by Janelle Peel
If I hadn’t been watching I would have missed his shift. The air shimmered briefly before he switched back to his human shape. “Yes, Mistress,” he said as he turned and flashed me his bare ass.
I shook my head. What a shit.
After they’d gone, Syn shifted back to her Panther form and settled onto the grass to sun herself.
I moved a few paces away from the wall and lowered my hands to the ground. Calling to my well, I envisioned the field as it was before. My core pulsed as magic zipped down my arms and into the earth. I watched as the ground rippled for a moment before slowly sinking back to its original shape. Not a blade of grass was out of place. I grinned to myself, sweet.
Suddenly dizzy, I fell back on my rear. Shit, I’d forgotten to eat.
Syn moved from her spot and hesitantly approached. Worriedly, her velvety pink nose touched my cheek.
Lifting my hand, I scratched the soft fur beneath her chin. “It’s okay. I just need to eat. Give me a moment and we’ll head back.”
Chapter 14
Viv
It seemed Sora had been busy today, I thought as I helped Jackson make the arrangements for the Pack to join our ranks. The entire Clutch was abuzz with the change.
“No,” Jackson barked into the phone. “We need at least 25 rooms laundered and made up. Some will need bunks added as they have children.” He paused, “You need to ask Mel how many… Just ask Julian to handle it.” With a sigh, he disconnected the call and hooked an arm around my shoulders.
“How soon will this be done?” I queried.
He shrugged, “No clue. I didn’t even know the Pack was so large. Hey, can you do me a favor?”
I beamed up at him, “Sure, what’s up?”
“Can you get Sora and Nat to check on the ward? I want to make sure there aren’t any issues. Some of the Pack hasn’t been here before.”
I nodded and shifted to move out of his embrace.
He tightened his hold and kissed me. Pulling back, he whispered into my ear, “You’re amazing, you know that?”
I shivered in response and snarked, “Yeah, I know.” With a wink, I flashed down the hall before he could reply.
I found Sora in the small kitchen, greedily devouring a plate of French toast.
Lifting a brow, I snickered, “Christ woman. Do you ever stop eating these days?”
She turned her face toward me. Syrup dripped off her chin and she grinned, “Don’t be a hater.”
Chuckling, I settled onto the bar stool beside her. “Jackson wants you to check the ward with Nat. Something about making sure the entire Pack can enter.”
She tongued a bite to her cheek, “It’s fine. They are mine, all of them. We can take Nat to check it out, though. She hasn’t seen the ward yet.”
I nodded. “Well, finish up here. I’ll grab her and meet you…?”
“The eastern perimeter is fine.”
“Okay,” I grabbed a napkin. “You have something just,” I unfolded it and tossed it over her head, “there.”
“You ass,” she quipped, snatching it from her face.
I smirked and flashed out of the room before the piece of toast she threw could hit my back.
Nat was in the courtyard wrestling with the cutest pup I’d ever seen.
“Hey, Gorgeous!” I called out.
Her white ears pricked endearingly as she cocked her head toward me.
Nat stood and smiled, “Viv! I’d like you to meet Bex.”
“God, she’s just beautiful.” I dropped to my knees and held out my hand. “How old is she?”
“5 months.”
Bex cautiously approached and sniffed my fingers. Her pink tongue darted out and licked my palm.
“Hey pretty girl, I’m Viv. You let me know if you need anything, I’ll spoil you rotten.”
Bex coughed.
My brows lowered and I gave Nat an imploring look.
She chuckled fondly, “Bex is laughing. She doesn’t think Mel spoils her enough.”
“Ah, well you come see your Aunt Viv anytime, then,” I said, ruffling the fur atop her head. “Sora wants us to go check out the ward. Bex, you want to come too?”
Her head bobbed and she yipped sharply.
We trooped through the house with Bex trotting happily between us.
“Does she like it here?” I queried.
Nat nodded, “I think so. I don’t know how many of the Pack she actually plays with, and trust me, she really likes to play.”
