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CHANTI GATHERED THE last of the supplies she needed and headed back to the front door. She already wore the strongest protective charms she could. She didn’t need anymore.
“Let’s go. I need to get home.”
Kody followed her like a shadow and together they wove through the narrow, cobbled streets, until they made it home.
At the sight of her pitched roof and front door, relief filled her. She opened the door and turned to Kody. “What I don’t understand is why your kind stick to the swamps. Why not move further out, or even come back to New Orleans? There’s nothing livable for miles and miles outside of the city.”
“I know.” Kody wrinkled his nose as they settled into her lounge room. “But that hasn’t stopped my family from living out there for generations. If we could find a way to live peacefully back in New Orleans, I know a lot of us would move back here.”
Chanti sat on the couch with four Voodoo dolls in front of her on the coffee table and Kody on the armchair nearby, who watched her keenly.
“Then maybe we can do something about that,” she said.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m creating dolls for Tania’s parents, Tania, and Marty.”
“You’re going to hurt them?”
She resisted the need to roll her eyes. Of course not.
“No. I can use these to try to keep Marty and Tania safe.” She swallowed hard. “But yes... If I have to, I can.”
She concentrated on the two she made for Tania and Marty, sprinkling the dolls with a potion for protection and good health. Then she lifted them up and carried them to her dresser, singing softly to them a song her mother had taught her for guidance and enduring hard times.
Next, she took the two dolls for Tania’s parents and wove them with a plant-based fiber meant to decrease a Voodoo practitioner’s powers and sprinkled them with a sleeping potion.
Hopefully that would stop them from doing too much damage before she could get back to help Tania and Marty.
She wrapped all four of the dolls in a bag and tucked them into her knapsack.
“All right. You’re wearing the best protection I can give you, and the spells I put on the dolls will hopefully protect everyone else. That is the most I can do from here. We need to work out how we’re going to get your brother back in one piece. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
Kody went silent, and Chanti’s heart skipped a beat.
“Kody? What is it?”
“I haven’t told you much of our mating system, have I?”
Her belly dropped, visions of biting wolves and howling at the moon flashing through her mind. “No, but why is that important?”
“It may be; just hear me out. As a wolf shifter, I am stronger than any human. Faster, bigger. I think that is why we were driven out of New Orleans so long ago. We were feared, and yet our need for shifting form at the full moon was seen as a curse. And a weakness. My ancestors allowed us to be banished, like the animals the rest of New Orleans think we are.”
His tone was bitter and Chanti moved to the couch to sit with the man who’d shown her nothing but passion and kindness.
“I can see how strong you are, Kody. But what has that got to do with—"
“When a wolf shifter mates, we bind our soul to the other person. The strength is shared; linked. It is the most powerful bond we can have. When one of the pair dies, the other will often struggle to survive afterwards. My mother has managed, but only because the pack needs her. She has aged twenty years in the last ten.”
He coughed and cleared his throat.
She waited for the point to come.
“But I’m not sure that would be the case if we mated with a human. I suspect that some of the strength would be shared, but perhaps not the full amount of a wolf shifter linking. I don’t think a human would die from heartache as a wolf might.”
Chanti nodded. “I’ve seen it in humans, too. When a couple has been together for as long as, say, your parents had, they simply don’t want to live without one another.”
A muscle jumped in Kody’s jaw and Chanti waited for him to speak.
But he didn’t.
“Although I appreciate you telling me more about the wolves, Kody, are you going to tell me the point of your story?”
“We’re mates, Chanti. You are mine. If we shared the ritual tonight, you would absorb a lot of my strength. It would mean safety for you, going into this fight at my side.”
Chanti blinked, her mind completely frozen. “Pardon me?”
“Can you feel it? The incredible heat and magnetism between us?”
Hell yes.
“Well, obviously I can... but that doesn’t mean...”
“It does. It’s one of the first and strongest signs. If we don’t mate, or are pulled apart for some reason, the pain will be terrible. I understand if you don’t want to mate with me tonight—you barely know me—but I’ve never been so sure about anything in my whole life. You’re everything for me now.”
She’d known it the moment he walked into the shop. He was meant for her.
But how could she bind herself to this man? “Why are you telling me this now?”
“It would come out eventually anyway, and here I can offer you something that will keep you safe. If I am injured or killed, it shouldn’t affect you too severely as you’re human, but you’d absorb some of my strength...”
