Page 22 of Watch Me Burn (Sanctuary #1)

SIX WEEKS LATER

The fireplace sold me.

Conall’s house didn’t have one before he met me. Despite the extreme Alaskan winters, he didn’t need one. Wolf shifters run hot, too, and if his human form gets a little chilly, he has a built-in fur coat he can slip into when he shifts to his wolf.

But then I lit his tail on fire, and he realized his fated mate was a rare fire witch. Poor guy. Regardless of being born into the supe world, the only witches he’s ever met before me were those who established Dyea, and none of them had magic like mine.

He figured he needed to get used to the heat. Believing that I had a fondness for flames, he built a masonry fireplace with his own two paws. It’s pretty impressive, especially since he mainly used materials he found in the woods surrounding our village, and he made it to show that he accepted me .

Because even if I struggled with accepting that I was a fire witch, Conall never did.

Oh, no. My grumpy, former lone wolf mate just couldn’t believe that I would ever choose him .

It’s been six weeks since I did. Since the fateful full moon when he claimed me, and when I faced off against the fanatical witch hunter who was willing to burn down the entire sanctuary in order to smoke me out. Six weeks since Conall took a silver knife to the side to protect me. Six weeks since I flamed Linda, then discovered that I’m not just a fire witch.

I’m an elemental witch.

I don’t just control the fire. I can conjure rain and, with a wave of my hand, summon wind. With the right focus, the ground beneath my feet does just what I want. I thought it was cool how I found the fire opal after I shot fire at the cave walls. That’s nothing compared to how I’ve been able to use my powers to regrow the acres of fire that Linda’s arson had damaged.

It’s almost back to the way it was. No longer needing to explore the underground caves for fire opal, I’ve spent every day out in the woods fixing it. It’s my way of showing my fellow villagers that having a fire witch in Dyea isn’t a bad thing, now that there’s no hiding what I am anymore.

The witch hunters will come back. I don’t doubt it, but I’m not worried about it. I’ll protect Dyea—I’ll protect Elise and the other supes who live here—with every bit of magic I have.

And I can do that because I know that Conall will protect me .

I have his bite on my throat, claiming me as his forever mate. I have his ring on my finger, a nod to his understanding that, while I’m a witch, I spent the first twenty-nine years of my life convinced I was human.

Wolf shifters don’t do divorce. Once they form a mate bond with their chosen partner, that’s it for them. They’re loyal, possessive, and devoted. Especially when they’re a strong alpha like my Conall, a wolf shifter’s love for their mate is all-consuming, like his has been for me since the moment he first recognized that I was his.

They don’t do weddings, either, but for me, he’s willing to go ahead with the human ceremony. As soon as the stab wound on his side healed up enough for him to take a run out of Dyea and into Skagway, he found me a gold ring so that humans and supes alike will take one look at me and know that I couldn’t be more taken.

And that’s not all he bought from the local jeweler…

Silver is a no-no for supes. Like my engagement ring—that looks suspiciously like a wedding band—the chain I’m wearing around my neck is gold, with a shaped piece of fire opal hanging off of it so that I’m never without it.

All along, I thought that, if I found the crystal, it would be mystical enough to strip me of my powers. Turns out, I got that way wrong. When Celeste said that I wouldn’t have to worry about my magic controlling me, it didn’t mean I could get rid of it. It just meant that the fire opal made it so that I was in control.

I lift the smooth crystal, rubbing it between my thumb and pointer finger on my right hand. With my left, I waggle my other pointer finger at the fireplace.

It explodes into flames with a whoosh , and I grin.

Conall steps into my back, arms wrapping around my waist. He nuzzles the top of my hair with his chin.

“Impressive,” he rumbles.

“I know,” I say impishly. Releasing the fire opal, I reach up so that I can cup the edge of his stubbled jaw. “How was your run?”

Run. What my mate is really doing is shifting to his wolf so that he can patrol the entire border of our hidden sanctuary, keeping tabs on our villagers, and making sure that there aren’t any signs of witch hunters lurking around.

