Bound to the Wolf

by Sennah Tate

  “W-what?” He managed to mumble, letting his hand fall. Sonya felt her magic lash out like a whip, reaching for him, trying to ensnare him. What did it all mean?

  For years she’d hidden her magic, let it fade to nothingness as she withdrew more and more into herself. Why was it suddenly springing to life once more?

  Was it a sign? Was her magic trying to tell her something?

  It’s time to stand your ground, she thought, speaking for the waves of energy flowing through her, No more running.

  Was that it?

  It felt right.

  She was tired of being afraid. Tired of hiding and running. And it seemed her magic was too.

  That thought was enough to give her the strength to close her hand around the door knob and pull the door open for the stranger.

  “I can’t trust you. I appreciate your concern, but it’s none of your business and you should go.”

  The darkness that shrouded his eyes made her stomach twist — he wasn’t a man used to hearing the word no.

  Just like Diego.

  Sonya shuddered, but stood firm at the doorstep.

  “I urge you to reconsider,” he said, his voice soft, tugging at something deep within her. “If I found you, he can too.”

  A lump rose in her throat and Sonya swallowed painfully, forcing her expression to remain unruffled, “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, power flooding her, making her head swim as he stepped toward the door. She clutched the knob with white knuckles as he leaned forward a little, his pure spicy scent flooding her already dizzy mind.

  He frowned and reached out, his fingers hovering just above the fading bruise on her neck. Sonya winced and the man turned to leave.

  “You’re always welcome in our pack if you change your mind,” he said, crossing the threshold and walking out of her home.

  She didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t say that Manuel was always welcome. She was. But he couldn’t know what she was. Couldn’t possibly know what he was inviting into his den.

  Sonya managed a forced smile that turned to more of a grimace and closed the door, only breathing a sigh of relief after she’d re-locked the half dozen deadbolts.

  After a few minutes of standing there, silent panic flooding her chest, making it difficult to breathe, Sonya heard a creak and noticed Manuel’s door open just a crack, his eye pressed to the opening.

  She smirked, “He’s gone,” she said gently and Manuel left his room and crossed the tiny living room to be wrapped in his Mama’s embrace.

  With her son wrapped in her arms, everything felt okay. She smoothed his unruly curls away from his forehead and kissed the top of his head.

  “We’re not going anywhere, okay? You don’t need to be scared, sweetheart.”

  Manuel buried his face into her chest and she held him tighter than ever, taking in deep lungfuls of his clean scent, fresh from his evening bubble bath.

  “But it’s time for bed,” Sonya said after a moment, scooping Manuel into her arms. “You’re up way too late.”

  He yawned and shook his head, his eyes hardening, “I had to make sure you’re okay,” he said, suddenly looking much older than his four years. He fancied himself the man of the house.

  Sonya gave him another little squeeze as she carried him to his room, “You don’t need to worry about stuff like that. That’s grown-up stuff.”

  She laid him down and pulled the covers up over his shoulders.

  “I’m old enough,” he mumbled, his eyelids growing heavy as Sonya hummed a familiar lullaby and stroked his forehead.

  “You’re growing up too fast,” she whispered, “Mama’s grown up little boy.”

  His chest rose and fell in a slow and steady rhythm and Sonya gave him another kiss on the forehead before retreating from his room with a peaceful smile.

  The feeling didn’t last long, though. Everything that had happened that night was because of one person: her mother.

  Sonya grit her teeth as she thought about Estrella’s meddling ways. They’d moved to Palm Haven because her mother said she wanted them nearby. Now she was trying to take Manuel away?

  Never. Over Sonya’s dead body. If her mother wanted to help, there were plenty of ways to do so without sending the Coven and Clans knocking on her door.

  She gripped the phone in her hand until it hurt as she waited for the older woman to pick up.

  Three rings later, her mother’s familiar voice picked up, “Hola?”

  In an instant, Sonya’s blood pressure shot through the roof as she fumbled to come up with the angry tirade she’d prepared in her head while the phone rang.

