Wicked Good Witches
Book Two, Alpha Knows Best
Starla Silver
TABLE of CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ONE
Charlie Howard could not sleep. His brain felt stuck in the on position.
Just hours before, he and his family had discovered their father, Jack, was possibly still alive. This, topped with an impending full moon, didn’t leave room in his mind for sleep.
He hopped out of bed, slipped off his boxer shorts and turned on his shower. When the water was cool to the touch, he got in and let it spray away his thoughts. For a few minutes his mind cleared, questions and doubts disappearing down the drain.
But it didn’t last.
Where was his father? Was he a prisoner somewhere? Had he been held captive these last four years? Was he really still alive as his mother believed?
Would they be able to locate and properly bury their mother’s body? They knew where it should be, but accessing it might not be easy.
He found comfort in the fact that his sister, Melinda, showed great signs of improvement, and hoped she would start building a life for herself.
That relief disappeared however when he remembered the approaching full moon. He still didn’t understand why this moon seemed to be affecting him more so than any other. It tugged at his insides as if toying with him. Daring him to transform.
Why? Why after nearly ten years would this moon be so different? He was always tense, and easily prone to overreaction during the full moon, but this time, he could practically feel the wolf inside him, moving just under his skin. Like a secret passenger just waiting for its moment to appear. And its moment was this full moon.
He didn’t even want to think about Eva Jordan… a woman he’d met only one time, but aroused his wolf to levels he never knew possible. Dangerous levels… potentially fatal levels.
Charlie huffed and turned off the shower, the cool water no longer offering any solace. He wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight. And the thoughts and questions racing through his mind were not just going to go away.
He dried off, wrapping a towel around his waist, making his way to an open bedroom window. He peered through it, checking the grounds below. From the second story of the Howard Mansion, he could see the entire area behind their home.
Manicured gardens that wrapped around perfectly defined pathways. A six-tree apple orchard that produced the most perfectly crunchy, sweet McIntosh apples; perfect for cider every fall. A small grove of maple trees lined the backside. Charlie himself tapped the trees each spring, enjoying the process of collecting the sap and hauling it to the family sugar shack, boiling it down to a syrupy perfection.
There was a greenhouse hidden amongst shrubs and trees of various shapes and sizes, which they used to grow a few of the specialty plants and herbs required to make potions.
And in the center of the yard, surrounded by a maze of moss covered granite, stood a life-size gargoyle. It was supposed to ward off evil; however, it didn’t work. More than once, they had been caught unawares by some supernatural creature or another, attacking or approaching them at their home.
A silvery beam of light captured his attention. His gaze followed it upward. “There you are,” he muttered, peering at the moon. It had materialized from behind a cloud. I’ll be full tomorrow night, it warned him silently. It vanished again, a dark cloud covering its taunting light.
A new movement grabbed Charlie’s attention. Something buzzing just outside his bedroom window... a firefly sized golden light, hovering in the air. Except unlike fireflies, the light was continuous, rather than blinking on and off every few seconds.
He grinned coolly. “You always have such perfect timing.”
He tossed aside the towel, threw on a tank top, khaki shorts and sandals, suddenly deciding a stroll in the moonlight was exactly what he needed.
He left the house, jogged through his backyard using a pathway that snaked through to the woods at the back, stepping onto a well-beaten path that came out on a street close to the beach. He walked down that street about a block and turned right, down a short lane, which ended at a beachfront cottage.
He leapt up the porch stairs pausing by an open window, spying on the woman inside. Her dark skin accentuated the brightness of her white tee shirt even in the dim lighting of her kitchen. He caught sight of her white panties, just peeking out at him.
Her curled hair bounced playfully as she took a swig from a tequila bottle while swaying to an intense track of a metal band. Not Charlie’s favorite, but if it came attached to her, it was music to his ears. And if it came attached to that full figured ass sneaking out at him while she danced around…
Charlie’s eyes narrowed and an enticing growl flitted through his teeth, which echoed, “I got your message, Nina…”
The woman named Nina stopped, disappearing into another room. A moment later, the front door opened; she leaned against it, her eyes expectant as she dangled the bottle of tequila seductively.
They exchanged no words.
Charlie stepped through the door closing it behind him. He grabbed the tequila bottle with his left hand and the woman’s waist with his right. After taking a swig from the bottle he set it down with a thud and smashed the woman against the wall. “Welcome back to The Demon Isle.” He whispered the greeting, lips brushing down her neck.
Her reply was a rushed inhale as Charlie’s hand left her waist, reached down the back of her thigh and lifted her, so her face was equal height to his own.
The desire in Nina’s eyes pulled Charlie in like a drug he needed a hit of, his chest heaving with strained breaths.
Nina urged him, her voice a hoarse whisper. “You know you can’t hurt me, Charlie.” She cupped his face in her hands. “Let me take control.” Her hands were warm and soft against the rough skin of his face, the hairs of which darkened thickly as she caressed him.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” He grazed his bared teeth across Nina’s luminescent skin, threatening to sink his teeth into her shoulder.
