Claiming His Witch (5 page)

I bared my teeth as the man whose orders I was trained to follow demanded I do the exact opposite what I knew I should. Rebel stared at me, waiting for me to comply, but my wolf refused to submit. Not this time.

When I didn’t drop my stare or give in to his demand, he raised his voice.

“Pup, you will shift back now.”

The weight of the Alpha order was like a lead blanket being draped across my shoulders. My wolf and I fought against it, our growl deepening. We could not risk giving in, could not stop until we’d reached whatever it was that called to us in those woods.
 

North north north north

Beast shifted to his human form and hurried to Rebel’s side.

“What the hell is wrong with him?”

Rebel shook his head. “No clue, but he said he was feeling a little off.”

“Well, this is a fuckton more than just a little off.”

I spun and faced north as the scent of two humans met me. No, not humans. Something…other. Something my wolf recognized but my human side didn’t. The one scent made me want to attack, to protect my den and my pack from the unknown threat. But the other…

Deep and sweet, the smell was like waking up on the riverbank as a kid with the mist rolling over the water and the sun playing hopscotch across the ripples and waves. It was like home and faith and all the good things I’d long ago had taken from me. It was everything…and it was mine.

“What the hell is that?” Beast turned toward the tree line just as two women burst through the brush and out of the shadows. They stumbled and fell, toppling over each other and landing in a heap. Beast growled and stepped in their direction, but my wolf howled in my head and forced us to intervene. Without thought or intention, I jumped past the man I saw as my most trusted brother, my maker, and turned on him. Three barks had him stepping back.

“Easy, Pup. I’m not going to hurt them.” Beast put his hands up and took another step back, pulling Rebel with him. Their retreat settled my inner wolf enough to back up, to move closer to the women who were still lying on the ground. Once I stood beside them, I dared to turn my face away from the threats in front of us, the human side of me needing to know why my wolf was adamant we protect the women. I continued to growl lowly as I looked over the pile of girl-flesh, the human side winning back more and more control as the seconds passed.

And when the girl on the bottom looked up, when her sea green eyes met mine, I knew I’d never be the same again. My wolf settled, allowing my human side full control of my body and my thoughts. Which was good, because if the way my heart drew me toward the unknown woman was any indication, I’d found my mate.
 

And she looked terrified.

Paws, claws, fur, teeth…
hunter
.
 

I struggled to my knees, scared the wolf could attack at any moment. His growls filled the air, sending chills up and down my spine. Scarlett gasped beside me, obviously seeing the same thing I did. I trembled as I moved back, lifting my head as the growls grew louder, certain the pain of teeth slicing into my flesh was coming.

Instead, I met pale green eyes. Intelligent, caring, and inquisitive eyes that showed far too much depth to belong in the face of an animal. They made me pause, made the fear of my initial reaction recede. The wolf’s very presence should have terrified me. Should have had me running the other way and shouting for help, but those eyes calmed me.
 

As soon as our gazes locked, an incredible sense of peace washed through me, cool and calm. This was where I was meant to be. The wolf was what had been calling to me all day, though how or why I still had no idea. But there was one thing I was absolutely sure of: if there was a witch hunter in these woods, the wolf before me was not him.
 

The wolf took a single step closer, just one paw, but it was enough for my sister to see him as a threat.

“Zuri…stay down!”
 

Before I could react, a ball of flames erupted between the wolf and me, sending sparks and ash into the air and making him retreat.

“No!” I hurried to my feet and tried to grab Scarlett so she wouldn’t attack again, but it was too late. Two fireballs went screaming in the direction of my wolf.
 

As I spun to see the damage she’d caused, a man grabbed Scarlett and lifted her off the ground with his arm around her neck. Fury raged through me, pure anger at the audacity of the stranger to put his hands on my sister. Without pause, I called my power through me, chanting to the elements in my mind. This was no time to be shy, and I was no scared little witch afraid of being burned at the stake. I’d drop a tsunami on his ass if he attempted to hurt my sister.
 

