Chapter 19 Trish
Trish
Uncle Jareth, Aunt Kera’s mate, had something called ‘speakers’ that projected music from a box.
Another piece of forgotten technology from when the human and natural world lived as one.
Here, music played from somewhere in the woods.
It was a pulsing, living, magical thing that came as easily as it did when the basses thumped on those human speaker devices.
It was also loud enough to create hidden alcoves in the cocoons of trees where groups of twos and threes were tucked away.
Music covered their sounds. The woods made converging in one place difficult.
Or these groups preferred to be alone. With drinks in hand, and lips otherwise engaged, it seemed the party was already underway.
I didn’t know where to find Charles.
But I was careful not to interrupt the paired-off lovers who seemed to want their secrecy in the shadows. My eyes stayed forward, searching for that skinny warlock, as I picked my way over roots and under branches.
Just up ahead was a path lit by the moon filled with all sorts of scents. I didn’t sniff too hard. The air was charged with sexual energy that made me twist and squirm in my skin.
Watch out, my wolf warned.
I stepped back, giving room for a giggling woman to come running past. She was naked from the waist up. Her free breasts bounced with each step and her hair blew behind her like water rushing down a river. She looked so happy. So beautiful and free. I was no better than a man for watching.
But certainly better than the half-shifted wolf-witch who chased after her, howling.
I didn’t see him before.
He must not have come to the trials.
“There you are.” An arm slung over my shoulder. I turned, seconds from extending my claws to rip through the male’s chest.
“Charles,” I breathed, sheathing my claws. “You’re just the warlock I was looking for.”
“I prefer male-witch.” His smile was a little lopsided as he leaned against me. “Warlock sounds so… evil.”
“Male witch it is.” I laughed, feeling my hope for tonight slip through my clawless fingers. He was wasted.
“Come on,” he cried. “I promised you wine.” By his gait, I had to wonder how much he’d had of this wine. As wolf-shifters, it took absurd amounts of alcohol to get to that level. Our bodies burned it off too fast.
As a warlock—er, male witch—his biology was mostly human. Like Mom. She was known to enjoy a good scotch, but I’d seen Dad carry her to bed a few times.
My hope kept fading with each stumbling step he took. Charles wouldn’t sober soon. I was lucky to even find him before he passed out.
“Thanks for inviting me.” I didn’t want to be rude, and I caught him before he tripped over an exposed root. “This is… fun.”
“Psh.” He waved me off. “The fun is over here. No, there. Right where I left my wine.”
I gently corrected his course before he led us straight into a tree.
Told you this was a dumb plan.
I sighed, wondering if I’d need to carry him out of here. “Maybe we should get you back to your tent.”
“Nonsense.” He chuckled, pushing back a branch. “I’m not going anywhere else tonight. Here is where we’re meant to be.”
The sight before us took my breath away.
Moonlight shone down on the clearing tucked into the trees. The half-naked woman with the wolf on her heels ran past me, still laughing.
“They’re beautiful,” I whispered.
A small fire burned in the center, casting a warm glow over the naked females dancing around the flames. With their arms raised, and hair wild and loose, they touched the earth with bare feet.
As a shifter, I’d seen more than my fair share of naked bodies before. But this was different. Sweat dripped and skin glistened as the dancers twirled, grabbing each other in a dip, or spin, or kiss. I’d never seen such a display of divine femininity. It was chaos. Beautiful, unchoreographed chaos.
“You should join them.” Charles nudged me.
“Oh no.” I shook my head. “I couldn’t do that.”
“Hmm…” Charles nodded, turning to the stump behind him where various bottles and cups sat stacked. “I see what you need now.”
My hope flared to life again. “You do?”
“Yes, yes.” He rummaged through the tinctures. “When you said you needed my help, I didn’t sense any blocks, but I can feel them now.”
“Wait… my blocks. My magic blocks,” I tried to explain.
But it was useless. He was drunk.
“Magic blocks? Ha. You’re fine.” He pushed a cup of dark liquid into my hand. “Drink this. It will clear you.”
I sniffed, smelling notes of parsley and fenugreek and patchouli leaves mixed with the wine. “A libido booster?” I arched a brow.
“That’s your problem, isn’t it?” Charles smiled. “Sexual blocks can affect everything. Mood. Confidence. Sleep. Honey, you’re very tense. This is the cure.”
“Is it?” I sniffed again. I guessed it couldn’t hurt. Not that this would fix my magic, but when else would I get the chance to do something like this?
