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

The fae reached out and plucked the strand as if it was a guitar string. “Don’t frighten the child further. Leave him alone and he’ll complete his task.”

“And Hazel?” Natalie demanded, posture full-on mother bear. I’d sheathed my weapon while messing with pack bonds, but she hadn’t. Her knife stayed pointed forward, her hand as steady as it had been in the lab.

She didn’t attack, though. Like me, she clearly believed what this fae was selling. If we sent Lenny’s wife back to Faery, Natalie’s children would be stuck Between.

If we didn’t....

“My sister,” the fae soothed, “likes babies. Hazel is insurance that if she notices the children approaching, she won’t simply crush them in a landslide.”

The idea of her children being squashed by rock did what nothing else had. Natalie’s knife fell back to her side...and Rune’s sword was right there to take its place.

“You dropped the Whelan mansion into the earth,” Rune observed, “to open up a route to your sister. But you already had Ash. Why did you need Kale as well?”

“Ash?” The painted skin where eyebrows should have been crinkled. “I’m afraid I don’t know who you’re talking about, dear. And, no, I didn’t collapse your mansion. My sister did that.”

As she spoke, puzzle pieces fit together in a blinding flash of unwelcome revelation. What did I have other than my father’s word that the Guardian bore our pack good will? Nothing. In fact, I had copious evidence to the contrary.

The Guardian’s refusal to help until I finished binding myself in hereditary strictures. Her requirement of blood in exchange for minor assistance.

“My father,” I murmured, “died on Samhain. The same day you crossed over. Why?”

“Because three is a powerful number,” Lenny’s wife answered. “My sister sensed me coming. She needed a third Alpha bound to her willingly in order to increase her strength.”

So the Guardian had killed my father? The father I both loved and resented for raising me as Heir instead of daughter...a choice he’d made because of the Guardian’s demands.

The Guardian, the Guardian, the Guardian. It all came back to the Guardian.

I didn’t want to believe this fae’s story, but it made total sense. Especially if—

“The sinkhole was meant to break Ash free,” I realized. “Because you don’t control Ash. Your sister does.”

Chapter 35

My mind buzzed with connections, a relief from might-have-beens about my father. If Ash was a pawn of the Guardian and the Guardian depended on Whelan pack bonds for power, then Ash’s outsized aggression pointed in a grim direction. Our so-called protector wanted a backup link into our clan in case she needed to force results I wouldn’t approve of. In that case...protecting the pack from fae intrusion had to take priority even over the safety of Natalie’s kids.

Because I was Alpha. Pack came first, now and always. I was down the stairs and off the porch before Natalie’s voice called me back.

“Where are you going?”

“Home. The pack needs me.”

As I spoke, something small and sparkly drifted off the porch and caught in the air. I tried to dodge, my mouth gaping open to warn the others. But I wasn’t fast enough, and they weren’t the ones in the line of fire.

Instead, the glitter landed on me. Settled like dew on my hair, my nose...and one particle on my tongue.

I shook like a wolf spraying water out of her fur, the effort successful in removing a cloud of glitter from my person. At the same time, Rune’s blade sliced through sunlight to settle at the fae’s throat.

But both efforts came too late. I felt the glitter imbedding itself inside my cheek like a cold sore. Scraping at the intrusion with my tongue then my finger, the alien object refused to budge.

“Don’t hurt yourself, dear,” the fae chided, peering down at me over the railing. “The charm certainly won’t hurt you. It’s simply insurance that you won’t go tattling to my sister. If you try to share information that’s none of your business...well, the words simply won’t come out.”

There was no persimmon in the air now. Just the reek of damp leaves matching the taut tendons on Rune’s forearms. He seemed half inclined to sever the fae’s head now and ask questions later. But....

“Kale and the baby depend on her safety,” I reminded him. The glitter in my cheek had faded to a tiny lump now. I barely felt it. Surely I could work around Lenny’s wife’s restrictions while protecting my pack.

Rune’s mouth tightened, but he lowered his sword even as I dug in my pocket for the van keys. Meanwhile, Natalie looked back and forth between the two of us. She cleared her throat, then shook her head. “You’re going to your pack instead of looking for Kale and Hazel.”

“Natalie....” I wanted to explain. Wanted to tell her I wasn’t willingly throwing away our friendship. For a moment there, we’d been sisters in arms...then our responsibilities had drawn us in two separate directions.

But the pack called. I was Alpha first. I would always be Alpha first. Natalie, on the other hand, would always choose to be a mother.

And speaking of responsibilities.... Despite myself, my eyes flew to Rune’s.

“I’ll call Lupe,” he rumbled. “But it’s my duty to remain with this fae until someone comes to relieve me.”

His duty was with the Samhain Shifters and mine was with Clan Whelan. The same as yesterday and last week and an endless string of tomorrows. So why did a vast pit of emptiness open in my belly?

Wordless, I returned to the minivan alone.

I PULLED OVER HALFWAY back to pack central. My eyes kept leaking, a frustrating occurrence. But that wasn’t why I stopped on the shoulder and padded into the trees.

The Guardian, I knew, could see what happened for miles in every direction. She could, but she didn’t often pay attention to happenings outside her immediate vicinity. As long as I didn’t draw her attention, she might remain unaware of the danger Lenny’s wife was sending her way. I