Chapter 3 - Sean
Like a thief in the night, I creep back home, heart thundering with adrenaline and the unmet, unreasonable desire to be close to Emily.
I don’t know what’s going on with me, except that I’m like a starved man, an addict that needs his craving satisfied, or I might lose my mind.
I’m losing my mind going back home, only because I’m too afraid of being caught.
What’s going on with me?
Perhaps I’m not feeling like myself because touching Emily tonight brought back the reminder of something I’d convinced myself that I could forget.
But retiring from black ops a year ago and returning home to Stowe to become Silverfang’s alpha has made me realize that there’s still something amiss in my life.
As soon as I’m back home, it’s like the air is different, less dangerous, free of any traces of Emily’s natural scent. Jasmine.
Who would have thought that the sweet scent could be so lethal to a werewolf? That a scent like that would drive me crazy?
Crazy enough to follow her home after she’d slapped me across the face….
I must be losing my mind, but I don’t even care. All I care about is being near Emily, touching her again, feeling the way her warm, soft flesh ignites a sensation in me that I’d only felt once before.
Groaning under my breath when awareness of that memory comes crawling in and pooling at the apex of my thighs, I drag my feet to the bar, where nothing seems to pique my interest. Not even the strongest drink can cure this craving or take the edge away.
I know, because I’ve been down this road before. The only difference is that five years ago, Emily wasn’t resistant, and I hadn’t broken her heart.
But I knew all along. I knew that our connection was special, even long before our lips met and danced in harmony that night. It was in those long, lingering stares, while she administered Mother’s medication or washed a plate in the sink—I felt it even before I touched her.
Gulping hard in an attempt to swallow and bury that memory, I know I’m only fooling myself. Behind closed doors, where no one can see me, I’m haunted by the past, and I’ll never be able to escape it.
Not unless Emily gave me a second chance.
If there’s anything tonight showed me, it’s that a second chance is out of the question.
Grunting and mumbling a string of profanities under my breath, I opt for my secret stash of herbs behind the liquor cabinet. I roll a joint and enjoy it on the balcony, needing the fix to get some sleep for the night.
Maybe in the morning, I’ll wake up and forget what Emily does to me.
***
Who was I kidding?
I can’t ignore her looming presence in the corner of the room—even when the room is filled with our friends from black ops and their mates. Actually, being in a crowded room allows me to sneak a few glances at her, each one solidifying my realization since last night.
I can’t stay away from Emily anymore.
Is it a sinner’s fixation with something as pure and untainted as her that makes me evil?
There’s no way I’m evil, even if I have addictive tendencies.
I don’t want to take from her, but rather, I want to be of service, even if I become addicted to her while doing that.
I want to be at her beck and call, wherever she needs me, just to see a smile on her face that’s wide enough to light up her eyes.
She smiles now as Delilah hugs her, but it doesn’t reach anywhere near her eyes.
“Sorry to barge in on you so early, bro,” Nicholas, the alpha of Crescent Moon down in Wells, pats my shoulder apologetically.
“Well, if you wanted to stroke my ego, it’s working,” I chuckle, slipping on my mask of nonchalance as I peel my eyes from Emily and give all my attention to Nicholas and Hunter. “You guys missed me so much. You had to come all this way to see me.”
Tyler laughs as he approaches us, sticking out his hand to greet me with our secret shake.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Sean,” he chuckles. “We saw enough of your face yesterday.”
“This face?” I snicker, framing my chin with a thumb and index finger as I wiggle my brows suggestively and grin. I’m probably laying it on thicker than usual, but after last night, I have to safeguard myself. “You could never get tired of this face, Ty-Ty!”
The guys throw fists at me, and soon, it’s just a lighthearted fest of playful punches and jabs between us until Delilah clears her throat.
She rolls her eyes at me as she steps forward for a hug, but there’s something in those warm hazel depths that seems suspicious of me. I shrug off the thought as I hug her, then pull away when I notice it again.
A frown flits over my face, but it’s gone when Dominic walks into the room. Something about his hard expression tells me that something is wrong.
Well, apart from the fact that our friends are visiting so early this morning. We just had a meeting in Wells yesterday, so I can only imagine that whatever brings them to Stowe so soon must be important.
“Yo, Dom!” I nod at the dark-haired Casanova as I approach him, trying to lighten his mood with a smile. “I would have expected another pregnancy announcement, but Cece hasn’t given birth yet, has she?”
