Chapter 24 #4
“I do not,” he replied, keeping unusually calm.
“I was drinking, sir! I admit it,” Austin said, eagerly stepping forward, his tail wagging. “I should be punished for it. Severely.”
“What the fuck? Shut the hell up,” Adam whispered, just barely audible.
Mosavi bared his teeth before taking another calming breath, adjusting the thick collar around his neck.
“I have only come to—” He was obviously struggling to hold his form as his words began to sound shaky and angry. “Give a gift and say…” Mosavi paused, exhaling through his teeth again. “Happy birthday.” He growled that last part as if someone was nudging him.
“Ooh! What did ya get me? I bet it’s expensive,” Adam said, dashing over to the table.
Mosavi caught his hand and gave it a hard squeeze. “How about a thank you,” he said slowly through his sharp teeth again, still obviously trying to keep himself from shifting. “You little—” He groaned and tugged at the collar. “Adam.”
“Uh, thank you,” the half-turn said nervously as Mosavi let him go.
The mayor started back to the front door.
“You’re not going to stay?” I asked, regretting that question when Adam elbowed me in the ribs.
“No. I need to get back.” And with that, he stepped outside, but not before saying, “I would strongly advise pouring out the evidence before the police get here.”
Once he disappeared, I snatched both jugs away from Austin and scrambled to dump them down the sink.
Trust in yourself…
Willa’s words repeated as I lay in bed, trying to take a late-afternoon nap to catch up on sleep I hadn’t been getting much of lately.
Austin was in his garage, and Adam spent the remainder of his birthday outside tending to the yard.
Our conversation earlier had made a deeper impact than usual, and he was actually doing something other than watching TV or playing on his phone.
Maybe Austin’s gift had softened him a little more. I didn’t even know he liked plants.
Roscoe was in the kitchen, already starting on dinner.
He was making his baked ziti, and that was something we were all looking forward to.
The sauce was homemade and took seven hours to cook for some reason.
One thing Roscoe loved more than food was cooking for other people.
He would always anticipate our faces when we took our bites.
The way his tail would wag with every satisfied moan always put me in a better mood.
His passion for cooking even surpassed his terrible hygiene.
When he was in the kitchen, he actually cleaned himself up.
The mirror Willa handed to me felt warm in my palm as I held it against my chest. She said not to trust her, but her words contradicted her actions.
Perhaps that was the point. Showing rather than telling.
Still, I’d take whatever vision I saw in this mirror with a grain of salt, especially knowing the type of control she had over Mosavi.
I’d actually felt kind of sorry for him earlier as he struggled under that collar like a beaten dog.
Of course, after the police paid us a visit, the sympathy went away.
I cracked open the mirror and peered into its clean reflection. Aside from a brief flash of light, nothing more happened. I stared into it longer before finally snapping it shut and laying it on the nightstand. Perhaps I’d try again after I woke up.
When I opened my eyes, a large brown werewolf lay next to me on a strange bed. He stared at me with silver eyes, using a giant clawed finger to gently brush away the strands of black hair in my face. My body didn’t obey nor did my mouth.
“Beast,” I said in Willa’s voice, as if compelled. It sounded so cold and devoid of emotion. “Are you that insatiable?”
“Yes,” Mosavi said in a low whisper. “I could take you again and again. Fill you with my seed until you beg me to stop, but you would still be empty.”
I rolled over, looking up at the log ceiling. We were in a small cabin, the hearth glowing bright orange on the other side of the room.
“Again with this. You would fill me with power, per our agreement.”
His rough hand cupped one of my breasts, and he rolled closer, his thin lips caressing my neck.
“Your soul is worth more than a bit of power. What if I could help you get it back?”
“What does one need with a soul?” I asked, sitting up. “Such a useless concept.”
“Perhaps not in the literal sense.” He moved close enough that I could feel his breath. “Do you really feel nothing?”
“I feel the warmth of the fire and a pain in my loins. I want to feel that pain again, beast.”
“Darius. You have not told me your name.”
I pushed him down and climbed on top, guiding his half-hard cock to the aching space that desired to be filled.
“I have no name, and your name means nothing to me.”
The vision faded, and this time we were in a different place. The cabin was slightly larger, and I lay naked in the bed as Mosavi stepped into the room. He wore a white dress shirt and black slacks. He was human, though he looked much younger.
