by Camryn Rhys
“I know that.” He took off his cowboy hat and slid a hand along the back of his neck. “But magick, where strangers can see you...”
“It’s not like I was waving a wand and turning people into toads.”
“All it takes is one time.”
She fluttered her hand, dismissing his irrational fear. “People will explain away anything they don’t understand. No one’s just going to assume… paper’s flying around? ‘Must be magick’.”
“Mom.” The hard edge of his tone left no room for argument.
“I had to do it. We have to find someone to replace Charity, and you interviewed all these people back in April. With Jamie’s first trail rides starting in three days, we don’t have time for a big process. This way, there’s no worrying.”
Brady’s bright eyes narrowed on her—so much of his father in him, even the apprehension. “And you’re gonna just trust the magick?”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“Because…well…there are other important things about hiring someone, besides just their resume.”
“Like what?”
“Like.” He smacked the hat against his blue-jeaned thigh. “Things, Mom.”
“Whatever it is, the magick will take care of it.”
“Dammit. You don’t understand.” Her son shook his head, glancing toward the window, features turning dark. “I just don’t want a repeat of Charity.”
“That’s why I cast the spell.” Mattie cocked her head to one side. “What is so important, you can’t tell me?
Brady shoved his hat on and walked forward with his hand out. “Just give it to me. I’ll call them again, whoever it is. If they’re crazy or high or something, they’re not coming on staff here, no matter what the magick says.”
She handed over the resume, reading the top aloud. “Kyle Harris,” she said. “He sounds perfectly normal.”
“Yeah. So did Norman Bates.” The bite in his words was sharp and Mattie released the paper into his hands.
He’d have to discover for himself.
Magick is never wrong.
The words echoed in her mind. They’d been ones her mother had taught her. Ones she knew to be true. And yet, somehow, when it came to Will Walker, she wasn’t willing to let magick be right?
Mattie stared up at her son as he crossed the room to the phone and began pressing numbers. This was her chance. Time to tell Brady the truth.
Your father is here.
But she couldn’t.
Why not?
Why can’t I trust magick?
“Brady?” Caleb Gallagher’s voice caught her off-guard. Damn alpha wolf, always in her business.
Mattie whirled on Caleb. “Are you following me today or something?”
The big man stared at her, walking through the door like he owned the place. “Why would I be following you, Matilda?”
She shook her head, moving across to the desk.
Brady put the phone down and nodded at Caleb. “What can I do for you?”
“I have some cattle loose on the south range,” Caleb said, avoiding Mattie’s gaze. “They may’ve gotten through a downed fence near your cabin that borders our land. I’m just letting you know, Sean and Keir are going to be riding up there this afternoon, trying to track them down.”
Her limbs froze. She couldn’t let Brady go up there, near the cabin, where Will’s spell would eventually wear off, if she didn’t get back up to re-cast it in a few hours. Paralyzing spells never lasted long, and she hadn’t practiced them enough to change the language to make them more powerful.
She hadn’t done much magick at all in the years since the white woods were made, and after using it so much, her stores were running low. Another couple of spells, and she might not be able to use magick at all for a while.
“Sounds good to me,” Brady said. “I’ve got a few issues to deal with here, so I can’t offer to help, but have Sean call me if he gets into a rough spot. I know those woods up there.”
“We shouldn’t need any help…” The alpha trailed off, staring at Mattie. “Yet.”
The phone rang and it made her jump almost to the ceiling. Tension ratcheted so high in her veins, her heart might stop beating if there was one more shock to her system.
Her son picked up the corded receiver. “Bucking Horse, this is Brady.” He nodded. “Hey, Ty. I’m a little busy at the moment, can you—”
Ty. Ty Harrison?
Holy shit.
“Uh…” Her son’s brows knit together and his gaze landed hard on Mattie’s. She had to take a breath to steady herself.
“Yeah. Come on out.” He hung up the phone, not taking his eyes off hers. “That was Ty.”
“Well, gee, thanks for the notice,” she said to Caleb, her words tumbling out as she turned and pushed the alpha out of the room. “You go ahead and let your sons go wherever they want on our property.”
I locked the cabin when I left anyway, she wanted to spit out at him, but she held back. Brady may not have wolf hearing, but he was suspicious enough, he might be on her heels.
“See ya,” she said, shoving her neighbor toward the stairs. “Bye now.”
“Mom.” Brady’s voice was like granite, and she considered doing a spell under her breath to keep Caleb from hearing what was about to happen. But Mattie Banfield had run out of tricks.
It was time to face the music.
“What did the Sheriff want?” The big wolf called back, over his shoulder, even as she tried to get him onto the stairs. He just wouldn’t cooperate.
“He wants to come out and have a look around our property.” Her son followed them out onto the landing and rested a hand on his hip, returning his gaze to Mattie’s face. “He said he got a phone call from some guy in Boston who—”
“Not here.” Mattie’s insides were dropping like they’d been turned to lead. “If we’re going to talk about this, we’re going back in the office, and the door’s going to be closed. I won’t have this conversation out in the open, in the middle of God-knows-who-could-be-listening.”
