The Witch and the Wolf, page 1
The Witch and the Wolf
IMMORTAL WOLF SHIFTERS BOOK 2
NIKITA SLATER
Copyright © 2023 Nikita Slater
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Contents
Author’s Note
Immortal Wolf Shifters Series Information
1. Birth of a Witch
2. Mags the Teenage Witch
3. Witch Hunt
4. To Die For
5. A Walk in the Woods
6. Kiss of Death
7. Unthinkable Mate
8. Mating 101
9. The Man, the Myth, the Legend
10. Charmed, I’m Sure
11. A Magical Binding
12. The Whole Package!
13. Another Day, Another Table
14. Eye of Newt
15. Lyra Good Witch
16. Summoned
17. Fairy Lights
18. Eat Me
19. Happily ever… oops!
20. Wolf Behaving Badly
21. Seven Pound Fury
22. Witch Hunt
23. All Out of Nice
24. Hound Dog Blues
25. Early Release
26. Rage
27. Exploding Humans
28. Cleaning the Pipes
29. Changed
30. You, Me, and Seventeen
31. Crimes Against Humanity
32. Lost in Thought
33. The Lovebirds Have Landed
34. A Magical Intervention
35. Citadel
36. Law & Order
37. Busted Rush
38. Day Pass
39. Homecoming
40. What are the Odds?
Epilogue: Menagerie
Sneak Peek: Wolf’s Eternal Bride
Bonus: Damaged Mate
Bonus: Sanctuary’s Warlord
Nikita’s Newsletter!
Also by Nikita Slater
About Nikita Slater
Author’s Note
Thank you so much for purchasing a copy of The Witch and the Wolf. Each novel in the Immortal Wolf Shifter series can be read as standalone, but for the best reader experience should be read in order.
This fantasy romance novel introduces witches to my world of Immortal shifters. A fiercely loyal, nature-loving matriarchal society who believe that there is no higher calling than keeping balance to the natural order.
I hope you enjoy the next instalment in my Immortal Wolf Shifter world. Watch for a sneak peek of book three at the back of the The Witch and the Wolf!
Sincerely,
Nikita
Immortal Wolf Shifters Series Information
Book 1: Damaged Mate
Book 2: The Witch and the Wolf
Book 3: Wolf’s Eternal Bride
Book 4: Protected by Her Mate
Book 5: The King’s Mate
The Witch’s Curse…
“For the crime of trying to force me into an unwanted bond, I doom you to a life without your mate!”
A spell cast by a powerful witch and meant for one brother strikes all five alpha leaders of the Wolf-Haven Sanctuary, dooming them to a life without mates. Only the spell didn’t work quite right. Separating mates is a crime against the natural order, and nature will fight back when provoked.
Book 1: Damaged Mate
Lock felt the moment his mate died, which is why he’s both shocked and elated when she shows up on his doorstep. Only problem is she’s lived in her wolf form for two hundred years and has forgotten how to be human.
Book 2: The Witch and the Wolf
Rush has been searching for a way to break the witch’s curse so his brothers can find peace with their mates. Instead, he finds his own witch mate, one who is determined to make him pay for hunting her family for generations.
Book 3: Wolf’s Eternal Bride
Keenan is doomed to fall in love with his human mate and then watch her die over and over again each time she reincarnates. In order to give his mate the life she deserves, he must find a way around the witch’s curse.
Book 4: Protected by Her Mate
Lennox lives and works in the modern world of the humans. When he discovers his mate is his new human police partner, he must do everything he can to protect her from a bomber set on restarting the Human-Shifter War.
Book 5: The King’s Mate
Fallon spends centuries searching for his mate, a witch who is cast into another realm as punishment for her crime against the natural order. When he finds her, he will follow her into the shadows and reclaim his mate. This time, he won’t give her the opportunity to escape him.
Chapter 1
Birth of a Witch
RUSH
I wake with a start, perking my ears to figure out what interrupted my slumber. I sleep on high alert, so it could’ve been anything. Still, nothing seems out of the ordinary. No noises, no shuffling in the shadows, no brain patterns nearby beyond those of wild animals.
I push to my four paws and make my way out of the den, sniffing the air for intruders. Nothing. I sit and close my eyes, casting my senses into the surrounding woods, hoping to pick up on the disturbance. Then I feel it. Not something outside myself, but deep inside the recesses of my brain.
A stirring.
Only one thing can cause this. The birth of my mate.
Elation crashes through me, urging me to find the person I’ve been waiting to meet for nearly seven centuries. My feet are moving before I give the conscious demand to run. I go with it though. As much as I hate being at the mercy of my instincts, this one is too good to pass up.