  “What were you thinking?” she spat finally, her entire body trembling with fury.

  “Que?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me, old woman. You sent that witch to my house to take away Manuel.”

  There was a long pause and Sonya could see her mother in her mind, trying to look innocent, trying to pretend she hadn’t had any part in this calamitous night.

  “Sonya,” she said with a sugary plaintive tone.

  “No. Don’t Sonya me. That witch attracted the Alpha here. Now Diego is definitely going to find us. Because you couldn’t trust me to protect my son,” her voice cracked ever so slightly and Sonya bit back a sob. If her own mother didn’t believe in her, how could she possibly succeed?

  “Hija, it’s not about trust,” Estrella said. “I have friends that could protect Manuel…”

  “Manuel isn’t going anywhere without me. Period.” Sonya’s anger made her voice vibrate and crack and she knew she didn’t sound very convincing.

  “You can’t keep running on your own. Diego is going to find you and you’ll need help. Protection. Magic at least,” her mother said, her concern making her own voice tremble.

  Sonya felt guilty, then. Her mother was just trying to protect her baby the same way Sonya herself was. If Manuel were safe somewhere far away from Diego, he might give up on her. All he wanted was a successor. He didn’t care about her at all.

  “I’m not running anymore,” she said. Once the words were out in the open they felt real. Real and final. Was she really going to stand her ground now after all of this time? It seemed like the right thing.

  She looked around at the bare apartment, hardly any decorations or even furniture. What would it be like to have a home again? Manuel deserved a home. He deserved to have friends and a school and a normal life. He’d never have that as long as they ran.

  “I think it’s time to stop being afraid,” she said, though fear still burrowed deep in her gut despite the words.

  Her mother said nothing and her insides twisted.

  You’ll need magic at least, she remembered. She wasn’t quite ready to tell her mother about her magic bubbling to life after years of dormancy.

  She thought it meant that she should stand up for herself. But it seemed to have fizzled away after that strange man had left. Was it responding to the man himself, or the threat he represented?

  It didn’t matter, she’d never trust another wolf. They were all monsters.

  “Well, it sounds like you don’t need my help anymore,” Estrella said coolly.

  Sonya frowned, “Mama, I’ll always need your help. But this is not the way.”

  The old woman sighed, “Very well.”

  Estrella didn’t have to say anything else for Sonya to know that she disagreed with the decision. Of course, Estrella had never liked Diego to begin with. Neither of them knew he was a wolf, but Estrella knew, in that way that mothers always do, that he was bad news.

  If she had listened to her mother then, maybe none of this would have happened.

  But she wouldn’t have Manuel.

  If she listened to her mother this time, what might she miss out on?

  Chapter 4

  JOSÉ

  “Heya, boss, we got someone you should meet,” Carlos said, not two seconds after José walked through the heavy oak door of the pack’s sprawling log cabin clubho
use. He was surprised to find so many of his men milling about — he expected more of them to be licking their wounds after the altercation with the bear and witch.

  His stomach turned a little at the memory. Physical harm and menacing threats weren’t his go-to tactic for intimidation and control — José preferred his pack follow him because of his leadership skills, not because of fear — but he’d thought his people in danger.

  Now, he wasn’t so sure. And maybe he shouldn’t have come right back here. He needed quiet. To think.

  “No thanks,” he growled, stalking past the older, slightly chubby, man. “If you hadn’t heard, I had a shitty night.”

  Carlos’ eyes flashed golden for a brief moment and José remembered the older man scruffing him on more than one occasion while he was growing up. He may be the Alpha, but even José knew not to disobey his elders.

  “He’s seeking refuge from an abusive pack,” Carlos said, his voice even and low, knowing this simple phrase would erase all of José’s irritation.

  The Alpha sighed and pushed a hand through his hair, thinking about how nice it would be to swim a few laps or run through the pines as the wolf. He growled again, this time softer and to himself, “Fine.”

