Chapter 6
Rourke couldn't focus. The heat in his chest was unbearable, and he believed he scented Ezra only to realize a second later he didn't. He growled at the computer screen. He hadn't done shit.
"I think it's time you took a break and went to check on your mate." Due gave him an unimpressed look.
"I don't need to check on my mate. I have a pack to run, I don't have time for a mate."
She snorted. "Half an hour of snuggling, and you'll be able to focus again. Don't be an idiot."
This time the heat in his chest turned into claws. It was as if his wolf tried to dig its way out. "I don't snuggle." At least not with witches.
"Call it what you will, but you need to touch your mate."
Rourke did his best to ignore her and focus on the screen again. Another half hour passed, and he managed to enter a few things into a spreadsheet only to realize they were the wrong numbers. A snarl built in his mind.
"For fuck's sake, Rourke! Take a break, go hug Ezra, then you'll be fine."
He didn't need a hug to be able to work. He flashed teeth at her, and she threw her hands into the air.
"You don't hug Connor all the time."
"Don't I?"
Connor had joined them for lunch, and there had been some hugs and kisses before she came back here. Ezra hadn't been in the dining hall.
Before Rourke could answer there was a knock on the door jamb and Connor stepped inside.
He nodded at Rourke, then hurried over to Due and nuzzled her neck at the same time as he placed a cup of coffee on her desk.
"I'm heading out for a run. I should be back before you're done.
" Some more nuzzling. "Unless you want to come with me? "
Due turned so she could look at Rourke and raised her eyebrows. He waved a hand. If she wanted to run, he wouldn't stop her. He hadn't forbidden people to run alone, but he'd strongly suggested against it. You couldn't trust witches not to nab you when you ventured outside without backup.
"See." She gestured at Connor, who looked confused.
"Go." Connor came to see her daily. He'd never thought much of it.
For the most part, they had an open-door policy in the pack, and it never bothered him when people came and went.
Shifters needed to feel connected to their pack.
Everyone had their place; they were all a cog in the machine that was the Flint Pack.
He remained by his desk for another forty minutes before giving up. He got nothing done. Steering his steps toward the dining hall, he ignored the need to go hunt for Ezra.
It was a mating of convenience, for fuck's sake. It wasn't real, and the sooner his soul got the memo, the better.
Walking into the dining hall, he nodded at Theron who was sitting on a chair and scrolling on his phone with a cup of coffee in front of him. "Has Geri sent in the grocery order?"
Rourke didn't know. Geri hadn't been in the office. "Not sure."
"I need a few things. I can go into town, but I figured if he hasn't sent in the order yet, I could save the gas."
Rourke nodded. Every penny counted, and he appreciated them doing their best to live frugally. "You have to ask him. He wasn't in the office today."
"I think he went hunting with Ulric and Farkas. They're back now, though." Theron pushed up from the chair with a sigh. "I'm fucking exhausted."
Rourke winced. He believed they all were. Years of war ruined people.
"They're back?" He hadn't seen Ulric since breakfast, and then they hadn't been sitting together. It was unusual. Most often they worked side by side all day.
"Yeah, took down a deer, or so Farkas told me."
Rourke nodded and headed toward Ulric's room. He could sense he wasn't there before he knocked on the door, but he peeked inside anyway. It was unlike Ulric not to come find him when he got back.
Once he got out into the corridor again, he eyed the door to his room.
With a deep breath, he hurried forward and pushed it open.
He scanned the area and took in the neatly-made bed, but Ezra wasn't there.
Where was he if he wasn't in the dining hall or their room?
A prickling built in his fingertips, his claws wanting to rip through.
Ulric was gone, and Ezra was gone. He flashed his teeth as his wolf whined in his mind.
* * * *
Ezra cut his palm and fed his blood to the bark of a tree. He couldn't remember how many times he'd done so already. Ulric watched him with glowing eyes. It was creepy how his eyes changed every time Ezra cut himself.
"Do you have to reopen the same wound every time?" Ulric's voice was growlier than he'd ever heard it before.
"It doesn't have to be the same, but I have to feed the spell."
"You said you didn't do spells."
"It's not a spell I cast on anyone. I can't fling it at you. I can put it here and have you walk through it, but it's...passive." Passive was the wrong word, but hopefully Ulric would understand what he meant.
The magic connected, sending a shiver down his spine at the same time as the hair on his neck stood on end.
