Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Kaeli stood on the porch until she couldn’t hear Solan’s truck as he drove off to work security at the car dealership. She didn’t like him leaving town, but she felt selfish wanting him all to herself.
Clutching the new spellbook Cinder had given her to her chest, she made her way inside the alphas’ house to the kitchen, where the alpha female had set up supplies for some easy spell casting.
“You miss him, huh?” Cinder asked.
“Yeah. I know we’ve only been together since Friday, but it seems like longer. More intense.”
Cinder hummed. “Well, you’re a witch. That means everything you do has an extra magical edge to it.
So while you haven’t known him very long, what you share together is intense because you’re already marked and mated.
Not to mention you’ve got two magics instead of one that have been giving you trouble, and now they’re united because of your bond to Solan. ”
“It’s a lot in a short amount of time for sure,” she said.
“It’ll be okay,” Cinder said. “I felt everything with Adam intensely when we were first together, too, but it didn’t last forever.
I found balance, and a lot of it came from just accepting that our relationship was unique because of who I am.
Just like with you and Solan, your relationship is unique because you’re a dual-natured witch. ”
“So it’s not a bad thing that I want to keep him locked up at the house with me for a while longer?”
“Nah, not at all,” Cinder said with a chuckle.
“I’m sure he’d like that. Unfortunately, that bastard Brent Foley attacked the dealership, and our guys had to go check things out.
But let’s focus on you. Since you’re earth and fire, I thought we could start with the basic fire spells, like lighting a candle. ”
“I failed at this so much,” she said, writing down the spell Cinder showed her from her own spellbook.
“I think you were trying to light a candle with your earth power, not your fire power, since you didn’t know you were both North and South inclined. Today you’re going to focus on your fire magic, and let your earth magic lift it up and enhance it.”
She finished copying the spell and set the pen on the counter.
Cinder put a large white candle on a plate and took a few steps away.
“Why are you moving away?”
“In case your magic flares, I don’t want to get singed.” She touched her eyebrows. “I just got these shaped the way I like them.”
Kaeli snorted. “I’ll try my best.”
“Focus,” Cinder said. “Calm all the fears inside yourself. You were born to wield powerful, dual magic. It works for you, not the other way around.”
Kaeli inhaled softly and closed her eyes, touching the parts of her that were filled with magic, the heat of the flame, and the rugged solidness of the earth. And then she spoke the spell in the ancient Wiccan language three times.
Something whooshed softly, and the scent of fire made her smile.
She opened her eyes and saw the candle’s flame dancing.
“Oh, holy crap, I did it!”
Cinder came around the island and hugged her. “I knew you could do it! Now, let’s reverse it. Copy the spell to extinguish the flame, then relight it.”
She wrote the spell in the book, and then, bolstered by her success, extinguished the flame and relit it.
“Try it without closing your eyes.”
“I concentrate better.”
“Do you? I think you’re afraid it’ll fail, so you don’t want to look.”
She narrowed her gaze at Cinder. “Probably.”
Cinder grinned. “You’re doing great. Keep working on this set of spells. Light and extinguish. Again and again.”
She worked for a while, casting her magic to the candle, the flame leaping to the wick and then disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Eventually, she was able to wield the spell so well that she could simply think it in her head without saying it out loud, and it still worked.
It wasn’t until she left the room and could direct her magic to that exact candle that she felt like she’d mastered the two spells.
Although they were basic spells that brand new witches were given to master, she still felt incredible.
Cinder set a bowl of water on the counter and dropped the candle in it. “Now, try to light the wick.”
“Are you serious?”
“You bet.”
“All right, you’re the boss.” She pushed her sleeves and focused on the still rippling surface of the water and the candle below.
But before she could even think about lighting it with her magic, something ripped through her, her shoulder burning like fire had sunk into her skin and grabbed hold of her bones.
But she wasn’t hurt. No flame licked her skin, no blood or injuries marred her shoulder. Just intense, terrible pain and fear.
Her vision tunneled, and the water sloshed in the bowl.
“Kaeli?”
She couldn’t answer. She gripped the countertop, her knuckles cracking, and the mark on her wrist burning hot where Solan had marked her. Her magics rose up hot and fast inside her, like twin tornadoes, a whirlwind of protective energy.
She breathed her mate’s name, and the house shuddered, the windows rattling as a burst of heat poured from her in waves. Her North and South magics collided inside her, but they weren’t fighting for dominance; they were working together.
The whole house shook, and the wind roared, and heat shimmered across the house and out into the yard.
“Kaeli! Breathe!” Cinder yelled, her voice muffled by the roar of the wind.
