29. Whitley Whitt

Chapter 29

Whitley Whitt

Claws for alarm .

“Lachlan is moving in the moat for the first time in ages, Vlad is now mated, and I have just found mine. How can you not know who you cursed?” Connor asks, leaning against a massive bookshelf, his tone furious.

I sigh heavily, trying to keep up with the conversation.

“Are you really bitching at me about helping you find your true mates right now? Do you even know the odds of being able to find one?” Odette bites out from her seat.

I shuffle my shoes against the thick library carpet and wiggle on the couch, wishing we could get this over with. Every once in a while, as Odette’s talking to Connor, her gaze flicks to me. Then, an eerie sensation sweeps over my skin, making my body react to something, but not my wolf form.

It’s not painful, just a strange stirring, as if she’s assessing something. I have a feeling if Connor knew he would not be happy about it.

“You can’t just go around cursing people,” he thunders. “How does that even happen?”

“ I don’t know . My magic has been a bit more haywire than usual,” she answers, her cheeks turning rosy with anger.

“So, let me get this straight,” I say, as I lean my forearms on my thighs. “You did a spell that’s making people—supernatural people, sorry—find their mates.”

“Yes.” The lady arches a black brow, as if daring me to refute her.

“So, what would that mean for us?” I ask. Is this permanent? Do I want it to be? Everything is happening so quickly, and it’s taking everything I have not to freak right out. “And why am I suddenly turning into the wolf woman who needs a good wax job?”

“She doesn’t smell nor shift like a werewolf,” Connor chimes in, folding his arms as he leans. “She smells like me and can control her form, but that’s supposedly impossible, right? I can’t change a human with my bite. I’ve never been able to.”

“Well, as we’ve always known, lycans are the reason werewolves and shifters exist in the first place. One bite on a full moon and the human is cursed to change every time it pops into the sky to say hello. Breeding with humans outside of the mate bond has left us with common wolf shifters instead. Even werewolves can turn each other under the right conditions, but you, Doyle? No, by all accounts, you’re not a normal lycan and you’ve never had that ability.”

“So you’re saying you don’t know shit?” I ask, not meaning to be rude as I fall back into the couch with a sigh, my emotions all over the place.

If she’s not going to be of use, then what good is this conversation? I’d rather go and talk to Lachlan again while he’s in his birthday suit if it’s going to give me more answers.

Odette’s gaze darkens at me. “I never said that.”

The air charges and the edges of the ceiling and floors creep with shadows and warp. I gulp, and my hair does that raising thing while my skin tingles like I might shift from the alertness of something wrong . Perhaps I shouldn’t piss off the Witch Queen, or whatever she is.

Everything suddenly recedes, and the library sconces flicker as brightness creeps back.

“I have two theories. Connor has the essence of a lycan, and they are known for changing their human true mates into other lycans, rather than werewolves. But, like we said, he doesn’t have any bite-changing abilities. Either he’s somehow managed to have the ability because you’re his mate, or... you have distant lycan blood in your ancestry and he’s managed to unlock it when he’s bitten you because of his own dormant abilities rearing their ugly head. I think the latter is more likely, from what I can tell.”

“Does this mean I can create werewolves now?” he asks with a frown.

She shrugs. “Doubtful. I think it’s more due to the mate bond forcing it than anything.”

“I guess knowing that does make me feel a little better.”

My voice is calm, but inside, anxiety is almost to freak-out proportions when an ache in my side flairs. Ouch. My face scrunches when my pelvis stings and I suck air between my teeth.

“What’s wrong with her?” Connor bites out, his jaw granite.

A bright prism of colors flashes in the room, and that same strange sensation of magic crawls along my spine.

“She’s starting her period,” Odette says matter-of-factly, and I want to punch her in the snatch.

“Let’s just spread everyone’s business then,” I say sarcastically, while mentally ticking the days in my head.

I think back and realize she’s right.

Actually, I’m about a week late, but that’s pretty normal for me. My periods have always been sporadic, and my added stress lately has surely played a part.

“It will be fine. I can have more staff hired within the next week, and Whitley won’t have to do a thing,” Connor says, stepping closer.

“I don’t want to stay cooped up in my room just because I’m having my period,” I say, my stomach filling with lead at the thought of being stuck inside.

He puts his hand up to stop me. “It’s for the sake of the guests, as much as it is for you, Whitley.”

My mind balks at this.

“If she can control her temper, I don’t see why she can’t continue her responsibilities,” Odette says, surprising me. Odette’s gaze pings over my face, and she seems to come to some sort of conclusion. “It will be good for her to have some normalcy, as long as you both get your exercise.”

“I’m a quick learner and have no problems with you teaching me better control, but you’re right. I can’t risk the guests’ food. Honestly, though, there is no way I’m letting you shove me in a room to stay. I’ll go crazy,” I tell them both.

“Who said anything about staying in a room? Have you not noticed all the damn secret entrances?” Connor says, gesturing his hands to the library we’re in. “We can get around the castle unseen if you need—it just takes bloody forever.”

A pain echoes in my right side, and it almost steals my breath. I hiss.

“On second thought, perhaps she should take the day off after all,” Odette says, a frown creasing her brow.

I glare at the witch, but she just shrugs and pushes her dark hair behind her ear. “I have a feeling this week will be hard on you because of your condition. The first menstrual cycle after your turning should be the worst, but afterwards will be easy.”

Connor goes still and his arm tenses around me. “What can I do?”

“You will be fine. Who else could have taken care of that asshole Vlad for so long? A vampire in the Maldives, ridiculous.”

Wait... My eyes go big. Did she just say vampire?!

I never would have guessed he’s a vampire! He’s so young and handsome looking.

She lifts a dark brow. “Don’t worry about my stay, Doyle. I’ll be as quiet as a church mouse. It was very nice to meet you, Whitley.”

“Likewise.” Not really. I feel like all I’m doing is learning crazy shit.

Expensive perfume mixed with something heady and powerful lingers as she walks gracefully toward the door, leaving us alone in the library.

“What the hell was that?” I ask as soon as she gets a reasonable distance away down the hall.

“Lachlan probably called her here since he is able to move in the moat again. The bastard has always been impatient when he’s moving around, so I doubt it actually had anything to do with us. Now that he has his humanoid form back, he will be wanting a mate of his own,” Connor says, pulling me to his side.

A Witch Queen and a horny Loch Ness monster? I inwardly groan and lean into him. I shut my eyes and let the feeling of being in his arms make everything go away for a moment. Warmth pools in my middle just as another cramp starts.

“Ugh. This is going to be so fun.”

Strong hands rub at my back and shoulders. “Don’t worry, love. We will get through this.”

“Uh huh. I just have one question then,” I mutter into his chest.

“Very well.”

I force myself to pull back from his embrace and lean back in his arms. “When were you planning on telling me that Vlad is a vampire? And if you tell me he is the legit real Dracula, I may bite you.”

He winces. “Bloody hell.”