Page 29

Grey

“This walk becomes too much for you, Aunt Mimi, you tell me, and I’ll carry you,” I say.

Mimi takes my arm, handing me something with what I immediately know is an intentional expression. There’s a tangle of necklaces in my fist. She’s being carefully blank. I know this because before I can react, I’m hearing her voice. I hear it but her lips aren’t moving. I don’t show a reaction while she’s speaking directly into my head, wanting just me to get the message she needs to relay.

“The sight is telling me we may need these tonight, Greyson. If so, you’ll know what to do with them when the time comes. Keep them hidden.”

Without looking at the necklaces she put in my hand, I casually shove my hand into my pocket. She gave me a bracelet earlier, a black leather one, advising I should wear it today, advising it’d help block mindreading and offer some other protective qualities. It’s a flat, stitched leather and I feel tiny stones or crystals tucked between seams.

“Where are we setting up?” Erica asks.

The SCC meeting this afternoon was frustrating for Riley and Erica. They found out a lot of unhappy information about the intervention from the witches in the SCC about their relationship. Even more concerning is their interest in Erica’s newly acquired magical abilities. Apparently when a Young coven witch mates with a wolf shifter, big things happen. This was alluded to for me as well.

Erica is talking to the SCC witches who are here, wanting to do a witch circle at the site Erica was taken from seven years ago. One of them answers, gesturing ahead.

Aunt Mimi explained these witch circles to me earlier, and I paid close attention to the facts she shared.

Mimi squeezes my bicep and again speaks into my mind.

“You’ll learn how to internally communicate with others like this, too. You’ll find you’ve got a whole lot of skills going forward, Greyson. Don’t feel stressful about starting your training late. It’ll all come to you as it should. I do hope I have an opportunity to watch you hone those skills. But regardless, your cousins are looking forward to sharing their knowledge with you and when the time comes, you’ll find you catch on quickly. A benefit of becoming the head of our coven.”

I flex my arm to provide a response, though I dislike her train of thought. I’d really like to put a stop to the bullshit happening here right now with these two witches. Riley hasn’t hidden that he doesn’t trust them. But none of us do. I especially don’t trust the one with the hippie vibe that just answered Erica. I feel less threatened by the power suit-wearing one with the resting bitch face. This hippie witch seems conniving to me. She’s fake. Phony. The sooner they’re gone, the better.

They’re trying to get my cousin into a field where an illusion of flowers was part of a trap all those years ago. I’ll be ready to unleash hell if all of this is another of their traps.

Vivica and I exchange glances and although neither of us show it, I know we’re in the same boat. Promises have been made with the carrot dangled for Erica to learn things that will help her with her newly realized magic as well as, and even more important – a fountain of youth dip equivalent for Mimi that’ll come from this circle.

I know Riley would rather turn our backs on them, ban them from our village and consider cutting ties with the SCC altogether. Unfortunately, in addition to wanting to help Mimi, who we learned today is about to decline in health, it’s also a political game.

My father and the other last generation council members warned us when we took over that despite not wanting to at times, we’ll need to cooperate with the SCC whenever they sniff around. Their reach is long, and their influence is formidable. It was drilled into us that there may come a time when we need their help. I sure as fuck hope not, not if the vibe I’m getting from these two witches is any indication of the sort of relationship we can expect going forward.

I exchange glances with Erica and her vibe is uncertain. Erica is pack to me now as well as a cousin and I want her to know I’ve got her back. I know she wants Mimi to get the health benefits of this magic circle. And I know Erica is anxious to be able to move on with Riley after waiting seven years and not believing that she’d get to have a future with him. She was certain she’d have to be subjected to a severing ceremony like my father and birth mother. Vivica clued me in to the fact Erica is beyond broken from all she’s endured, and I hope that’s not clouding her judgement here.

“We must ask that you leave us, Greyson Blackwood,” Lucinda Alexander, the power suit witch with the resting bitch face announces, pulling me from my careful assessment of every scent and sound around me.

“This is a circle for trained witches. Women,” she elaborates. “Not a mixed witch and warlock circle.”

“Oh, really?” I query casually. “Thought I could just watch.”

Lucinda shakes her head. “No observers.”