“I bet. Does she Shift yet?”
Bex grouched a warning and Nat hesitated before answering, “She will when she’s ready.”
Hmm, sounded like a bit more was going on there. Oh well, I thought, not my circus, not my monkeys.
I opened the front door in the foyer and Bex took off at a run.
“East!” I shouted, and she turned accordingly.
Nat closed the door behind us.
The damp grass tickled my bare toes as we approached Sora. Bex had already arrived and was practically mauling her.
“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “I know! I just saw you a little bit ago. Shoo,” she said, and gently pushed the pup off of her lap.
I smiled. “Hey, Babe. Looks like she’s friendly with everyone.”
Sora grinned and watched while Bex advanced on an unsuspecting butterfly. She patted the ground, “Come sit down. Natalie, I want you to put your hands into the grass. Reach for your well and tell me what you see.”
We sat beside Sora. Nat closed her eyes and did as she was told while I started braiding blades of grass.
“I see a blue strand,” she said. “It stretches further than I can see.”
“That’s good,” Sora answered. “Now reach for your magic and see if you can touch it.”
Nat’s face screwed up in concentration. “It’s not working.”
“Let me try to help,” Sora said, and placed her hand over Nat’s.
I watched, fascinated as their joined hands lit in a violet hued flame. Slowly, tendrils of magic trickled down their fingers and disappeared into the ground. Natalie let out a sigh of relief and her brows smoothed.
“I’m going to let go now. I want you to see if you can add your magic to the ward. Just try to give it a little push.” Sora said, removing her hand.
The purple light stayed with Nat for a few moments before slowly winking out. Her shoulders dropped and she opened her glazed green eyes. “I don’t feel so hot,” she slurred.
I caught her as she collapsed backward.
Bex barked in alarm and ran back toward the house.
“It’s okay,” Sora answered my questioning look. “She’s new to her magic and it’s draining. Add in her shifts and this is what happens.” She placed her hands back into the earth and smiled softly, “She did it though. The ward is stronger.” Clapping her hands together, she stood. “Let’s go back. I have a feeling Mel is going to be mad as hell when Bex brings him over.”
I scooped Nat easily into my arms. Super strength was so cool. My brows lowered, “Why would Mel care?”
Sora chuckled, “I think he’s her Mate.”
I froze midstep, “What? No way, get out!”
“Yup.”
Just then, a brown blur flashed over the field. Sora moved in front of me to intercept him with her hands out. A deep growl rumbled through Mel’s chest as he stopped and glared down at her.
“Hold your horses, Mel.” Sora tipped her head, “She’s fine. Nat just used too much magic to strengthen the ward and needs some rest.”
His golden eyes swung from her to me, then down to Nat’s sleeping form bundled in my arms. He snorted once, then shifted into his human shape.
I whistled appreciatively as my gaze lowered, “Hot damn, Mel! You didn’t tell me you were so blessed!”
His cheeks instantly reddened and he moved his large hands to cover his manhood.
Laughing, I followed Sora with him trailing behind us back to the house.
Sora
After
we’d gotten Nat into bed, Viv and I made our way through the long tunnel to the training grounds. Over half the Pack had arrived and I was eager to see if things were going smoothly.
“What does the ward look like now?” Viv asked.
“It’s a solid purple band of light. When I first saw it, Sara,” I paused for a moment in respect for our departed Mage, “had laid it. Imagine a thin silver line, like the veins in our marble vanities. It stretched around the entire compound.” She sighed, “But it was weakened by the Pack. Blaze and I strengthened it, which added the blue my flames were previously. I fed from him at the same time and that added a red line that intertwined with the blue. Now with mine and Nat’s magic combined, it’s changed again.”
“So, your magic changes whenever if comes into contact with other magic?”
My shoulder lifted and dropped, “I think it happens when I accept new magic into our Clutch. That’s our working theory, anyway. Nat’s magic was red, Mel’s was green. They both affected my magic after I claimed them.”
