Chapter 4

4

SERAPHINA

“ I t was a mistake to come here.” A seriously huge mistake. If that woman, Gloria, figures out what I am, then the rest of the wolves inside the diner will have something else to feast on.

Me.

“No, Seraphina.” Kieran reaches out and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. The gesture is soothing, arousing, and confusing at the same time. “Once I finish up here with my duties, I’ll meet you at your place where we can talk. Okay?” He seems like he’s taking my warning seriously, but is he?

My attention fractures between fear for him and fear for me, knowing who is inside the diner.

“Okay. I think it could be good to get some things off of our chests,” I force myself to say.

Not just about the vision but about last night, and what it means. What I want it to mean.

He leans forward and gives a nice growl I feel down to my bones. My toes curl in my sneakers. “That wasn’t what I had in mind, but there are a few things that we can take off, yes.”

“This is serious, Kieran.” He needs to pay attention.

“So am I. I will listen to what you have to say and take it very seriously. Alpha’s word.” He holds up a Boy Scout signal. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun, too.”

Part of me wants to take him up on more fun instantly. The other part fears for him, and screams so loudly in warning it’s impossible to ignore. “Fine, later. But we have to look into this immediately.”

“As you wish,” he replies with a wink. “I’ll be all yours tonight. Now, let me walk you to your car.”

We turn to leave, him taking my elbow to guide me back toward my car, when again we’re interrupted, this time by an older woman wearing a pink bathrobe.

“Kieran,” she calls out to him, lifting a pink fuzzy arm to get his attention. “Kieran!”

“Be right there, Auntie,” he calls back.

I feel the woman’s gaze on me. “It’s okay. My car is just on the other side of those trees there. I’ll see you in a bit.” I walk off, and shift to look back and see him still staring at me. His gaze feels possessive and suggestive of all tonight might bring, which comforts me a bit.

If he isn’t afraid of my vision, maybe it will turn out okay this time. And maybe we can enjoy each other until we figure this fated mates thing out.

Yeah, and lying to yourself serves its purpose, too .

I head back to my car, and almost unleash a wave of magic when the woman Kieran had dismissed earlier pops up with her clipboard still in hand. She seems so calm and serene, friendly even, her pretty face split in a grin. “I see you are about to leave. I’m Gloria. I didn’t mean to be rude earlier.”

“No worries. I was just delivering a message.” My hands grip the door handle behind me, my back plastered against the sun warmed metal.

“A message, right.” Gloria studies me and I get the feeling she’s trying to assess me as a competitor or as prey. Both of those are bad options for me. She lowers her clipboard. “I just have one question. What is your relationship to the Alpha?”

Surprise fills my system. Not the question I thought she’d ask but one I should have prepared for regardless. I’d let myself get too distracted to worry about my surroundings.

Gloria moves closer to me and goosebumps ripple up and down my arms. I feel her hate pulsating beneath her serene facade. A sudden burst of anger emanates from her like a scorching heat,and her smile shifts into a sneer the longer she stares at me, waiting for an answer.

“What is my relationship with Kieran?” I repeat.

“A bit dense, I see. You’re having some trouble keeping up. Do I have to ask you again?”

If I use magic here on pack land, there is no way Kieran will be able to defend my actions to the wolf council. We’d be sunk before we started.

The she-wolf circles me like I’m her dinner and she’s starving to death. She’s got me trapped between her body and the car and unless I suddenly find a way to go through metal, I’m screwed.

“If anyone will be with the Alpha,” she says in my silence, “it will be one of his kind, not a second-rate witch like you. Do you understand, sweetie?” Jealousy rests in Gloria’s gaze, contorting her face in pure anger.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Will she accept the way I play dumb? Sweat breaks out on my limbs and lower back.

“Don’t play dumb with me, witch.” Okay, apparently not. “I smell the magic on you. I smell him on you.” With that, she lunges at me.

Gravel crunches beneath my feet as I swerve and twist away at the last second. Gloria slams into the car and I tear off a piece of her shirt, scuttling backward to put distance between us. The fabric floats to the ground.

I’m not powerless. I’m not weak. I’m not going to let her get away with this, especially not since she made the first move.

I gather my magic for a spell, but before I let it fly, Gloria shifts. Her human form melts away, skin falling to a pile around her four paws. Fur the color of her hair covers her entire body and in the next breath she pounces. I turn away to run, magic forgotten, and her claws catch the back of my head hard before I stumble, dizzy and unable to catch myself as I fall.

I land hard on my side and roll.

The last thing I see above me is Gloria’s face shifting as her body becomes human once more and her fist collides with my temple. Then everything goes dark.

Kieran

M y restless wolf howls one word over and over.

Mine.

Seraphina is mine and all thoughts of breaking the bond between us disappear. The word echoes in my mind and I wonder if we can somehow outrun Fate, or if we are just fooling ourselves that there might be some way out of this.

Maybe tonight will bring more clarity. We can talk things out.

At the thought, my wolf demands I claim my mate once more. The urge is overpowering and only tempered by the sight of Auntie.She gestures me forward, her arm windmilling until I’m right in front of her, still struggling to focus.

“What did you need, Auntie?” I force myself to soften my voice rather than giving into the roaring inside of me.

“Kieran, you brought a witch here, I can tell it,” Auntie McClellan shuffles even closer and pulls on my sleeve. “First, I said to myself, no. Kieran knows better than that. She can’t be a witch. Not here. Not on pack lands with the alpha. But I smell her, don’t I?”