I turned to look over the clearing again as the music changed to a faster beat.
The witch from earlier now rested on her hands and knees while the wolf-witch thrust into her from behind, howling at the moon. Beyond the fire and dancers, bodies glistened, moving together in the grass. An orgy of magic energy, pulsing and thickening the air, warmed me from the inside out.
I… Um. My wolf sputtered. I guess you only live once.
My palms were slick on the cup as I looked down at my clothes, feeling very over dressed.
“You don’t have to partake if you don’t want to.” Charles motioned to his own apparel. “You can wear your armor while you browse and decide. Or find joy in the watching. No one will judge you.”
“Will you be okay?” I asked.
I hadn’t noticed him sipping from a water jug until now, but his eyes already seemed clearer, as if he’d used his power in the second it took me to debate what I was even doing here.
Magic. I hated that it was all around me, and I still couldn’t touch it like I used to.
That niggling feeling was there again. The urge to remember. To play.
“Go,” Charles pushed me forward. “Enjoy yourself. The night isn’t getting younger and neither are you.”
With that sugar-coated insult, I took my cup with me, sniffing it again before I had the tiniest sip. My gram was good with herbs. She’d insisted my sisters and I learn all we could about the healing properties of the earth. Mom used herbs more for cooking, but no one could deny their potency.
This stuff was strong.
I glanced back at Charles, but he seemed content to sit and watch while he sipped his own concoction.
My feet moved me over the dewy grass, but I stayed on the outskirts of the dancers near the fire. As I got closer, their magic called to me. A breeze that lifted the hair off my neck. A cooling caress. The wind tugged gently at my shirt.
“Come dance with us.” I seemed to hear her voice in my head as a pretty woman with a sun-kissed smile and long fingers curled one, beckoning me. Her other hand trailed lower, dipping between her legs.
“Maybe later.” I smiled so big that my cheeks hurt. It’s not that she wasn’t inviting, I just felt… off.
The woman didn’t wait as she spun, turning into the arms of a darker-skinned beauty whose moan of ecstasy showed me just how inviting that beckoning finger would have been.
Gods. I fanned myself, stepping backwards.
Some of the wine sloshed from my cup as I tripped over a leg.
“Sorry,” I squeaked out to the male I’d narrowly avoided stepping on. One female was lost to the music, riding his cock, and another female cried out her pleasure as she sat upon his face.
He was too busy to care, I presumed.
I walked more carefully, feeling my body warm in delicious places as I took in more and more of the scene.
The woman being speared between two lean males, their hips thrusting into both sets of lips.
My core began to throb as her wild eyes met mine and she winked.
The warlock leaning against the tree as he stroked his length languidly.
His gaze never left the woman in front of him with hands tied behind her back, sitting on her knees in the dirt.
Two naked burly males wrestled each other, slamming into another tree as both vied for dominance. One caught the other, pulling him in for a passionate kiss.
I took another sip of the wine, needing to soothe my scorched throat, and pulled at my neckline to get some cool air on my burning chest.
“What are you doing here?” His growl raised the hairs on my skin.
Oh, thank the gods. My wolf moaned as I leaned back, feeling Jaxon’s hard body behind me.
I tried to pretend that I wasn’t affected, attempting to relax.
“What are you doing here?” My tone came out all breathy with a slight moan. So much for nonchalance. It was the potion. Riling me up.
“You need to leave.” Jaxon grabbed my arm, causing me to spill most of the still-full cup onto the grass.
I jerked my arm back. “Leave me alone.”
“No.” Jaxon’s voice was cold; his face unreadable. “Not now. Not this time. You can’t be here.”
The rage I felt at his words was white-hot and instant. “You’re not my Alpha,” I gritted out for the hundredth time. “You don’t get to tell me how to behave.”
If I’d thought that would derail him, I was dead wrong. The glow of his wolf behind his eyes intensified as he towered over me. “You will listen to me, Tisiphone. Tonight of all nights. You—”
“Is there a problem here?” One of the burly warlocks had broken away from his tryst. His cock was the length of my forearm and still pulsing. His lover stood beside him, equally large and intimidating.
Jaxon didn’t even flinch. “This isn’t your concern. Go back to enjoying your night.”
“I wasn’t speaking to you.” The warlock flexed. Magic gathered, static as he drew on his power. “I was asking the witch.”
“Oh… Um…” My gaze darted between the three of them. Size-wise, they were matched. But even if he wasn’t a wolf shifter, I knew the extent of Jaxon’s power, and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. “Thanks, but I—”