Read The Witch, the Wolf and the Snowstorm: (Book 6, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) Online
Authors: E A Price
3
rd
December
Kayleigh
finished blow drying her hair and applied a final coat of lipstick. She made a kissy face at the mirror and then giggled.
Hello gorgeous
.
She came out of the bathroom in her underwear and began leafing through her wardrobe, looking for a dress. She settled for a blue
‘50’s style dress with a sweetheart neckline and a full skirt and shimmied into it.
“Morning.”
Came a mumbled voice behind her.
She turned to find
Greg trying to prop himself up on the bed but failing miserably.
God he looked awful, his skin actually appeared to be grey...
“Morning.”
She said shortly, not at all happy with his behaviour.
On waking she had inspected the apartment and found that he h
ad broken her favourite lamp. Yes it was a cheap thing from the ‘70’s she’d found in a thrift shop, decorated in sea shells which were starting to smell a little, but she loved it. It had sentimental value. It was the first item of furniture she bought after she moved out of her mom’s apartment.
Or rather after she was kicked out...
She slipped on a pair of heeled pumps and found her purse.
“You working today?” Came a hushed voice. Greg was now laying on his front, his face muffled by the bed sheets.
“I have some readings.” She answered crisply.
“Babe... I’m really sorry to have to tell you this...” He said pitifully.
She sighed. “I know.
”
His head snapped up and he immediately winced in pain.
“You... you do?” He stammered.
Was he really nervous about telling her about a broken lamp
? “I’ve already seen the damage, it’s okay. I mean I loved that lamp but I’ll get over it.”
He stared at her uncomprehendingly for a few seconds. “The lamp...” He said slowly.
Kayleigh popped a pair of hoops into her ears. “Yeah, my seashell lamp, the one you broke last night when you were skunk ass drunk... that was what you wanted to tell me right?”
He gulped and
Kayleigh faltered. He was hiding something from her. Something he was scared to tell her...
“Was there something else Greg? Whatever it is you can tell me.”
He tried to smile but grimaced as pain shot through his head. Kayleigh glanced at the clock.
“I really need to get
going, I’ve got appointments all day. Why don’t we talk tonight?”
“Okay.” He said
softly.
She kissed her palm and
smushed it on to Greg’s cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“You know... I love you
Kayleigh.”
“I know.” She said plastering a fake smile on her face.
She just wished she was so sure of her own feelings.
*
Don buttoned up his shirt.
No it didn’t look quite right
. He angrily ripped it off and threw it onto the pile of other discarded shirts.
Much to his chagrin he couldn’t decide what to wear. He’d never been the type to have lots of clothes. He had jeans, jean shirts, a couple of sweaters, a couple of t-shirts, cowboy boots, a few
stetsons, a couple of sheepskin coats and about twenty plaid shirts.
Fuck he dressed like an old cowboy gone to seed... which is what he was really...
He’d never cared how he dressed before. He owned one
small mirror for shaving,
for when he could be bothered
. Right now he had the mirror perched at the other side of his one room cabin, so that he could see his full length in it... if he squinted.
It was suddenly very important that he look
good,
and younger if possible
. Probably not with these clothes.
Perhaps with a time machine
.
He pulled out a jean shirt.
Would she like this?
His wolf panted impatiently. If he had his way he would have shifted and therefore wouldn’t need any clothes.
Problem solved
. Although if he rocked up to the library butt naked he’d probably get arrested.
He’d bet
Kayleigh would be impressed though. He was pretty damn confident without his clothes on, he was certain he had nothing to be ashamed of.
Years of experience had taught him that
.
Fuck it
. He put on the shirt. What did it matter anyway? Less than ten hours ago he had resolved to stay away from Kayleigh, and yet here he was trying to pretty himself up for her.
It was pathetic really
.
What the hell was he hoping to achieve?
Did he really think he could walk up to her, say your fiancée cheated on you last night but I can’t get you out of my head, and that she would jump into his waiting arms.
Well he could hope...
He
still didn’t believe there was hope for a future between them, how could he ask her to bind herself to him knowing he would be yearning for his real true mate. It wouldn’t be fair on her. And he didn’t feel like one night with her would be enough. Two nights maybe, a week, a month... his beast salivated at the thought.
No, he should stay away
. Right after he managed to get her away from her cheating asshat of a fiancée. As long as she wasn’t with Greg he’d be okay. Although he wasn’t sure how he would cope when she found her next boyfriend...
maybe he should move
.
No, all he had to do was just stay away
.
Right after he saw her one more time
.
*
Kayleigh peered at the older witch’s palm.
Nothing
. It was her fourth appointment that day, and her fourth washout.
