Enchanting the Alpha (Hex My Heart, #4)

Caden & Harmony

TALINA PERKINS

T
his is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ENCHANTING THE ALPHA

HEX MY HEART SERIES

Copyright© 2015 Talina Perkins

Excerpt from BEWITCHING THE ALPHA

copyright© 2015 Talina Perkins

WWW.TALINAPERKINS.COM

Edited by Em Petrova

Cover Artist: Bookin' It Designs

eBook ISBN: 9781310479397

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the permission in writing from the Author.

F
or anyone that has ever taken a chance on love and trusted another with your most treasured gift... you have the bravest soul and strongest of hearts!

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Other Titles

Bewitching the Alpha Excerpt

About the Author

S
trong arms cradled Harmony snug against a firm chest. The thick smell of pine stroked along her senses in a sensual tease. She recognized his scent and loved the way it aroused her inner vixen. It reminded her of the long night they’d spent together not long ago.

The woodsy and earthy aroma had soothed her then as much as it did now. It calmed and excited the earth witch in her right down to the deepest parts of her soul. She daydreamed about him and the way he caressed her curves with heated glances from afar. How his expression lit up with a simple smile from her.

Harmony buried herself deeper into the welcomed warmth of his body and didn’t dare break the spell by opening her eyes. Not just yet.

When she couldn’t hold back any longer, curiosity tilted her head back an inch for a better look at the man holding her. Her heart swelled with awe, then bottomed out as if she stepped off a cliff to freefall.

His stubble-covered jaw line, long lashes and kissable, pillowy lips so close to hers caused her body to flush with more than just heated excitement. Anticipation flooded her veins and she wanted another hit of whatever he did to make her feel so lightheaded.

In contrast to the strength that engulfed her, his gentle touch eased her nerves and she let out a slow sigh.

He completely stole her breath away.
Goddesses divine, I’ve died and found my own wicked ‘n sexy heaven.

Cool air whooshed over them to play in the wisps of her hair. Tension knotted in her gut and the once soft undertones of the moment melted away to reveal despair, but for what she couldn’t tell. She only knew it came from him.

Heavy fog coiled around their feet, the thick wafts of vapor blocking out the shafts of moonlight that poured over them moments before.

She tightened her arms around his shoulders and flicked her gaze to his. The world could be on fire and in crumbled ruin all around her, but when she looked into his eyes, she felt safe. His bright crimson-tinged eyes drank her in with an intensity she’d never witnessed before and anchored her firm in this moment in time.

Then Caden Roarke spoke. Just on the cusp of her hearing his silky baritone reached out to her. “Forever mine.” She angled her head and strained to make out the words as they floated along the air as if separated by more than just distance. As if time stood between them like an impenetrable cloak determined to keep them apart.

Serpentine tendrils of magick burst out of the encroaching darkness to weave a glittery silver web around them, tying them together. The interlocked threads spiraled and tightened their hold, and something told her destiny wanted a say in this suspended moment in time as well.

Caden leaned closer and brushed the tips of their noses together, caressing the gentle slope of her neck with his knuckles until he encased her shoulder in a firm yet gentle hold. “Take me now and forever. Say you will, please put my wolf and me at ease. Say yes.” The words morphed and shifted until they hit her all at once. Tender, yet she noted the fear that edged along the fringes of his plea.

With the slightest tilt of his head, Caden captured her mouth with his. What started out as a sensual brush of his lips against hers, quickly transformed into a claiming, soul-searing kiss.

A soft, silky caress of his tongue against her lower lip prompted her to open for him. Fingers buried into her loose hair. Her mouth fell open and he took advantage of her surprise by taking their kiss deeper. If she could describe the raw carnal need that ignited within her, the possessive way he sought to claim every crevice of her mouth, she’d say fiercely desperate. As if he was afraid she would slip away from him if he didn’t show her how he felt right here, right now. The same need he pulled from her.

But why? Didn’t he know she’d do anything to be by his side forever?

Heat surged through her veins until every nerve in her body flared to life from his touch. Knots tightened deep in her belly and her nipples pebbled against his bare chest as a low growl rumbled along their connected bodies.

