Enchanting Her Alpha (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance) (3 page)

Holding his weight off me, he kissed me again, softly this time, and brushed the hair back from my face. He stroked his thumb across my cheek and kissed me softly again before moving off me and pulling me to him. “I’ve missed you.”

“Me too.” I searched his face for the truth of his statement and found my answer in his eyes. He had missed me as much as I had missed him, maybe more. “Please, don’t shut me out again. I don’t know how to stop hoping.” I took his necklace in my hand, caressing the stone between my fingers.

“I could feel it, you know. Pulling toward you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He rolled onto his back, and I pulled a blanket from the bottom of the bed and covered us before curling up beside him. “I couldn’t stay away; that’s why I was at the wall this morning.”

“I was glad to see you,” I said, resting my head on his chest. I could’ve stayed there with him forever, but reality was beginning to seep in at the edges. “Until your little friend showed up.” I tried to keep the jealousy out of my voice. I don’t think I was successful.

“Yeah, there’s something I have to tell you about that.” He put a hand over his eyes before he went on, “That’s Rachael, she’s um, and she’s supposed to be my mate.”

“What?” I shouted, sitting up. “I guess I’ll just have to kill her,” I said. I was only half-kidding.

“Look, my dad keeps pushing us together, and I think she has designs of her own,” he took my hands in his, “but I only want you. She doesn’t even exist for me, and I think she knows it.”

“Well, I saw something today that may change your dad’s mind about that,” I began, not sure how to explain all of this to him. I decided to begin at the beginning. “I’ve been learning the many different types of magic that can be practiced, and today I tried my hand at scrying--uh, divination.” I looked up at him to make sure he was following; he nodded, and I continued. “I saw very vivid, very clear vision today of a girl being attacked and killed by a wolf. Your wolf. Rachael.”

“I can’t believe Rachael would kill anyone.” He sounded sincere, but I think even he had his doubts. There was something about the way his eyes slid sideways, as though remembering something, that made me doubt he was a sure about her as he said.

“I don’t know if she has, if she’s thinking about it, or if she will,” I explained. “Time is fluid, and scrying is not exact. It doesn’t always show the future. This could have happened in the past, but I have to say, she looked the same in my vision as she did this morning.”

I looked up at him expectantly, hoping he would tell me more about her, but he merely said, “I’ll look into it.” I let it go at that, and asked if he was hungry. “Yes, but not for food.” He laughed and pulled me down on top of him, and I was immediately distracted.

The early morning sun shining brightly through the cabin window woke me from a deep, dreamless sleep. I kissed Brandon on the cheek and slipped out of bed to make some breakfast for us. The toast had just popped up when I felt his arms slip around me and his kiss on the top of my head. “Have a seat,” I said, “your timing is perfect.”

As we ate, we talked about the possibility of revealing our relationship to our families. While neither of us wanted to continue to hide it, we both knew there could be serious ramifications if it became common knowledge. We could be forced to leave our communities. The thought made me wonder about my parents.

The more I thought about it, the more I had to wonder why my mother and father had raised me away from the Coven. I wonder if they’d been exiled. I mentioned this to Brandon, and we agreed that he’d find out what he could from his mother, the Pack’s record-keeper, and I would get what I could out of my grandmother.

We parted with a kiss as he helped me into my canoe, and I took his promise to meet me this afternoon to compare notes with me as I paddled away. I walked into the kitchen to find Amma at the table and Mynx curled up by the stove. The little fox lifted her head in greeting, then rested it on her paws again.

“I guess you’re still mad at me for not taking you,” I said, bending down to run my fingers through her soft fur. “I’m sorry, but when I go there I have to go alone.” She nuzzled her head against my hand in what I hoped was forgiveness. I stood and turned to face Amma, saying “I need to ask you something.”

She looked up at me from the herbal grimoire she was updating before closing the book and indicating that I should sit. “Amma,” I began, not wanting to beat around the bush, “why did my mother and father leave the community?”

“I knew this day would come eventually.” She motioned for me to sit and said, “Let’s have some tea.” I knew she was using the time to figure out what to say to me. I had no doubt that she would tell me the truth, but it couldn’t be easy for her. When she had placed my tea in front of me, she sat down next to me, angling her chair so she could look at me.

“One day, out of the blue, your mom came to me and told me she had fallen in love and was expecting a baby. I wasn’t even aware she had been seeing anyone. It was such a shock to realize she had hidden it from me. I didn’t know she was capable of that.” She shook her head sadly and took a sip of her tea before continuing. “Of course, I was upset. She was so young, too young to have a child, I thought. But that wasn’t everything she had to tell me.”