Chanti pulled Kody closer, kissing his perfect lips to silence the words to come.
Her instincts, those that she trusted more than anything, were sitting on the fence about this offer. She believed him. That in his world, and perhaps in hers too, they were meant to be together. Her vision had shown her a future that could be theirs to share. But how could they truly be together, with everything that stood in their way?
A sharp knock sounded, over and over.
Kody looked toward the front door. “Are you expecting anyone?”
She frowned. “No, I’m not. And not many people would disturb me at home...” She got to her feet and motioned to him to move. “Hide in my room and don’t come out.”
Kody nodded once, his jaw tight and his eyes flaring as he stood and moved into her room, closing the door but leaving a two-inch gap.
Chanti frowned at the door. A cold shiver ran through her that told her to strengthen herself for the fight coming.
She opened the front door.
Tania’s mother stood on the porch. The color had drained from her face and she was almost green.
“Mary. What’s wrong? You look terrible.”
“My daughter told me everything... and that, that, creature. He said she’s his mate.” Mary turned and spat on the pavement behind her. “Can you help me? I don’t know who else to ask. I know you tried to help already, but...”
This was her way in. “I can come,” Chanti said. “I want to help.”
Mary’s face lit up. “You will? Thank you!”
“Let me get my bag. I’ll just be a minute.”
She smiled at Mary and closed the front door gently.
The Voodoo dolls were already inside her bag, safe. She gathered a few more herbs as Kody walked out into the room.
“How can I help, Chanti? You can’t leave me here.”
She didn’t want to, but how to disguise who and what he was? “You need to change. Do you have any other clothes?”
He shook his head and she searched her memory. She did have some of her ex-boyfriend’s clothes in the spare room that she’d never gotten around to giving away.
“I have some old stuff. Come with me. Quickly.”
They hurried into her spare room and she pulled out some jeans and a tank, a hoodie, and a shirt from the closet.
“They’ll be a bit tight. But I need to be able to say you’re my boyfriend, and a fellow practitioner.”
She threw the black shirt and black jeans at him.
He gave her an ‘are you kidding?’ look and she glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
He shrugged and began to strip off his older clothing.
Her knees went weak and she leaned on the bed at the sight of his incredible body. His thick thighs, his perfect ass, his...
Focus!
She hurried to her bathroom and grabbed some hair product, then returned to the spare room.
She thrust the products at him. “Slick your hair back so you don’t look so wild.”
He grimaced but did as she asked.
Another shiver shot through her and she danced on the spot. When he’d finished, she gave him an approving nod. “Let’s go.”
She took a few deep breaths and raced ahead to the front door. They would be fucking lucky if they got away with this.
With her bag over her shoulder, she opened the door and gave Mary her sunniest smile.
“Mary, do you mind if my boyfriend comes along? You know, for protection against the...wolf shifter.”
Mary’s smug face made Chanti’s belly tighten and drop. “Don’t worry about him. We’ve rendered him harmless.”
That could mean anything, but nothing positive.
Kody stepped up and Chanti’s body melted at the sight. Damn, he’s right about us.
“Kody, this is Mary. Mary, Kody. Honestly, Mary, I’d feel a lot better if he came with us.”
Kody managed a charming smile as he leaned against the door, hands in his pockets, looking smart and relaxed.
“Ah, sure.” Mary’s eyes ran over him, noting the Voodoo accessories Chanti had put on him. “Will he be able to assist us?”
“He may. His mother was a friend of my mother’s,” Chanti lied.
Mary clapped her hands with glee. “Wonderful. Let’s go.”
She staggered a little as she walked down the stairs and Chanti grabbed for her hand.
“Are you all right, Mary?”
“Yes, just feeling a little weak. The stress and the shock, I think.”
Or the spells I wove over you, perhaps.
“Oh, yes,” Chanti said. “You’ll feel so much better once this is sorted.”
She held tight to Mary’s hand, chanting in her head. She didn’t wish anyone in Tania’s family harm. She wouldn’t hurt anyone on purpose. But she would protect herself and those Kody loved.
They followed along the streets of New Orleans and she didn’t even need to turn around to make sure Kody was keeping up. She could feel him behind her like he was an extension of her soul.
As the thought registered, she had to smother a groan.
He was right about them being soul mates, or whatever name he wanted to put on it.
He was so right.
