17. Sofia

17

Sofia

“ I can do that,” she said. “To say goodbye.” She ignored the sting in her throat. “I want to taste you.”

“Oh God,” he said.

She moved to the floor, kneeling in front of Levi. She pulled on his jeans, tugging them down. Everyone had slept in their clothes, just in case. Once she got his boxers down, his thick cock hung in her face.

She took it in one hand, feeling the hefty weight of it. She tipped her head back and opened her mouth. This was what she wanted. Pure pleasure, and a way to ignore the churning emotions that were rolling through her mind.

She licked up the length of his cock. He groaned and shuddered. “Sofia.”

“I’ve never done this before either,” she said. She liked the way it felt, being on her knees for him. She liked the reaction she got. And it kept her occupied, so the rest of the world felt very far away.

“You feel so good,” he moaned. He ran his hands through her hair. “Hold still. Let me fuck your mouth.”

His crude words made her pussy throb. She did as he said, and he slid his cock in between her lips. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the feeling of being full. Too soon, he pulled out.

“I don’t want to come like this. I need to be in your sweet pussy,” he whispered into her ear. With great care, he stripped her clothes from her body.

He kissed her throat, her collarbone, and her stomach. “Now it’s my turn to taste you.”

He laid her on the bed and pushed her legs open, baring her core to him. He ran his finger over her folders, just barely touching, before parting her lips. “You’re so wet,” he said. “I like it.”

Her stomach flipped as he pushed one finger into her channel and buried his face in her pussy.

He licked everywhere. He licked her clit first, and then plunged his tongue into her entrance, swirling his tongue around. Then he switched again, and pushed two fingers into her body, while he sucked on her clit.

She writhed, thrashing on the bed, so close to orgasm. “You are so sweet,” he said, pulling away. “But I want you to come on my cock.’

“Please.” She grabbed a pillow and covered her mouth before her moans woke up the whole house.

He rolled a condom onto his big cock and moved back between her spread legs. He pushed in, a little faster than he had the first time, and finally, she felt complete.

Mate.

No. It wasn’t up to her bear.

“Fuck me,” she said, trying to spur him on.

It worked. He thrust into her with powerful strokes, hitting her g-spot each time. “I’m close,” she whispered. He rubbed his fingers over her clit, and that was it for her. She was done. She screamed into the pillow as she came, her body pulsing.

Levi pounded into her one last time, and then he came.

He fell asleep immediately.

When she promised Levi that she wouldn’t leave Kellan’s house, she had been lying. There was no way in hell that she could stay. It just wasn’t right to put all these people in jeopardy.

Tomorrow night, she was going to shift, and she was going to leave, and all these people would be better off for it. She did not want to be caught. But she would do nothing to cover up her scent. If the wolves made it to Cedar Lake, if they caught her scent, it would draw them away from Kellan’s house.

She would spend this one last night in his arms.

When she woke up, she was better rested than she had been, maybe in forever. Which made no sense. The next day was spent coordinating with the rest of the clan.

They worked from sunup to sundown, only taking a break for lunch.

“I’m making BLTs,” Brennan shouted at noon. There was a collective cheering sound from the group.

He grabbed bacon, tomatoes, mayonnaise, and lettuce and began to cook.

“Is there anything I can do to help?’” she asked. It was difficult to just stand in the middle of this mansion not really knowing anyone but Levi. She could feel the pull toward Levi. But she wasn’t going to acknowledge it.

What difference did it make if fate had said they should be together? Had fate allowed her to be kidnapped? Had fate allowed her to be born to a shady clan?

Brennan looked sideways at her and grinned. “Yes, I would love some help. These losers always say I do a better job with the lunch sandwiches, so they just stand around running their mouths.” He laughed and handed her a pile of tomatoes. “Wash those and slice them thin. And don’t cut yourself; the knife is really sharp.”

“Well, we don’t really get cut.”

He made a show of slapping his forehead. “Damn. I knew that. I know full well you’re a bear. I saw you with my own eyes, but when I’m around you your aura just screams witch.”

“Really? No one’s put it quite like that yet.”

“Yes, really. I’m one hundred percent dragon shifter, as far as I know, but I’ve been around so many different kinds of supernatural people that I feel like I’ve got a pretty good read on what’s what. Your magic’s just…” He waved his arms in a big circle. “You know?”

“All over the place?” she asked.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way,” he said. “You have a lot of magical power. So that’s really cool. Once you learn to use it, you’ll be unstoppable.”

“I don’t know if I want to be unstoppable.”

“I know the feeling. We all have to live with the fact that we could go on a rampage at any moment.”

She nodded. She understood the feeling.

While they ate, the group suddenly stopped and everyone sat up straighter, looking toward the driveway.

Then she felt it. There was another witch on the property. She had no idea how she knew. But she did.