With the full power of the magick of the water within me, I spread my fingers and turned my palms skyward. Almost instantly, the winds picked up around me, going from a simple breeze to a howling gust. The man holding Scarlett took a step back, fear burning in his eyes as hail the size of golf balls began to fall on his head. Scar’s fingers glowed against the skin of his arm where it held her throat, a sign she was still drawing on her beloved fire element. But he didn’t pull away from her fiery touch, which really pissed me off. My wolf made a sound like a whine from behind me, but I couldn’t lose my focus. My sister was in danger, and I had to protect her.
 

Feet planted, hands out, I looked the scarred man right in the eye and smiled. Then I puckered my lips and blew.

A mass of air exploded between us, screaming in a banshee wail as the moisture from my breath expanded and formed a large wave. The man’s face paled, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head as a wall of water built between us. Ten feet tall and six feet across, it was a physical force one could feel and see as it glittered in the firelight. I directed the wall toward the man with my fingertips, forcing him backward another step or two before he started growling.

“Your little magic tricks don’t scare me, witch.” He glared, still a tad pale. But the fear on his face was quickly morphing into fury. When I took another step toward him, he tightened his hold on Scarlett. Sparks flew from her fingers, but her eyes were bulging and she obviously couldn’t breathe. There’d be no way to magick her way out of his grasp if she panicked, and that was exactly what it looked like she was doing.
 

I scowled, hoping to hide the growing sense of panic that I wouldn’t be able to help my sister, before raising my right hand, making the wave grow from ten feet to fifteen on one side. The man watched warily as I bent the top of the wall over his head. When I had him covered, his face began to transform, small black dots of what looked like fur pushing through the skin. It was disconcerting at best and terrifying at worst, but I couldn’t show fear. The bastard had his forearm pressed against Scarlett’s throat as if to suffocate her. There was no time for fear.

“Let her go, you freak. You don’t want to cross us.” I did my best to portray the calm and collected witch, but inside I was scrambling.

He tightened his hold on Scarlett with a wicked grin. Her eyes bulged as she gripped his arm, obviously having trouble breathing under the pressure. A deep growl came from behind me, from the wolf I saw as mine, but I had to ignore him. I’d been trained since birth to do no harm, and yet this man before me, this animal, had my sister in a choke hold. While the coven would be forced to punish me should I cross the line from defensive spellcasting to offensive, I had to consider that this man could be a witch hunter and therefore a serious danger to me and my sister. I was running out of time.

“Let her go!” I flung my arms to the side and called the power of the waves to protect my sister. With little effort, I directed the flow of water in an arc so debris from the forest floor caught in the churning, gravity-defying wave. Sticks and leaves floated between us, whipping this way and that in the wall of water. “Let my sister go, or by the Goddess, I will drown you where you stand.”

The man growled louder. “You’ll have to go through her to get to me. Seems counterproductive if you’re trying to protect the fire-bitch.”

Before I could answer, my wolf stalked in front of me, head lowered and lips curled back in a snarl. The man holding Scarlett looked surprised for a second before his eyes went to something over my shoulder. Without warning, thick arms wrapped around my neck and waist, yanking me off my feet. The wall I’d been controlling released with a boom, thundering through the air as water and forest debris fell to the ground, creating a muddy, mucky mess. I tried to fight off the person behind me, even managed a small scream, but they were too strong and too fast. My wolf, responding to my cut-off scream, spun. He released a snarl that sent a shiver of icy fear up my spine as he dropped his head and stalked closer.
 

“Pup, no,” the man holding Scarlett screamed to my wolf, but it was too late. Without warning, the animal jumped, his teeth coming down on the arm at my waist and instantly drawing blood.

“Fuck, Pup.” The hold around me loosened for a moment, but it was enough time for me to drop my head and bite the arm that had been around my neck. My captor didn’t release me, but he did take a step back and curse, causing my wolf to release his lower arm.

