Enchanting Her Monsters (Bewitching Monsters #3)

1. Interrupted

1

INTERRUPTED

JADE

A fter being chased into the forest surrounding Amira’s home, I’m covered in dirt, marked with scratches from branches and werewolf claws.

Through his dangerous teeth, Arran pulls me closer. “You are mine. My mate.”

I crave for Arran to claim me with his bite. “Yes, make me yours.”

There’s no hesitation on his part. His razor-sharp canines pierce the juncture of my neck and shoulder.

The threads of a mating bond immediately snap into place, linking our souls.

Wholly. Completely. We are one.

The feeling is like nothing I’ve experienced. It’s as though I’ve discovered a lost piece of myself I didn’t know was missing—like I’ve come home.

Then my body glows with sigils and strange writing, just as Maxum described before. The unidentifiable magical symbols over my body dissolve like they’re evaporating into the ether. Have they vanished for good? Or is this how they always appear and disappear?

“Oh, Jade…” a woman says in my mind. She sounds completely mortified and distraught. “What have you done?”

I shake my head to clear my confusion. “Abuela?” I call out to the dark woods.

“You made the same mistake I made.”

Mistake? What mistake did my grandmother make?

After hearing my grandmother’s disembodied voice, I instinctively push the spirit away. I don’t want to hear more. Not now.

Arran’s grip around my waist tightens, if that’s possible, and he growls at the surrounding darkness.

Since it’s only a spirit who spoke to me, I know he doesn’t understand what the threat might be. I’m sure he’s feeling over-protective and vulnerable because we just sealed our mate bond. He’s still locked inside me, so if we were attacked, this could get awkward fast.

Given my current circumstances, I don’t want a conversation with my dearly departed grandmother right now. Although her ominous words about making the same mistake she did echoes in my head.

Did she mate a wolf shifter? Is my grandfather a supe?

Oh, my goddess. My grandma is watching me get busy with my mate…

That’s it. I’m calling this experience a new level of embarrassment for me. If I didn’t finally have someone—correction, someones —to live for, then I might just die from mortification. As it is, I must live and endure this. My guys had better appreciate this gesture.

I’m not embarrassed by sex. I mean, I write this stuff for a living.

Well, the steamy romance part, not the ‘grandma watching them bump uglies with a legit monster with special equipment’ part.

Yeah. I’m burning with flushed skin in more ways than one.

Arran just rocked my body, then my soul. I feel our spirits intertwining. It’s the magical equivalent of a marriage, but a heck of a lot more permanent.

It hits me again. We are mated.

I was so caught up in the moment that I begged him for his bite.

When I check in with my emotions, I don’t regret it. I only regret my grandmother’s ghost for an audience. Now, if Maxim, Flint, or both of them, were here watching, that would be hot.

Arran’s berserker gives the darkness another snarl for good measure before he licks the fresh wound on my neck, tending to his mating bite. I feel it sealing closed as he administers the aftercare.

My other, more permanent ghost, Osen, slides forward in my mind, but I don’t want to deal with him either, so I throw up a mental wall and demand, “Is this a life or death conversation?”

“Uh, no,” he mutters.

“Then fuck off… for now, okay?”

Thankfully, he fades into the background again.

Forgetting my ghostly audience for now, I turn my attention to the person who should have it.

My berserker is slowly grinding into me, giving me his entire release so his knot will subside.

I glance over my shoulder and watch as the berserker version shifts into his human form.

“Jade!” he shouts.

“Arran!”

He fists my hair and guides my mouth over my shoulder to meet his lips. He claims me all over again. Our tongues tangle, and his shallow thrusts become more urgent.

Breaking the kiss, he nuzzles the spot where my neck and my shoulder meet—where he bit me. “Goddess, Jade. I never thought…” His voice cracks with emotion. “We’re really… Is this real? Are you mine?”

“Yes, my sweet Arran, my wolfy, my Serky.”

He chuckles lightly. “Serky… for berserker?”

“He deserves a name, too.”

“I suppose he does. Thank you, my sweet witch.” His duller human teeth scrape over my flesh. “For the first time in my life I feel blessed.” Deft fingers slide down my soft stomach and then find my sensitive bundle of nerves like a heat-seeking missile.

I cry out with pleasure as he works my body.

“My perfect love,” he mumbles over and over. “I will never stop claiming you, Jade.”

My body quivers with his words and his ministrations. The bliss he’s driving me toward barrels at me.

I shatter into the universe. Stars go supernova. I’m blasted to the far ends of time, then I’m reassembled around Arran’s perfect instrument of mass pleasure. I coalesce as someone who has their person.

I arch into Arran’s powerful body as he shouts through his release.