My mate blames himself. No one could have guessed that Linda was a witch hunter until she blew her cover, but Conall is convinced that he should’ve known. He should’ve been able to stop her before she struck that match—or before I had to use my fire magic to put her down after she attacked him with her knife.

It’s not his fault. It’s mine, but if he’ll hold me close at night, telling me that it isn’t, I’ll do the same for him.

Conall is an alpha wolf shifter. So I’m still a complete newbie when it comes to all things supernatural. I’ve learned enough to know that—like how Elise can’t help how mortals are drawn to her vampiric nature and beauty—Conall has this need to protect those he considers his. Me. Dyea. We’re his pack, and as I come to terms with my magic, it’s amazing, watching my Mr. Grump realize he’s not as much of a lone wolf as he thought he was.

“Uneventful,” he says, turning so he can kiss my palm. Kiss it, then breathe in deeply, taking my scent into his lungs. It’s a wolf thing, and though it freaked me out in the beginning, I’m getting used to it. “Jenny was playing dead again, but Clive was in charge of watching over her until she snapped out of it. Oh, and Mo is making a fish stew for dinner in the canteen if you want to eat with the others.”

Mo is a penguin shifter and a recent addition to Dyea. Left to his own devices, he’d make fish for every meal, including dessert, but he’s so cute, when he offered to work as a canteen chef, no one could refuse him. And I like fish, too. But I like spending time with my mate more.

Fate’s a funny thing. If you would’ve told me, back when I was a ‘human’, that I would be playing house with a guy I barely knew, I never would’ve believed it. Now look at me. Since the full moon that I let him claim me and our undeniable bond sprang into existence, we haven’t spent a single night apart.

For the first couple of them—after the arson and the stabbing—he stayed with me and Elise. Watching him bleed like that freaked me the hell out, and if Conall had any doubts that I cared about him, they were long gone by the time he was all healed up.

That’s when he asked me whether he should go ahead and move my stuff to his place, or if I would prefer him to just stay with me here.

Well, like I said, the fireplace sold me. That, and knowing we can bang to our hearts’ content without scalding poor Elise’s ears.

Hmm…

“We could do that. Or,” I offer, using my thumbnail to scratch through his thick scruff, “we can stay in, find something in the kitchen, make s’mores, and fuck in front of the fireplace.”

Hey. He built it because he thought I’d like it, and I do.

Like him, too.

Fate, huh? Looks like Conall’s goddess got it right because I’ve never been so happy as when I decided to go all in with my mate.

Living with him isn’t that big of an adjustment for me. I’ve lived with roommates my entire adult life, from the friends I roomed with in Queens, to Elise in Clarity, then in Dyea. Though Elise seemed a little wistful when I told her I was moving in with Conall, she didn’t mind the idea of staying by herself.

I thought she’d head back to Clarity. The initial threat of the first witch hunter’s partner coming after me is over with. Now that I’m Conall’s mate, I’m not leaving Dyea, but Elise could have if she wanted to. The only thing keeping her here is me, and as the one vampire living in the village without a consistent blood source—except for the small prey non-shifter animals she snacks on—she’d probably be better off returning to the Fang City.

I don’t want her to. To live in this supe sanctuary with my best friend and the scowling wolf who snuck in and somehow stole my heart… that seems pretty perfect to me. So when she didn’t make any move to leave Dyea in the last couple of weeks, I decided to keep my mouth shut and just enjoy life while I can.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that it can change at any freaking moment.

Like now?—

Conall stiffens, and not in a good way. His body tightens behind me, though that’s the only reaction I get to my proposition before our front door flies open.

Elise comes dashing into the house, shoving the door closed behind her. Her eyes are wide, her usually perfectly-styled hair a windblown mess as she whips her head around, searching for us.

“I’m not here,” she gasps, and I’ve never heard her sound so frantic and nervous before. Her fang worrying her bottom lip, she shakes her head while holding up her hands. “I need to hide. Bridget, where can I hide? I know! Kitchen.” She dashes across the room, pausing in the entryway that leads to the kitchen before repeating, “I’m not here,” and disappearing into the other room.

I blink.

What the…

Ducking out of Conall’s embrace, I turn so that I can dash after Elise.