“Why do you take that ridiculous form? The other elders are supposed to teach you potency and strength. Humans have neither of those things.”
“It is a new skill, and one that may prove useful. I thought this would please you.”
I grew hot with annoyance. “You thought wrong. I only hunger for the wolf, not—whatever this is.”
“This is who I was, Willa.”
“I told you not to call me that,” I said, pointing sharp nails at his body. His new clothes tore away from him, leaving his dark, handsome figure naked in the middle of the room. “At least that is still the same size.”
“You will not tell me your name, so Willa is your name now,” he growled impatiently before climbing into bed. “And I will not be your beast tonight. My name is Darius.”
“Does your cock still work?” I asked. “Or has it been crippled by this new form?”
“Do you really feel nothing at all for me?”
“I only feel hunger.”
The room faded again and morphed into a larger house. Mosavi stepped into the bedroom in his human form before removing his shirt, his thick chest hair giving him a wilder look.
“I am on the council,” he said, but his voice lacked any enthusiasm. “I made the proposal for the enchantments to keep werewolves from being drawn into the woods. The others agreed.”
“Why do you care?” I asked. “Witches need that power. Why do you disrupt the natural order?”
“Why did you?” he rebutted.
“I told you already.”
“And you lied.” He removed his pants and shoes before his body began to transform back into huge werewolf. “You do not know why you lied, but you did.”
“This again. Why can you just not be content with lust?”
“This is our sanctuary,” Mosavi shouted, his voice shaky as he grabbed my arms. “You broke your coven, Willa. He no longer has any hold over you.”
“You tread dangerously.”
“I do not care. I know you will not enslave me, or you would have done it when you helped me escape.” His eyes glowed silver again. “I always sense the real you with the vironoct. His influence has been slipping year-by-year, and yet you still fight to keep it.”
Despite the lack of emotion, I could feel tears trickle down my face. I dabbed one with the tip of my finger.
“Weakness,” I said, wiping another tear away. “I hate this.”
His smile grew warmer as he gently took my face in his hands.
“You are mistaken. This is your strength.”
The room went dark and brightened until I was lying in a canopy bed surrounded by high ceilings and lavish décor, but I wasn’t naked. Darius walked into the room in his suit, but as a werewolf.
“Are you not hungry for the wolf, Willa?” he asked, loosening his tie before rubbing the long, thick bulge running down the inseam of his pants.
“Perhaps later,” I said as he climbed into bed, still fully clothed. This time, he smelled like he usually did. Spicy cologne mixed with tobacco.
“You do not seem well lately.”
“I feel like a fool,” I whispered.
“Why?”
“Why do you care so much for me?”
Darius gently caressed my cheek, his eyes glowing silver again. “This is what I am. I have taken you for my mate, and I cannot stop what I feel.”
The room faded until all I could see was Mosavi on the ground in the middle of the woods, blood pouring from a hole in his chest. I knelt next to him, tears reluctantly streaming from my eyes despite still feeling empty.
“They know about you,” he gasped out, his words slurred as he lost more blood. “You need to leave this place.”
“Beast,” I said, covering the fist-sized hole with my hand. “We had an agreement.”
“One that I must regretfully break,” he whispered. “Rescue another, and maybe you will grow to love him. I am sorry.”
I shuddered, running my fingers along the fatal wound. It didn’t seem to be made by any weapon I knew of, and his rapid healing had not kicked in.
“Stupid beast,” I whispered as heat traveled from my chest, down my arms and into his body.
“What are you doing?”
“Something foolish. Something selfish,” I whispered, keeping my hand over the pulsing wound as more of myself flowed into him. It felt as though my life drained, and it became harder to breathe. “Darius.”
His eyes widened.
As the rest of my essence faded, something flowed back into the void in my chest, coming up from my arm. An overwhelming sensation had me sobbing as I fell against the werewolf.
“Willa,” he whispered. “You can have me. Even my soul.”
His voice echoed in my mind as everything faded to white.
A large hand shook me awake, and I snapped my eyes open to see Roscoe standing over me with a concerned look.
“Dinner’s ready,” he said calmly, leaning in for a kiss. “Wanna eat now, or have some fun?”
“Can you lay with me for a little while?”
“You okay?” he asked, slipping in beside me under the covers.
“I just had a bad dream, and I could use the company.”