He collapses against my back, breathing hard.

Fortunately, his arm braces me against him, while the other props us up from the forest floor. He leans back on his heels and slips free.

Arran turns me on his lap and cups my face with his other hand.

“Sorry,” he laughs, “I made a mess of you. You’re covered in dirt.”

“Worth it.” I smile wide, and I’m sure I look dreamy eyed. “Mud wrestling at its finest.”

“I don’t want to return to the others, but I know you need your rest after all you’ve been through lately.”

“I understand your possessiveness, but I doubt I’ll get much rest out here.”

Arran doesn’t let go of me. Instead, he lifts me in his arms and carries me back.

I silently call out again to see if the ghost is still lingering. “Abuela, was that really you?”

I hear a long-suffering sigh. Great. Now I know it’s my grandmother. Other than Osen, who would sigh at me like that?

“Mija, I warned you not to become attached to these males.”

I answer her in my mind so I don’t upset Arran. “Uh, well, damage done and all that. I don’t want you ruining this for me.”

I hear a feminine grunt of disapproval, and I feel her presence slip away.

My heart aches. I wish I could have talked to her more, but this isn’t the moment.

We quickly see our cabin ahead of us.

I bark out a laugh. “Geez. It felt like forever when you were chasing me.”

When we get close, I give Arran another kiss and study his eyes. “Do I need to be careful about touching the guys until the bond settles?”

“You’ll know if I can’t handle it, but I think we should be okay. My wild side sees them as pack.”

I sigh with relief.

Coming into my magic for the first time in my life must be enhancing my eyesight, because I can clearly see Flint, Maxum, and Calder standing outside, watching us return.

First, I wonder if something’s wrong. Then, I worry I’ve frightened them.

As soon as I’m close enough to not shout, I ask, “What’s wrong?”

Maxum chuffs and smirks at me like I’m a naughty child. “You just played a dangerous game of roulette. Thank the Fates, you won.”

“Serky wouldn’t have hurt me.” I squeeze Arran and gaze adoringly at him.

Calder throws his hands up in exasperation. “You didn’t know that for certain. A primal chase with a werewolf is dangerous, at best.” It appears he’s concerned for me, not just for the body attached to his ghost love.

Flint rushes forward and wraps a warm blanket over me. “It’s too cold for you to be out here.”

My eyes snap back to Calder. I don’t believe he’s seen me naked before and perhaps never wished to. Although he might have accidentally caught a glimpse when Maxum had Arran lick me clean. I thought Calder had been in the cabin when that happened, but when it was over, he wasn’t around.

I reach out to give Maxum and Flint a soft touch. “I’m sorry if we worried you.”

Maxum quirks an eyebrow. “You’re living for more than just yourself now. You have us. So, keep that in mind, stunt devil.”

“You should have seen me run!” I say proudly.

“Sweet witch, I did.” Maxum shakes his head. “I loved watching your juicy bottom bounce and jiggle, but you weren’t as fast as you think you were.”

“I was scared,” Flint says. “Please let us know when you plan to do something spontaneous again.”

I suppress a laugh at his comment. He’s so protective, and I don’t wish to squash his need to be the protector he was created to be. “I will plan all my reckless behavior from now on.”

“Good.” Flint pulls a twig from my hair. “I’ve realized that my danger-compass is broken around you. It’s very unsettling.”

“Oh, shit,” I say, and think about it. It really is broken—he hasn’t felt his spidey tingles when I’m in danger. “Why is that happening?”

“Could be your magic?” He shrugs.

“Or the wards your grandmother placed on you, scrambling his senses like it does with your legal documents to hide you from the world,” Maxum suggests.

“Or his heart is always on alert, worrying about you.” Calder throws out like a bomb. But as he says it, I feel the truth of it.

“Calder might be right on that.” Flint frowns. “Not reassuring.”

“But my sweetheart, it’s so romantic,” I point out.

“I will have to find a new baseline so I can protect you.”

“Speaking of your grandmother, uh, why did you call out to her during our mating?” Arran asks.

Maxum goes on alert and demands details with a growl. “What happened?”

“I felt her pushing on my senses when I was playing out my primal chase fantasy, and I put up my wall,” I explain. “But when Arran bit me, I lit up with symbols like Maxum said he’s seen on me. Then they sort of dissipated into the air. Almost like they dissolved in the wind. Is that how it happened before?” I ask Maxum.

“No. They lit up and then faded back into your skin.”

“Oh. Hmm. That’s weird.” I don’t know if this is a positive twist, but there’s not much I can do about it now. “Then my grandmother’s voice popped into my head and said, ‘You made the same mistake I made.’”

“What the hell does that mean?” Calder hisses. “Are you part supe?”