I shrug with fake nonchalance. “Maybe next time. I’ll take you all where you’re going and then I’ll take off. How long do you need, and I’ll come back?”

“Three hours should do,” the hippie witch says.

“Maybe just two,” the other one corrects.

“Give us three to be safe,” the hippie witch puts in with a bright smile that I don’t read as fake, I read it as something else, though my gut isn’t telling me what.

“Fine,” I shrug. “I’ll grab a beer and a basket of wings at the tavern. If you need me back early, just call.”

I make eye contact with Erica and then Vivica, who I know read that I’m ready to help should they need me before I kiss Mimi and move back the way we came.

Unfortunately, I’m beyond certain my family will need my help tonight. I just don’t know in what capacity.

***

I’m doing my best not to show my state of mind to Riley, but it doesn’t matter. Not only do we have the pack connection, also… he’s tweaked anyway.

Rye has been restlessly pacing since I’ve been back at the water tower with them, continuously driving his hand through his hair with frustration, eyes continuously pivoting to me, assessing, because I told him I’ll get a telepathic sign from Mimi if I’m needed.

He doesn’t trust those witches near his mate and I understand this. I’m not sure anything could get me to leave her alone with them if I were in his shoes. Guess it’s good she was paired with a guy like Rye. From what I can see, Erica Savage is a full-sun flower, not one that would bloom under the shady umbrella of over-protectiveness. He’s protective, but obviously understands her position and knows he needs to give her space to be who she is. That said, he’s not going to relax until he’s got her in reaching distance.

None of us here right now are at ease. It’s the six of us, the council minus Jase, who is at my place looking after Stacy for me.

In case her brother either shows up or strikes again with another attack I won’t chance leaving her with someone I’m any less than sure can handle an emergency. I don’t want my attention to this coven and SCC matter to leave my mate vulnerable.

I’ve tried to prepare for all possibilities by having several men around the boundaries of our village watching while Jase focuses only on keeping Stacy safe.

I had an interesting conversation with the guys earlier when Linc and Jase told me just how close I came to ripping Finn’s head off last night. They said this as if I wasn’t fully aware of the encounter.

I recall every second and while it’s odd to me that I was so lost to the rut that I was disconnected from everything else to the point Jase and Linc felt I needed backup due to putting myself and my mate in a position of vulnerability, I know I was still in my right mind.

The state of rutting your mate is a natural state to someone like us. What’s not natural is having multiple males nearby while in the rut and not having a problem with their presence, particularly since three of the four were alpha.

As for my anger, it was probably partly down to their proximity to my mate, but it didn’t help matters that the guys were disguising their scent while patrolling in case anyone from Silver Hills was skulking around, which would’ve fucked with my senses.

Tyson told me he and his uncle used cat grass to disguise their scents from us. I’m looking forward to learning more about the herbal connection to our magic; it’ll be useful to train with the coven and learn about herbs that could benefit us. On that thought, a memory hits me from when Jase and me, in our early to mid-teens, found some mushrooms in the woods. He was just about to chomp into one as wolf when warning bells went off in my mind because of how it smelled. I stopped Jase and we brought them to our pack healer, Ty’s mother, and she praised my instinct. Those mushrooms could’ve been fatal if they’d been ingested raw by us as wolves. They’re edible to us in our human form but anywhere from hallucinogenic to extremely toxic to us in wolf form, depending on the season, the environment, and the size of the mushroom, not to mention the size of the wolf.

My thoughts are interrupted by a loud crackle of what sounds like thunder, though instead of from the sky, it’s coming from beneath my feet and feels like the earth is about to split wide open.

Mimi’s voice rings through my mind.

“Come quickly. Have your protection bracelet on and throw a gold one onto Aviva Starling’s neck as you breach our circle. It won’t come off her unless you take it off her. Do not, whatever you do, take it off.”

A strange pulsing rips its way through what feels like a membrane in my mind. What is that?

