by Reders, E. M
“Glad I'm not in your shoes.” Dyanna laughed. “She once made me study the protector calling ritual as punishment for disobeying her, and fuck, that shit was hard.”
Great.
Chapter Four
~
Ethan
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had spent the best part of the day in my bed with Chelsea, wearing myself out, giving her orgasm after orgasm, reassuring her that this ritual meant nothing and that she had nothing to be worried about, only for her to track down my father and tell him that I was her mate? What the fuck?
"I mean, I know it's not official yet, but I don't see why he needs to go when he has me." Chelsea’s voice drifted around the corner, making me freeze in my steps as I made my way downstairs.
"I know for a fact that you two are not mates, Chelsea," my father's deep voice boomed. He was pissed, I could tell. Why Chelsea kept going I have no idea?
She must be fucking crazy.
"But he is. We've been together for years. He loves me."
"You have been fucking for years. I'm pretty sure there has been no official relationship between the pair of you. And as for him loving you, I wouldn't hold my breath."
"But he does. I know he does."
"Has he ever told you that? Said those exact words to you?"
"Well... No, not exactly."
"And he won't. My son doesn't use that word."
He was right, I didn't. I hadn’t told anyone I loved them since before my mother had died. And I certainly would never have said those words to Chelsea.
"Now if that is all, I have things to do. Goodnight, Chelsea."
I could hear his heavy steps heading my way, could sense his approach. I could also hear Chelsea’s heeled steps getting further and further away. I stayed where I was, knowing that my father would now want to speak with me.
As he rounded the corner, his eyes clashed with mine. "You need to end things with that girl once and for all, Ethan. Even if this witch’s spell does not select you as her protector, it will not be the last time Chelsea gets jealous and causes trouble for you. What happens if you are picked and the witch comes back here? Can you imagine the trouble and hurt that girl could reap? Or when you find your truemate, do you think Chelsea will just step back and let someone else take her place in your bed?"
"I'll talk to her," I promised.
"End it, Ethan, or I will." And with that he stormed on down the hallway towards his office, slamming the door behind him once he entered.
Fuck!
He was right. I needed to end it and soon, but not tonight. Tonight I just wanted to go for a drive and get the hell out of this place for just a few hours before I had to deal with her.
I needed to find the guys; hopefully, one of them would have an idea of how I could get rid of Chelsea. I'd tried before. Last year, she had started getting really clingy, constantly calling me at all hours when I wasn’t at the packhouse, texting me. At one point, I kept getting the strange feeling that she might have been following me, but nothing was ever proven. I'd told her it was over. Didn't last, though. That girl was hard to get rid of. She just kept turning up at my room wearing less and less every time, until, finally, she showed up completely naked.
And well, I'm male after all. I just couldn't help myself.
Entering the lounge where we all tended to hang out at night, I yelled to the boys. "Get your shit together guys, we are out of here.” Grabbing my jacket and picking up the keys to the SUV.
“What's wrong?” Zak asked as he and Frankie jumped up out of their chairs and rushed out the door behind me.
“Chelsea.” That was the only explanation needed.
“Dude, I really don't know why you hit that. I mean, yeah, sure, she hot and sexy and a good lay and easy to get under the sheets. But seriously man, that girl is not right in the head.”
I didn’t know why either anymore. The boys hated her, and even my wolf wasn’t too keen.
“Are any of the easy ones right on the head?” Frankie asked.
Zak laughed. “Probably not.”
Unlocking the car door, I got behind the wheel, instantly starting the engine and revving it impatiently. "Shotgun," Frankie called as he pulled Zak back from the door and swung him around before pushing him to the ground and jumping in the front passenger seat.
"You fucker!" Zak spat, climbing into the back. "So where are we headed? And what has Chelsea gone and done this time?”
"No idea as to where we're going, I just want to get out of here for a while. As for Chelsea, she's just being her usual clingy, annoying, jealous self. She seems to have got it into her head somehow that we are going to mate, and no matter how many times I tell her it’s never going to happen, she just won't let it drop. I heard her just now talking to my father about our future mating. Well, my future plans certainly do not include being stuck with that bitch for the rest of my life. I really need to get rid of her," I muttered, slamming my hand down hard on the steering wheel in frustration.
"Yeah right, as if she's ever going to let that happen."
"Well, we need to find a way because Alpha wants it ended… now."
"Shit, did he order it?"
When the Alpha ordered something, it was impossible not to follow that order. Even if you wanted to, our wolves wouldn't allow it. "No, but I'm pretty sure that if I don't get rid of her soon, he will."
It would probably be easier if he did. But no, I had to do this myself.
Tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow.
"How about we head over to Pete’s for a drink?"
Pete’s was a local bar on the border of our territory where pack land met with that of the coven. It was used by both groups, but it tended to be filled mostly with the pack than the Wiccans.
"Sure, but just for one, though. I need a clear head tomorrow to deal with Chelsea."
"Yeah, and full use of your senses so you know when to run," Frankie said with a grin.
Yeah, that I would definitely need.