Inhaling in great gulps of air, Kaeli forced herself to control her magics and not be controlled by them. She had felt Solan’s injury, and her magic had instinctively reached out to help him in his time of need.
Her magics wove together as one as she pulled them back to herself, her fingers tingling and her eyes burning. As the earth stilled and the house stopped shaking, the air went suddenly cold as her fire magic ceased.
She nearly collapsed to the floor but held on to the counter for dear life.
“Solan,” Kaeli said. “He’s hurt.”
“Your magic wanted to protect him,” Cinder said. She put her hand on Kaeli’s shoulder. “I told you that your bond to him is strong and unique because of your magics. Your wrist is still glowing.”
Kaeli looked at the mark on her wrist and heard a howl in her head and knew it was Solan’s wolf.
“How is that possible?”
“Because you’re a dual power, and that’s not something anyone can really define. Your mate was in danger, and you could feel it.”
Cinder’s phone went off, and she answered it on the first ring. “Are you okay, Adam?”
He answered, but Kaeli couldn’t hear it because her ears were ringing.
“Okay, see you soon.”
When her hearing cleared a few minutes later, Cinder filled her in about an attack from the anti-shifter people: one of the security team was unconscious, and Solan was injured.
Kaeli’s phone buzzed, and she saw a text from her mate.
Thank you. I’m okay, I’ll see you soon.
She pressed her phone to her chest and closed her eyes as tears stung. She suddenly knew she had come close to losing her mate, and her magic had answered the threat to his life with the combined power of earth and fire.
“We need to work on some protection spells, I think,” Cinder said. “Your magic wants to protect, and we need to let it.”
Kaeli didn’t answer; she just nodded. If she could use her magic to protect her mate and the pack, she’d do it.
Anything to keep the people she cared about safe.
Solan jumped up onto the porch and landed solidly in front of Kaeli, pulling her into a hug. She hugged him back tightly and then realized he was still injured when his shoulder twitched as she touched him.
“What the heck happened to you?” she asked, seeing the burn marks on his skin.
“Cattle prod.” He cupped her face. “You saved me. How did you do that?”
“I don’t know. We were just practicing basic spells, and I felt your pain. My magics had a mind of their own.”
“Thank you. I don’t know how it happened, but I felt your magic. The earth shook, and there was a heat wave that knocked a few of the males off their feet. It was incredible.”
“I want her to help keep us safe,” Cinder said. “Her magics want to protect. We can use her with the security team to reinforce our borders and fight when needed. Imagine the earthquakes and fire toward the enemy.”
Solan looked like he might protest, but instead he said, “I’d love to have you by my side. I want to keep you safe, but I think we can keep each other safe.”
Adam kissed Cinder’s temple, his wolf rumbling. “We need all hands on deck right now. If Foley and the shifter poacher have joined forces again, things could get very dangerous very fast.”
“I’ll do my best,” Kaeli said. “I could use some protection spells to practice with, though, that wasn’t something I was ever allowed to try because I couldn’t even do the simple spells.”
“I’ve got just the book,” Cinder said.
“First,” Kaeli said, laying her hand on Solan’s wounded shoulder, “let’s fix this up.”
Pulling her magic to the forefront once more, she focused on healing the wound, using an old spell she’d never been able to master before.
His skin heated under her hand, and he let out a grunt, and then she removed her hand, and it was all healed.
“Wow, you healed me,” he said. “Thanks, Nightling.”
She grinned and looked at Cinder as she came back onto the porch with a spellbook of protection spells. “You’ve got clarity now,” Cinder said. “Your magics are revealing themselves to you, and you can utilize them.”
“Let’s get to work,” Kaeli said. She kissed Solan. “Be careful. I just got you, I don’t want to lose you.”
“I will.”
They parted ways, Solan and Adam heading over to the pack doctor’s house to check on Theron, and Cinder and Kaeli returning to the kitchen.
“Let’s go out onto the back porch,” Cinder said.
“Why?” Kaeli asked.
“Because protection spells can be aggressive, and you have fire. I don’t want my curtains to burn up if things go awry while you’re studying.”
“Good idea,” she said. “And thanks.”
“For what?”
“For helping me through that. It was scary.”
“New magic stuff can be scary for sure, but you’re a rockstar.”
Kaeli had never had anyone believe in her and her magical abilities until she met Cinder. She had finally gotten clarity with her magics, and it had come on the heels of defending her mate from a distance. Now she just had to learn the spells to wield her magics like a sword and keep the pack safe.
Especially her mate and her alphas.