Voodoo and Fate

by Tamsin Baker

  “How dare you!” Mary screeched as she inspected her husband’s now swollen face.

  “You’re lucky Kody is so controlled, Thomas. He could have ripped your head from your shoulders.”

  She smirked at the older man and stared him down.

  He grabbed a tissue and spat blood into it.

  “He shouldn’t be able to do that here.”

  “Then you need to start examining your Voodoo, James. Because he just did.”

  These two had done something very bad to the pack, and she hoped the Voodoo Gods would punish them.

  “Okay, back to why we came. I have a deal for you. Stay away from the bayou. If any of you ever come to hurt one of our people again, I will personally organise a raid on your house. And I guarantee, no amount of supposed power you think you have will stop me.”

  Mary sunk down onto the couch next to James, fear clear in her old eyes.

  “But, my daughter.”

  “You can come visit her anytime, Mary. I said, to harm us. You know the rules. If you come in peace, you’ll be fine.”

  She glanced at Kody. “But they’re animals.”

  Chanti rolled her eyes. “They’re powerful, majestic shape shifters, who are God’s creatures. I suggest you start spreading the new gospel. Both of you. No one is to harm our pack, or they will pay. I will be holding onto my shop and my house, and I want one of you to go over and take the curse off my properties.”

  Mary and James exchanged glances and Mary turned back to her. “I can do that.”

  “Good. There is also the matter of introducing the wolves back into New Orleans.”

  “Never.” James spat.

  Chanti waved her hand in the air. “If you don’t have the power to overcome decades of bias, then I will go to church myself.”

  James huffed a bit at the insult but said nothing else.

  “All right, now. I will be contacting some of our people to organise some trading. The housing in our town is horrendous and we need help building something new.”

  “No way.” James ground out between his teeth.

  Chanti grinned. Unfazed. “It’s either that, or I move everyone back to New Orleans.”

  She looked down at Kody, who was staying strong and silent. “Maybe that would be better, Kody. What do you think? Buy up some houses in a part of town that’s not too busy?”

  “No!”

  She swallowed the laugh that rose and pinned the Thomas’ with a hard stare.

  “I suggest you make a decision, or I’ll make it for you. Either you help us build the town up so it’s a fit place to live for your grandson, or I will sell my shop and my grandmother’s home, and buy up half of Boady.”

  Boady was a very cheap part of town that would be easy for her to buy into. Her shop and her home would fetch an amazing price to anyone who knew what they were buying.

  There were quite a few factions of Voodoo in New Orleans, and a lot of money would be paid for the protection her home afforded.

  Mary whispered fiercely in her husband’s ear and Chanti let herself sit down on the couch arm, leaning against her mate.

  Her babe twisted and turned inside her belly and she smiled, happiness filling her up. She would make a better life for her child.

  She will be happy, and kind.

  Chanti had to look away as tears tingled in her eyes.

  A daughter. She’d have to tell Kody when they left.

  The Thomas’ stopped whispering and James stood up.

  Kody jumped up beside her and Chanti looped her arm with her mate and stayed seated, unphased by the venom she could feel rolling off James. He couldn’t hurt her.

  “I will speak to some contractors. But they will expect to be paid.”

  Chanti pushed herself to her feet. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

  She had savings, and Voodoo, to barter. Not to mention, she had a town full of hard working, strong men.

  “Thank you, James. Mary, I shall see you soon.”

  She inclined her head and moved to walk out of the room.

  Kody was at her back and something made her stop.

  She turned around and saw James chanting, his eyes closed.

  I don’t think so.

  Chanti reached into her bag and grabbed one of the Voodoo dolls that represented the couple.

  She didn’t wait to check who was who, she just let her power guide her. She got hold of a limb and bent it back, squeezing hard.

  James dropped to his knees, his eyes flying open in pain.

  She let go. Sending up an apology to the Gods.

  She hated using her powers for anything evil, and hoped they would forgive her.

  “James. I’ve warned you once, and I won’t do it again. If you try anything to hurt us, any of us. You will pay the price.”

  The older man nodded once, grabbing onto the couch to pull himself up.

  “Let’s go, Kody.”

  They walked out of the house and Chanti took deep breaths in the clean air. Despite their power being drained, the home still reeked of evil.

  Kody grabbed her up in his arms and whooped loudly as he walked across the street, gently depositing her back into his car.

  “You. Are. Incredible. What on Earth did you do to them?”

  She laughed as her mate jumped in the car, and started the engine.

  “Let’s go home. I don’t feel like staying in New Orleans anymore.”

  She needed some clothes and things, but she’d come back in a few days, when her soul was rested. Despite her confidence that everything would be okay, that had taken a lot out of her.

  Kody turned the car around and they headed back to the bayou.

  “Chanti. Please, tell me. What happened?”

  She grinned at him. “You heard. I just offered them a solution to the peace we all need.”

  “Yeah, but you made them agree to help us.”

  “No, I gave them a choice. One that will work for all of us.”

  It would mean jobs for the younger men, and better homes. A proper school and doctor’s surgery maybe.