“Go,” he murmurs. “Your friend needs you.”

He’s trying. After our mating, I finally got him to stop referring to Elise as my ‘dead’ friend. This house is his personal territory, specifically for Conall and his mate, but there was a reason why he didn’t actually say anything about Elise’s approach until she was running inside. If I live here, she’s welcome to visit whenever she wants, and he had to get used to that.

I squeeze his upper arm in appreciation, then manage three steps before he growls.

The deep rumble stops me before I take the fourth. I glance back at him. “Conall?”

“ Predator ,” growls my wolf.

“What? Where?”

“Heading right this way.”

A predator? I thought Conall was the only predator in Dyea. Unless he means?—

“Another vampire?”

Now that I know about the beef between wolf shifters and vampires, and how Conall considered me his mate from the moment he first caught my scent, it makes sense why the other vamps in the village kept their distance from me and Elise. I honestly thought it was because they were just too snooty to welcome a vampire fresh out of her Fang City—and I haven’t stopped thinking that considering Elise lives alone now and they still don’t want anything to do with her—which makes me wonder why one of them would be chasing my best friend inside mine and Conall’s home…

“No. It’s not a vampire. Unless my nose is on the fritz, I think it’s a bear .”

Okay. Bear. It’s Alaska. There are bears here. I haven’t been unlucky enough to run into one yet, but Conall wasn’t kidding when he told me the wilds were dangerous.

Well. So am I.

I flex my fingers, a pair of fireballs enclosing my hands. “Whoever it is, I’ll get rid of them. A little singed fur will get this bear to understand he doesn’t want to mess with us.” Switching directions, I march toward the front door before my mate can stop me as I tell him, “Watch my back.”

“I always will.”

I know.

Conall protects me.

And I protect Elise.

Watch me burn .

My mate has learned his lesson. Between his tail being lit up and Linda’s silver knife getting him in the side, he knows better than to try to challenge me. However, he’s still a possessive, protective male. He’s right behind me as I fling open the door, prepared to face one of the Alaskan grizzlies lumbering their way out of the woods and over to our place.

Only it’s not a bear. At least, not a real one.

It’s a man .

He’s big. Brawny. Tall . Close to six-and-a-half-feet without any shoes on, he’s wearing a pair of low-slung jeans and nothing else. He’s tanned all over, a head of shaggy dark hair falling forward into his honey-colored eyes as he searches over my head, swiveling his as he glares inside the house.

And that’s when I notice the two healed-over puncture wounds on the side of his neck and gape at him a little.

I know what those are. Those are mate marks. Conall has something similar-ish. Just like how he bit me to finalize our bond, he kept the echoes of the scar from when I burned his tail as a way to show that his mate marked him. As quick as shifters heal, they can actually choose not to. Conall wanted proof that I was his, even if it was a burn on his ass cheek.

This big fella obviously kept these as his mate marks. But they’re more than that. They’re also fang marks. Vampire fang marks.

Conall sniffs. Another growl. “This is my territory, bear. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“What am I doing?” rumbles the big guy. “I’m here for my mate.”

His what ?

My gaze returns t the silver points on the side of his tanned throat. I think of the possessive gleam in his honey-colored eyes, so similar to how Conall looks at me. The way Elise came rushing in here, hiding, as though afraid when the delicate vampire is never afraid…

I’m here for my mate .

He’s here for Elise .

Oh, hell no. If I thought Peter stalking her in Clarity was bad, that’s nothing compared to a predatory shifter male who is convinced you’re his mate.

Trust me, I know. And while it worked out for me and Conall once I got past him pissing a territorial warning in my old backyard, I never ran away from him, hiding out in my best friend’s kitchen.

I saved her from Peter when I was human.

As a witch? I can totally take on a bear.

With Conall at my side, I can do anything.

Glaring up at the bear shifter, I lift my hands.

I am Bridget Hayes.

I’m an elemental witch with a temper, a sexy mate who will challenge this intruder if I don’t first, and a protective streak a mile wide who owes a lot to her vampire best friend.

My grin becomes a daring smirk.

Light ‘em up.