Dominic narrows his eyes at me, but mischief is evident in the glint in his eyes. “Yeah, you fucker!” he greets me with a solid hug. “I think the last thing we need is another pregnancy announcement. Not until we defeat that bastard.”
“Yeah, I’m already concerned…” Donna, Nicholas’s mate and Dominic’s younger sister, murmurs tersely as she places her hand over her growing bump. Almost two months pregnant, she only has a month to go before she gives birth.
“I’m hardly any use to the coven while I’m in this condition.”
“It’s not a condition, sweetheart,” Nicholas purrs at his mate’s ear. “It’s a blessing, it’s a miracle.”
“And that’s why we’ll do whatever it takes to protect you, sister,” Delilah adds, then glances at the whole room when she says, “Protect all of you.”
Arianna steps forward with Gwen—the only witch who doesn’t have a wolf.
She didn’t emerge as a witch from among the shifters, and isn’t a hybrid; Gwen was found in Oakland when we mistook her for someone working for the dark lord.
We’d captured her and held her for questioning, only to discover that she’s one of five witches who will help us take down Merlin Grimes for good.
“As you all know…” Gwen begins tentatively, clutching a spellbook against her chest, her eyes flickering to Emily across the room.
I frown as an instinctive, innate sense of protectiveness comes over me, and I slowly edge my way toward Emily, despite knowing that Gwen is one of us; she can be trusted.
Why do I suddenly feel the need to protect her?
Why am I gravitating toward her?
I just hope it isn’t obvious as I stick to the wall and slowly make my way toward her.
“I had a vision a while back in which I saw five of us,” Gwen continues, nodding at the other witches grouped by the fireplace. “My vision allowed me to see Donna’s face, so that’s how we knew she was one of us.”
Arianna nods, taking over from Gwen. “But Gwen’s vision was more like a prophecy, and five Golden Tree Sisters are supposed to rid this world of Merlin Grimes, for good this time.”
“The fifth witch in my vision was unclear,” Gwen adds, then nods at Donna.
With her hand pressed protectively on her ripe belly, she glances at Nicholas before she takes over.
“I had a vision last night, and I saw the fifth witch’s face,” she states, her eyes turning to Emily, and I’m the one who freezes.
I stop dead in my tracks because somehow, I’d crawled closer to Emily, and now I’m just a few inches away from where she stands beside the window. My heart slows down, and I turn my face slowly toward her, just in time for Donna to say, “I saw Emily. She’s our fifth witch.”
My eyes widen with shock, but my surprise is mostly because Emily doesn’t even flinch when her name is called. But as soon as the shock subsides, it’s taken over by a sense of sheer protectiveness, like a warrior going into battle to protect his queen.
It comes in gentle waves, syncing with my pulse when my heart reprises its steady beat. I see Emily’s cheek being painted with color—blush pink—then the corner of her mouth lifts with a smile.
A smile that reaches her eyes.
For the first time in years, I see her blue eyes light up with passion and fire, glowing like sapphire crystals under the natural light of a full moon.
She steps forward, her spine straightening as she folds her arms behind her.
Then, she grimaces shyly, her blush deepening.
“I have something to tell you guys…” she says, biting her bottom lip as she takes a look around the room.
She’s captured everyone’s attention, and the room becomes silent enough to hear a pin drop.
She blinks a few times before she continues, “I already knew. Well, I suspected that I am. A witch, I mean,” she mutters nervously, but the smile doesn’t leave her eyes.
“It was the night we fought Morganna, and Donna and Nick were rushed to Wells. I’d been treating Donna, and that’s when I felt tingling in my hands. ”
A synchronized gasp fills the room as the witches rush across toward Emily to embrace her. I stay frozen where I am, watching her being welcomed into the sisterhood of the Golden Tree Sisters.
While my chest fills with pride, I’m still stunned that Emily isn’t surprised by the revelation, and she had a suspicion already. As if speaking the question in my mind, Delilah asks Emily, “You knew all this time? Why didn’t you tell us?”
Emily shrugs. “I wanted to be sure first, before I said anything. And I wanted to have something solid to go by if I came to you guys and said I thought I was a witch.”
Donna giggles. “I think my vision was solid enough.”
“Yeah,” Emily agrees with a tentative nod. “But still, my powers haven’t been showing up as fast as I’d like. It needs to come so we can take down the dark lord. That’s why I had to perform the ritual last night.”
Ritual?
So she was performing some secretive ritual she didn’t want me to know about.