  She sat back against the car seat and let her hands fold over her daughter, growing inside her belly. Safe.

  “Why couldn’t they harm us? What if someone else comes after you, Chanti? I don’t want you hurt.”

  She shrugged and let her smile shine. “They couldn’t do anything to me because I am protected, I always have been. By my blood, my grandmother, my birthmarks. I don’t really understand all the reasons, but no one is going to hurt me, or our daughter.”

  “Our what?”

  She laughed, and pulled one of his hands over to her belly, putting it to rest on the bump grooving and moving with the music on the radio.

  “Our daughter. I just had a vision. And she is going to be beautiful.”

  He chuckled, the sound soothing to Chanti’s soul.

  “Of course, she will be. You’re her mother.”

  Chanti looked towards the sunshine streaming in the window, calling her home.

  “I love you.”

  Her heart sung as he repeated her words and she let her eyes close. It was going to be a hard road, but with grit and determination they would bring peace back to the people of New Orleans. Together.

  THE END

  Bonus Story.

  The Alpha in Her.

  An M/F werewolf short story

  By Tamsin Baker.

  The Alpha in Her

  By Tamsin Baker

  A short, paranormal romance.

  Chapter 1.

  Amelia’s eyes flicked to her right side, studying the submissive posture of the male beside her. It had been so long since she’d been forced into this position. She almost had it right.

  Shit, the hands!

  She stretched her fingers out in front of her, made sure her knees were tucked in tight to her chest and kept her head down.

  The Alpha seemed furious, his booming voice echoing around the town centre.

  ‘Why is
there such dissatisfaction within the pack right now? Why the unease? Tell me!’

  Amelia lifted her head a little and then dropped her gaze once again.

  Not a single wolf spoke.

  The Alpha’s anger and power were all encompassing to the werewolves under their care, and Grayson kept expecting them to answer a question they simply couldn’t. Which seemed unfair, but Amelia shouldn’t judge him too harshly. The strength and health of the pack was at stake and the responsibility lay squarely on his rather huge shoulders.

  He growled loudly and a shiver coursed down her spine, her eyes closing in response to the strange warmth flowing through her. When she finally opened her eyes, things had changed. He had obviously let go of his hold on the pack because people around her had lifted their heads and were now beginning to stand up.

  She followed suit, glancing around at the women getting to their feet much slower than the men. Weird that, and unfair.

  ‘Alpha, we are not dissatisfied.’

  A growl rumbled out of the massive Alpha’s chest and Amelia stepped to her left a couple of inches to bring Grayson’s form into view. She was at least a hundred feet back from the place where he stood, raised on a small platform, but he was magnificent to behold. His black hair shot through with silver, his flexing shoulder muscles, his sheer massive and strength that made them all feel safe.

  ‘You are lying. I can feel it. We lost another family this week, moving north.’

  The men looked between each other and a ripple of unease vibrated through the crowd. Amelia looked around at the sad looks on peoples faces. Obviously other people knew of such a thing. She’d hadn’t realised it had gotten so bad.

  An older woman stepped forward, an elder that Amelia knew from her child hood but couldn’t place.

  ‘Alpha, would you allow me to speak?’

  He nodded, his massive shoulders squaring into an even broader shape as a small woman stepped up to the platform near him.

  ‘I mean no disrespect. You are a good Alpha and our community has thrived in the fifteen years you have led us.’

  He nodded sharply once again and Amelia bit her lip. He’d been too young to take on the mantle his father had left him, but when his parents had died unexpectedly in a rival pack fight, Grayson had been left to rebuild their pack.

  ‘Yet people leave.’ He motioned out to the pack with an outstretched arm and a ripple of unease crept through the people.

  Amelia trembled with a strange sense of panic, her own feelings or Grayson’s she couldn’t tell, but she knew that people leaving to join another pack was not good. She wrapped her arms around herself and hugged tight.

  The old woman nodded. ‘We have no Alpha Family. That scares people.’

  Grayson stumbled back a step and almost lost his balance from the platform, the elder’s words causing him obvious pain. That moment lasted for a mere second before he set his jaw and drew up to his massive height once again.

  A few of the beta were wolves stepped closer, their soft cries signalling the distress they felt at their leader’s pain.

  Amelia shivered again and swallowed her own groan.

  I know how you feel guys.

  Grayson cleared his throat.

  ‘My mate died. I cannot choose another Alpha female and you all know that. There is not another for me and there is no one to step up to challenge me.’

  Three of the betas dropped to their knees with military precision. No one would challenge for the role of Alpha. Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. She had not thought anyone would, but knowing he was safe in his position gave her a settling in the belly feeling.

  She dropped her arms down once more.

  Unusual for an Alpha family, Grayson had no brothers, no male first cousins. There was no one from his bloodline to lead them and without a son their pack would have to slowly move away and join bigger, stronger packs, much to the detriment of their town.

  Amelia swallowed hard, the lump in her throat pushing down into her belly, dropping like lead. She had to tell them, she knew she did. But dread dug into her soul and clung tight, forcing her mute and immobile as her tongue thickened in her mouth.