He removed his hand from the trunk and walked forward.
He put the markers about fifty feet apart.
He could do sixty perhaps, but he didn't want any of the sections to fail and have to redo it.
Grabbing the knife, he rolled up his sleeve and cut his forearm while doing his best not to hiss.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Ulric paced back and forth, and Ezra gave him a worried look.
"Sorry it's taking so long." He wasn't the fastest witch in the universe. A snort was all the reply he got.
"Do you have a healing spell you can use after?"
Ezra shook his head. "I don't do spells." Basic perimeters, he could do. He could tie them to himself, but he couldn't do more than bake himself a cookie and hope for the best. One good thing about setting up the ward was the buzzing of magic needing out had stopped.
He held his bleeding arm against a massive oak and winced at the sting when the uneven trunk rubbed against the wound.
"This is insane." Ulric ran a hand through his hair and flashed teeth. Ezra did his best to hide his fear and carry on. He worked as fast as he could, but Ulric grew more and more agitated by each linchpin he formed in the magical web.
"How much more?" He was looking huge again when Ezra gazed at him, huger than before.
He clumsily cut the skin on his right forearm and pressed against the beech he was closest to.
He didn't do well with his left hand, but he was running out of places to cut on his left, and Ulric got more unnerved when he reopened wounds that had stopped bleeding for some reason.
He was getting a little dizzy. He'd never done this much in one go before, but he didn't want to disappoint Ulric.
"Ezra?"
He jumped at Ulric's voice. "Yes?"
"How much longer do we have to do this?"
He blinked and tried to clear his vision. He should've eaten lunch. It would've been easier if he hadn't been hungry when he'd started. "I need to connect the circle."
Ulric growled, a real growl, and it sent a shiver through him. Ezra closed his eyes as the magic connected, the perimeter a golden wall in his mind, and he took a stumbling step toward the next tree.
"Through here." Ulric motioned more to the left than Ezra believed they should walk. Maybe a creek or something cut through the land. Magic worked over water, but he appreciated not having to walk into it. He only had one pair of shoes, and March was way too cold to go swimming.
Ezra spotted another oak and sliced his arm while still walking. If Ulric wanted him to work faster, he'd do his best. Ulric inhaled deeply at the same time as his head snapped in Ezra's direction.
Leaning against the oak, Ezra closed his eyes and waited for the magic to manifest. When it did, he forced himself to step away despite wanting to rest for a bit.
He looked in the direction Ulric was gesturing and sought out a tree.
"What happens if it rains?"
Ezra looked at the sky. Dusk was on its way, but he didn't see any signs of rain. "Doesn't look like it will."
"No, I meant when the blood washes away, will we have to redo this?"
Shaking his head, Ezra climbed over a fallen trunk. "No, it's like ramming a nail into the tree, only not physical."
"The blood isn't physical?"
"It is, but it's to hone the power, pin it in place. It isn't the blood keeping it there."
"So it'll always be there?"
Ezra scrunched his nose. "No, if my powers dissipate, the ward will fall."
"Meaning?"
"When I die, you have to have someone reset them, or if I'm cut off from my magic. Bring in a clan then. It's more secure."
Ulric snorted. "You think a clan will work for a pack?"
Right. Ezra forgot he was working for monsters now. "If you can find more than one witch, it's safer."
"Because?"
"They'll intertwine their magic, and should one of them die, the other will maintain the ward."
"How do you cut off a witch's magic?"
Ezra shrugged. "Jazax can do it. I don't know how."
When Ulric's eyes widened, he wanted to bite back the words. Jazax might not be a pleasant man, but he shouldn't betray his skills to the shifters.
As if Ulric could sense his reluctance to continue to talk about Jazax, he shifted the topic. Marginally at least. "Is the Enizax land warded by everyone?"
"Not everyone, but several." Ezra didn't watch where he was walking and tripped on a branch. Before he could brace himself for the impact of the ground, strong arms wrapped around him. He jerked and hissed, not used to being touched.
"Easy. I've got you. You have to watch where you walk." Ulric held on to him until he had his balance.
"Sorry." Fuck, would he be angry with him? He didn't have to catch him. Then Ezra remembered he was holding a knife and scanned Ulric's body. He hadn't cut him, had he?
Ulric frowned at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, only got scared I nicked you somehow."
He breathed in. "Nope, no scent of blood other than yours."
He scented it? Shaking his head, he walked toward the next tree.
* * * *