Chapter 12 #2
Bronc looked at me for a long moment. His mouth twitched, just barely, into a smile.
“You heard him. Aspen Waters is now Iron Valor business. Anyone comes after her, they’re coming after all of us.
With the mating ceremony on the horizon, I need heads on swivels.
This won’t be anything we can’t handle. Now, let’s get out there and take care of our business. Meeting adjourned.”
The table emptied fast, most of the men heading out to the yard to start the day’s work or to the range behind the barn. Bronc motioned me aside before I could leave. “You alright, Papa? You’ve got a look about you.”
I considered lying, then shrugged. “I’m fine. Just don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“It’s your mate bond I’d guess.”
I gave him a worried look. “That’s another thing I’m worried about.
How is this supposed to work? The claim?
How does our bond work, especially since she’s a hybrid and not a wolf at all?
I want to bite, knot, and claim her, Alpha!
But since she’s not a wolf and not built to take it, I’m afraid I’d rip her apart.
I mean, shit. Will her body work like an omega’s body since we’re mated?
Will it open to accommodate me? This is unfamiliar territory for me here. ” I raked my hands through my hair.
He clapped a hand on my shoulder, almost making me drop my coffee.
“You got yourself a brand new dilemma, brother. One I don’t have the slightest clue about.
Get in touch with Menace. He’s got a big, fancy library on his compound.
He can do some research on wolf and witch mating.
Since you’ve had the urge to bite and knot her, my inclination is that’s nature telling you that’s what is supposed to happen. ”
I thought about it. “I’ve just been so careful with her. I don’t want to harm her.”
“Get Menace to do some research and go from there,” he said. He gave me another pat on the back and then let me go. “Tell Aspen we’re behind her. Tell her she’s got family now, whether she likes it or not.”
I finished my coffee and headed into the control room Wrecker had set up that he used to monitor Teams face-to-face meetings. I dialed up Menace. After two rings, my former VP’s face filled the screen.
“Big Papa! I did not expect to see your beautiful face on the other end of this call this morning. What’s up?”
I explained my dilemma to him and asked for his help. Luckily for me, he not only has a vast library, he also has several librarians on staff who do the work for him. He promised me by day’s end I’d have all the information I could want on wolf/witch mating.
“Hey brother, I cannot thank you enough for this. I want to do only what is best for my mate. I know you understand.” I told him.
He looked at me with the eyes of a man who had almost lost his mate. “I know what it is to be going crazy over an issue with your mate. That’s why we’re gonna figure this out as quick as possible. Keep her safe, man, and we’ll talk soon.” With that, the screen when blank.
I was ready to get my eyes on my mate. I sent her a quick text message. Headed your way. Be there in twenty. Hope you’re having a great morning.
Her reply was almost instant: We’ve been busy, busy. Oscar’s standing guard; my invisible sentry. And I made lemon scones for you.
I shook my head, grinning at the phone. If anyone could make a potential attack feel like a sleepover, it was her.
Normal closing time for the bakery was 2:00 p.m. but when I got to town at 10:00 a.m. a chalkboard sign in the window read, “CLOSED FOR LUNCH.” I circled the building, searching the street for any trace of trouble, but nothing looked out of place except for a flower pot knocked over outside the store, spilling its dirt on the walkway like it had given up on life.
I looked through the window and saw that the lights were off.
The door was locked. I knocked anxiously.
Aspen opened the door a crack. Her hair was pulled back in a messy knot, and she wore leggings and boots and an Amarillo State University sweatshirt that hung off one shoulder. There was a look in her eyes I’d never seen before: wary, a little wild, and underneath, furious.
“Oh good, you’re here,” she said as she yanked me into the store by my arm.
She pulled me inside and dead-bolted the door behind us.
The bakery was neat as always—display cases wiped, chairs stacked on the tables—but it smelled less like rising dough and more like the aftermath of a kitchen fire.
