Charmed Wolf by Aimee Easterling (best ereader for pdf TXT) 📕

Ripping at the soil just like Kale had done, I soon had enough length to wrap around my wrist.

This time the root wriggled harder, trying to evade me. But I knotted it with my other hand, pulling the loose end tight with my teeth.

Spitting out grit, I continued. “I will uphold my end of the Bargain. I have a full week left until Beltane.” The traditional date when a new Alpha proved to the Guardian that she’d followed all rules to the letter. It would take luck to conceive before then. But Rune had promised to be my Consort and I could select a Beta as early as tonight.

The Guardian was less sanguine. “I want it done sooner. There’s danger to the pack.”

This was far more words than the Guardian had ever offered previously. I bit down on the inside of my cheek, drawing blood then spitting it over the root in gratitude.

“I’ll move up my timeline,” I promised. “But I need your help now. To take myself, Butch, and Kale back to the human world. To remove whatever spell is on our glitter.”

Because that must have been what impacted Kale. He wasn’t furious enough to run off on his own or he wouldn’t be helping me now. No, he’d been impacted by the charmed glitter and we’d only barely fended off terrible consequences.

The Guardian didn’t appear to care, or at least she didn’t answer. Not for one long moment, during which time the brothers’ argument flowed over me like bird song.

“You’re receiving far more from me in exchange for the boon than you would have received from Tara,” Rune observed, and I got the distinct impression he’d raised his voice to block out my muttering. “So I expect more in exchange as well.”

Erskine breathed out through his nose, sounding very much like his unicorn self. “Alright. I’ll give you a fragment of Faery. Your beloved can use it to build a force fire and remove any pesky charms from her glitter.”

Rune’s frustration, for once, was palpable. Or maybe he was only feigning emotion to buy me time to come up with another solution. “I don’t know what a force fire is.”

“Should’ve stuck around a little longer to learn your own heritage, shouldn’t you? Never mind. You can find the relevant details on Wikipedia.”

“Wikipedia? You’re telling me you logged onto a computer using hooves and a horn.”

Erskine’s rejoinder was airy. “I have my ways.”

“Guardian,” I murmured, “is that your final answer? You refuse to help me until the Bargain is complete?”

Silence was the only response. So I opened my eyes and broke into the brothers’ conversation. “The boon is none of Butch’s business. It’s mine to repay.”

They turned to face me together. “Tara,” Rune started.

“Kitten,” his brother added.

“I want to protect you.”

“Best let the big kids handle this. I only have enough magic on hand to start one fire and if you waste it....”

I cut Erskine off.  “No.” As I spoke, I stood and let the root rip away from me. I had one week to fix this issue with the Guardian, but I wasn’t about to toss Rune back to some Unseelie Court in the meantime.

“Erskine, give me the fragment of Faery, take us back to our world, and I promise that I personally will prevent you from being stuck Between forever.”

Somehow. Eventually. I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

Then, before Erskine could consider reeling in favors from two of us instead of one, I added, “But Rune owes you nothing. I do.”

Chapter 20

Rune tried to talk me out of it. Erskine strutted like a peacock, as if I’d chosen him rather than doing my Alpha duty with a small side of compassion. Ignoring the crowing from one brother and the disappointment from the other, I accepted the fragment of Faery—what looked to me like a hunk of fool’s gold, but one that shone with rainbow sparkles when I looked at it out of the corner of my eye. Then I clambered onto Erskine’s human back with Kale on mine and Rune’s hand wrapped around my ankle.

We could only hold the position for half a second, but that’s all we needed. Erskine burst through an invisible wall, hair turning to mane and arms to hooved forelegs as he drew us back to the human world. There, he ditched us atop a pile of sticks that was far less comfy than the mossy sward we’d landed on the last time. Still, I would have been glad of thorns for the smell that surrounded us—my familiar forest, not far from pack central.

Meanwhile, Erskine’s tail flicked in my face. “Yes, I remember what I owe you,” I called after his retreating butt, only to have my promise strangled by dozens of pings overwhelming my brain.

They needed me. Not just one pack mate but everyone. They were desperate. They were fighting. I was Alpha and I needed to fix this. Now.

“Take care of Kale,” I told Rune, words garbling in my mouth as I thrust the chunk of Faery into his hand while shedding clothing. Then I fell to the ground on four paws.

For his part, Rune’s face twisted, his eyes averting. Something about my wolf disturbed him, or maybe something about wolves in general? Either way, he nodded. And that was all the reassurance I craved.

So I turned away from my Consort and my buddy and back to the pack who’d floundered in my absence. More information flowed in as I ran between familiar trees, my pack mates fighting beings so strong that the word fighting didn’t really apply.

Instead, in my mind’s eye, our enemies’ dominance froze my pack mates one by one. The reason the invaders hadn’t just slapped down everyone in the first place became clear as a scarred and twisted visage pressed into Willa’s face, our bond allowing me to see and hear as the enemy spat out: “I want my mate returned to me. Where is she?”

His pure rage knocked Willa back