  Carlos waved him forward, down a plush carpeted hallway full of doors in every direction, most of them leading to offices or small meeting rooms. Some doors concealed bedrooms for just these sorts of occasions.

  “Where is he from?”

  “Originally, he grew up out west, somewhere in the mountains. Then he moved out east and…”

  José rolled his eyes; why couldn’t it ever just be a simple answer? Where’s he from? Toronto. Where’s he from? Montana. Was that so hard? Instead, Carlos wanted to give him the guy’s entire life story and that left his mind to wander.

  His thoughts didn’t so much wander as they did sprint, right to thoughts of the woman he’d met earlier. The young mother with her almond-shaped eyes and unbelievable curves. He didn’t even get her name. But she had Diego Rivera’s son and that spelled trouble. He’d have to follow-up with her even if she didn’t want his help. Figure out her story… taste those plump lips and…

  Carlos opened the last door in the hallway and José was surprised to see one of the larger meeting rooms turned into a makeshift hospital room. He sent Carlos a questioning look, but the older man waved over to some of the other pack members gathered around a plush bed, “Talk to those ones,” he said.

  José tried to steady his heart rate with long deep breaths. This wasn’t just a man running from an abusive pack — he was fighting for his life. José tilted his head to the side and heard the vertebrae in his neck snap and pop. He rolled his shoulders back and slipped into ‘Alpha-mode’, the fearless leader with no weaknesses or vulnerabilities.

  He raised an eyebrow at Dominic who shrank a little, “He’s an old friend caught up in some dirty shit and I’d owe you big if you can help out,” Dom said.

  José said nothing. He revealed nothing with his expression.

  After a long minute, the man in the bed opened his swollen black eyes and Valerie, a nearby female wolf, offered him a glass of water with a long bent straw. The injured man took a long gulp from the glass, nearly draining it, before her turned to José.

  “What’s your name?” José asked trying to gauge the extent of the man’s injuries. Shifters healed quickly and if he was in this bad of shape, now, he must have looked like hell when he arrived.

  “Juan. I didn’t like the way the Alpha ran things and tried to leave. They beat me and locked me up. When I escaped, they weren’t happy. I’m pretty sure they think I’m dead,” he coughed and winced, grasping at his side.

  “Shitheads kept kicking him after he blacked out. I’ve never seen anyone live through such a savage beating,” Dominic said, his voice seething with murderous hatred. A growl rumbled in his chest and José leveled him with a look meant to cow him.

  “What do you want from us?” José asked Juan, trying his best to hide the rush of fury that raged through him at the other man’s story. This kind of thing happened all too often with other wolf packs.

  Wolf shifters had a tendency to be over aggressive and power hungry — a frequently deadly combination. Alpha spots were won and lost in bloody death matches which attracted the most sadistic narcissists out there. José liked to think his pack was different, more diplomatic.

  Juan swallowed and looked to Dominic for confirmation before turning his puffy eyes to José, “I ask for asylum until I’m healed.”

  “And after?”

  Dominic shuffled his feet.

  “Uh… I hope I’ll be invited to join your pack. I’m pretty useful when I don’t look like this. I can prove it,” Juan said, a determined set to his brow.

  José nodded, “You’ll have to. We have a council in our pack to determine these matters. When the time comes, they will decide,” he said formally. It was all a part of the play for dominance. Making himself the biggest and baddest in the room, even if that was just by controlling the conversation.

  “Until then, you can stay and recover. Dominic, find two more to keep guard. Rotating shifts.”

  Dominic nodded and clapped a hand on José’s shoulder, “Really appreciate this. I owe you.”

  José smirked and nodded, “I’ll add it to your tab.”

  Dom returned one of those grins that had the females clawing their way to his bed every night. It was an infectious kind of smile that threatened to crack José’s stony facade.

  Before he left the impromptu clinic, he gave Juan one last long look, “You are to have absolutely no contact with anyone from your old pack. Understood?”