No time to waste; the urgency in Mimi’s voice floods my systems with adrenalin and I’m already on the move, transferring the necklaces out of my pocket and into my mouth as I throw my shirt off, shove my jeans down and shift immediately, sprinting from my shoes. I feel Riley behind me as we run like our asses are on fire. I run like hell, making sure I don’t drop the necklaces, but it’s not easy because there’s a piercing pain in my gut. I don’t know the source, but I keep on fucking running. And I’m fast. Lightning fast. I’ve left Rye in the dust. The pulsing in my mind calms a little. Whatever this is, it’s new and it’s definitely not gone anywhere. Everything blurs around me and I’m there. As if magically transported. The setting I find myself in with the jagged fluorescent white streak bisecting the dark sky means there’s no time to ruminate. An instant later, the necklace disables the hippie witch who has rendered the rest of the circle helpless.

She’s got Erica, the only other one upright, but Erica’s long red curls are airborne in frozen animation. Mimi is unconscious, and so are the rest of the women, including the other SCC witch, Lucinda Alexander.

I’m aware of fiery red light as it swirls around me, throwing off sparks like last night, but bigger, brighter.

I drag this evil bitch away from Erica and immediately, we’re in darkness as the candles around the women go out.

Erica is hysterical, losing it despite that Riley has shifted back to man and is trying to soothe her. She’s screaming at Danica about not being able to find Mimi’s pulse.

Everything in me goes freezing cold as I see there’s a knife in Mimi’s stomach. The sharp pain in mine is still present. I’m feeling that. I touch my stomach but find no wound.

Erica shouts at her unconscious sisters for help while I’ve got Aviva Starling in a chokehold, losing my shit because… did she stab my great aunt in the stomach so she could… what… siphon away Erica’s formidable powers? What did she do to the others?

This witch is trying to fight me off physically, but she can’t do much as she’s a feeble middle-aged woman with no use of her power. My telepathic link with Mimi still feels active though its’ current silence feels like a low level of white noise in my brain. And I feel enraged. Livid that this bitch tried to hurt my family that I haven’t even gotten to know yet. I hope I’m right, that she’s not dead. I’ll kill this other witch with my bare hands if she’s taken Mimi away from all of us.

Red lights continue dancing around me, illuminating the space as the other guys pull all the Young witches out of their circle while Riley terrorizes a bawling and pleading Aviva Starling in his wolf form. As far as I’m concerned, he should maul her.

Rye shifts to man again and leans over the naked, trembling piece of shit.

“You fuckin’ bitch,” he barks, “Again. You tried to fuck us over again.”

She tugs at the necklace I put on her, but jolts in pain as the scent of singed skin permeates the air.

“Won’t come off unless I take it off,” I advise watching smoke rise from her singed skin.

I look over at the other witch, wondering if I should disable her with the other necklace even though she’s unconscious. I tighten my grip on it, prepared for that possibility. Mimi didn’t tell me to do that, so I won’t unless she poses a threat when she rouses.

“Your bullshit fucked us for seven years,” Riley shouts, “And it’s pretty clear to me that you did it for your own gain. And now you try and fuck us again. Well, bitch, I’m about to fuck back .”

She gives him a bullshit excuse about it being the right thing, the needed thing, while Erica keeps pleading with Mimi to wake up.

Aviva continues with excuses about being tempted by magic like Erica’s, as if temptation is an excuse. Riley gets in her face and loses it, schooling her on what he went through believing she was dead, even more pissed that she has nightmares about the river.

He shifts again and his wolf’s teeth snap at her until she’s frightened backwards, tumbling over what must be the same cliff Riley watched Erica disappear over.

“Holy fuck,” Joel mutters, staring down into the river with Riley as sudden rushing water sounds as if we’re next to Niagara Falls. I move that way to see a maelstrom sucking her flailing body into its’ core.

I turn back to a weeping Erica who’s pleading with her eyes, wanting to be wrong, wanting me to do something.

“I think she’s dead, Greyson,” she whimpers.

Riley takes her face into his hands to comfort her.

I don’t think Mimi is dead despite this faint white noise in my head. I think I can still feel her, feel that presence I felt when she spoke to me. I can’t be sure, but instinct is telling me she might not be gone. She was strong enough to call me here. It’s like my mind is still engaged with a phone call but though there’s not much noise, it feels like the link is still connected. Like I’m tapped into something I wasn’t part of before, but not completely. I really fucking hope she’s not gone. I’m suddenly aware of the lack of stabbing pain in my gut and this has me concerned.