She looked over at Quinn who was the closest to her. “Is that Nora? Is she here?”

“Yes. She just texted to say that she’s pulling into the driveway. How did you know?”

“I could feel it. It went straight to my brain.”

“You will definitely have to tell her. She’ll want to know.”

“I will,” Sofia said. She was so glad she would get to meet Nora. She wasn’t sure how much Nora could teach her in half a day, but anything was better than nothing.

She stood there with her BLT sandwich. Something she’d never had before, but that Brennan had insisted on making.

Nora walked through the doorway. She was a lot smaller than Sofia had expected. Which was stupid that she expected any size at all. Witches’ bodies were like humans; their sizes were more variable than shifters.

“Hello everyone,” she said in a lilting Irish accent. Her eyes zeroed in on Sofia.

“You must be Sofia.” She came forward. “It’s so lovely to meet you. I’ve been looking forward to it. Would you like to go speak in private? There’s no pressure either way.”

“Yes, I’d love to speak to you alone.” Anytime she spoke about what had happened with the wolves, Levi grew agitated. She understood why he did. But she didn’t want to upset him, especially now that she was leaving.

“Great, that’s settled then.”

Brennan came over and wrapped Nora up in a big hug. “Would you like a sandwich?”

“Yes, that would be lovely.” She took the plate and a sparkling water. “Before we go, I do have something you all need to know. Niall went to the coordinates where the compound was. He ended up sneaking in and talking to a few of the wolves. It is the same pack that held me captive. Maxim is dead, but they have a new leader.”

“Koryak,” Sofia said.

“Yes,” Nora replied.

The room went still. There wasn’t even a gasp.

“We were expecting this. And I’m telling you so that you all be cautious. I know that you normally would not find a wolf shifter a particular challenge, especially for the dragon form, but these wolves have been experimenting with dark magic. The same kind of dark magic that my mother and her coven used.”

This time there were a few gasps. Fallon, Brennan’s mate, had her hand over her heart. Her eyes were shining.

“I’m sure all of you are aware that my mother’s coven is responsible for the death and complete annihilation of Kellan, Quinn, Liam, and Brennan’s clan. Niall, my own mate, also belonged to their clan. It happened decades ago but it is never far from our minds. The magic they used was cruel, ruthless, and methodical. No one should ever underestimate the wolves just because they are not magical, or they aren’t demi-gods or dragon shifters. The demons we fought most recently were predictable in their behavior; these wolves may not be nearly as stable. And thank you for hearing me out,” Nora said.

He took a few more minutes for them to get out of the kitchen because every single shifter wanted to greet Nora. Not that Sofia blamed them. She would feel the same way. She’d never really had the opportunity to have close friends in her clan. Backstabbing and manipulation were their values that her clan held close. But maybe she would have the opportunity in Rhett’s clan to make some friends.

Seeing all of them rally around each other and step in to help her, someone they barely knew, was making her reconsider the idea of going to live in the Canadian wilderness.

Or maybe she’d run into a clan up there. Levi’s dragon shifter family was from the eastern side of Canada. But so far no one had been able to tell her if there were any black bear clans in the Northwest Territories. She’d heard rumors of a polar bear clan, but nothing had ever been confirmed.

As soon as they were alone Nora hugged her. “I hope that was okay. I just had to do it. You’re the only person I know who has been captured by those wolves.”

“No, it’s fine. I liked it,” she said shyly. And she had. She’d had too few hugs in her life.

“If you’re willing, please tell me about your time in the pack. I’ve heard it, but a firsthand account is always better than a second or third. But if it causes you too much distress, we’ll stop,” Nora said.

“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t there that long. It was awful, but it could’ve been worse.”

Like it was for Nora.

She told Nora about it from start to finish, starting with running into a wolf in the woods to offering her money. She explained what the spells felt like and what she could remember.

“That’s very helpful. I know some of the others told you that your magical signature is quite bright. It’s vibrant. It’s also uncontrolled.”

“Can you help me control it?” Nora asked.

“Yes. That’s the first thing we’re going to do. We don’t know when or if the wolves will make it here but we want you to be ready.”

Nora’s words reinforced Sofia’s decision to leave. They were all preparing for battle. The battle would become irrelevant if she were no longer around. She was the sole reason that they were coming to Kellan’s house. There was no choice to be made.

“I’ve been a witch all of my life. But I had to unlearn a lot of bad habits. I’ve never been a shifter but from what I’ve learned from Niall, you can also feel your bear inside you.”

“Yes, I can, but I think maybe sometimes what I thought was my bear was actually my magic.”

“Yes. That makes sense.”

By 10:30 p.m. Sofia was exhausted. Her eyes were closing, even as Nora was speaking to her. She wasn’t ready to quit.

“We better call it a night,” Nora said.

“I want to learn more,” Sofia insisted. “I need to.” The anxiety was scraping her insides.