  The elder woman who had bravely taken on the Alpha for them all continued to speak. ‘I know you cannot replace your mate Alpha, not in the true sense of the word, but we must have an heir. Perhaps we could hold a viewing, like they did in the generations before us? You can view the females of maturity and then choose.’

  ‘A viewing?’ One of the other women asked and Grayson turned his head away as though he didn’t want to answer the question, his spine a stiff rod of anger.

  Amelia strained harder to hear, going up on her toes and leaning forward.

  The older woman continued. ‘A viewing is a traditional way of choosing a mate when the calling has been unsuccessful or the female dies as our Alpha did.’

  Amelia bit her lower lip, blinking away the tears that surfaced from thinking about the pain Grayson had gone through when his mate had died trying to birth their first-born. Amelia had been barely ten years old at the time and the pain had ripped through her like a knife, robbing her of breath and forcing her to her knees in her bedroom where she’d been studying. They’d rushed her to the doctors to find nothing physically wrong, and the lose of the Alpha female had become known.

  Her parents had told her that Grayson had mated incorrectly, choosing someone too small, and himself too young. But their Alpha had been stubborn and taken her anyway, much to his demise.

  Grayson cleared his throat and finally faced the crowd.

  ‘The viewing is a barbaric way of choosing a mate, but if I must, for the sake of my people, then I consent to it. No female below the age of twenty-five, widow, single wolf, it matters not to me.’

  ‘Twenty-five Alpha?’ The woman asked and Amelia’s heart sank, bile rising in her throat. The age of maturity was twenty-one.

  Grayson growled through his pointed teeth. ‘Yes. I will not have another woman die for me.’

  He turned and strode away, the three betas taking off after him, their howls as they shifted into their wolf forms making the hairs on Amelia’s body stand up and she shivered as heat slid into her belly.

  She caught sight of the magnificent grey wolf Grayson became for one moment before he turned tail and disappeared into the woods. He was the biggest, the strongest, and how she wanted him.

  The crowd began to go their own ways, moving back into their homes and businesses. Amelia surged forward into the large group now assembled around the old woman near the stage.

  Amelia’s heart beat against her ribs, her belly tightening into knots as the potential Alpha females pushed for information.

  ‘Settle down girls, the viewing is very simple. If you are over twenty-five and un-mated, you may present before the Alpha. It will be on the next full moon, which is tomorrow night, and you will stand naked before him. He will choose his mate on sight and smell. If his wolf takes over, more may happen … but we shall see. Our Alpha has caged his desires for far too long.’

  Amelia forced herself to speak above the excited babble of the women around her, her voice coming out croaky and strange.

  ‘Whaaat … if you’re not twenty-five yet?’

  A few of the women turned to stare at her and she forced herself to continue to look at the elder who answered the other womens questions. She would be twenty-five within a few months but it was too soon, she wasn’t ready to tell him who she was.

  Her breathing rate sped up, her chest rising and falling with an uncomfortable speed.

  The older woman surveyed her, her shrewd silver eyes caressing Amelia’s face and then running over her body.

  She forced herself to allow the scrutiny, despite the blush that stole up her cheeks. She was almost six inches taller than most of the female wolves, and at least fifty pounds heavier. She’d gotten used to being different, but that didn’t mean she liked it.

  ‘Then you may not compete.’

  Amelia’
s heart stopped and her head spun as reality came smashing in on her like a stone wall crashing against her body. White lights flashed before her eyes as the blackness swam in.

  No … oh please no.

  ****

  Grayson’s chest constricted and he planted his paws in the dirt, grinding to a dusty halt near the base of a tree.

  What is it, Alpha?

  He didn’t know, but he had to get back to town.

  Home. Now.

  The three betas that had followed him on this mad race through the forest turned around and followed him back to the town.

  His heart rate increased and he pushed his tired legs to move even faster, trees blurring past him as he dodged and leapt through the brush.

  He’d had so many strange feelings lately that had led to much self-doubt. His links to the community were so strong he often sensed emotions that were not his own, but it was getting ridiculous. Someone out there in the town was more firmly linked to him than any other person and he couldn’t work out who it was.

  He hadn’t sired any children, he was sure of that. The few women he had taken comfort in since his mate had passed away had never born a child. So it wasn’t that. Who then?

  His paws landed on gravel and then concrete, signalling the return to their town. He shifted back into human form and strode over to where his worn jeans and black t-shirt were lying in a puddle on the ground. His heart still pounded in his chest and the tightness in his muscles signalled an awareness to his surroundings that he couldn’t put his finger on.

  Grayson pulled his clothes back on and glanced around for some sign of what was wrong with his pack—his community and responsibility. His gaze narrowed to a small group of women in the town centre. His heart kicked out at him and he followed his instincts, walking over to where they were.

  A young woman lay on the ground and several other women sat beside her on the cobblestones, checking her pulse and colour and calling out to her.

  ‘What happened here?’

  The women jumped and Maree, the elder who had suggested the viewing, stood up to face him. There was something a little odd about the look in her eyes, but his instincts were tugging him down to the woman at her feet.