A Wicked Good Witches Paranormal Romance Books 1-7 (Wicked Good Witches Seasons) (17 page)

CHAPTER 5

Charlie’s nostrils flared a flurry of emotion raging through him.

It wasn’t just any werewolf.

It was
the
werewolf.

The very one that had bitten him ten years prior and had left a tooth embedded in his shoulder after its hideous attack.

“I guess you can consider yourself lucky you survived, Charlie. The body we found this mornin’…” Mack couldn’t finish, and she’d witnessed plenty of bloody attacks during her time as sheriff.

Melinda stared at Charlie, but he didn’t see her. Only the wolf that bit him.

Panic rose inside her chest. What would this mean for him? And what was going on in her brother’s head? She couldn’t even imagine, but wondered if maybe they would need to subdue or calm him in some way. Emotions brought out his wolfy side, not always in the best way, and this… this was a massive test of his willpower.

It wasn’t like they had a doggy shock collar they could put on him or something though. And it was daytime. Not night. No full moon right now to worry about. Good thing. And currently he was just staring into nothing. Blinking. Blinking. Blinking. Not quite present in the room even though physically he was taking up so much space.

Michael’s empathic ability sensed Melinda’s anxiety mounting to a
threatening to explode
level, and he grabbed for her hand. She barely felt him holding onto it. Her skin numb. Her mind blasting off in a hundred directions of freaking out all at once.

William took a few quick paces around the room, blood lust no longer a concern, the look of comprehension dawning in his emerald green eyes.

“Yes,” he mumbled as if answering his own silent question.

The rest turned and waited breathlessly for him to explain. Including Charlie. Desperate for any good news. Or explanation the vampire had to offer.

“It is extremely likely that this wolf’s return to the Isle is behind your heightened tension these last few days, Charlie. Even though you have never permitted the full transformation to take place, you still have your werewolf senses. I believe this wolf’s arrival may have triggered the connection between you.”

“How do I break it, William? I want nothing to do with it,” Charlie clipped out, his voice charged with shaken control. “Unless…” His eyes brightened with a new possibility.

“Don’t even think about it, Charlie,” exclaimed Michael, already understanding what Charlie was thinking. “You cannot use yourself at bait to capture this thing!”

“I am afraid Michael is quite right, Charlie,” William agreed. “You cannot confront this wolf without an almost certain chance of transforming completely. I am sure you remember what happens then?”

“You mean other than a murderous rampage across the Isle?” Melinda muttered in a sickly sarcastic tone.

Charlie covered his face with his hands, looking pained as he forced himself to sit back down. And deflate himself. He looked up, dropped his hands, staring into the eyes of Melinda and Michael. They shuddered at the same moment.

Melinda, because she saw true fear in Charlie’s eyes and this frightened her above all else. And Michael, because his empathic abilities sensed Melinda losing the battle to keep her own fears from crushing her. So many steps forward, and now, she was seconds away from running all the way back to start.

Charlie stood up, pacing back and forth, stopping every few steps to speak, but nothing would come out. He gulped, his throat feeling like a pile of dry ash as he searched for the courage to say what he needed to say.

“There’s something I never told you guys,” he finally pushed out. “And don’t get mad at William, I forced him to swear to secrecy.”  

“What did you keep from us, Charlie?” Melinda barely controlled the panic ensnaring her heart.   

He took another moment to answer. Thinking it over carefully first.

“If I transform, fully surrendering to my wolf, and the one who bit me is still alive… it becomes my alpha. I will no longer have control over my actions, whether it’s a full moon, or not.”

“What!?” breathed out Michael.

“Charlie… this is…
huge!
” Melinda had many choice words and thoughts about the revelation, but none would reach her lips. Captured and imprisoned by her thickening throat and befuddled brain. 

“I have to agree with your siblings on this one, Charlie.” Mack shook her head.  “This situation is turnin’ into a much larger problem than even I expected.”

“And William isn’t going to be much help,” stammered Melinda. “Or have you forgotten that a werewolf bite is poisonous to him?”

William ignored Melinda’s remark, realizing it was misplaced anger, and knowing he would do whatever was necessary to save Charlie. 

“I’m sorry I never told you guys. I guess I hoped it would never come to this. I hoped the thing would never come back here. I didn’t want to burden you with what I thought would be unnecessary worry.”

“Turns out it was necessary, Charlie!” Melinda’s heart was beating at a much faster pace than it should, and she sucked in unsteady air trying to calm the panic attack bubbling its way to the surface. Tears stung at her eyes. She sucked the side of her cheek, trying to control them.

