“Thank you.”
“I’ll make you something to eat and prepare your room.”
He just bought himself a couple of days with her, he thought as he watched her leave, staring at her ample back and her limp grey hair.
Curiously, Bryce drew his gaze around the living room. She lived in a nice, homey, and comfortable place. Not the dark, cobweb-infested manor he’d imagined from the rumoured reports he’d heard in his travels. He wondered how long she’d lived in seclusion. He grimaced, realising their similarities. They were a lot alike—loners, outcasts, hideous beasts feared by all.
His gaze caught the mantle above her fireplace, surprise halting his thoughts.
“What the hell,” he whispered.
Rising slowly, he walked to it, his frown deepening as he drew near. It couldn’t be. He cast a disbelieving gaze over the small ornaments and objects made up entirely of gold.
“Damnation,” he whispered hoarsely. No wonder she wasn’t interested in his offer to buy the cure with gold. She had enough of it.
Bryce stared at the largest statue near the end of the mantle. He picked it up and stared at it. The figure was of a wolf sitting on its haunches by the feet of a beautiful maiden whose hand rested on its head.
“Put that down!”
The sudden voice startled him so much he almost dropped the statue. He was grateful he was holding it with both hands. He turned around toward the voice, then turned back to the mantle, gently setting it to its rightful place.
Zora stood by the entry of the living room holding a tray of bread, cheese, sliced meats, and fruits, her expression both distressed and embarrassed.
If he wanted to befriend the hag, he wasn’t making a good start.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude,” he said.
He watched her walk briskly into the room. She deposited the tray on the dining table, straightened, and gave him an apologetic look. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m…I’m not used to having people here.”
He glanced at the tray laden with food.
“Please sit down and eat.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. He wasn’t lying when he said he was hungry. Bryce took a seat and reached for a slab of meat. “Thank you.” He motioned with his head to her mantle. “That’s an interesting collection you have there.”
“Yes. It’s been in my family for generations.”
Bryce frowned. “It’s no wonder you refused my offer for gold. You have a fortune sitting up there.” He swallowed the last bite of meat and reached for the bread and cheese. “The woman and the wolf is an interesting statue.”
She looked uncomfortable.
“Yes. It’s my most valuable piece.”
“I can see that, judging by its size.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “Its value is sentimental, not monetary.”
He gave her a curious look, watching her visibly tense. It was apparent she was uncomfortable talking about the statue so he decided to let the subject drop.
There was another subject, however, that he wanted to bring up. “Do you live here alone? I heard a young woman singing earlier.” He frowned at the memory. “She had a beautiful voice,” he murmured, almost to himself. “The voice of an angel.”
“I’m here alone.”
Stunned, he snapped a disbelieving gaze to her face. Quickly, he recovered from his shock and schooled his features to appear unmoved. Dammit, he didn’t want to insult the poor woman into thinking no one like her could sing so beautifully.
A stab of discomfort shot through his frame. He was guilty of basing his judgments on her solely on her appearance.
Her steady, blue gaze disturbed him, making him wonder again at the beauty of her eyes. They were out of place with the rest of her.
Troubled by his train of thought, Bryce reached for his napkin.
“You have a beautiful voice, Zora,” he said.
“Thank you. I like to sing. It calms me.”
An unbidden smile rose to his lips as he thought about the first time he heard her sing and how the sound calmed him, too. Calmed him too much, he realised—her singing almost made him forget the wolves circling him.
“It’s a shame no one can enjoy it as you’re here all by yourself,” he heard himself saying. Damn, was he starting to feel sorry for her?
She laughed, but it sounded forced. “My cat enjoys it. Anyway, it’s not so bad being alone. I keep myself busy with my gardens, my home, and…and other things.”
“Don’t you feel lonely sometimes?” The question surprised him and Bryce wondered where it had sprung from.
Her expression was guarded. “No.” Suddenly, she motioned with her hand to the kitchen area behind her. “If you want seconds, please help yourself. I’m going to make up your room now.”
“Won’t you sit down and eat with me?” he asked politely.
She shook her head. “No. I’m not hungry. Besides, I have to prepare the guest room. It’s not often I have visi—actually, that’s not true,” she ended quietly. “I never have visitors. You’re my first.”
She turned and left before he could say another word.
* * * *
Changing the sheets on his bed was a welcome change. Zora couldn’t stay another minute with him in the other room. He was so attractive, his energy was starting to consume her.
Two days and he would be gone, she thought. Two days and Morganna’s curse wouldn’t see the light of day.
* * * *
“That’s what you think, my sweet, little Zora,” Morganna murmured as she gazed into her crystal ball. “I have to hand it to you, though. Changing your appearance was ingenious. It seems I’ve underestimated you. You’re much brighter than your ancestors, who all failed to save their true love’s fate.”
She waved a hand and the image of Zora tucking the bed covers under the mattress began to fade and then disappeared.
Anger welled in Morganna’s breast. She would not lose this one. In the past seven hundred years, she’d never lost one. All her descendants had ended with the same fate. Death and despair, and Zora was going to be no different!