She was looking at me steadily as she went on, “The boy she was in love with, your father, wasn’t from our community.” She stopped again and looked around the room as though to find the courage to say the next words: “He was from across the lake.” Putting her hand over mine, she nearly whispered, “He was a werewolf.”

Her eyes snapped up to mine to gauge my reaction. I said nothing for a moment as I attempted to fix a shocked expression on my face. She tilted her head quizzically and asked, “Are you all right? I know this news must be distressing, but Nicole, your father loved you.”

“I know, please go on.”

“Well, when the Coven found out it was divided into two camps. Some demanded that when she had the baby, you, she give it to your father and that they have nothing to do with each other again.” Hearing this really hurt, and it must have shown on my face because she squeezed my hand, reassuring me that she wasn’t one of them. “Others, reassured by the peace we had established with the werewolves, and the fact that they hadn’t attacked a human in two decades, wanted your parents to be able to live here with us or with across the lake with the werewolves. Whichever they wanted.

“The Pack was divided in much the same way.” Amma sighed remembering. “Your parents, however, refused to be separated from each other and, more importantly, they refused to be separated from you. They decided to leave and begin a new life outside of the community. The Coven voted to allow you to come to stay with me for one week out of the year, and no one was permitted to speak of your heritage.”

“And if I had taken after my father?” I asked, fairly sure I already knew the answer.

“You wouldn’t have been permitted to visit at all,” Amma said sadly. “Luckily, that was not the case. Nicole, you have no idea how much I looked forward to that week every year.” Amma gave me a small smile, her eyes shining with unshed tears and finished her story. “When your parents died, I took you in and eventually the Coven decided to allow you to take your rightful place.” She looked at me for another long moment before gathering our teacups and moving to the sink, her back to me.

I stood up and moved behind her, putting my hand on her shoulder. “Thanks, Amma. For everything.” I went to bedroom, Mynx on my heels, to take a quick shower. I thought about Amma’s story, and as I did and wondered what kind of reaction Brandon and I would get if we revealed our relationship.

Mynx came with me as I let myself out the back door and made my way to my secluded clearing. I made myself comfortable on the forest floor and watched Mynx sniff around as though catching the scent of something. She suddenly lifted her head and took off into the underbrush. At almost the same moment Brandon stepped out of the trees and took a seat beside me, brushing my cheek with a quick kiss.

“Let me guess,” I said, taking in his expression as he sat beside me, “the Pack didn’t want me, didn’t want my mother, and they didn’t want my father to be with either of us.”

“In a nutshell, yes.” He put his arm around me and pulled me close. “I’m sorry. But not everyone was against it. The council of elders voted five to four to expel your father from the Pack. From what my mother told me, it divided our community in two, and nearly destroyed us. The part of the Pack that voted for them staying together took the truce between the Coven and the Pack very seriously.” He looked away from me as he finished: “The other part, the ones who wouldn’t accept them at all, saw your Coven as oppressors. They believed we should be able to live as we had for a thousand years, that we should be able to hunt whatever prey we wanted. Including humans.”

“Well, that’s just great.”

“Don’t worry, the treaty still stands.” He was trying to be reassuring, but I could hear the concern in his voice.

“Come on,” I said, standing and pulling on his arm to get him up to follow me. I showed him the entrance to my sanctuary and led him down the path. “Wait here,” I said as I crossed the small dark space from memory to the ledge holding the candle. I lit it and turned around to light the space for him. “We can meet here or on the island if we need to talk. Of course, we still have the dividing wall for notes.”

“You’re right.” He considered. “We’ll have to be careful until we know what kind of reaction we’re going to get.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed me so passionately that my knees almost buckled.

“I’m not letting you go again,” I whispered when he released me.

“And I’m not letting you go either.” He kissed me again, and then said, “But right now, I have to go. I’m expected back soon.”

I heard Drew calling my name the moment I slipped out of the cave. I pushed Brandon back into its mouth and stepped out into the clearing a half-second before Drew arrived. When he spotted me, he ran over and engulfed me in a hug, smothering me with in his broad chest. I smacked his arm desperately until he let me go. “Oh, sorry. I was just so worried when I couldn’t find you.”

“What’s going on?” I could tell he was upset, agitated.

“A girl’s been killed.”

“What? How?”

“At first it looked like a wolf attack.
But now, Amma says she thinks it was not just a wolf.” He shook his head, “She thinks it was a werewolf. She sent me to bring you back safely.” I half-turned my head toward the hidden opening of the cave as a good-bye to Brandon and followed Drew down the path to Amma’s cabin.

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