~
Kaia
It took a while, but by the time everyone was tucked up in bed for the night, I had finally remembered every word that I needed to speak at the ritual and in the correct order too. It hadn’t been as hard as I had thought. The incantation itself was simple enough, it was all the prep that needed doing beforehand that was a little complicated.
Looking at the clock on Dyanna’s bedside table as we quickly piled up the books we had scattered all over the floor, it indicated that we only had fifteen minutes left in which to sneak off the property before the next guard patrolled the area we needed to cross in order to sneak out.
For numerous reasons, my being here included, Grace had a team of specially trained Wiccans to help guard the property. They were who we needed to get by. Once every hour, there was a small window of time when the guards had no clear view of a small section of wall on the east side of the property, and that was where we needed to go.
“We better move fast, Dyanna. Times almost up.”
We rushed through the wardrobe, throwing clothes here, there, and everywhere in an effort to decide what we were going to wear. I picked out a pair of tight blue jeans and a black vest top while Dyanna pulled on one of her usual small black dresses. Then we climbed out the window and shimmied down the drainpipe.
We only just made it in time. Just as we climbed over the low wall on the east side, one of the guards came over the hill. Luckily enough, he didn’t spot us and we were able to make our way over the fields to the road where Hannah was waiting.
“What took you guys so long? And why are you heading over there so late?” she asked as she pulled away and sped down the lane.
“Had a few things I needed to take care of.”
Hannah didn’t know that I was performing the ritual tomorrow night, only Dyanna did. Hannah wasn’t exactly my friend. I liked her, but still, she was Dyanna’s friend really. She, like all the others I had allowed into my life over the past year or two, didn’t kn
ow about my powers. It was safer that way.
“Well, I better not have missed Greg. He was supposed to be meeting up with me at the Pit tonight, but when I left to come pick you two up he still hadn’t shown up.”
Greg was a male witch a few years older than us. Why he hung around at the Pit, I had no idea. Surely he had better things to do. He had been flirting with Hannah – and a few others mind – for a couple of weeks now and she was desperately trying to get him to ask her out.
It was never going to happen. That guy was a total man-whore.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the old pit gates. Dyanna jumped out of the car to open them before hopping back in. We continued on for another five minutes until we got to the old empty pit buildings that everyone hung out in. We could have gone to Pete’s bar, a pub that sat on the edge of our property, but the pack congregated there. Humans too, which meant no magic. So yeah, that was a no go.
Light from the fires inside glowed through the large broken windows, the smell of smoke and alcohol strong in the air. Walking through the doors, even though the music still blared, I felt as if the world had gone silent as every eye was turned on me.
Looks of shock and hate followed me as I made my way with Dyanna over to where our small group sat around one of the fire pits that had been dug into the floor. Grabbing a drink from the cooler, I sat down on an upturned bread crate. Dyanna took the seat next to me.
“I'm surprised you two are still alive after the amount you both put away last night,” Emily commented.
“Me too,” Dyanna replied. “Believe me, this morning I’d wished I wasn’t.”
As time went on, the other groups around us slowly began to pretend as if I didn’t exist and carried on with what they were doing. Every now and again someone would make a comment about me in a loud enough voice that I would hear but I was used to it. It didn’t hurt any less, but I had brought it on myself, after all. I just had to look at it as the more they hated me, the better job I had done in protecting them from the danger that was coming for me.
“Hey, Greg, over here,” Hannah all but screamed across the room, jumping up and down like some overexcited child.
“How’s it going, ladies?” Greg asked, sitting himself down between me and Dyanna, completely ignoring the space Hannah had just made next to herself by pushing Terri out of her seat.
Looks like he’s bored of her already.
“Hey, Kaia, still pissing off the world?” He winked.
“You know it.”
“Well, as I'm not in the mood for the usual flock of female attention I attract, I think I will hang with you tonight,” he said, looking around at all the other groups. “Yep, I’d say it is working. No one is heading over here to talk to me. You’re my lucky charm.” He smiled.
“Believe me, I'm not lucky,” I said deadpan.
“Well maybe not usually, but tonight you are for me.”
Greg had never paid me much attention. He would say hello to me when I arrived and say goodbye when I left – I always tended to leave before anyone else – but that was it.
“I thought you were going to meet me at nine?” Hannah whined, fluttering her eyelashes in a way that I suppose she thought was seductive.
“No, I said I was planning on getting here around then, but something came up last minute with the guys.”
Burn!
“And that was more important than meeting me?” she asked, acting as if she hadn’t heard the obvious hint that he was so not interested in her.
“Yes.”
“Well, what was it? I mean, if it’s more important than having a bit of fun with me, then I would really like to know.”
Choosing to ignore her, Greg turned his attention completely on me. Unfortunately, he didn’t block my view to the evil glare Hannah was now sending my way.
I have so lost my ride home tonight.
“You do realise you just helped me piss off another member of the coven.”
“Of course I do, but isn’t that the way you like it?” He grinned.
Yeah it was, but he could have at least not pissed off my ride.
“So are you going to tell us what this important thing was that came up?” Dyanna asked, dragging her crate round and effectively blocking Hannah’s view of me.
