Chapter 12
Wes
Sammy wouldn’t stop pacing Anthony’s living room. Skye, Anthony’s wife, kept trying to offer her coffee or tea, but the witch politely declined and kept moving. We’d just eaten lunch, which they’d graciously invited me to when I arrived unannounced after leaving Livvie sleeping in her bedroom.
I hoped my taking off wouldn’t bother her. I wanted to see if there were any developments, and I hoped she’d sleep a while longer. I’d slept until nearly eleven myself. Sammy hadn’t been here when I arrived. She’d popped in a few minutes ago but hadn’t spoken yet.
“Well?” I asked. “What did you find out?”
Sammy froze and turned to me. “I think Granny Halstead is a damn liar.” She resumed her pacing.
“Why do you think that?” I asked.
“I couldn’t pop in and see her in the night,” Sammy said.
“I tried to get into her house to see if I could sense anything on her, but nada. And whatever ward is on that house is really subtle. I couldn’t sense it, yet I couldn’t get in.
So, I did a little digging and there were no Halsteads in my coven. ”
“Maybe they changed her name,” I said. “Or only one of her parents was in the coven.”
Anthony nodded encouragingly. “The mystery doesn’t have to mean there’s a nefarious plot.”
Sammy sniffed. “I rarely find that to be true. Anyway, if we want answers, we’re going to have to get them from Olivia, if that’s even her real name.”
I’d surmised that much myself. “What do you think triggered Livvie’s magic?” I asked.
Sammy whirled and smiled before pointing at me.
“I think it’s the fated mate hoodoo voodoo that woke up whatever is dormant in your little lady friend.
Which, by the way, shocks the shit out of me, because I have never, in all my long years on Earth, ever heard of a witch mating a shifter.
Chosen or fated.” She resumed pacing. “I suspect the closer you two get, the more of her magic will wake up. She’ll need to be careful. ”
“Can you train her?” I asked.
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “Maybe her nana will. We’ll have to see, won’t we? I’ll tell you one thing, I’d tell her about you, the dragons, the bond, everything as soon as possible.”
I shook my head. “I intend to tell her eventually, but don’t you think it would be best to drag it out a bit? I’m afraid she’ll have a meltdown if she learns about shifters and the rest of the world’s supernatural beings.”
“She shouldn’t go into anything blind, especially now that we know she has powers. Who knows what she might unintentionally do if she gets a big shock when more of her powers are unlocked?”
Shaking my head, I held firm to my opinion. “No. I don’t have to wait forever, but a few more days might help her wrap her mind around her own shit, before I drag her into mine. She’s dealing with enough.”
Sammy sighed. “You may be right, but don’t wait too long.” Narrowing her eyes, she glared at me. “I don’t like you much.”
I snorted and smiled at her. She liked me fine. She just didn’t like being contradicted.
Anthony shifted in his seat, drawing my attention. “Oh, what did you end up doing with Calvin?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him since Friday, making me hope Anthony had banished him.
“Who is Calvin?” Sammy asked.
“I left you messages about a wolf shifter in town,” Anthony said with exasperation in his voice. “You didn’t get them?”
Sammy froze and whirled around, tense as she stared at Anthony. “What did you say?”
“There’s a wolf shifter in town. I wanted your advice about how to handle it. I’ve never had to deal with a shifter in my territory.”
Sammy seemed to shimmer, as if she’d turned into a hologram. Skye jumped to her feet. “Sammy? Are you okay?”
With her fists clenched, Sammy turned blood red, but stopped shimmering. This might’ve been the only time I’d ever actually seen physical rage. “How in the hell did a wolf get past my wards?” she asked through her teeth. “Where is he?”
“He works at the B&B,” I said. “In the kitchens at the moment, but eventually I think the plan is for him to manage the whole restaurant.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Sammy muttered. She fixed her glare on me. “I’ll be going to work with you tomorrow.”
She popped out, disappearing to who knew where.
“I’m going to go check on Livvie,” I muttered.
Anthony patted me on the back. “It seems huge right now, but it’ll settle. When you’re bonded, it will be easier.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Turning to Skye, I smiled. “Thanks for lunch.”