With her first appointment,
Rosalee Bennett the female Alpha of the wolf pack, she had tried her tarot cards. Rosalee had wanted to find out whether children were in her future. Her mate Adam was adamant he wanted pups but Rosalee was a little hesitant. Kayleigh wanted to help. She really did, but every time she tried to concentrate all she could see was her dream wolf. Rosalee had been disappointed but she understood.
It wasn’t an exact science...
Her second appointment went much the same way.
Carly was looking for help with her dismal love life. Again, the only vision Kayleigh could see was her powerful wolf.
For the third appointment
Fran, her human co-worker from the library, having been married twice she had wanted some direction about her new boyfriend. Kayleigh had given up on the cards and resorted to palm readings. Less flashy, less dramatic, but usually she got results.
Just not today
. All Fran’s palm could do was conjure up was the image of her strapping wolf.
She was pissed. She’d never been so useless. Not to mention the money she was losing. Her hours at the library were
limited, she needed the income from her readings.
Not that she wouldn’t get by
. She’d managed on a lot less money before, and she could do again. She’d just rather not...
Her fourth appointment was with Agatha.
An elderly fellow witch. Kayleigh suspected that Agatha only asked for weekly readings to help her out, Agatha never asked any questions about her future. She preferred to be surprised, she said she had so few left in her life.
The enormous wolf flashed through her mind again and
Kayleigh let go of Agatha’s hand. “I’m sorry, I can’t seem to focus today. I’m not getting anything.”
Agatha watched her closely. “Really I thought you had something just now.”
Kayleigh tensed a little. “It wasn’t about you...” She hated having visions about herself during a reading, she felt so unprofessional.
Agatha raised her eyebrows. “You’re flushing.” She cackled. “Why don’t you make us both a cup of tea and tell me about it.”
So she did. She told Agatha about her constant visions of the wolf and the snowstorm, her feelings at meeting Don, her tastefully edited dreams of Don and her doubts about Greg.
Agatha sipped her tea. “Do you think the wolf is Don?”
Kayleigh nodded. “I think so, I’ve been living in this town for almost a year now, I’ve met just about the whole wolf pack. He’s the only one I’ve... had this kind of reaction to.”
Agatha tapped her gnarled fingers on the kitchen table. She spoke slowly and deliberately. “Have you considered that you might be his true mate?”
As much as she would like that to be true...
“Wouldn’t Don have realised I was his true mate? I heard that shifters can tell just by scent. But Don didn’t show any sign that I was his mate and I heard a rumour that he already had a mate before.”
Agatha
harrumphed. “I wouldn’t listen to rumour if I were you. Rumour has it that I poisoned my fourth husband, when actually it was my second.”
Kayleigh
snorted.
It took a while to get used to Agatha’s sense of humour, at least she hoped it was humour.
“And for all you know he could be a complete and utter idiot, you could easily be his mate and he’s just too dumb to realise it. In my experience all men are dumb, especially when it comes to women, and when you marry them they just get fatter, lazier and dumber.”
Agatha sat back in her chair a knowing look on her face.
Kayleigh
stared at her amazed. “Well aren’t you a thrilling endorsement for finding a husband, remind me again how many times have you been married?”
Agatha grinned. “I lost count a
fter five.”
Kayleigh
inspected her red painted nails. “What do you think I should do?” She asked quietly not looking at the older witch.
“If I were you I’d follow my visions... but them I’m a crazy old coot who’s been married more than five times.
What do I know?
”
Kayleigh flipped through the TV channels. She’d been thinking about what Agatha said all day. Maybe she should follow her visions, and they led directly to Don.
But she didn’t know if Don was even interested in her
. Her feelings could be completely one sided for all she knew. If she went to him and laid her heart on the line he might just reject her or worse laugh at her for being such a foolish little girl.
It just didn’t seem fair to Greg to stay with him whilst harbouring feelings for another man.
If Don didn’t want her, she still couldn’t marry Greg. He deserved better than that.
Yes, she was certain of what she had to do. Whatever her feelings were for Don, whether they were just a passing crush
or not, the fact that she was having them told her she shouldn’t be with Greg.
And she had to tell him right that second.
She briefly heard a weather warning about incoming snow but she was too fired up to care. She needed to talk to Greg before she lost her courage.
He’d texted to say he was working late again, she would go straight to the garage.
Gathering her coat and purse she marched out of the apartment determined to end things with Greg, gently of course. She just prayed she was doing the right thing.
Visions don’t fail me now
.
*
Kayleigh shivered as the first few flakes of snow fell to the ground. She loved snow. That is she loved it when she was at home curled up on her couch with a mug of cocoa and a good book. But she didn’t love walking around in it in high heels and a cotton dress.