No one replied. No one knew what to say, or do, with this information. After another long moment of tense silence, Michael did his best to bring everyone out of their stupor.

“And here I thought Charlie’s
edginess
was just over the new girl in town.”

“Ha. So much for the Eva Jordan theory,” Melinda sniffled. 

Charlie sighed, deeply regretful as he witnessed his sister crumbling before his eyes. He stepped over to her, forcing her to hug him.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she sobbed. “I can’t lose you too. I just can’t.”

“I know, Kiddo. I’m sorry I never told you. I really am. But everything’s going to be okay. This full moon will come and go, just like any other. I promise.”

Just then, the sheriff’s radio started chirping.

“Looks like I am being called away, Howards. You all talk amongst yourselves and let me know what you figure out. I’ll be in touch.”

She showed herself out, but before she let the door close, she gave another warning.

“Be careful, all of you. I don’t want to be losin’ any of you either. That put out there Charlie… if you transform and can’t be controlled, you know what I’ll have to do.” She patted her upper pocket. “I’ve still got the bullets you gave me.”

“I expect you to do your job, Mack. Nothing less,” he agreed firmly. “I’m supposed to protect the Isle, not be the thing it needs protection from.”

She nodded stoically and let the door slam shut.

Melinda’s nostrils flared and her eyes began to tear up again.

“You gave her bullets!? To kill you with!”

“It’s going to be okay, Melinda,” Charlie insisted.

“You can’t know that!”

She turned to Michael and William for support, but neither spoke.

Michael, grasping Emily, now as if his life depended on it, could not reply to Melinda because he could barely keep himself together as her anguish washed out of her body like a flood.

William’s face turned to stone, but not before she saw the struggle there; he was trying to hide it from her. They didn’t want to admit they might be in more trouble than they could handle. Or they were just trying to protect her from the truth, afraid she couldn’t handle it.

They were right.

Melinda’s throat closed up and she gasped for air. Black splotches burst into her vision. The room started to spin and her mind shouted for her to run and hide… to disappear completely. 

Charlie and Michael reached out but she batted them away, heading for the door. “I can’t be here,” she choked out in a pained voice. “I can’t watch my brother basically fucking die…” She ran out of the house as fast as possible.

Charlie stepped out after her, shouting, but she did not hear what he said.

She just kept running, blocking everything from her mind. She needed to get away. She’d suffocate and die if she went back inside that house.

##

“What perfect ass timing!” Charlie rambled angrily. “Just when I was starting
not
to worry about her, every waking moment.”

“Just let her go,” William advised. “At least she is out of the house and not locked in her room.” Although even as he said this, it was everything he could do, not to go after her himself.

“Great! Out there, who knows where, with a werewolf on the prowl.”

“She is stronger than you think, Charlie. Give her time to sort out her feelings. I think it might be good to let her do this.”
It might also be good to have a little space from her,
William realized. He needed to have a clear head, something that was proving impossible when he was near Melinda now.

“Maybe I should go after her?” suggested Emily. “Maybe she wouldn’t mind talking to me, being I’m a girl, and a friend, and not a brother.”

Michael tossed her an appreciative smile. “Maybe it’s just better if Melinda sits this one out. Give her some space like William said. We can handle this one, ourselves. We just need to come up with some kind of plan that doesn’t involve you turning into a werewolf, or using yourself as bait, Charlie.” 

“Yes, let’s not have it come to that, shall we?” agreed William. “Perhaps, the best place to start is…”

“Research,” both Charlie and Michael finished in dry sarcasm.

William lifted an eyebrow. “Actually, yes. I want to know what allows this wolf to change without the moon being full.”

“You’ve researched this before,” Charlie said. “You found nothing.”

“Perhaps I missed something. Perhaps, what I need is not in my own library, but on that confounded thing Emily calls a laptop.” He glanced at Emily expectantly.

“Oh, come with me, William. The internet is really not that scary.” She grabbed her bag and dug out her laptop. She and William retreated into his study to see what they could find.

This left Charlie and Michael alone in the kitchen.

“I’m impressed,” Michael suddenly told his brother.

“By what?”

“How calm you stayed during all of that. Your wolfy thing didn’t even surface.”

“I think it’s just shock, actually.”

“Still, if you can stay that calm with all this crazy going on, maybe everything really will be just fine. Or maybe, whatever happened last night…” he trailed off, waiting expectantly for a reply.

Charlie said nothing, but Michael didn’t give up.

“C’mon, we all know you got some secret gal you hook up with every summer. What’s the big deal?”