I have to know who she is. What she looks like. What she smells like.
I assume I’ll be heading toward Wolf-Haven, the largest wolf shifter settlement on the planet, but my paws veer off in another direction, carrying me away from the dominant wolf packs.
My hackles rise across my back as I stop running, my paws on the edge of witch territory.
Witches.
I pace, letting out a soft whine that puffs like storm clouds into the surrounding mist. Witches are the evil that will one day destroy our planet. My mate has been born and now exists in the world. If she’s trapped in the witch swamps, she’ll need rescuing. I must continue moving forward and if I run into a stray witch, so much the better.
Nothing pleases me more than ridding the planet of witches and warlocks, so if I have to take a few out on the way to my mate, then so be it.
The journey is uneventful as I hurtle toward the place that calls to me like a star just under the horizon, teasing me, beckoning me with a brightness I can feel but not see. She’ll be an infant and I won’t be able to claim her, but I will follow the traditions of my people. I’ll watch over her, keep her safe, until the day she’s ready to become mine.
First, I must rescue her from the witch swamps and take her to a safe place. Then I’ll find out what the witches wanted with her. They’re a devious and secretive lot. They’ve likely stolen her for one of their sacrifices.
I’ll destroy everyone involved in her abduction.
I’ve been hunting the creatures since a witch cast a spell that destroyed my family, biding my time until I can get my paws on the right witch, the one who’ll break the curse. Once my mission is complete, I will dutifully wipe out the witch scourge from this world.
I slow as I approach what looks like a village. Pacing the edge of a treelined path, my eyes go straight to the place I know houses my future bride. A two-story wooden cottage painted white with blue trim. I can feel her, a glowing ball of beautiful energy in my chest, calling to me, luring me to her side.
I have no choice. I must find her.
My paws move forward, and I make my way slowly into the deserted village. I swing my head from side to side, my yellow gaze moving restlessly as I search for danger.
When I arrive at the correct house, I look up at the second story, at the open window with white curtains fluttering out. I could knock down the front door, but an open window is easier. I crouch low to the ground, then push off, springing towards it.
My entrance is less than graceful. I don’t have time to plan my landing and hit a stack of books, my paws sliding beneath me before I tumble to the floor, rolling and coming back up to my feet. I huff in annoyance and glance around. If anyone saw my clumsy entrance, they’ll have to be destroyed. For the sake of my vanity.
My eyes land on a cradle and my heart beats uncontrollably as I realize I somehow lucked into finding my mate right away. I step toward it, drawn to the creature within.
As I lift my shaggy head to peek over the side, the baby lets out a tiny sigh. My eyes widen. She’s… perfect.
She’s the one.
Swaddled in a light blue blanket, she wiggles one of her fists out and waves it at me. I lift a paw and reach for her, my massive hairy toes touching her impossibly small fingers. As we connect, an explosion detonates in my head and a rush of images crashes through my brain.
A woman, wild blond hair, pink lips, startling blue eyes. She’s reaching for me, her lips cu
A piercing scream echoes through my head, and I instantly recognize the cry as my mate’s. She’s injured!
In the nightmare, I run as fast as I can, my body twisting and snapping in mid-air, muscle and sinew reshaping itself into the form of a big, shaggy, grey and orange wolf. I race toward the screams, frantic to get to her in time.
Finally, I spot her and rage rips through me. She’s bound to a wooden stake, flames igniting the pile of sticks at her feet, black-robed figures surrounding her, chanting and jeering as the flames reach her delicate skin.
It doesn’t seem to matter how fast I run, how hard my paws pound the dirt, I can’t reach her. The flames engulf her and an explosion ignites the surrounding air, throwing out a violent arc of fire that knocks the robed figures off their feet.
I’m about to roar my rage at my mate’s future, but the image changes and she floats above the flames, her shrieks turning from pain to fury. Her blackened fingers curve as she lifts her arms, screaming an incantation. A shockwave goes through the area, killing everyone around her instantly.
I jerk back, breaking contact with my infant mate and stare down at her in shock.
Witch.
Of course she’s a witch. Why else would she have been born in witch territory?
There must be a mistake. My mate can’t be a witch. It’s impossible. Well, not technically impossible for a wolf and a witch to mate, though rare. But it’s impossible that my mate could be a witch.
“There’s no mistake.” A strained voice reaches to me from the shadows, followed by a woman as she steps toward me. I let out a low growl and press myself closer to the cradle, protecting my mate.
Wait. Not my mate. Just a baby witch.
Mother? I ask silently, not expecting an answer.
She nods. “I am her mother. You don’t have to protect her. I’ve no intention of hurting my daughter.”