“Maybe not dead.” I tap my noggin. “I feel her. Don’t give up.”

“I think she’s dead,” she cries. “I think she sacrificed herself so Greyson could have her power and use it to save us. Is that what those swirls were between you?”

“I don’t think she’s dead,” I repeat. “Her power is here – “ I tap my temple. “but I still feel like she’s connected to it. How do these links work?”

“I… I don’t know. Maybe it’s not too late? Wake up, Dani!” Erica shakes Danica and small blue sparks, not unlike the red ones that came from me fly from her fingers as she calls out her other sisters’ names, too.

Dani comes to, asking for her medicine bag. Linc runs to fetch it from Erica’s van back at the water tower.

Vivica suggests we break up the circle and wake the other unconscious SCC witch. I don’t trust that one either and still have that necklace ready, though it doesn’t seem like she was in league with Aviva.

“Talk to me,” Vivica requests, eyes filled with fear.

I spill, “She initiated me into the coven last night at Rye’s. She told me she needed to spell her power to come to me in the event of her death. She told me she wanted contingencies in place before meeting with the SCC. She told me earlier today that if anything went sideways, I should step in and break the circle, and that she’d get a message to me to let me know to help. She also told me she was wearing a partial cloak, so she’d appear weak if either of the SCC witches were reading her abilities tonight.”

I tell my cousins that I believe she’s not dead even though her body has no pulse, she’s not breathing. She’s still warm, at least.

***

The girls are all gone back to Riley’s place. Lucinda woke and went to the rented cottage with Mitch Blakely, a wolf shifter doctor on the SCC who is a mentor to Cat Savage and friends with the members of the council of my dad’s generation.

We’ve also put three non-council alphas on patrol outside that cottage and though I’m headed home to my mate, I’m prepared to put this necklace on Lucinda if I get any indication she’s going to cause problems before she fucks off.

She seemed disoriented, upset, and I’m fairly sure I read her right. She’s not a threat to us and had no idea what her crony was up to. I also sense something from her that’s not unlike that pulsing sensation I got when Mimi’s last message came through. I looked over Erica and her siblings and felt it from all of them as well. It’s as if I’ve unlocked an instinct of measurement, feeling something from Erica that was much larger than what I felt from any of them, though Lucinda ran closer to Erica than the others.

I haven’t been able to wrap my mind around it all yet, being overwhelmed by the urge to protect everyone. My pack, my cousins, my unconscious great aunt.

Lucinda explained Mimi is in a state of pause with her dagger in her gut, which Mimi pulled telekinetically, but until we know more about how it might affect the link between us, it stays put.

Even calm, Joel tells me my eyes are still shiny silver, slightly lit.

***

When I get home, I’m both relieved and irritated at the sight of Jase and my woman sitting beside one another on my front step, holding mugs of coffee.

Linc already called Jase and filled him in on tonight’s happenings. His eyes are on me as I approach.

In addition to their close proximity, I’m also not thrilled Stacy is outside the walls of the house. I pull in a calming breath, telling myself Jase wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He’d protect her with his life. I know this about him as well as I know my own self.

I also know he’s not going to let me live last night down any time soon. I’m not ready to joke about four shifters watching me rut my mate in the woods quite yet, maybe not ever.

My mate didn’t mention any embarrassment regarding that, which surprised me, but I wasn’t about to say anything to make her worry about it. She’s got enough to worry about.

At seeing her safe and well, I allow relief to swim through my veins. But on the heels of that relief is something else. Desire. She doesn’t smell like she’s still in heat, not like last night, but I plan to end tonight with another chance at conception, just in case it didn’t take . And just because. Though even without the chance of conception I don’t plan to let any opportunity to be inside her go to waste.

The pulsing energy inside me has calmed a little, so has that link between me and Mimi, the white noise not loud enough to take space in my thoughts but yet loud enough that I know it’s still there. At the notion of losing myself inside my pretty blossom again, power throbs inside me. All this new magic in me… it’s still fusing with me, getting to know me.

I look forward to learning how to wield it, but in the meantime it’s as if it’s making everything around me more vivid. I feel the energy of the sky, the earth, the living things that surround me. I feel my mate most of all right now and I know she’s happy to see me. I also know her wolf wants at me.