“I think we better get some sleep. Even witches and shifters need sleep,” Nora said—’In case we need to fight the wolves,’ was left unsaid. Nora put her hand on top of Sofia’s. “This won’t be the last time we see each other. I’ll come visit you, and you can come stay with me in Ireland.”

It is the last time we’ll see each other.

Once she ran away tonight, she had a feeling that Levi’s clan wasn’t going to welcome her with open arms. Once they found out she rejected him as a mate, they’d probably kick her out anyway.

She swallowed against the lump in her throat, blinking against the sting in her eyes. She’d just found Nora. Or well, Levi had allowed Nora to find her. And now it was all ending. She’d never railed against life’s injustices. There didn’t seem to be any point.

But now she wanted to—she wanted to yell and scream and tear something to pieces. Life wasn’t fair. She had never been so close to having what she wanted. For her entire life she never had it within her grasp, but now for just a brief moment, she almost had something besides herself.

She had rejected Levi, but maybe if the wolves weren’t after her, she could’ve gotten herself together and come back to him if he had been willing to wait.

She could have written to him; she could’ve asked him to wait. But now wherever she went these wolves would follow her.

Everyone was wary of them, maybe it was the trauma that Nora had been through. But the fact that they could hold such a powerful witch for four years, or maybe just that they were an unknown and that they had no morals and no boundaries. But if they had gone to the trouble to cross an ocean for one single half witch/half bear shifter.

She went to Levi again that night, but this time there was no sex. She wrapped her arms around him and held on until he fell asleep. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. He reached out for her when she got up.

But she only patted his arm. “I’m just going to the bathroom,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”

She’d just lied to him again. It burned her right in her chest. Was that part of being a mate? Wanting to protect him, but also hating the way she had to do it? What was it that he felt? She’d never bothered to ask him. She did regret that.

He settled in with a smile on his face and she pulled away staring at him one last time now that she had to go, but circumstances were forcing her.

She didn’t want to leave him, didn’t want to claim a mate, not yet maybe not ever but it would’ve been nice to be able to explore a relationship with Levi. He was such a good male. It took every ounce of her willpower to walk out of the room. The house was eerily quiet; she didn’t even hear whispers. They were all exhausted.

She could feel the edges of fear creeping in the house. All of them were ready but they were worried too.

Wait. She wasn’t sure that it was the other shifters. It was her. She was reacting to something.

The wolves. They were close by. They’d found her, all the way out here in rural Texas.

Damn them all to hell . Why did she have to have a connection to those bastards?

She should be grateful. She knew they weren’t far away. She could get out. She could lead them away.

Now her leisurely goodbye was trashed by these assholes. She wanted to make them pay. But just getting them away from Levi, Nora, and the others would be enough.

Suddenly there was no time to spare. Every second counted.

She crept to the back door. There was an alarm, a complicated state-of-the-art system with technology that obviously cost thousands of dollars. There was no way that entering her code would not trip some kind of notification to Kellan or possibly everyone.

Had any of them anticipated that she might run? Levi had seemed to think it was a distinct possibility mainly because other shifters had done it before.

She stared at the alarm panel. She hadn’t paid much attention to it before because it had not been set while they were all in and out of the house strategizing training and exercising. The panel was complex, and she could not risk it. She would have to try her magic. She didn’t want to tear up his system or do anything to endanger everyone who was asleep in the house. It was just too risky.

What if it short-circuited the entire panel and they were left undefended and unprotected? She would just have to punch in her unique code, get out the door and let the system re-arm. If Kellan was notified, then so be it; she would already be on her way.

She took a deep breath and held her finger up over the buttons. Quickly she keyed in her ten key digit code and then waited until he gave a soft beep. The light turned green, and the display said that she had forty-five seconds to exit. She pushed the door open and closed it back firmly. She waited until she heard the bolt engage and then she took off. She did not bother to take off her clothes. She had a small bag with her, but it would blend into her fur.

She looped it over her neck and tightened it. It had her ID inside with a cotton dress; they could be used in an emergency with a little bit of cash as well. She contemplated leaving with no new clothes, no ID, no money, but she thought she might be better able to evade the wolves like this, if she had a few resources and a backup plan.

She bolted. She ran over Kellan’s manicured lawn, past his flowerbeds, and toward the road. They would probably be expecting her to ride toward the open fields, but she was going east.

Arkansas had thick woods and rocks and caves and rolling hills, and it would be much easier to hide herself there. Once she had evaded them, she might risk getting on a bus going north. As she ran, she could feel a sharp tug in her gut. Could that be the bond or was it her imagination?

That is how Nora described the bond connection. She ignored it. Now was not the time to become sentimental and nostalgic for what could never be. She had to focus.

She was alone and that was how it had always been. She would get used to it. She always had before.