I curl my lip, unnerved that she can guess my thoughts.
“I knew you would come.”
How?
She doesn’t answer my question but walks toward me with fearless grace, a sapphire blue robe over a pale blue nightgown flowing with her. She is small. Weak. I could easily kill her, but for some reason my desire to kill all witches isn’t driving me to tear out this one’s throat.
I push away the thought that it’s because she’s my mate’s provider. It can’t be true, because that would mean accepting my mate is a witch, which isn’t possible. I should kill them both and leave.
“But you won’t,” she says, spooking me with her eerie ability to read my mind.
I edge away as she approaches the cradle, reaching for the infant.
I watch in mesmerized fascination as she picks up the child, holding her against her chest. The mother’s face, reflected in the moonlight coming through the window, is soft but exhausted as she gazes at her child.
She needs to sleep if she is to provide for the baby.
She smiles and nods. “I will sleep as soon as you’re gone.”
I’m not going anywhere.
She looks at me, her blue eyes shining. “I’m afraid you are. You must wait for your time to arrive, Rush Wolven-North.” The air around us stirs before her hand rises, a ball of white energy in her palm. My hackles rise and I growl, pacing forward, determined to protect the baby if she does anything untoward with her magic.
Witches can’t be trusted.
“A day will come when you not only trust us but embrace us.”
Before I can scoff at her prediction, she hurtles the ball of energy at me. I leap toward her, regretful that I’ll have to kill the mother. It doesn’t matter. The child isn’t my mate anyway.
Before I make contact, the ball hits me in the chest, exploding into a portal that I’m instantly sucked into. The sensation is like being squeezed through a tube. My back hits the ground hard and I roll, coming up onto my paws.
I shake the dizziness from my skull and swing my head around, looking back toward the portal. The woman is standing on the other side, watching me. Her eyes are sad, but a smile curves her lips, and her expression is one of gentle tolerance. A feeling of homesickness strikes me as she reminds me of my own deceased mother.
“When you claim her, you must love her as fiercely as she deserves or your vision will come true. If that happens, you will lose her, and you know what happens to a wolf who loses his mate…”
Before I can leap back through the portal, it closes.
Darkness settles around me and I turn in a circle, confused. I lift a paw and sand sprinkles down. I’m standing in a desert, the morning sun about to peek over the dunes.
I check in with my internal map, the one that tells me how to get to my birthplace, Wolf-Haven. Yep, she dropped me in the desert, some 4000 kilometres from home. Apparently, she wants me to take my time getting back.
Fucking witches.
Chapter 2
Mags the Teenage Witch
MAGDALENE
“Hurry and light the candles, Mags.” Katey glances over her shoulder and peers into the shadowy woods surrounding us as if expecting a monster to leap out and attack. “My mom’s gonna kill me if she finds my bed empty.”
I roll my eyes. “You worry too much.” But I comply, lighting the candles for our midnight ceremony.
We hold our breath as crashing in the trees catches our attention. We release them in unison when we see who steps into the small clearing.
“You’re such a klutz, Lila, stomping through the trees like a cow with its tail on fire. You scared us half to death.” Katey shakes her head but takes the sting from her words by smiling warmly at our friend.
“Sorry I’m late,” Lila says breathlessly, dropping to the ground next to me and reaching her hands out to the fire, which is now surrounded by glowing candles. “Nana wouldn’t go to bed and I had to cast a slumber spell. Good thing Bea taught us that one.”
My Aunt Beatrice, who is closer to my age than my mother’s, pals around with us teenage witches, teaching us everything she knows. We kind of hero worship her. She knows all the best spells, and she’s not afraid to use them. She’s a Good Witch, same as me and Katey. Lila is a Guardian Witch, though she’s basically like a Good Witch until a mentor is selected for her.
My mom is also a Guardian Witch, which means her duties often take her away from me. I don’t mind though. Lilith, my mom, is super badass, and she leaves me with Aunt Bea, so I get the best of both worlds. I have a famous (among our kind, anyway) mother who’s out there protecting our natural world while I get to stay home and be spoiled by my favourite Aunt.
“Sit down, Katey.” I reach for her wrist, pulling her down onto the ground next to me. “Let’s get started.”
The three of us pull out our spell-casting pouches and move so that we’re sitting around the fire equal-distance from each other. We reach out and join hands as I murmur the incantation that will show us who our future mates will be.
Yesterday was my sixteenth birthday and the spell only works on witches and warlocks who are in their sixteenth year of life. The three of us, having been best friends since we were toddlers, will only all be sixteen together for one day as Lila’s seventeenth birthday is tomorrow. We could’ve done the spell separately, but it’s more potent with multiples.
