Page 125
Story: Bespelled
Please, Memnon, I say down our bond,can we get through this without you resorting to violence?
The sorcerer glances at me, and his glowing eyes dim and soften, until all that anger is banked.If that’s what you wish,est amage, then yes, I will try to control my visceral need to punish each one of these dogs.
“All right,” Vincent calls out. “We’re all ready in here.” With that, the shifter re-enters the cabin, leaving me, Kane, and Memnon alone once more.
My mate nods to the cabin. “This meeting cannot involve everyone,” he says to Kane.
“This is how our pack does things.” Kane’s growl continues to rattle between his words, and his voice is low and rough. “We are all entitled to know about what killed our pack mate.” There’s so much fire and anguish rolling off him.
Memnon slips his hands into his pockets, and to the unknowing eye, he is all poised confidence. But his body sways just a little, and I remember that he lost a lot of blood by the time he got to me. “I don’t care about what you think you’re entitled to or how your pack handles its shit. If you want me to go in there and explain how it is I came across your pack mate’s body, then you’re going to need to limit your fucking audience.”
Kane’s growl deepens, and his lips curl back, revealing partially shifted teeth.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“Kane, I won’t make Memnon go in there and explain the situation unless you can do this for us,” I say, trusting Memnon’s reasons for this demand. I imagine this has something to do with limiting the number of people who know what we do.
Kane takes several deep breaths, and slowly, the growling quiets and his teeth grow blunt. “Fine,” the shifter bites out, “but no one’s going to like it.”
Uproar.
That’s what we’re met with when the shifters pour out of the cabin ten minutes later and Kane escorts us in.
The group of lycanthropes is no longer quiet, now that whatever they believed was going to happen no longer is. I hear sobs and growls among them as we pass into the building. Some of the people who so openly welcomed me last time are now glaring at me.
They want blood. I can all but sense their lust for it. They thought they were going to get it tonight, either from what Memnon might reveal or from Memnon himself.
“Everyone,” Vincent, the Marin Pack alpha, calls from the back of the room to those who still remain inside, “you will get answers. Be calm. Once we have heard what our friend and her mate have to say, we shall share what news we can. They have mentioned that their information is sensitive in nature and that, for the overall good of the pack, it must only be given to a few trusted ears.”
Kane leads us to his alpha.
When he intercepts us, Vincent nods to me, then Memnon, his expression grim. “Vincent,” he says, extending his hand, “alpha of the Marin Pack.”
My mate takes it and gives it a shake. “Memnon,” he says, leaving it at that. The sorcerer has sheathed his earlier anger, but I can still see it glinting in his eyes.
“Nice to meet you,” Vincent says, even as a few nearby wolves growl. “We don’t need to wait for the last of the pack to exit. We have a sufficiently secluded room. This way.”
Memnon and I are brought to a soundproof room, one that’s small and clearly meant for only a dozen or so people to fit inside. I see a transparent green ward glittering across the threshold, though I cannot tell what it’s for.
Memnon’s magic unfurls as he enters the room, his indigo power moving over the walls and floor of the space. After a moment, I realize he’s erecting his own ward, this one likely to protect his interests, whatever those may be.
A single long table runs the length of the room and mounted on one of the walls is a whiteboard.
“Please, take a seat anywhere,” Vincent says.
Memnon sits at the far end of the table, lounging in one of the proffered seats like an indolent king. I take a seat next to him and watch as the rest of the pack files in.
First is Vincent, followed by a willowy woman with golden-brown skin and a halo of tight corkscrew curls framing her face. I sense that she’s quick to laugh, but right now, her features are hard, and her glimmering brown eyes are sharp. Behind her is Kane, who comes to sit directly on my other side, his sandy-blond hair mussed, probably from running his hand through it so many times.
Last to enter is an old woman with light brown skin, wide cheekbones, and a waterfall of wrinkles across her face. Her thick white hair is wrapped in a braided bun at the nape of her neck.
She closes the door, and she and the remaining shifters take their seats across from me.
“I trust you both already know Kane, the alpha who will take over for me once I retire,” Vincent says, gesturing to my old crush. “But as for the others, next to me is Irene, my beta and the second-in command,” he says, indicating the willowy woman next to him. “And this is Apani,” he says, gesturing to the white haired shifter, “our pack elder. They are here as they arethe most crucial members who help run the pack and guide the decisions we make.”
I nod to them. “Nice to meet you,” I say.
Memnon does nothing more than idly watch the shifters, like they’re tonight’s entertainment, and they’re boring him.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125 (Reading here)
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201