Harmony ran her hands around his front and anchored her palms against his taut muscle. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She loved the way he felt beneath her fingers. So masculine and he had the kind of chiseled muscles that all wet dreams should be made of, because hers definitely were.

Caden pulled back, breaking their kiss so fast a small whimper escaped her lips. “Don’t be scared.” Emotion roughened his plea. Gently he tilted her face away from him with the pad of his thumb before she could ask what she should be afraid of.

Pain tunneled through her body, hit bottom and backtracked, locking every muscle in place and forced her eyes shut against the pain.

Small breaths shuddered from her as she forced back tears. Bitter cold unfurled over her and robbed her body of any warmth.

Pitch black pushed out any traces of the silvery swaths of light. Suddenly the world spun and she freefell into the ether. The last thing she saw was her wolf, his lips stained red and eyes luminous with an ethereal blue.

“Now and forever, you’re mine.”

***

H
armony clutched her stomach and dragged in a lungful of warm herb-scented air. Her vision slowly returned, bringing her magick shoppe into focus. Low light cast a heavy shadow across multiple shelves filled with everything from homemade candles and scented oils to the more powerful ingredients such as wards against black magick and everything in between.

Kneeling, she leaned forward to regain her strength. Each time a powerful vision barged in, her powers took a hit.

Her shoulders slumped and she hung her head for a beat. Sometimes the psychic gig was more of a curse with claws hiding in the dark ready to jump out at her just for kicks and giggles than a gift like her mom and aunts called it.

Hands braced on her thighs, she eyeballed the mess before her. Every container of dry herbs and crystal potion bottles she had gathered in her arms to stow away now lay at her feet scattered across the wooden floor creating a smelly mess.

Not that her frozen dinner for one ranked high on her to-do list, but she’d hoped to get everything put away and head home for the weekend before the big snowstorm hit. She couldn’t forget about her winged guests due to arrive at her place by the following nightfall either. By the looks of it though, she could probably count on spending at least tonight in the back room again.

Shaking off her irritation, she gathered her hair in a high bun and bit back the groan she wanted to let out like an irritated five-year-old.

Crushed lavender mingled with yarrow to create a purple and soft golden-hued nebula with a dusting of dried jasmine throughout that served as makeshift stars.

Tingles ran across the bridge of her nose and then tickled the back of her throat. Great—just what she needed.

Harmony grabbed for her stash of tissues hidden beneath the counter for when the natural ingredients played havoc with her sinuses. Kind of ironic for an earth witch, but that was fate doing the kicks and giggles thing again.

Luckily, none of the liquids and such had broken open in their tumble. If her ill gained vial of dragon’s blood had cracked even a sliver and mixed with the Fea tears, she’d have some explainin’ to do when the Elders came calling. The combination created one helluva potent potion that only warlocks and witches practicing black magick created. The moment the blood and tears of the two creatures collided a wave of energy would release like a pulse that every witch within miles would feel. If that happened, it had the potential to set their entire collective of people back by a few hundred years to the times of the Witches and Weres War. No way in hell she wanted to be responsible for reopening that wound. So, yeah, you could bet your broomstick and cauldron the Elders would be slightly miffed with her if that ever happened.

Even now, lying side by side, the shifter blood swirled and bubbled within its glass enclosure, ready to continue the blood drenched war.

Dated history between the two otherworldlies would take hours to unravel and it still wouldn’t make any sense to outsiders, but long story short, bad blood separated the two and spanned several centuries. When hatred went as deep as blood, only death would end the feud and she had no intension of getting in the middle of that war.

The pain and segregation caused by her own people’s Witches and Weres war over two hundred years ago was enough to destroy the otherworldlies. The way she saw it, there was no need to give any of them a reason to draw more blood.

A
palpable thrum pulsed through the shoppe. Residual magick from the spell work with her coven sisters only a couple of hours before clung to the air, heightened by the power flowing along the ley lines. The ancient magickal lines that crisscrossed the planet fed into every otherworldly being and served as a car battery, especially for spells cast on or near them. Crank that up one hundredfold on nights like tonight. Witches celebrated the turn of each season, and tonight the winter solstice began at the stroke of midnight.

Her head dipped and she took a slow, steady breath still shaky from her vision.
Focus.

Like her sisters, she learned as a young witch how to siphon a little off the top from the ley lines to restore her energy.