“There’s my big bad wolf,” she uttered darkly.
A warm, golden glow started to emanate from a black ring Nina wore on her finger, spreading over her body like a protective shield. It extended out from her own body, ensnaring Charlie.
It spread a feeling of security over every inch of him.
The warmth willing him to surrender to her completely.
Charlie’s strength made it easy to lift her.
Before she could react, he slid her up the wall throwing her legs around his shoulders. Nina let out a startled squeal, reached up and grasped a wooden beam on the ceiling.
His teeth tore at her panties, ripping the cotton with ease. It fell away, revealing the swollen prize underneath. She smelled of wet hot lust.
Charlie’s stubble covered chin nudged her legs open wider. She obeyed, an aroused burn igniting from her toes to her center. He shoved his mouth into her lusty flesh letting out a vibrating growl.
“Oh, Jesus.” She bucked, crying out. He responded with a squeeze and nibble. Her hands fell from the beam shoveling into his hair.
Charlie sucked, kneaded and growled. Nina’s body writhed against the wall.
His hands pressed against her thighs, spreading her. His tongue slapped at her. She screamed his name, her hands fisting so tight she almost yanked hair out of his
head.
Her center throbbed heat. Pulsed against his attack. Her body convulsed, a series of breathy moans shooting into the air. Soaked satiated flesh hammered against his lips.
He pulled back, his breaths short and expectant. Her body slid down the wall until her face met his.
“Someone…” she breathed out heavily, “is a very pent up wolf.”
“You have no idea,” he growled.
She reached down, rubbing her hand against his shorts. “Let me down so I can taste you.” She licked her lips, excited at the thought.
“No. Not tonight.”
“So serious.”
“Tonight is about everything I’m going to do to you, Nina.”
“I can’t come up with an argument to that.”
“Good. Because you would lose. Now take off that shirt and anything you have on underneath,” he ordered her, setting her feet onto the floor.
He slithered out of his shorts.
Nina obeyed his order, sliding what was left of her panties down over her hips, and pushed the tee shirt up over her head. Her skin was bare underneath. Charlie caught her arms tangled in the shirt and pinned them over her head against the wall.
His mouth captured her right nipple, his wolf teeth grazing it. Her body shuddered and wriggled arching into his mouth. He let go, cool air hardening it to the point of pain. He found the other and left it in the same peaked state.
He lifted her imprisoned arms higher, elevating Nina off the ground.
Mouths invaded. Tongues dueled and tasted. Lips tugged and nipped.
Legs wrapped around Charlie, pulling his iron shaft against her needy flesh. She ground into him and he groaned, releasing her mouth and liberating her arms. Firm hands gripped her ass, his tip nudging at her entrance. She pushed herself into him, taking him in a little further. “Don’t make me wait, Charlie.”
He shoved in fully, lungs faltering.
Maybe he should have let her taste him. He was going to explode way too fast. The first plunge had him nearly there. He pulled to her edge and thrust in again, pumping all his pent up angst into her.
“Give me everything,” Nina coaxed in a gust of hot breath. Her legs tightened around him. He drilled into her, harder. Faster. His hands gripping her ass, the wall behind them punished by the brunt of his thrusts.
Her luscious center tightened with each push, ripping across nerves, his breaths turning into fevered grunts each time he slammed her into the wall.
Teeth planted onto her skin. Sharp wolf fangs wanted to sink into the flesh on her shoulder. Nina’s head pressed into the wall a blissful cry escaping her lips. Though pleasantly painful, his bite did not penetrate her skin.
A thrilling vibration rocketed through her center, her wet release coating his thrusts with a frenzied need. Charlie plunged in one more time and blew apart. His body pumped a few more times until the pressure released.
He let go of Nina’s shoulder, a spent rush of air escaping his mouth, exhales thick and heavy in the effort.
His forehead came to a rest against hers.
Neither said anything.
He backed them away from the wall, landing his butt on a sofa lining the opposite wall. Nina straddled him, her chest heaving in ragged satiation.
His coarse whiskers teased her stiff peaks.
“I’ll say it again, Charlie Howard. You are one pent up wolf.”
“But tonight I’m your pent up wolf,” he returned wickedly. Something nudged at her entrance, hardening for a second round.
“Fuck me,” Nina gasped, wriggling her wet heat against him.
“That’s the plan,” growled Charlie sinfully.
He definitely wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.
##
Eva Jordan jogged on a pathway through the woods, her stark white hair bounced behind her in a loose ponytail. She grinned coolly, wondering how the Howard Witches would react to the not so subtle message she’d left them in White Pines National Park last night.
“It should get Charlie good and riled,” she hoped desperately. She needed him to let his guard down so he would transform into a werewolf. If she didn’t succeed tonight, she’d have to wait another month until the next full moon to try again. She didn’t have that kind of time.
The sun was just rising, peeking over the densely grown forest that surrounded the path. The sun didn’t reach the ground though, giving it the appearance of being dusk.