Her nose wrinkled as she opened the heavy steel door to the chamber. “Girlfriend, I do not envy you.”
I grinned, “I wouldn’t either. However, I am pretty badass.”
“Hell yeah,” she quipped and closed the door with a bang. “So am I.”
We laughed as we flashed up the tube and through the barracks.
“No!” Blaze’s deep voice echoed through the training room when we arrived. “We train together. I don’t care if you don’t like it, or even if you don’t like each other. This has to happen or we will never be ready for the Council.”
I sighed and pitched my voice above the muttered grumbles, “He’s right. If we want to survive, there can be no more dissent among us. The Council will come, and we must be ready when they do.”
Someone shouted from the back of the room, “How do you expect us to work together when they’ve killed our kind for centuries?”
Lifting a hand to my face, I pinched the bridge of my nose and gritted my teeth. Goddess, what a mess. How was I supposed to do this?
A soft breeze ruffled my hair and a bell like voice whispered through my thoughts. ‘You are my Chosen, Daughter. You must accept this for them to follow you.’
Dammit, I didn’t even know if I wanted to be the Chosen.
Laughter rang in my ears in response, ‘You love them?’
I nodded my head.
Viv looked at me with a worried expression in her green flecked eyes.
‘Then choose. To protect them, you must accept your role… or they will die.’
Squeezing my eyes closed for a moment, I ran through all of the faces of my new family. I would do anything to protect them, they were MINE. “I accept,” I whispered.
Silver light shot through the open windows of the room, bypassing everyone as it made a beeline for me. It hit my chest and slammed me back hard against the wall. Raw power coursed through my veins, obliterating every doubt I had as it filled me up and spilled from hands in a blinding white light. My vision pulsed in time with my heart, tapping out a frantic rhythm as I saw the world around me. The vibrant green of the Shifters and the pale violet of the Vampires.
The light abruptly cut off and a deep toll chimed as I slid down the wall.
Viv grabbed my hands and crushed me to her chest. “Sora!” She pulled me back and shook my shoulders none too gently.
I focused on her eyes and swayed slightly on my feet, “It’s okay.”
She stared at me for a few beats, scrutinizing every inch of my face before releasing me and taking a step back.
My voice boomed to everyone gathered, “We are one, now and always!” I lifted my arms to the ceiling and called to my flames. They lit, flaring with violet before settling to a shimmering silver. I pushed with everything I had and my magic responded. It arced across the room and slammed into everyone gathered dead center where the Goddess’s light had touched me. Multiple strands shot out of the windows, doors, and back down the tunnel from where we’d come. I followed every line to every person it touched.
I smiled softly when Bex tried to wiggle under the bed to escape. My magic sunk into her ruff and she relaxed instantly, yipping joyously as she realized it was just me.
People I had never met flashed into view. It didn’t matter; they were mine. Others were afraid, most were not. The humans didn’t even see the magic race through the city as it searched for the rest of my Pack.
Once I had a link to every member of my Clutch, I pulled on their magic. Simultaneously, I pushed mine back through the strands and into them. When every member glowed with the light of the Moon, I released the tendrils and slid back down the wall.
Fuck, I was exhausted.
Blaze reacted first and flashed to my side. Gently, he lifted me from the floor and kissed my forehead. “I can feel them all,” he rumbled and turned us toward the room.
Everyone was helping each other from the floor. Most rubbed their chests and looked around the room with wide eyes. Their gazes slowly found mine and every person took a knee.
“Chosen,” they whispered in unison.
We were allied; bound by blood, magic, and the will to survive.
Daisy
After stalking the Councilmembers for days, I finally found a weak link. It would take some doing, but I figured the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
I paced inside my tiny room and obsessively reviewed every detail of my plan.