“Something big is happening at the Circle tomorrow night,” he whispered. “No idea what, but the Crone had me and a few of the boys up there today to clear more space and put up some more protection.”
Well I knew why they had been asked to clear more space, the Circle was just that… a circle. It was sacred land surrounded by four large stones, one for each element. The land at the centre of the stone circle was kept trimmed and maintained at all times, but outside of it was usually left wild. With all the people attending the ritual there would need to be space made for them. But the other thing they had been asked to do had me worried. “More protection?”
Nodding, he went on. “Everything from reapplying the basic spells already enchanted upon the place, to extra barriers leading up to the Circle. We asked what was happening but she wouldn’t tell us a thing.”
Did Grace think that something might happen during the ritual? Had the demon already started looking for me? Did he know what the Crones had done and decided to come after me now? Panic was beginning to seize me, grip my chest in a solid vice.
“You okay?” Greg asked, concern upon his face.
The ground beneath my feet began to crack and shake as my panic sent my powers haywire. It was only a slight shake, nothing that anyone but me would feel… yet. I needed to get myself under control. I hadn’t lost control in years, not since I had gotten a better grip on my powers. I needed to leave… now, before things got out of control.
“Mmm…Yeah…Fine…I got to go.” Jumping up from my seat, I ignored Dyanna shouting my name and made my way outside, doing my best to not focus on the stares that followed me the whole way.
As soon as I exited the door, making sure that no one could see me, I fled, running full pelt over the land away from them all.
Chapter Five
~
Ethan
Well, one drink had quickly turned into two, then two to three. It was a good thing it took a hell of a lot of strong alcohol to get a werewolf drunk. Unfortunately for me, Zak and Frankie were well on their way to finishing the entire bars stock of whisky.
"What you need to do is... And then you could..." Frankie slurred as his head began to droop down towards the bar top. Another five minutes and he would be out for the count.
"Looks like it will be me going home with this lovely lady then." Zak laughed, not really in a much better state than Frankie. Grabbing hold of the blonde Frankie that had pulled, he yanked her onto his lap.
"No... I'm... Good."
THUMP!
Frankie’s head hit the bar top, his snoozing echoing through the room.
"Poor, Frankie. I had wonderful plans for him tonight,” the blonde sighed, looking down at Zak with a pout. “Well, I guess you'll have to do."
"You won’t regret it."
Slut.
"Well, I'm going to get this one back to the packhouse." My father was going to be majorly pissed in the morning when he found out Frankie got drunk. The guy was terrible with hangovers. "You guys want a lift back?" I asked, slapping a few bills down to cover my tab.
"No need, my place is just around the corner," the blonde said.
So with that, I chucked Frankie over my shoulder and headed outside to the SUV, slinging him straight into the back. He didn't wake up once. Not even when his head hit the door on the opposite side. Jumping behind the wheel, I pulled out of the car park, waving to Zak and the blonde, whose name I had no idea of, as they headed down the street.
As I drove down the dark country lanes, the large shadow from the old coal mine where the Wiccans tended to hang out in the distance, my mind drifted once again back to Kaia.
Where is she? What is she doing? Does she think of me often
or at all for that matter? I should have left that damn necklace in the vault where I'd found it. Ever since seeing it she had been constantly on my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was her walking out of that cave, hair glowing, eyes locked with mine.
As I passed by the gates to the pit, a figure suddenly dashed out in front of me, causing me to slam on the brakes. Screeching to a halt, only just missing the dark figure, I leant out the window watching them disappear into the distance. As I caught the scent of the person running away, my wolf peaked up, clawing at me to go after them. Whoever that was, he was desperate to get near them.
"Come back!" I heard someone yell as they came running through the gates, skidding to a stop to look out into the darkness for their friend. "For fuck sake," the girl mumbled. "Kaia!"
Kaia? It couldn’t be. Could it?
~
Kaia
I couldn’t catch my breath. With the panic taking over my body, shutting off my lungs from the air I needed to live, I couldn’t run any further.
I needed to talk to Grace, find out if there had been any news of the demon. But how could I ask her without her finding out that Dyanna and I had snuck out of the house late at night, without guards, and gotten the information from Greg? It just wasn’t possible. Knowing Grace, she would already know that Dyanna and I weren’t at home in bed anyway. She’d probably be waiting to give us hell the second we got back.
Wonder if all the Crones had that all-knowing thing going for them that Grace did?
Collapsing to the ground by the side of the road – I literally couldn’t go any further – short on breath and a sharp stitch in my side, I buried my head in my hands. If Grace was getting other coven members to place spells around the Circle, after she herself had already placed hundreds of them there over the years, then she really must be worried about the demon finding out what we were doing.
God, could things get any worse?
The answer was yes.
I vaguely heard the car pulling to a halt in front of me, the door opening and closing, and the steps of his approach over the whooshing in my ears, but it didn’t register. The first thing I knew of his presence was the light touch in on my shoulder as he knelt before me. I’d thought it was going to be Greg or Dyanna, maybe even Hannah to yell at me for taking up all of Greg’s attention. I never expected to hear the voice that I did when he spoke softly in my ear. “Come on, Kaia, I’ll take you home.”