“It isn’t a big deal. It’s just a relationship of… convenience. It works great for her and it works
really
great for me.” He couldn’t help but grin, thinking of Nina dancing around her kitchen, her ass doing that seductive little jiggle.

“Do you like her?”

“Sure. She’s a…” Charlie thought hard how to explain a complex woman like Nina. However, he could not do so properly without giving away too much about her. “She’s an incredible woman. Not a human woman, of course. But if you’re asking if I’m in love with her, she’s not
the one
, or anything like that. She’s not the settling down type.”

“Okay,” nodded Michael, dropping the subject. “So what’s our next move then? How are we going to find this alpha?”

“I need to keep busy for one thing. I may appear to be holding it together, but if I allow myself to disappear into my brain right now, this whole alpha thing will consume me.
Finding it?
” Charlie let out a sigh that exclaimed
I have no idea.
 

Michael saw it again. True fear reflecting in his brother’s eyes. It wasn’t a sight he enjoyed, and it wasn’t like Charlie to let it leak out.

“The only thing I can come up with, is find the alpha before it finds me.”

“Maybe we should visit the crime scene,” Michael suggested. “Maybe we can find something the investigators overlooked.”

“They certainly would miss any supernatural clues it left behind,” agreed Charlie.

“Sounds like we have a place to start at least. Let’s go tell William and Emily.”

CHAPTER 6

Melinda huffed her way down the street. It had been sunny earlier, but now clouds and were rolling in, layering a salty mist over every surface. This did not deter the tourists though. They still bustled about, mindless of the weather. Of course, everyone knew the old saying, ‘If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.’

“God damn you, Charlie Howard,” she spat at the cobblestone walkway. “And William…
My William
, keeping a secret that big from me! Ugh,” she snorted.

A tourist made to step around her, in a wide, obvious motion.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m freaking talking to myself,” she spoke crazily, at the same time eying the man, as if to say,
Yeah, I’m a freak, deal with it!

At that same moment, her foot hooked the edge of a crevice and she tripped, falling forward. “Son of a bitch!” Her hands dutifully flew up to protect her face.

Someone caught her though, holding on tightly, not allowing her to fall.

“Are you okay?” It was a male voice, sounding both amused and concerned.

“Yes. I’m fine,” she responded with mock gratitude as her savior helped her stand upright. She picked up her head and inhaled, losing her breath again. 

“Oh… you,” she squeaked out.

“Is that good, or bad?” His molasses eyes danced in delighted bemusement. It was her dark haired motorcycle man... a
nd he’d have to pick now to happen across my path... 
she could not hide her
tear stained face. Or tangled hair, turning into ringlets as the humidity and mist claimed its control for its own. But her fury lessened. Replaced with intense need to disappear. To feel anything other than panic and pain.

He could not believe he’d found her again. More like that
feeling
he got sometimes, led him to her again. His heart soared, but also cracked just a little. He didn’t know why, or what had caused it, but his little blue eyed beauty was broken. Maybe whoever, or whatever sent him these feelings of where he needed to be, really had sent him to her because she needed him.

But he’d never found himself helping someone that kicked his heart into overdrive and flooded him with such wild desire. No woman that instantly made him want to wrap himself around, and protect her from all the horrors in the world.

He shrugged and shook his head. “You know, that’s the second time I’ve saved you from falling. Do you do that a lot? Or am I just lucky?”  

“No, I don’t fall a lot,” she replied, clearing her throat. “And you just happen to be in the right place, at the wrong time,” she told him, keeping her chin held high.

“Don’t you mean in the right place at the right time?”

“However you want to see it. Look,
thank you
for your help.
Again
. But I’m fine now... just having a really terrible day,” she rambled in a haughty mumble, turning away.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he called after her. “I mean that your day is bad, not that you’re okay.”

She just waved her hand as if none of it mattered and stormed off. She still had a brother to be angry with.

“Hey, wait a minute,” motorcycle man shouted, catching up to her. “Bad day or not, can I at least know your name?”

She stopped mid-street and stared at him, nearly laughing out loud in nervous response.
He must think I’m an inconsiderate ass. But what’s new?

“Melinda,” she found herself telling him. “My name is Melinda.”

Just then, a car screeched to a stop, honking its horn. “Yeah, yeah, hold your horses! I’m moving.”

Her dark haired hero then did something quite unexpected.

He grabbed her hand and sauntered alongside her, seeing her safely to the sidewalk across the street. He let go once she was safely off the road. Melinda shot him a questioning look. Why was this total stranger being so nice to her?