“If you think your little appearance spell can change your destiny, think again,” she hissed.
Raising her hands, she closed her eyes and said, “For every warmth he feels, for every stir in his heart, a part of your true self will be revealed. When love finally appears, so will your true appearance.”
There. The spell was cast. The Lycan had already discovered parts of Zora’s beauty, her eyes, her voice, her kindness.
“The Lycan beast is even starting to feel compassion for her.” She cackled with evil mirth. “It’s only a matter of time before he falls in love with her.”
Chapter Four
Zora drew a cursory look around her guest room to see if she’d missed anything. Her gaze caught the light film of dust on the dresser. She scowled. It seemed like she dusted every other day. She went into the hall, opened her cleaning cupboard, reached for her dust rag and went back to the bedroom. As she wiped the dresser, her gaze caught her reflection in the mirror, making her wince.
Without warning, sadness engulfed her. She would have liked to experience affection, love, and passion. A first kiss, she mused sadly. It wasn’t just his handsome looks that affected her, it was more. She saw how he tried to cover his shock when he’d learned she was the one who’d been singing. He was kind if he was concerned about hurting an old witch’s feelings, she thought.
She stared at her face, wistfully, trying to imagine their first kiss. Slowly, Zora’s expression fell. He could never even hold her hand.
She stared at her eyes. They were the only thing out of place. She could see her old self in them. On some subconscious level, had she left that part of herself out of her spell? Had it been vanity, pride?
Zora scowled at her reflection. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t see her, the real her, no matter how pretty her eyes were. He could never love her in her hideous state. He m
ight have been kind to her, but he still saw her as a lonely, ugly, old witch.
It was as it should be. None of her ancestors had been able to save their true loves, but she was going to be the first.
I wish I had never met him. I wish he’d never loved me, her mother had always told her soon after Zora’s father had died and her mother had met her true love. I would have preferred a life never knowing him, never loving him.
That’s when Zora’s plan had been formed. She’d resolved at the tender age of nine to be in control of her destiny. It was simple. She would make sure her true love never fell in love with her. Meeting him, however, had always been a certainty. In all Zora’s ancestry, Morganna’s descendants had always met their true loves, a Lycan destined to love them.
The him in question was the Lycan in her living room right now. She’d known instantly he was the one when she’d seen him standing naked in the woods. She didn’t know if it was magic, the heavens, or just primitive instinct, but she’d known he was her destiny.
A strange thought struck her. She didn’t even know his name.
Nervous, she went back into the living room and saw him lifting the empty tray. Goodness! He’d eaten everything. He was hungry, she thought with another stab of guilt.
“It was delicious. Thank you,” he said. “Where can I put this?”
She would have gone up to him and taken the tray from his hands, but she refrained and kept her distance.
“This way,” Zora said in a small voice.
He followed her into the kitchen and she pointed to the counter. “You can put it over there,” she said. She turned and faced him, nearly jumping back. He stood close to her and she had to crane her head to look up at him. God he was so tall and…and big. Her gaze fell on his sensual mouth and her stomach jolted in response. “I…I made up your room if you’d like to rest. The bathroom is in the hall and I put fresh towels by the basin.”
“Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on your offer.”
She nodded, her eyes wavering under his deep, penetrating gaze. “It’s the first door on the left in hall.” The tremor in her voice betrayed her nerves.
Cautiously, she stepped around him and left the kitchen. What had she been thinking, allowing him to stay for two days? She couldn’t even manage two minutes before her heart raced and her breath caught.
Cursing uncharacteristically under her breath, she did what she always did when she was nervous or unsettled. She went out into her garden, Luna trailing at her feet.
Two hours later, after she’d planted the last of her aloe seeds, she went to her vegetable garden in the back and began plucking ripe tomatoes from their stems. The sun was setting and she welcomed the cool air.
“There you are.”
His deep voice jolted her and she looked up, her gaze gliding over his muscular legs, his taut abdomen and chiselled arms, his massive shoulders, to his face. Her heart jumped. He had a strong, sexy face with smouldering eyes and sensual lips. “Did you rest well?” she asked politely, trying to keep her nerves in check. The man was a walking menace to her senses.
“Yes. Thank you.” He flicked an interested glance at her garden and gave her an approving look. “This is quite an assortment of vegetables. You have a green thumb.” He paused, frowning thoughtfully. “I’m curious why you would plant things when you could easily conjure them up.”
Zora tensed, turning away from him and placed more tomatoes in her basket. “I told you, I’m not that powerful. What you’ve heard about me is hearsay. Legend. I’m the evil witch who lives in the forest and eats little children,” she said grimly.
She felt his presence next to her and gasped, snapping her gaze to his profile. He had bent down next to her and was staring at her tomatoes. Thank God she was fully covered. The only skin she exposed was her face, and she doubted he wanted to brush her cheek tenderly with his hand or…or kiss her. The thought left her flustered and she plucked a tomato with more force than necessary.