Even with this dusk-like setting, Eva had no trouble seeing where she was going. She never missed a jutting root or rock, jumping over them with ease. Her gaze tightened suddenly, her head whipping abruptly as she ran, staring into the woods.
Something was running alongside her.
She ran faster.
Faster than a normal human should be able to run. Then again, she wasn’t completely human.
Whatever gave chase kept up her pace.
Eva lunged into the woods without hesitation, landing on, and immobilizing her opponent in a single, smooth motion. She flipped over the body revealing a misshapen face. Upon seeing it, she rolled her eyes in annoyed apathy.
The man let loose a growl, baring his jagged teeth at her.
“Caleb,” she spoke dryly, releasing him.
He jumped up, his misshapen facial features changing as he did so. Thick hair on his face thinned and then vanished completely, and his jagged teeth shortened, his mouth transforming into a beguiling smile. “Hello, Eva,” he greeted.
“What the hell are you doing here? I told you not to come.”
“You have no control over me, Eva,” the man named Caleb retorted. “I am a bit sad you’re not happier to see me.”
“I’m on a job, Caleb. You know I work alone.”
“Ah, heck. I got bored, hopped the ferry and decided to look you up.”
“I don’t need your kind of trouble, Caleb. You should leave, now. The full moon’s tonight.”
“C’mon now. Don’t you want to have a little fun, like the old days?”
“No, Caleb. I don’t! Did you not just hear me say, I’m on a fucking job?”
“What happened to you anyway? You used to be so much fun.” He performed what was supposed to be a sultry dance to lure her instantly into his arms.
“Give it up, Caleb.” Eva worked back to the path, returning to her run.
“You know, Eva, since you hooked back up with dear old daddy, you’re friggin’ boring. And kind of a bitch.”
“I am a bitch.” Queen bitch come tonight…
Eva tried to ignore Caleb as she ran towards home, but he followed like an obedient dog, begging for a belly rub. Another thought arose quite suddenly, a possible solution to a problem she had not worked out yet. A hidden smile crossed her face, and she stopped abruptly. “You know what, Caleb, I changed my mind. I am in the mood for a little fun.” A devilish twinkle crept into her eyes.
Caleb returned her mischievous gaze with one of his own. “What did you have in mind, Eva baby?”
“Follow me and find out,” she enticed him wickedly.
CHAPTER TWO
Melinda knocked gently on William Wakefield’s locked iron door, in the basement of the Howard Mansion. “Can I get you anything?” She peeked through a grate in the door.
“No. Thank you, Melinda. It’s nearly over now.” He kept his gaze down, staring into the pages of a book.
The human blood he had drunk to help Emily just a day before still lingered in his body. Melinda knew William would not allow his self-made prison to be unlocked until he felt it was completely safe to do so.
Not that he wasn’t comfortable. He had created a mini version of his study in the cell, for when he needed to spend time inside.
She was just grateful she’d gotten some sleep last night. More importantly, dreamless sleep, both in the prophetic and steamy departments. Her head felt a tiny bit more on straight today. Worked-up-level down ever so slightly to, I might not explode any second, but it wouldn’t take much to get back there, level.
William sighed. So quietly, she could not hear him. There’s that flutter… the one still plaguing his thoughts with its meaning.
“I’m heading out,” she told him sounding uncertain.
“On your own?” He kept his gaze down.
“Yeah. Thought I’d grab a coffee. Maybe take in some sea air.”
“That’s good,” he encouraged. “Perhaps tomorrow, I will join you.”
“I’m always up for your company, William.”
He instantly regretted the offer. She would be fine going out on her own, and should be doing this more often. He wanted Melinda to spend more time with humans her own age. Actually, he needed her to.
Her infatuation with him was becoming difficult for him to handle, especially after indulging in human blood, which now dried up leaving him craving more. And Melinda’s smelled far too enticing. Even with many practiced years of being around humans, he dared not take any chances. At least not until he’d gotten to the bottom of this new, frustrating heart flutter of hers that drove him mad, and surfaced thoughts that were inappropriate for him to have toward any human, most of all, Melinda.
It was his duty to protect her. As he did with all Howards. His thoughts were not those of the protecting kind.
“I’m leaving some animal blood for you, just in case you change your mind.” She slid the blood pack through the bars of his door and let it slide down to the floor.
He shot her a grateful nod, his eyes never leaving the book.
“Wish me luck,” she said uneasily.
William listened closely as she turned to leave. Her heart strummed and her breaths tightened. “You’ll do fine,” he called out, encouraging her. “I have complete faith in you, Melinda.”
“I just don’t have it in myself,” she muttered, realizing she’d said it loud enough for William to hear. She hastened away, not giving him a chance to reply.
He waited until the sound of her footsteps were out of earshot.
His gaze tore away from the book he gripped tightly, solid black eyes narrowing toward the door.
Having Melinda so close sent his blood craving into overdrive. He did not understand what had changed, why he suddenly found her blood so much more appealing than usual. Whenever he had human blood in any amount, there was a period of craving and withdrawal to suffer through.
Alpha Knows Best (Wicked Good Witches Book 2) Page 1