Moris would be topside at the pub in just 2 short hours. He had full access to the Archives, despite his weak magical status. I didn’t pretend to understand the inner workings of the Council, but he was the chink in their armor that I had been searching for. Possessing only 2 of the 4 elements placed him below multiple other candidates, however, he was the biggest kiss ass I’d ever seen. He practically worshipped the ground the Councilmembers walked on and was their eyes and ears in our world. It made a sick sort of sense to use him as they did.
I stopped at the bed and checked the contents of my purse for the hundredth time.
Potion to lower his inhibitions, check.
Potion to put him to sleep, check.
I glanced at the ensemble I’d chosen to pick him up in and lifted my upper lip. The slinky black number bared the side of my hips to the bottom of my breasts. It so was low cut in the front that it almost didn’t qualify as a dress. The hem just barely covered my ample rear and slicked to my curves like a second skin.
Thoroughly repulsed, I rushed to the bathroom and lost my stomach contents.
I flushed the toilet and inspected my reflection above the sink. Was this really worth it?
I bared my teeth at the mirror, it had to be. I wanted to know what was going on, and I needed to know now.
If Sora was a threat, I would take her out, personally.
Satisfied with my reinforced resolve, I quickly shucked my clothes and hopped into the shower.
Viv
I rubbed my chest as I watched Blaze whisk Sora off from the training grounds and back through the barracks. Jesus, I thought with a smirk, everything always turned into a show with her around.
Jackson clapped his hands loudly beside me and addressed the room in his deep baritone, “Now we train as one. There is no more us or them; we are joined.” He patted his chest for emphasis, “Here. I can feel you all. Brothers, Sisters; ClutchMates. Sora has sacrificed much to help settle a debt that is centuries in the making. Not a single member gathered here has been left unscathed by the Council. She is a Mage by blood and has been thrown out for not possessing magic.” He lifted his hands, “Would we do such a thing to any of our people?”
The crowd shook their heads. Some muttered that it was unfathomable.
He continued, “Yet the Goddess has Chosen her. We will train together. We will fight together; as one whole. This world will be safe from their rule once more.”
His words echoed around the room for a moment before cheers erupted.
“Chosen, Chosen,” they
chanted softly, before screaming as one, “CHOSEN!”
I looked to Jackson with tears in my eyes as I caught his ocean colored gaze. “Bring it.”
Blaze
Sora burrowed beneath the blankets after he’d helped remove her clothes.
“What happened, Love?” he asked.
She sighed, “The Goddess.”
His brows lowered as he kicked off a shitkicker. It hit the floor with a loud thump. “And?”
Her small voice carried from the bed, “I had to accept my role as Chosen by the Goddess to link our Clutch.”
“Link?” he queried, removing the other boot.
“Yes; the Menagerie, Protectors, Shifters, and Vampires.”
“Sooo…” he drew out, sliding his fatigues down his thick thighs.
She yawned, “So, we are now one. We will train together, fight together… and hopefully not die together.”
His tone brooked no argument as he rumbled, “No one is dying.”
Chuckling softly, she answered, “We don’t know what tomorrow may bring. Now, get your naked ass over here and make love to me like the world is ending.”
He did as he was told.
Chapter 15
Daisy
An hour before Moris was due at the pub, I quickly dressed.
Sneering at my reflection in the floor length mirror on the bathroom door, I bit a red painted lip. Never had I worn so much makeup in all my 22 years. It had taken a bit longer than I’d thought it would to get the smoky eye thing down. Thank the Goddess humans had invented Youtube, or I’d have been screwed. Black mascara coated my lashes, making my bottle green irises even brighter. I’d curled my auburn locks into soft waves that framed my face.
Gritting my teeth, I perused my attire. I looked like a fucking hooker.
Shrugging, I stepped into my heels, grabbed my purse, and headed out the door.
The Witch’s Brew featured a lot of goths pretending to be something they clearly were not. It was probably why the idiot frequented this place, I mused internally as I was let through the door without waiting in line. The crowd grumbled at the unfairness behind my back while the doors swung closed.