  Juan nodded, and coughed again. Valerie stepped toward the bed and swept a lock of hair from his forehead, “He needs to rest now,” she said, her golden eyes not quite raising to José’s.

  He left without another word.

  The clubhouse was still a flurry of activity. The excitement of a fight with bears and then a prospective new pack mate brought out everyone’s curiosity. José left through the back doors onto a wide open deck that overlooked a lake. Around the perimeter of the lake were more houses of varying shapes and sizes: all home to wolves. This was their territory, their sanctuary: The Wolves’ Den.

  José felt the air shift behind him and turned, expecting to see someone follow him through the french doors.

  He saw no one, but when he turned to the railing once more, a familiar figure stood there. José took a startled step back before baring his teeth at the cloaked woman.

  “You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” he growled. How had he missed her scent? Her footsteps?

  The older woman’s smile was sour enough to make milk curdle.

  “Oh really? I thought you’d be pleased to see me after your failure earlier.” Her voice carried on the wind in an odd way and José felt the hairs on his arms stand to attention.

  “My failure?” He took a step toward the witch, his temper boiling just beneath the surface. If he wasn’t careful, the other wolves would sense their Alpha’s distress. “Listen, witch, I don’t know what game you’re playing, but leave me out of it.”

  She sneered, her face folding in with wrinkles, “You’ll address me by my proper name, wolf.”

  José felt his tongue grow heavy in his mouth, unable to form any of his smartass responses and all he could say was, “Sorry, Esther.”

  Esther pursed her lips in satisfaction, “Now, you failed to take care of the witch, but you’ll have another chance,” she said, her beady eyes looking at him a little too closely. It made him squirm uncomfortably.

  “You misled me. You said she was kidnapping a cub.”

  Esther shrugged, “Oops.”

  “And the Coven is trying to rip apart our pack.” She’d come to him only days earlier as a savior, offering to protect his kind from the destructive forces of a Coven on a warpath. José was having trouble believing all was as she said, though.

  A ghost of a smile played
on her lips and an unsettling light sparked within her eyes, “Well, that may not be a complete fabrication…”

  José growled and leaped for her, intent on pinning her to the railing and getting the answers he wanted from her.

  His body collided with the wooden railing and José turned in a flash to see Esther standing on the other side of him, still grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

  “Now now, we’re having a pleasant talk aren’t we? No need to get physical,” she said, and then José noticed the very edges of her image shimmering and fading.

  “You’re not really here,” he said, stating what was now obvious to him.

  Esther clapped her hands in condescending praise, “Very good, puppy! I’ve seen your penchant for violence and thought a projection more… prudent. Now, about your little pack…”

  “Stay away,” he growled, baring his teeth, the wolf so close to the surface now.

  “Oh, I will,” she said cheerfully, “As long as you do as I say.”

  He narrowed his eyes and studied her face for any cracks in her armor.

  “I’m not going to be your pawn. I can protect my pack with or without you. Preferably the latter.”

  Esther pulled an exaggerated frown, “That’s too bad,” she said and José tried to slow the rapid beating of his heart.

  She closed the distance between them and electricity crackled in the air — the only physical evidence of her presence, “You’re not the only Alpha in town, you know. I’m sure the other will be more than willing to do my dirty work… he seems to enjoy it.”

  José’s blood turned to ice. Another Alpha? In his territory? The way she said he enjoyed it made José wonder what she wasn’t saying.

  “Who?”

  She produced a girlish giggle that rang hollow in the air, slimy fingers of unease sliding down José’s spine, “Aw, I’d love to tell you, but I guess we’re not friends anymore. Too bad. If you change your mind, take care of the witch.”

  And just like that, she was gone, the projection fading into the air.

  The large french door opened and Carlos stuck his head through the opening, “Everything okay out here? Some people are noticing you seem a little… angry,” he said gently, carefully testing the waters with his sometimes volatile Alpha.