“Damn it, quit fucking biting me, you two. What’s going—”

A loud whistle sounded, making all of us turn. A pretty woman with long, blond hair stood on the other side of the campfire, her hip cocked and a single brow raised.

“What the hell is wrong with you guys? Quit behaving like animals and let those women go.”

The man holding Scarlett growled. “This doesn’t concern you,
conejita
.”

My captor pulled me to the side, which caused my wolf to increase the volume of his snarl and circle as if to attack again.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” The woman approached, seemingly unafraid. “These boys are a little overzealous at times, but they mean well. I’m pretty sure the little firestarter act made them a bit nervous.”

“Charlotte.” The man holding me sounded a warning.

“Abraham.” She shot back, sarcasm obvious in her tone. “Don’t even think about trying to tell me to back off. I’m not some delicate porcelain doll with no common sense. I saw what happened, and you two are seriously in the wrong on this one.”
 

She stepped forward, brushing past my wolf and patting him on the head. It probably wouldn’t have seemed like such an odd gesture had the giant animal not still been growling at the man behind me. Teeth bared, drool spraying as the rumble ripped from his chest, he looked fierce and ready to kill. Yet the woman acted as if that was a normal, everyday occurrence. A house pet in the skin of a wild animal.
 

She finally stopped directly in front of the man holding my sister, though she directed her words to the captive, not the captor.
 

“I know you were protecting the other girl, but I can assure you there was no need. None of us means you any harm. If I promise no danger will come to you two, will you promise not to set things on fire until we can at least figure out what the hell is going on?”

Scarlett met my gaze. I gave her as much of a nod as I could considering I was still being restrained. The soft fur of the wolf at my feet brushed against the front of my legs, reinforcing my opinion that we would be safe here. He wouldn’t let anything happen to us. How I knew that he was a he and that he would keep his friends in check, I had no clue. I just did. He was no danger to me.
 

Scarlett grimaced for a moment before croaking out a “Deal.”

“Awesome. Now you.” She came to stand in front of me. “Something’s got Pup all worked up, and I’m pretty sure I know what it is. Promise not to try to drown us all if I make these Neanderthals keep their hands off you two?”

I glanced down at my wolf. “Sounds like a plan.”

She looked over my shoulder to the man holding me.

“Let her go, now. That means you too, Beast.”

“They’re witches,” the guy holding Scarlett practically hissed. “You can’t trust them.”
 

The woman cocked her head and spun. “And you boys are wolf shifters who tried to choke them into submission for doing nothing but running into our campsite. Pah-tay-toe, pah-tah-toe.” She stepped closer, the man behind me growling low and threatening as she walked right up to the one she called Beast. “Sometimes you have to take people on faith instead of making assumptions about them. I was wrong about you, and you’re wrong about them. I know it.”
 

Beast stared at her for a moment before looking at the man over my shoulder with a scowl. “Are we supposed to take orders from your—”

“Do it.”
 

The voice from behind me was strong, leaving no room for disagreement. Beast glared over my shoulder before finally dropping his arms from around Scarlett. She fell to her knees, clutching her throat and coughing. As soon as the man let me go, I rushed over to kneel beside my sister.

“You okay?”

She nodded then looked over my shoulder. “Uh, Zuri?”

I felt the wolf come closer before she spoke, knew he was there by the way my heart sang for him. His warmth and the aura of positive energy around him made me hyperaware of his presence.
 

“It’s okay. He’s kind of mine.”
 

Mine. Such an odd thing to be so sure about. But I felt the connection that joined me to the animal, and though new and strange, refused to deny it.

I turned and met the pale green eyes of the wolf I’d been drawn to, my heart thumping faster as the link between us burned hot and bright. He licked his lips and lowered himself to the ground, never breaking eye contact.
 

I crawled closer, pushing off Scarlett’s hand when she grabbed for me. I knew what she’d say, how she’d warn me against getting closer to what she assumed was either a dangerous animal or a werewolf sent to destroy our coven. But I saw the soul in his eyes; I knew there was more to him than the fur and paws of his current form. And I was positive he was no hunter.