating the fae in Iceland.

  When he hung up, Ozzy threw his phone on the ground. “It’s almost five in the morning. I’m going to bed.”

  “Fine, man.” Cross clasped hands with Ozzy and half hugged him. “Thanks, man. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  “No. You sure as hell could not have. You owe me big, man.”

  “Don’t worry. When you need to find your mate’s crazy dad before you can get married, I’ll have your back.”

  Ozzy shifted back to his wolf and curled up on the ground again. Cross followed suit and curled up next to his own bike. It was almost nostalgic, sleeping with Ozzy under the stars. They hadn’t done that since they were pups.

  Ozzy had helped him a lot. It was out of their hands. Now all Cross could do was hope their contacts came through and found Prescott.

  Four

  Rory leaned over Cross and whispered in his ear. “This is the last time before the wedding.”

  Cross groaned and rubbed his cock against her hard nub. “You have to be kidding me, Rory. That’s four whole days.”

  Rory bit her lower lip. “And I’ll be staying at my mom’s house starting tonight, too.”

  Cross thrust up and pulled Rory down so he slid into her. “Good idea. I could never keep my hands off you that long.”

  Ozzy was out at a movie with some of the other brothers so they had the house to themselves. They had already had sex in the living room, the kitchen, and on the bathroom floor. Now they were on the front stairs. If anyone moseyed on by and knocked on the door, they would see everything. Not that Rory cared. Cross felt so good nothing else mattered in the world when he was inside of her.

  She bit down on his shoulder as she came hard. He followed soon after, filling her with his seed. They both lay panting on the steps.

  “So you’re going to Magda’s?” Cross asked.

  Rory laughed. “Yeah, until the wedding. It’s not that long. I’ll be back before you know it. What’s Ozzy going to do?”

  “He’s moving in with Charlie,” Cross said, standing up and offering Rory his hand.

  She grasped his hand and he helped her up. “There’s nowhere else for him to go? Why can’t he build his own house too?”

  “Why? He likes spending time with his dad.”

  “Yeah, but…I don’t know. Once I’m out, I couldn’t imagine going back and living with my mom again.”

  Cross shrugged. “Werewolves aren’t like that. We’re a pack. It doesn’t really matter where we live since we like being close to each other.”

  Rory didn’t know if she liked the sound of that. She was going to ask Cross to consider moving to a house in Cleary. His house was nice, but it was small. The house set how many kids they could have, since there was only one extra bedroom and no way to add on to it. How many pups could they cram in one room? Three, tops, and that was pushing it. The werewolves usually only had one or two pups from what she had seen. She’d like to have at least two but three would be better.

  She and Cross had talked about having kids before but only in the abstract. He had to know that his house was too small for a big family. Right? From the way he talked, it sounded like he wanted to stay on the compound forever. Rory liked being close to the pack, but she wanted it to be an option to move some day if they needed to.

  She sat on one of the dining room chairs naked as Cross opened a new bottle of beer. “Would you ever live outside of the compound?”

  “No.” He finished the beer in one long drink. “Why? Do you not like it here?”

  “I do,” Rory said quickly. “But this house is small. I mean, there’s only one extra bedroom. That’s not a lot of space for expansion.”

  Cross looked around the kitchen. “It is small, but I thought it would work for four or five years.”

  “Five years! One year, two tops, but it won’t last us for five years. We’re not exactly teenagers, Cross.”

  “I know. So maybe we start construction on a new house in a year. Then, in two or three years, we’ll have a new, bigger place.”

  She got up and kissed him. “You always have all the answers.”

  He picked her up. “I have to be good for something. You have the brains, beauty, and magic. I can turn into a furball and have the body of a Greek god. I need to seem useful until the wedding.”

  “Oh, and then it’s all going to stop?”

  “Then I can relax and let you see just how much I depend on you. You’ll see that you are way too good for me.”

  Rory kissed Cross more aggressively. “As long as you keep that little body tight, I think we’ll be just fine.”

  Cross pressed her against the wall behind them. “Little body?”

  He was already hard again. He lifted her up until he could shove deep inside her again. Rory loved how strong he was. She felt feather-light in his arms. She had never been into muscles until she started dating Cross. Now just seeing the veins in his arms made her wet.

  He easily lifted her up and down as her body tensed. She tapped him on the shoulder so he would put her down. She wanted to feel him deeper inside. She turned and faced the wall as Cross put a hand on the back of her neck and forced her to bend over. He entered her again from
the back. His cock brushed against the right spot immediately and she was yelling his name.

  Cross kept hitting the spot deep inside her over and over as he pressed into her. She came so hard that she saw spots. Once she was reduced to only babbling his name over and over, Cross let go too and came inside her again.

  Rory collapsed against the wall and shivered. She felt a sting and reached down to touch her hips. There were puncture marks were Cross had been holding her. “You marked me again.”

  He bent down and licked at the wound. “Sorry. I’ll try to stop.”

  Rory rubbed the claw marks. “It’s okay. It doesn’t really hurt. Can you make me a sandwich?”

  “I think there’s some meat in the fridge.”

  She sat on the counter as Cross assembled her meal. She had to take advantage of his good mood while she could. He made the best sandwiches too. It was a good thing that she had had a love affair with all meats before they met. Cross couldn’t cook much beyond steaks, burgers, and pork. It was serendipitous that her favorite foods happened to be all things beef. They really were meant to be.

  “Have you heard anything back from your contacts yet?” she asked after he had passed her a plate.

  “Yes and no. I know he’s not in Japan or New Zealand. I’m waiting for Iceland and Brazil.”

  “Do you think Iceland is even a possibility, though? You said you saw more than one light there.”

  “I think that was a mistake, to be honest. Ozzy talked to his guy in the Golden Bears and the guy was cagey.”

  Rory laughed. “A cagey bear. Is that the guy with the vampire?”

  Cross nodded. “Yeah. Maybe he could ask her to send someone up, ’cause the fish aren’t doing a great job.”

  “No vampire is going to help us, especially not that vampire.”

  He sighed. “You’re right. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. The fairy just bolted as soon as she did the spell. She said it didn’t work.”