“Oh, so it’s okay for you to do spells out in the open, where—”
“Brady!” She turned her back on the alpha, and the big, open barn.
Dammit.
“You were doing…” Caleb’s growl edged on animalistic, and his footsteps pounded up the stairs until he was standing directly behind her. “Matilda. We talked about this.”
“In the office, everyone.” Mattie tried to get a grip on her shaking body and pointed to the open door. “Not out here.”
They both stormed back into the little room and she took a long breath to calm herself. This was a fine pickle she’d gotten herself into. All the men in her life were mad, and all for different reasons, and she had a prisoner locked up in a cabin that, soon, the Sheriff would be searching for.
She didn’t have much time, and she couldn’t tell the whole-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth, or they’d all be in too much danger.
This was going to be a dual dance with the truth and just enough untruth that would make the most intricate ballroom professionals giddy with excitement. But it had to be done. No one was safe, otherwise.
None of them.
Chapter Eight
The tension in the room could’ve melted butter. Brady stood on one side of the room with his arms crossed and Caleb paced near the window that looked down over the stables.
“Why is the Sheriff coming out here?” the alpha’s voice sat on a knife’s edge, ready to slice.
“He said he got a phone call from a guy in Boston,” her son said, his tone more even. “Asking Ty to check our ranch for signs his brother. Something about a prearranged checkin that he missed.”
“Matilda, you tell me if this has anything to do with the man who’s up at that cabin on the south range,” Caleb ordered.
While Mattie wasn’t part of his pack, she knew better than to openly disobey him. He did hold the power to take their ranch from them anytime he wanted, even if Gabrie
lle had verbally left it to her. She had no written contract and existed on Caleb’s good grace.
“An old boyfriend of mine came looking for me.” She sat on one of the wood chairs in front of the desk, avoiding her son’s direct gaze.
Brady’s tense body language was hard to miss, even when she tried to look away. He placed his hands on the desk and moved toward her, slowly. “An old boyfriend who knows the family?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“How did he find you?”
Mattie sighed, running through other options in her mind, but she couldn’t hold that back. Anything that would keep them from talking to Will was a good option, even the complete truth. “Jamie’s Facebook page.”
“Jamie has a Facebook page?” her son asked, coming around the desk.
“I never told her not to.”
Caleb stopped pacing and came around to flank Mattie. Both men stared her down, like she was in an interrogation room, only there was no good cop in this scenario.
“Where is this old boyfriend now?” the alpha asked.
“He’s still up at the cabin.” She considered whether or not it’d be safe to tell Caleb Will was still on the couch and not going anywhere, but decided against it. There wasn’t a good way to get herself out of the no-magick mandate.
Brady sat on the edge of his desk and shook his head. “Can you have him call his damn brother so Ty will get off our backs?”
“If you’ll let me leave the interrogation room, officer,” Mattie joked, trying to get them to crack a smile, but neither did. She’d have to work a little harder on the humor.
“We’re trying to keep the humans out of this,” Caleb said. He took in a long breath and turned quick on a heel. “Dammit, Matilda, I can’t believe you would be so reckless.”
“Well, he came across me in public, at the Sac’n’Pac, this morning. What was I supposed to do?”
The big wolf threw her an angry glare. “Call me. Anytime there was magick involved or people from your past, you were supposed to call me.”
“I had two seconds to make a decision, okay? It’s not like I was planning to keep him from you forever. I just…” Mattie paused, trying to catch her heartbeat as it raced. She hated lying to Brady, or Caleb, but if they knew the truth, her son would want to meet him, and the alpha would never let him go back to Boston.
The Gallagher alpha had the power to expel them from the white woods, and that was the only thing currently standing between her son and certain death. She had to tread lightly.
“You didn’t tell me he was there when I saw you at the cabin.” Caleb came around to sit on the front of the desk beside Brady. “Why not?”
“I don’t know.” She tried to wave off the question, but fear continued to build in her chest like a stormcloud on a spring day. “I’m still figuring out what it means that he’s even here.”
“Is he trying to find you, for your family?”
“No,” she said, maybe too quickly.
Caleb raised a brow. “How can you be sure?”
“We’re wasting time with this,” Brady said, pushing off the desk and moving for the door. “I’m going up there and finding out what’s going on.”
Mattie reached for him, her heart in her throat. “No, Brady. Stop.”
“Enough, Mom.” He grabbed his cowboy hat and opened the office door. “This is effecting the business of the ranch, now, with the Sheriff coming out. I need to get a handle on the situation.”
“I’m coming with you,” Caleb said.
Mattie was on her feet and after them before Brady was all the way out the door, but the alpha held her back.
“You can’t stop us, Mattie. We’ve got to protect our families.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” she yelled after them, tears choking out her words. “I’m trying to protect my family.”
Her words didn’t stop them.
She grabbed her purse and ran down the stairs, chasing her son and the werewolf. The weight of her mother’s spell book made her feel some comfort. There had to be something in there that would control this whole situation.
Something.
Will kept trying to move his limbs, but nothing worked. Not even his fingers. All he seemed to be able to control were his eyes. He had practically memorized the flaws in the wood beams of the old cabin. The only chance he had at escaping was the possibility that the spell would wear off.