“I couldn’t well save you from falling, and then let some impatient driver run you over now, could I?”

She guessed that made sense. He was just being nice. Helpful. She knew a few local island boys that could take a lesson or two… jerkwad came to mind.
Forget him! Pissed off enough already…

They were near his motorcycle. She stepped closer to take a look. She’d never really looked at one up close. It had clearly seen some mileage, but its solid black steel construction called out
you can trust me… I won’t let you down…

“Best way to travel,” her savior winked, grabbing his helmet.

Melinda noticed an extra helmet hooked to the bike.

He noticed her staring at it.

“You wanna go for a ride? I’m a safe driver. Promise.”

There were so many reasons to say no. Charlie is in serious trouble. This guy is a total stranger. She had no idea where she would be going, and no one else would know where she was going…

Nobody will know where I am
… the thought suddenly filled her with exhilaration.

She grabbed the extra helmet and straddled the bike. The young man hopped on and she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Get me the hell outta here!” she breathed out with an air of defiance. 

“Your wish is my command.” He kick-started the motorcycle to life. Something about that motion, that sound, shot ribbons of excitement through Melinda. She squeezed her arms around him, unknowingly. She didn’t see his grin beaming down after her arms wrapped around him as if her life depended on it. 

He made a sharp U-turn and headed out of the town, speeding his way through the winding roads of The Demon Isle.

Melinda closed her eyes taking in every smell, breathing in the fast moving air as if she had never breathed properly before.

“What’s your name?” she shouted over the roar of the engine.

“Riley,” he shouted back.

“It’s nice to meet you, Riley,” she responded with a squeal as he took a sharp turn at a very high speed.

He laughed, amused by her behavior. “You’re going to cut off my circulation if you hold on any tighter.”

She eased her grip. “Sorry, I’ve never been on a motorcycle before,” she admitted.

“Well then, Melinda. I’d better make sure I give you the ride of your life.”

She averted her eyes, feeling her cheeks heat up. A flutter floated through her stomach sending butterflies plucking at her nerves. She wanted to pinch herself and make sure she wasn’t dreaming. That this was real and happening, right now.

Just this morning she had been perfectly content knowing her future would be spent working alongside her brothers to find their father. Michael and Emily had been the epitome of happiness and now, it had all gone to shit!

William was still stuck at the forefront of her thoughts, to a haunting level, and still very much off limits.

And by this time tomorrow, Charlie might not belong to himself... she could not think about this. She could not handle losing a brother. Not after everything else she’d already lost in this life. She could not think about what would become of him if this alpha took control. He’d probably kill himself before allowing anyone to control him…

She let out a trembling breath. 

Screw all of this!

I’m sick of worrying about everything. And everyone.

What’s right, what’s wrong.

What’s waiting around the corner.

If I’ll have another dream of someone I know, dying, or about a vampire I can’t have…

Sick of being in that damn house a single minute longer…

Doubt crept it, just like it always did. 

What the hell am I doing? I should be helping Charlie. I should be with my family.

They’re used to handling things without me…
her inner voice argued.
Probably better if I’m not there. I’d just get in the way.

But I should be there.

A wave of nausea rolled through her and she almost asked Riley to pull over.

I can’t. I can’t go back. I can’t think about losing Char…
Melinda closed her eyes and let it slip away with the wind, leaving it behind in the motorcycle’s wake.

She had to loosen her grip on Riley again, having been grabbing him too tightly.

Just be in the moment. Screw everything else.

Once out of the town, Riley sped up the bike even faster. Melinda felt a rush of adrenaline kick in and squealed as the wind slapped against her skin. This was the only place she wanted to be. It felt just right. Perfect.

At least she hadn’t worn her ankle length summer dress today. Not that she was dressed much better than the previous day. But she had at least found a well-fitting pair of cutoff jeans to go with her tank top and sweater. She glanced down at her flip flop covered feet... not that they covered anything. And definitely not the smartest choice for a motorcycle ride. She toyed with throwing them off and just going barefoot but decided against it.

“I love this!” she shouted, unable to contain her giddiness over this feeling growing inside of her.

Riley peered around his shoulder and cast a brilliant smile upon seeing her.

She had never understood why people rode motorcycles until just this moment. There was something freeing about it. The air whipped by and yet she could see everything flying past as though in slow motion, almost like seeing it for the first time. With every rotation of the tires, she flew away from her life, farther and farther from every worry, doubt, or fear. 

She liked this feeling.

And she liked this molasses-eyed stranger named Riley.