“We can’t magically produce things from thin air. We have incantations, spells that set things in motion.”
“Like cures,” he answered quietly.
She knew what he was thinking. He still thought she could cure him of his werewolf curse. “I can’t help you…er…” She cleared her throat delicately. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Bryce Derekson.”
“Bryce.” She liked the sound of his name on her lips. She returned her focus on the tomatoes. “As I said, I can’t help you. Our spells can cure a cold or a broken limb, but not a dark curse. The werewolf curse originated thousands of years ago and no one in all that time has been able to remove it.”
She thought about her own curse, and a spasm of sympathy for him coursed through her veins. She was as helpless as he was, irony itself since they were both quite powerful, yet powerless to save themselves.
She looked at him and caught him staring at her with a mixture of disappointment and scepticism on his handsome face. “I’m sorry, Bryce,” she said quietly. “I really am. I know what you’re going through.”
His expression darkened. “Do you? I’m a monster. A beast. How can you know what I feel? What can you possibly know of my curse?”
“A curse can come in many forms. I know how helpless you feel. How trapped you are.” She swallowed hard. “I know you want what all men can have. Love, happiness, family. I know your curse brings you pain, loneliness, despair. What good is immortality when you see your loved ones die and have an eternity to grieve, unable to meet them on the other side?”
What good was all the love she had in her heart when she knew it would kill her true love? Her eyes pricked with unshed tears and she blinked rapidly.
Zora watched his expression flicker and she wondered what Bryce was thinking to make him look so puzzled.
* * * *
Bryce was astonished at her perception. She saw the part of him he kept hidden from the world. His heart thudded against his chest. He’d never come across anyone in his three hundred years who had such an acute sense of his torment. The wolf within him responded fiercely to her and Bryce gritted his teeth as he held his beast down. Hell! Was his beast attracted to her?
Suddenly, as if by some magical touch of the setting sun’s light, he saw a subtle change come over her face. Her lips seemed fuller, her hair glistened with a hint of gold, her skin softened. His gaze rested on her mouth and he stiffened violently as his wolf fought for release.
Your wolf can’t see her, his conscious whispered.
But Bryce could. Absurd! He’d bedded hundreds of women in his lifetime and no one bore any resemblance to her. Stifling a grimace, he glanced briefly at her grotesquely large nose and her drooping breasts, but his beast didn’t seem to care. His wolf wanted to claim her.
He growled and her lips parted in fear. Bryce couldn’t tear his gaze away from her mouth. He…he wanted to kiss her.
Rising abruptly to his feet, he towered over her and glared down at her upturned face.
“I’m going to take a walk,” he ground out, and turned abruptly on his heel and left.
* * * *
Zora stared at him retreating and wondered what she had said to make Bryce so hostile.
* * * *
Morganna’s mouth twisted into a cruel, yet satisfied smile as she gazed into her crystal ball. “My spell is already working,” she said.
She raised her hand and the image of Zora kneeling in her garden disappeared, and another image appeared. She watched Bryce stomping through the woods, hands clenched at his sides, his mouth grim with dark thoughts.
“He’s beginning to like her,” she whispered to herself, more than a little surprised, yet excited by how quickly his feelings were evolving. “Hmm. At this rate, in a couple of days, my little Zora will kill him.”
Her mouth twisted as she recalled how her heart had been broken all those centuries ago. Anger and vengeance had replaced her pain, and she took great pleasure watching all her descendants lose
their Lycan lovers.
The image of her beautiful sister, Larissa, sprang into her mind, begging Morganna to understand and forgive her.
There had been nothing to understand or forgive, Morganna thought angrily. He loved her! He chose her—her beautiful, sweet sister. The sister who could do no wrong, who was loved by all—even the Lycan Morganna had fallen in love with.
Well, he had paid the price for his betrayal—with his life.
She waved a furious hand at the ball, the image of Bryce raising his head to the sky and releasing a long howl disappearing. She stalked from the room, stopping in her tracks when she caught her reflection from the floor length mirror next to the dark passage that led to her secret caverns below.
What if Zora saw her reflection and noticed her changes? The little minx was bright, Morganna thought. Zora would know what she was up to.
Morganna would have to take care of that.
She raised her hand and called out another incantation, smiling cruelly as she spoke.
“A reflection none for thee, break all looking glass by three.”
Chapter Five
Zora recalled how much he’d eaten at lunch and added more potatoes on his plate. She stared at his portion of meat and wondered if it was enough when a loud crash made her jump. She ran to her bedroom and saw Luna perched on her dresser, her hair raised, hissing at all the broken glass.
She stared at the mirror laying flat on her dresser. She choked back on a sob and ran to her cat, lifting her from the mess.
“Did you hurt yourself?” She cast a fearful glance over Luna’s black and white coat and breathed with relief when she didn’t see any blood.
“Thank God,” she whispered. “What were you doing up here?” she scolded softly. Bending down, she released Luna who was struggling to get out of her arms. “Go. Shoo.”
The Lycan and His Witch Page 2
