Midnight Magic, page 159
Not wanting any more questions from her, I hurry back to my cabin. When I open the door, Breene is curled up in my bed, with her long raven hair sprawled all over my pillows, her scent seeping into them.
After I scan the room to ensure that she didn’t scramble through anything, I lock the door behind me and hand her the water. She takes it with a shaky hand, still not looking up at me even once.
I sigh and sit at the edge of the bed, keeping a couple feet of distance. While I want to be closer to her, I don’t want her to freak out again because of me. I don’t know exactly what caused it last time.
“Here,” I whisper, holding out the blanket toward her.
She looks at it, then at me for only a moment. Once she takes a large gulp of water, she grabs the blanket from me and sits up, wrapping it around her slumped shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers again. “For freaking out.”
“It’s okay.”
“I feel so stupid.”
“Don’t.”
I inch my fingers closer to her. She eyes them but doesn’t scurry away. I brush mine against hers, the feel of her skin making me relax completely. We sit like this for a while until I feel the tingling of a summoning spell.
“I’m not going to hurt you, but you have to trust me and follow me.” I need to figure this shit out, but don’t want to leave her alone here, especially when people don’t trust her already. “I have some business that I need to take care of.”
CHAPTER 7
Breene
Kiernan hands me a colorful sweater that is far too big for me. I tug it over my head and it falls to my knees. It’s warm, and the fabric is soft against my skin. The sleeves are too long, but before I can adjust them, he wraps his hand around my wrist and tugs me outside.
Another wave of fear courses through me. He hasn’t hurt me yet, but it may all be just a game. How many times has Alpha Rieker told me to follow him somewhere, claiming he wanted to show me something… only to laugh in my face as he landed the first blow?
Suddenly, it’s Alpha Rieker who’s dragging me through the forest. He’s going to beat me, torture me, and kill me. He’s going to watch me bleed out and dump my body in the lake.
Let me go! The words echo in my head, but fear traps them in my throat. When I open my mouth, I can’t make a sound.
It’s like a recurring nightmare, where a wolf is chasing me through the forest. I keep releasing these panicked, silent screams no one ever hears. Then I wake up with my hair drenched and my heart pounding loudly in my chest, but at least then I tell myself it’s just a dream.
This is reality.
Except when I look at him again, I see Kiernan. Not Alpha Reiker. Kiernan.
But fear has a way of destroying reason. It claws at my belly. It convinces me that he’s had enough and I’m about to pay. It reminds me that I’ll never be able to escape the punishments. That no matter what I do, I’ll never be what he needs me to be.
The moon lights the way, casting the determined set of Kiernan’s jaw in shadow. He’s a handsome man, tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular—unlike the much more scrawny, scarred Alpha Reiker—but what makes Kiernan so attractive is also what scares me. His strength. His determination. His power.
This was supposed to be my escape. Being here—becoming something other than a wolf. But why did I choose to become a witch?
I’d taken all the required Selection Academy lectures, and spellcasting was my least favorite. The lecturers made it clear they hated wolves. Hated the people who raised me. People like my mother.
I’d been sure I could never be happy among witches, but I wouldn’t have minded being something else—like a vampire, whose covens are almost always led by women… or a mermaid, living in an ocean far, far away.
So why did I end up here? Did my subconscious think I’d be safest with my pack’s mortal enemy? Did I choose to come here because it’s the only place Alpha Reiker could never get to me? Why did I have to go into that ceremony praying I wouldn’t be a wolf, instead of choosing something safe to be instead?
My legs start to feel heavy as Kiernan continues to drag me through the trees. I’m tired. So tired of it all. The fear. The pain. The never-ending misery that has been my life since the day I lost my mother. She used to protect me, but after her death, I was all alone and the torture began.
I don’t have any more fight left in me. I don’t have the energy to keep going when my last sliver of hope—the Selection Ceremony—only brought more fear and pain.
“Kiernan…” I whisper and tug on his arm.
“We’re almost there,” he says.
My heart thunders in my chest. I resign myself to my fate. And that’s when I hear singing.
Many voices merge together into an unfamiliar tune. It’s soft, melodic, and it calls to something deep inside me.
“What is that?” I whisper, my words filled with awe.
Kiernan squeezes my hand. “Magic.”
We step into the clearing. Seasoned witches and warrior mages surround the giant bonfire, their song casting a spell that makes the flames erupt in color. They dance and emit shooting stars into the sky, which explode in beautiful patterns like nothing I’ve ever seen.
Kiernan leads me to the group of new recruits. I remember them from the aftermath of the Selection Ceremony, some bewildered to be witches, others glowing with joy or pride.
Most are dressed like witches, though one guy is wearing mer clothes: long white pants and a thin cotton shirt. His hair is so long it almost reaches his knees, but he’s chatting happily with the little group and seems to fit right in.
“I’ll be back for you after the ceremony,” Kiernan says curtly before heading off to the other side of the bonfire.
I watch the flames dance, listening to the crackling of the fire and enjoying the warmth on my skin. I prefer being like this. Alone. Safe.
“Brie,” Leia picks that exact moment to join me, Bay on her heels.