Aspen motioned me to the back. I followed, wolf senses on high alert, and spotted Oscar on the counter, fur standing straight up and his little claws leaving white scuffs in the laminate as he paced back and forth.
Aspen gestured at the espresso machine. “Want a coffee?” Her voice was too bright. I recognized it from the war: the sound of someone who had just survived an ambush.
“Sit down, Sunshine,” I said gently. “Tell me what happened.”
She hesitated, then pulled out a chair and sat, hands in her lap. I watched her take three slow breaths before she started.
“She must have waited until the shop was empty. At about nine twenty-five, someone came in.” She shook her head.
“Not the green jacket man. Different, but the same kind of wrong.” She looked up, eyes searching mine for judgment.
“It was a woman this time. She looked like a customer at first—skinny, fake blonde, nice purse—but the minute she opened her mouth I knew.”
“Knew what?” I said, voice soft.
“That she hated me,” Aspen whispered. “She called me the ‘fat witch who thinks she can hide.’ She said she recognized me from the coven. Then she asked if I was ready to pay for what I’d done.”
My hand curled into a fist under the table. “Did you recognize her?”
Aspen shook her head. “No. But she knew all about me. She said things that nobody but the old coven would know. Then she reached across the counter and tried to grab me.”
Oscar, who had been pacing, stopped cold. “She intended harm, sir. If I had not intervened—”
Aspen reached over and stroked the top of his head, calming him. “Oscar jumped up and, I don’t know, did something. There was a light, like a flashbulb, and a wind that knocked the woman backward. She screamed and ran out.”
“She say anything else?” I asked.
Aspen nodded, jaw clenched. “She said she’d be back. She said the next time, I wouldn’t have my ‘furry little friend’ to protect me.” Aspen shuddered but didn’t look away. “She wanted to make me hurt. Like they did before.”
I wanted to break something. “She’s not coming back,” I said, and meant it. I took off my jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She tensed at first, then leaned in, letting the weight settle. My wolf pressed against my skin, demanding blood, but I pushed it down.
“I’m sorry,” Aspen whispered. “I should be stronger. I’m just so tired of being—”
“Stop,” I said. “You don’t have to be strong all the time. Not with me. You did everything right.”
She blinked, then covered her face with her hands. I sat beside her, pulled her close. The bakery was silent except for Oscar’s little claws click-clicking across the counter and the hum of the fridge.
After a minute, Aspen straightened. “I’m done being helpless,” she said, and this time her voice rang clear. “Oscar and I are opening the grimoire tonight. I’m going to learn what it’s been trying to teach me. I don’t care if it burns my hands off.”
Oscar puffed up, proud. “I concur, Miss. It is time.”
She met my gaze, all green fire and stubborn hope.
“Mama left me that book for a reason. I’ve just accepted things are the way they are my whole life, Papa.
I’ve let people bully me, and I’ve hidden myself away and allowed them to push me inside myself.
But this is my home now. I’m done hiding.
I’ve always had a spark of magic. I think that place held it down. But no more.”
I brushed the hair from her cheek and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right beside you,” I promised. “Every step. No one’s getting through me or Oscar. Not ever.”
She nodded, her hand finding mine. “Let’s go home,” she said. “I want to start right away.”
Oscar hopped onto my shoulder, tiny paws gripping the fabric of my shirt. “We will need supplies. Candles, sea salt, perhaps a lemon and three eggs. And a number of other supplies.”
Aspen rolled her eyes. “He’s been reading too many recipe books.”
“Preparation is key, Miss,” Oscar replied, tone regal as always.
We packed up the register, locked the doors tight, and left the bakery behind.
As we walked out into the daylight, I felt a new current running between us.
Aspen’s spine was straighter, her gaze steadier.
The fear was still there, but it was laced with something harder, something that would not be moved.
By the time we reached the truck, I realized it wasn’t just me protecting her anymore.
Aspen was ready to fight back, and the world had better be ready for her.