“Any time,” she said, but then a baby’s cry from the back of the house took her attention. “That’s my cue.”
Anthony walked me out to my truck. “See you soon,” he called.
I had no doubt he would see a lot more of me before this was all settled, but for now, I headed for the cottage.
When I got there, I didn’t knock, instead I sat on the little porch and listened. My dragon hearing was more than capable of picking up sounds from inside the house, and when I got none, I assumed my exhausted mate was either sleeping or resting quietly.
I wasn’t about to disturb her. Leaving my truck in her driveway, I walked down the path toward the bed and breakfast, slowly and quietly, stopping as soon as I was able to hear the crew talking and working inside.
Calvin was there. His voice carried over the others, bossing and generally annoying. I wasn’t sure if he was like that to everyone or just me, but either way I wanted to rip his head off. I quietly backtracked, not speaking until I was in my truck. “Sammy, can you hear me?”
I had no idea how to call her. She’d never given me her number, but they said she was super powerful. Maybe she’d hear me.
Starting the truck, I turned it around and headed down the driveway. Before I got to the end, Sammy appeared next to me without the tinkling of bells.
“Whoa!” I yelled, jerking the wheel.
Sammy waved her fingers and got us back on the driveway without incident. “You rang?” she asked.
“He’s here. I thought you might want to know today rather than tomorrow.”
She sniffed and arched an eyebrow at me. “You might grow on me after all.”
I turned right out of the driveway and parked around the building, near the kitchen that Calvin was working out of. “He’s in there.”
“Brace yourself,” she said.
Before we opened the doors, the door to the kitchen swung open and Calvin came out, teeth bared. Sammy jumped out with her hand extended. “Give me one reason,” she called. “Any reason not to blast you into a million pieces.”
His lips curled up into a feral smile. My instinct was to step in front of Sammy and protect her, but if she was as powerful as she seemed, she didn’t need my help.
“You’ve grown up well,” Calvin snarled through his teeth.
Sammy began to shake, her anger taking over her body again. “Hello, Leonard,” Sammy said.
My tattoo began to burn just as Leonard, or Calvin as I knew him, opened his mouth. I turned my head to see Livvie step out from between the trees on the path that led to her cottage. “Stop!” I yelled.
She stopped short, bewildered, as the wolf looked at her.
Sammy didn’t move her gaze or her hand, from Calvin. Or Leonard. Whatever his name was. “So,” he said. “You figured it out.”
“You can’t have her,” Sammy said in a deep, dangerous voice. Her words were full of threatening magic. It wasn’t pointed toward me, but I felt the power ricocheting off of it.
My dragon was on high alert, ready to shift at a moment’s notice, nearby humans be damned.
But the wolf spoke again, to Sammy. “It was always meant to be you,” he said.
“But you got yourself banished. I couldn’t find you.
” He grinned and glanced at Livvie. “But then, she was born, and my hope soared.” He took one step forward. “Then the coven hid her from me.”
Growls erupted from my throat. “Don’t take another step forward if you want to keep your head,” I said. “I’ll rip your limbs from your body if you come near Livvie.”
“What the hell is going on?” Livvie yelled. She was probably still too far away to hear all of what we were saying.
“Stay there,” I called. “Please. It’s not safe. You’re safest away from Calvin.”
“Why would he hurt me?” Livvie asked in a quiet voice, probably meant for herself, but we heard her anyway.
“I’d never hurt you,” Calvin called. He smiled encouragingly at Livvie. “You’re too precious to me.”
I couldn’t control myself. My claws extended and a guttural roar flew off my tongue. When I shut my mouth, I realized my teeth had extended into fangs. Not fully shifted but enough to tear the wolf’s throat out.
“You won’t leave Bluewater alive,” Sammy said.
The disgusting mutt laughed. “You’ll have to catch me.”
Without warning, he took off running toward Livvie. As he went, he shifted, lightning fast, and kept running.
Before I made the conscious decision, I’d shifted and launched into the air after him, propelling myself forward with my huge hind legs and my wings. The only thought on my mind was to protect Livvie. There was nothing else.