I give them a small nod, hoping they’ll take the hint and leave.
“Were you with Kiernan?” Leia whispers, glancing between me and my mate.
I nod. Then shake my head.
I’m not sure he wants me to reveal to anyone that we’re mates. And I don’t want to do anything that will anger him. That will make him punish me.
“No. I… got lost,” I lie. “Kiernan found me.”
“You should learn a tracking spell. I know a book that has dozens of them. If you want to meet at the library tomorrow at sunset, I can teach it to you,” Leia says.
“Why sunset? And I thought you hadn’t been through Selection yet?”
“I haven’t.” Leia grins. “And sunset is the best time to learn spells. Not much else to do here after dark.”
My mind instantly jumps to Kiernan—and the giant bed waiting back at the cabin—and my cheeks flush.
“Leia knows where to find any spell you might need.” Bay smiles proudly at her. “She’s been getting ready for the Selection for years.”
“So have you,” Leia fires back with a grin. “But I bet I could find it faster.”
“You’re on.”
Watching them together makes me feel a wave of longing, and I glance past the fire again, hoping to spot Kiernan on the other side. He’s talking to a woman in ceremonial robes that match his, and I feel a wave of jealousy. But then his eyes meet mine across the fire, and he seems to forget she exists.
“Brie?” Leia waves a hand in front of my face, then turns to Bay. “I think she has a crush on Kiernan. Not that I blame her. He’s hot.”
I feel a wave of jealousy. Judging by the look on Bay’s face, he does too, but for an entirely different reason.
“So, um… how long have you two been dating?” I ask, diverting their attention away from me and Kiernan.
“We’re just friends,” Bay sputters with a quick glance at Leia.
“We’ve known each other since we were kids,” Leia adds, her cheeks turning bright pink. “You guys want to make roasted mushrooms? Brie, have you tried one before?”
I shake my head.
“We have to change that, then.” She rushes off to get a large tray of ingredients.
When she returns, she and Bay take turns showing me how to place mushrooms on sticks. They hold them over the fire at just the right angle and turn them to cook them. They refuse to look at each other the entire time.
I’m so busy watching them that I burn my mushroom to a crisp.
“Try again,” Leia says, and I do it all over again.
This time, I carefully watch my mushroom wilt, and when it’s ready, I blow on it until it cools and pop it into my mouth.
“Now drink,” Leia says, handing me a wooden cup. “Witch’s brew. You’ll love it.”
I raise it to my lips and take a small sip of the sweet brew. My eyes grow wide.
“Amazing, right?” Bay grins.
“I’ve never had anything like it.”
“One more?” Leia holds up a plate of mushrooms.
I nod. My stomach growls, reminding me that I didn’t eat enough at the buffet, but there aren’t many mushrooms to go around. So I only take one.
Once it’s ready, the three of us settle down on a log, Leia on my left and Bay on my right. I can’t help but notice how they’ve been keeping me in the middle ever since I called them a couple. And I don’t miss how they keep sneaking glances at each other when they think the other one isn’t looking.
It’s obvious that Bay is obsessed with Leia, and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual, but it’s not my place to say anything. Especially since they haven’t been through the Selection Ceremony yet. I know Leia is sure she’ll be a witch, but what if Bay decides he wants to be something else? Is that why they’re not dating? Or is it because until they go through the Selection, they won’t know if they’re mates?
“Did you hear that?” Bay hisses.
“Hear what?” Leia asks.
I shake my head. All I’d heard was the crackling fire, the soft conversation, and—
“Silence,” Kiernan shouts.
“What’s—” I’m about to add “happening” when the word freezes in my throat. Not the way it did when I’d been paralyzed by fear. This is different. Kiernan just silenced me with magic.
I realize it’s not just me. Us. All of us. Everyone in the clearing is wide-eyed and silent as they listen. And then I hear it. Wolves howling in the distance.
Fear travels down my spine.
Those howls. They’re familiar. Like they belong to Alpha Reiker and his pack.
There are other wolves in the area. Other packs. Maybe fear is twisting the sound into my worst nightmare. But somehow, I know that’s not it. Somehow, I know it’s them.
Kiernan waves an arm and extinguishes the fire. The smoke vanishes like it never was, removing all evidence that we were here.
“Everyone, back to your cabins.” He keeps his voice low, but loud enough to be heard. “Lock the doors. Stay quiet. Magical fires without smoke, curtains drawn. And don’t come out until I say it’s safe. Warrior mages, by me.”
People jump to their feet and run into the forest. Leia grabs my hand and starts to pull me with her and Bay, but Kiernan intercepts us.
“Breene stays with me,” he snaps, and the two of them leave me behind and run.
Another howl echoes through the forest, and Kiernan grabs my arm. He breaks into a run, and I don’t hesitate. I keep pace. I’m far more terrified of wolves than I am of wherever he’s taking me.
We run down the forest path and don’t stop until we reach the cabin. He pulls me inside and spins me around to face him.
“Don’t follow me,” he orders, casting a quick spell that dims the fire’s flames. “Stay safe.”
I nod. And then he’s gone.