He’d never seen a Paralysis Spell work before—hell, he’d seen very few spells work, ever in his life, given that Mattie had only come into her power after they had sex for the first time—but when Ursula Banfield had given him the vial several years ago, she’d explained what would happen.
This felt a lot like what she’d promised the little potion would do.
I should’ve thrown it on her in the parking lot.
He wasn’t certain it would’ve gone into her blood stream at all, through her skin, and that was where Ursula had said it would go to work. Inside her body. If he could’ve slipped it into her drink, that would’ve worked, and she would be frozen on the couch while he went back to the ranch house and looked for his daughter.
It’d taken most of his willpower not to think about the sex he and Mattie had shared before she put the spell on him. She’d still been holding back, and even then, it was the best sex he’d ever had.
Even with his hands tied, even without her full surrender to him, even without being able to slow them down and enjoy the moment, it still left a residue of pleasure so palpable, he could almost taste it.
He wanted her again.
The sound of a motor surprised him. Will glanced over at the clock on the wall, which he could barely read through his peripheral vision. She’d only been gone a little over an hour. His phone had been buzzing in his back pocket.
Wait. Maybe this is the Sheriff.
Eddie would’ve been true to his word. Right at noon, he would’ve called the Springfield Sheriff. If law enforcement had just pulled up outside, he’d have to pretend to be asleep, or dead. The last thing he wanted was a bunch of humans knowing about Mattie’s secret.
Several sets of footsteps sounded on the little deck outside the door. Will heard Mattie’s voice and allowed himself a tiny shred of relief. Suddenly, a wave of energy went through his body and all the frozenness evaporated. He turned his body and partially closed his eyes, feigning sleep.
She might be with the Sheriff.
The door opened and Mattie burst through first. There was open fear on her face and a protective instinct jumped up inside him so quickly, he almost couldn’t stay laying on the couch.
Two men followed her, neither in uniform, and part of him relaxed. They were trading extremely low whispers, and Will couldn’t make out any of their words, but they didn’t look pleased, and they both watched Mattie carefully.
“See?” She pointed at him. “He’s asleep. Like I told you.”
“And you tied his hands to…what? Keep him from sleep-eating?” the older man said with a bite to his words.
Will opened his eyes and stared up at Mattie. It was easy to let affection spread through his chest—he didn’t need to fake that. “It’s a sex thing,” he said in a lazy voice, like he was just waking up from a nap. “Don’t judge me.”
“Matilda,” the older man scolded her.
The younger of the two was standing back by the door, still, a clear look of disdain on his face.
“What?” Mattie said, whirling on the two of them. “He said don’t judge him, so don’t judge me, either.”
“This is the man the Sheriff called about?” said the young blond cowboy, stepping forward a bit. He had such a familiar face.
Have I talked to him before?
“The very same.” Mattie crossed her arms and nodded. “Now. Can we go?”
“Not so fast,” said Patagonia guy, looking a little too put-together for a real mountain man. He looked like he tried too hard.
“We have to call Ty, at least.” T
he younger one turned his cowboy hat around in his hands, avoiding eye contact with Will. “Tell him we found the brother and he’s okay.”
“Other than the fact that his hands are tied up, and he was locked in the cabin.” Patagonia guy crossed his arms and stared at Mattie. “Don’t think I didn’t hear those spells you were casting as you walked inside. What’s going on here, Matilda?”
Her features pulled together, half fear, half frustration. She took a step closer to the man in an almost placating way and the move surprised Will. This wasn’t her husband—he hadn’t even balked at the sex comment—so who was he?
She had other children and she was a freaking bombshell, even at forty-four years old. Mattie had to have a husband somewhere. Not Patagonia, though.
Will looked the cowboy up and down. He was protective-mad. Shoulder-hunch and all. No. He was too young to be married to Mattie. Although… with Ashton and Demi, now that sort of thing was normal.
Maybe?
He studied the man’s face. The same wide, blue eyes as Mattie. The same thick blond hair. The stubbley beardy thing had thrown him off at first, but there was no doubt.
This was Mattie’s son. One of them. He was all drawn-faced and sour about his mom’s sex life.
Will didn’t blame him. Poor kid.
She still hadn’t spoken in reponse to Patagonia’s question, but Will couldn’t come up with another answer. He was too busy trying to figure out why he hadn’t noticed the feature similarity earlier. That was why the kid had looked so familiar.
Kid. He wasn’t exactly a kid, though. He was a young man. Maybe not that young, either. He was at least twenty-five.
“Can you call Ty?” Mattie asked, looking past Patagonia and staring at her son. “And go wait in the pickup. I’ll talk to Caleb.”
“What am I supposed to tell the Sheriff?” Cowboy asked, dropping his hat to his side, frustration edging his voice. “He got a phone call reporting this dude missing. He’s not just gonna take my word for it that we found him and he’s okay.”
“I could call my brother.” Will raised his bound hands. “I got caught up with things and forgot to check in.” He glanced at Mattie, hoping his play-along had bought him some points, but she was too tight and strained for him to read.