Maybe she should have listened to that weather warning.
She quickened her pace when ‘Rose Auto Repairs’ came into view. Huh, there were no lights on inside. It looked deserted.
She tried the door, it was unlocked so someone had to be there. The garage floor was dark and empty, if he was working late shouldn’t there be a car here for him to work on? She heard a sound coming from the back. Maybe Greg was in the office.
She began to march back there but slowed as she heard some strange sounds.
An impending sense of dread overtook her. The sounds of a woman’s moans and a man’s grunts floated toward her. Not just any man, it was her fiancée Greg!
Oh god she had a really bad feeling about this!
The lewd sounds of sex assaulted her. Every instinct told her to turn around and run, this was not something she wanted to see.
But she had to know
.
Reluctantly she pushed the office door open. Even though she expected it she was still shocked.
Sharron was lying on her back on the desk, Greg was hunched over, pounding into her. They were both obviously enjoying themselves very much.
Kayleigh
gasped loudly. Greg looked up, horror on his face. “Kayleigh!”
Kayleigh
screamed in anger before slamming the door and storming out. Greg called after her to stop, and Sharron told him to let her go.
Ugh! Those two deserved each other. To think of how sorry she felt for him, knowing his girlfriend had cheated on him. And here he wa
s doing the same thing to her! Those assholes were made for each other!
A little bit of shame nagged her. Alright so she was actually coming over to end things with Greg, but at least she had the decency to wait until they’d broken up!
Unlike Sharron she had
class
. She was only dreaming of cheating on Greg, she wasn’t actually doing it!
Okay, that didn’t sound great...
Screw it!
Shouldn’t she be relieved about what happened? She did want to break up after all, and now as far as she was concerned they were. There was no way she would ever be with a man who had cheated on her.
No way, no how!
She was free to do and be with whoever she wanted. The image of Don flashed before her
, sending tingles through her.
It’s just... she was
still kind of pissed at how Greg had treated her. He had so little respect for her that he couldn’t actually just dump her and tell her he wanted to be with Sharron!
Butthead! Asshat! Fucker! Well screw him! She was big and sassy, he could kiss her assy!
Bar Luna came into sight.
That’s it.
She was going to have a drink or two and enjoy herself.
*
Don and Hans pushed their way into Bar Luna. It was practically empty. Most people had heeded the weather warning and stayed home, which is where the two of them were headed after a beer.
Other than
the two of them there were a couple of puma shifters on their way out and a group of young male wolves hovering around. Too stupid to care about a potential snowstorm. Don was the same when he was their age, he was arrogant and thought himself indestructible.
He certainly didn’t miss being that young and dumb.
Hans ordered from Andy the bear shifter bartender
.
“You got twenty minutes then I’m closing for the night.”
Rumbled Andy handing them the beers.
Hans grunted in response.
They had been in Darlington, helping their friend Cain train for an upcoming fight. Given the severe weather forecast most likely it would be cancelled. After getting punched in the head by Cain a few dozen times they had decided that they deserved a cold beer before hunkering down for the storm.
As usual they sat in silence. Neither of them
were big on chatting which is why they liked each other’s company. They often got together to not talk.
Hans groaned inwardly thinking about Melanie.
Before he had left that day she had wheedled him into mentioning Kayleigh to Don. Melanie had gotten it into her head that Kayleigh had a thing for Don. Melanie hated Kayleigh’s fiancée, she caught him looking at other women all the time. She thought he was slimy and creepy and not good enough for her best friend.
Hans had to agree. He didn’t like a lot of people, actually that was kind of an understatement, but he liked
Kayleigh because she made Melanie happy. Kayleigh was golden in his opinion. He just didn’t know how much good it would do for her to start chasing after Don.
Don had been single ever since he joined the pack.
He’d never shown any interest in finding or taking a mate.
He couldn’t really see that changing
.
But Melanie had cajoled him, alternately kissing and nagging him until he gave in and
agreed to do what she wanted. So now he just had to find a way to talk Kayleigh up.
Don scented the bar. The fragrant smell of honeysuckle filled his senses.
Mmmmm Kayleigh
. Maybe she had been there earlier to get a drink.
His wolf
yipped at him. He’d spent two hours hanging around outside the library eager to catch a glimpse of her, only to find out that she wasn’t working that day. It had sent him into an angry funk, but just catching the hint of her scent was enough to alleviate his bad mood. His beast was practically purring like a kitten.
Maybe he should swing by her apartment. Just to check she was okay of course, what with the storm warning and everything...
Hans cleared his throat. “So uh...” He began awkwardly. “Melanie told me her friend Kayleigh’s getting married.”