Before I’m able to smooth things over with Seraphina, I have to get the pack on board, I remind myself. Step one. What do they call it? Putting the cart before the horse.

The wolves, in this case, are the focus, and I have to make sure we are headed in the right direction.

“Auntie, if Fate brings her here, it is for a reason,” I explain, my voice tight. “She is no simple visitor.”

Her wrinkled face scrunches in a glare. “I won’t have it. Not after what her kind has done.”

I bite back a groan. “We know who the true enemy was back then…and it wasn’t the witches. It was humans.”

“Don’t try to tell me. I was there. I know what it was like as the Alpha’s daughter. I lived it. Their magic induced scars I still wear.” She pulls up her sleeve for good measure to reveal the zigzag scar running up her arm as if it were a streak of lightning.

“I’ve called the elders,” she finishes.

I swear under my breath. Here I thought I had time. Time is up.

“They’ll be here within the hour.” Auntie shows me her back, absolutely done with me and my hedging. “Prepare yourself, Alpha. They won’t tolerate anything less than your best.”

When the pack’s elders arrive right on time, the gray-haired pack members listen silently to my story of bonding accidentally to a witch. None of them interrupt until I’m done with my tale, sparing them the details of our coupling and focusing more on the bond itself.

“Fate,” I explain. “Who are we to deny it? I never wanted to find my fated mate, yet here we are.” I let those words hang in the air. “Here we are, now we must make the best of it.”

Mortimer, the eldest of them, steps forward. “We know what the books say for the days that will come, when the truce must be renewed between the hands of magic, when Fate binds them together,” he says to Auntie, only to then turn to face me. “Until that happens, the Alpha cannot be connected to one who will sully his leadership.”

His proclamation is an anvil slamming down on the top of my head. The verdict is rendered. The other elders mutter their agreement while my wolf howls, demanding justice.

This isn’t justice. This is bigotry.

Had they not listened to anything I said?

“Wait just a damn minute,” I argue, but Mortimer raises his hand, silencing me. No matter what I say, no one truly wishes to hear how Seraphina will be a great addition to the pack. It can’t matter though, their opinion of me and mine. Not when it comes to love.

“The decision is final, Alpha,” Mortimer continues.

“She is mine.”

“She is not yours until we declare it.” Auntie interjects. “You are willing to put it all on the line for one like her?”

My wolf paces just beneath the skin. Effectively, they’re trying to neuter me as Alpha if I don’t walk their line. The threat, though never stated directly, is as loud as day.

“I will hear no more about you and that woman.” Mortimer turns on his heel, not waiting to be dismissed. “Take care of her or we will.”

It doesn’t matter, I tell myself. I’ll have to talk to the only person who’d understand…and he’s been dead to me for years: my father. If anyone understands my situation and might be able to offer advice, it’s him.

The thought of reaching out to reestablish contact makes my chest go tight.

Shit, I’m going to have to let Seraphina know I’ll be a little late for our meet up tonight. The door to the diner swings shut behind me and gravel in the parking lot crunches under foot.

The talk with my father might take a bit, and she’ll need to see my face and hear my voice to know this isn’t about my having to choose between my leadership and us…because I want an us. I want her days and nights and everything in between.

The decision has been made. Now there is no going back for me.

Those old wolves are too stuck in their ways to even consider anything different. Isn’t it the job of the alpha to usher his people into the future?

Love always wins.

And through love, anything is possible; I have to believe it.

Cars are parked in a long line of metal and I stop dead in my tracks, scenting fear. Pure terror dances in the air and I lean forward, drawing a deep breath into my lungs and tasting it. The fear mixes with the delicate scent of Seraphina’s skin.

Quickly I race forward. The scent is fresh. Another five minutes inside and the breeze might have taken it away.

I stop in front of her car, her scent strongest here, and take in the scene. The car is still there yet the gravel nearby has been kicked. Two sets of prints, I realize, narrowing my eyes. A small swath of fabric catches my eye and I grab it, bringing it to my nose.

Wait…

Gloria?

A fight took place here and Gloria was involved. Why would she do such a thing?

Maybe I’m wrong. I pray to god I’m wrong. She’s probably in the diner and perhaps she lost this piece of her shirt earlier in the day? I want it to be true…but my instincts tell me that I’m lying to myself.

My strides eat up the gravel and I slam back through the door to the diner. Bursting inside, I hurry to the register and the surprised pup manning it.

“Candice, have you seen Gloria?”

Candice barely looks up from her duty as she pops her bubble gum. “Not at all, Alpha. Not since she said she was off to take care of something personal.”

Ice fills my veins. Something personal? “Any idea where she went?”

“Nope, my guess is she’s off pack land, though. She said not to wait up for her. Luckily, she was at the end of her shift.”

If Gloria has gone off pack lands, then she’s outside of my jurisdiction. Damn it.

I give Candice a quick nod and walk away, grabbing my cell phone from my pocket. The necklace falls out and I grab for it, the chain looping around my fingers. Maybe Seraphina is right.

I adjust the chain and slide it around my neck, hiding the necklace underneath my shirt.

Something is dreadfully wrong.

I unlock the screen and scroll to the number I’d made her put in my cell. The call goes to voicemail and the ice inside of me thickens. Everything else required of me is going to have to wait. Nothing can come above the safety of my mate.

Even the elder council.

It’s not that she doesn’t answer that worries me, but the sensation in my gut that something is more than wrong. And if I don’t get a move on, she won’t ever answer again.

Switching lines, I quickly dial the pack police and put out a BOLO alert for Gloria. What could Gloria do to her? And what might happen if I don’t find them in time?