CHAPTER 8
Kiernan
While I hate the thought of leaving Breene alone in a new place for the first time, I can’t bring her along with us. For the eighth night in a row, the wolves are gathered at our borders, waiting for us. Even after we just defeated them, they didn’t take time to regroup. They’re already here.
“They’re not attacking,” one of my warrior mages says, following quickly beside us.
“They’re just standing there?” Darcy asks. When we reach the borders near the river where they are gathered, she raises her brows. “Well, fuck me. They really are. But why?”
“Because of last time.”
We defeated them last time, but now… fuck, there were so many more. From the mere howls echoing through the quiet forest, I can tell that there has to be, at the very least, ten times the number of wolves compared to their most recent attack.
Like the mage said, at this moment, they don’t seem ready to attack. The battle earlier must have been a test of our strength. But if it was a suicide mission, and they are willing to go that far, who knows what else they might be capable of?
“They have been gathering for a while now,” the warrior mage says.
“Those flesh-hungry animals will continue to show up to try to intimidate us,” Darcy adds.
I nod. “I suspect they’ll attack in a couple weeks under the full moon, when they'll be at their absolute strongest.”
If they attacked now, then we really would kill them all. While it might’ve been feasible to attack and end this for once and for all, I don’t know if they have another plan if we did attack. Maybe more of their other warriors are waiting in the woods, hiding and readying to destroy us.
“They want our entire coven dead,” Darcy says.
I grimace and run my hand over my face, walking back to the coven with Darcy. When I spot Breene inside the main coven building sitting with Leia and Bay, two teens who’d attend the Selection Ceremony in a year’s time, I stop. She was with them earlier, too, and I’m happy to see her making friends. But maybe she’s with them for information.
Darcy follows my gaze and places her hand on my shoulder. “I said it before, but…” she starts. “We can’t trust her. She’s from their pack. She knows what they know, has their secrets. If she hasn’t told you anything about their plans, she’s hiding something.”
While I want to believe in Breene so badly, Darcy is right. Still, Breene now practices magic as a witch and doesn’t train with a pack of ruthless werewolves anymore. She is aligned with us and—if she really has been abused like I have suspected from her constant fear-ridden reactions—she would want us to slaughter every last one of her old packmates.
Yet she has barely told me anything.
No plans. No secrets. Nothing.
Still, I can’t shake the memory of how she reacted when I pinned her arms over her head. It is as if she expected me to hit her for not wanting to sleep with me tonight. How fucked up is that?
“I’ll talk to her,” I grunt.
“You already tried that,” Darcy says, dark magic glowing in her fists. “It’s my turn.”
“No,” I growl, the sound almost as feral as a wolf’s howl. I cut my gaze to her and clench my jaw, possessiveness rushing through every one of my veins. “You will not lay a fucking finger on her.”
“Kiernan—”
Before she can mutter another word, I wrap my hand around her throat and shove her against the wall. My fingers burn with power. The mere thought of someone hurting my mate for information makes me furious.
“You will not fucking touch her,” I growl, the magic swelling inside me.
I ache to bind her with magic, to seal her lips with a spell. She wouldn’t even consider touching or hurting my mate again. No matter fucking what. Or else, I would have to imprison my own second-in-command.
“Fuck, Kiernan. Fine,” she says, releasing the magic from her clenched fists and shaking her head. “What’s gotten into you? I’m just looking out for our coven. You’re acting as if she’s your mate or something.”
I stay quiet and yank my hand away from her throat.
“Oh, goddess,” Darcy says, gently rubbing her neck as she heals the growing bruise with a spell. “She is, isn’t she?”
“Don’t fucking tell anyone,” I say between gritted teeth. “I don’t need this getting out.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she says, inching closer. “I’m just looking out for us and for you. If she is one of them—secretly—then she’s going to tear you apart. And I can’t let anything like that happen for the sake of the coven and our friendship.”
While she isn’t lying, I still don’t like the thought of anyone coming close to my mate for any reason. If she was abused, then this would only hurt her worse. She wouldn’t trust Darcy or me or anyone in the coven.
“The coven comes first,” I say. Though part of me knows that is a lie.
If I have to choose between resigning from my position as coven leader to be with my mate or losing my mate because she is a spy for an enemy pack, then I would resign in a heartbeat. Take her far away from here, somewhere where it’s just the two of us, and none of this matters.
Fated mates always come first. Fated mates always matter.
And I would kill for mine.
“It’s just… you know how manipulative werewolves are. Somehow they always get their people to come back to them no matter what species they become. They promise them freedom and strength to rule the forests. And they’re the most loyal creatures alive.”
“I’ll question her, Darcy,” I say. “And I won’t fall for her until I know she’s true.”
But truthfully, I fucking fell the moment I laid eyes on her at the party.
She is mine, and she will always be mine. No matter what.
CHAPTER 9
Breene
I’m glad Leia and Bay showed up at the cabin to take me to the main coven building. It’s a lot less scary waiting out the potential attack with others around. When it’s safe, they show me the coven library, and then walk me back to Kiernan’s cabin.
They’ve helped me memorize the tracking spell by heart. Even though I don’t know how to cast it yet, the mere thought of one day having magic gives me hope.