Don stilled. Why was he talking about
Kayleigh?
“She’s uh, she’s a nice girl is
Kayleigh.” Hans stared fixedly at his beer,
god this was hard!
Panic raced through Don. Hans knew. He knew that Don had been having dirty dreams about the sweet young
woman, he knew Don had virtually been stalking her over the past two days.
Not very successfully but still!
He thought Don was a dirty old wolf and was going to tell him to leave her alone.
The wolf roared.
Well tough shit because Don wasn’t going to!
H
ans cleared his throat again.
If Don didn’t know any better he’d say Hans was nervous
. “I like Kayleigh, there’s only about seven people I can stand to be around in the world, and she’s one of them.”
Don chuckled at that.
“Seven huh? When we first started drinkin’ together it was only two, and I wasn’t one of them.”
Hans curled his lips.
“Yeah well, what can I say? Now that I’m mated I’m a fucking social butterfly.”
“Well obviously
.”
“Look, I’m just saying
Kayleigh’s a great girl. Any man or wolf would be lucky to have her.”
Don regarded him
steadily, unsure where the sudden need to tout Kayleigh had come from.
Maybe Hans sensed Don’s growing attraction to her, he didn’t see how though...
“Alright.”
Murmured Don. He couldn’t disagree with that sentiment.
His wolf wanted her and damnit he would feel lucky to have her.
*
Kayleigh held onto the bathroom counter for a few seconds whilst she waited for the room to stop moving.
Starting with whiskey had not been a good idea.
She’d told herself to go easy, but her mouth kept ordering whiskey and damn did it taste good.
She was feeling very merry, although the room didn’t seem to want to stay still.
She hadn’t even had to buy her own drinks. When she arrived she was immediately surrounded by three hot wolf shifters, more than happy to buy her drinks and listen to her rants about Greg. They ‘
oohed’ and ‘aahed’ and expressed how much they wanted to rip Greg apart, and her glass never stayed empty for long.
Okay so they were just telling her what she wanted to hear, in the hopes of getting into her pants, but it was nice to have attention. They were cute. Not out and out lusciously smoking hot like Don, but they were okay.
Mmmmm Don
.
Maybe she should ask him out on a date.
Her phone beeped interrupting her reverie. It was
another
text message from Greg. He’d tried to call her twenty times and sent her thirty texts.
I’m sorry. We need to talk. Where are you? Please come home. Forgive me. Blah, blah, blah.
Tutting
she switched her phone off and dropped it back into her purse.
Screw you Greg
.
Kayleigh
squinted at her reflection, she was looking a little flushed from all the alcohol, but didn’t think she could trust her hand-eye co-ordination to apply any more make up.
Bah, she’ll do
.
She walked back out into the bar hips swaying,
or rather just swaying altogether
. Her three young wolves immediately crowded round her like puppy dogs. She smiled dazedly.
“We got you another drink.”
Said Jimmy keenly.
“
Awww you guys!”
Vaguely she was aware of a
small alarm sounding in her head, telling her she ought to stop drinking and go home, away from these horny wolves. Not that she really thought that they would hurt her or anything, she just didn’t want to be a tease.
Sadly her brain wasn’t connected to her mouth
.
She looked at them with sad round eyes. “If I was your girlfriend you wouldn’t cheat on me would you?”
“No way!” Said Hunter immediately.
“Of course not.”
Agreed Casey.
“Right - of course not!
Not to toot my own trumpet but I’m fun, I’m hot and I have a nice personality. Who wouldn’t want me? I’m a package... I mean I’m a total package.” She was starting to slur slightly and for some reason Casey had two heads.
“The whole package.”
Supplied Jimmy smiling indulgently.
She clicked her fingers at him. “Right, I’m the total
whole package.”
She was suddenly aware of
a heavenly warmth spreading through her body. It was like drinking a glass of whiskey whilst eating an ice cream sundae with warm fudge sauce, deliciously decadent and satisfying.
Where could she get ice cream at that time of night?
The three wolves around her
sobered, an almost nervous expression on each of their faces.
Her sex quivered at the next voice she heard,
pure Texas velvet
. “I think it’s about time you all called it a night don’t you.”
“But we just...”
Started Casey, the most daring or perhaps the stupidest of the three.
“I said you should call it a night.” His voice took on a steely glint. “You’ve all had more than enough to drink, and there’s a storm warning in effect. Go home.”
Hunter started hurrying the other two along. “What about Kayleigh?”
A big strong hand was placed on her
shoulder and she almost groaned in pleasure at feeling his skin on hers. “I’ll take Kayleigh home. You boys go on now, I’ll bet your families are waitin’ for you.”