***
KODY’S GAZE WAS TUGGED to the gorgeous slopes of Chanti’s shoulders and the hints of dark ink he could see around the straps of her dress.
She was one beautiful woman.
And she was all his.
Despite the ridiculously tight clothes he was now wearing that smelled like another man, and the danger of the situation they were headed into, he was elated.
His mate knew they were connected, what their destiny was. And despite the fact they hadn’t been able to complete the mating, Chanti hadn’t shown any signs that she was unhappy about the fact she was his.
In fact, if this bitch in front of him hadn’t knocked on the door when she had, they may have been linked for life already.
The forever type of mating that wolves created had once scared him, but not anymore. He couldn’t think of anything better than spending his life next to this beautiful, strong woman.
When they reached Tania’s house, he held tight to Chanti’s hand as they followed Mary up the external stairs.
Kody’s wolf cried inside him, backing away into a dark corner of his mind. He could smell his brother, and he was hurt. Bad. He took a deep breath and focused on only good thoughts and intentions. He was here to rescue his brother. Help Chanti. Nothing more.
Mary opened the front door, and she and Chanti passed through unharmed.
Kody, conscious of the fact he couldn’t look like he was afraid, strode straight through the door. If he was to be struck down by lightning, then let it be.
Nothing happened, and he lifted his hand to stroke the pendant at his chest. Chanti’s magic was powerful.
“So, what would you like help with, Mary?” Chanti asked Tania’s evil mother as they walked up the winding staircase, sunlight blinding him as it bounced off the marble floors.
Bloody hell. Look at this house! How much money do these people have?
“I need you to help me abort the fetus, without killing Tania,” Mary said. “It’s strong and I’ve had no luck so far.”
The woman, who Kody now wanted to punch in the face, pushed open a door at the end of the corridor and moans came through to greet them.
His wolf growled inside him, but he swallowed it down.
If you give us away, we’re all gone.
He would be dead before he could shift, he was sure of it. And that was if he could shift. Marty hadn’t been able to in Chanti’s house, so why would Kody be able to here?
Smoke billowed out of the room, along the walls and over the carpeted hallway. They stepped forward and Kody realized they were now in a bedroom, which stank to high Heaven of death and blood.
Jesus Christ...
He gagged and covered his nose, his enhanced senses making it almost impossible to breathe in a room like this.
What the hell is that smell?
Chanti shook her head and tutted disapprovingly. “You’re pushing both of their souls too hard. You’ll kill all three of them, Mary.”
Chanti waved her arms around, swirling black smoke obscuring his vision. He didn’t want to ask what was happening. He was meant to be the bodyguard. Nothing more.
“You need to open the windows, Mary. This isn’t the way to do it.”
Mary stomped off and fresh air blew into the room.
Kody coughed and gagged, then forced himself to stand back against the wall, watching and waiting.
When the black smoke cleared, he saw Marty for the first time. His baby brother was sitting on the floor and literally chained to the wall. His head was bleeding. His nose and eyes were a bloody mess.
What had they done to him?
Kody looked away from the sight, his chest heaving as his breathing began to change.
He’s alive. Calm down. You still have to get him out of here.
“What are you killing the wolf for, Mary?” Chanti asked as she walked over and knelt down, inspecting Marty like any doctor would, without showing any signs of attachment or disgust.
Kody could feel the rise of anger and hatred toward these people, but pushed it down with all his might. He refused to look at the mess of a man they’d left in place of his brother.
“He’s a werewolf, Chantelle,” Mary said. “They all deserve to die.”
Chanti stood up and walked toward the bed that Mary was standing by. When Kody looked past his brother, he could see a woman lying on the bed. Tania? Her skin was as pale as the white sheets she lay upon.
Chanti leant over the woman he assumed was Tania. “I don’t know why you think that, Mary. They haven’t hurt us.”
Mary’s harsh laugh made him tighten his fingers into fists. If he was allowed to, he would throw her right out the window.
“You’re too soft, Chantelle. Just like your mother.”
“I’m a healer, Mary. I find it hard to see anyone in pain. Including the wolf. I’d treat a dog better than that.”
Mary’s harsh gasp echoed in the room. “Well, that dog got my baby pregnant! And look at her. She’s growing bigger by the minute. How are we going to stop this?”
“Give me a moment to examine her.”
Mary began to pace, her bright white hair tied up into a bun, shining like some sort of ironic halo.
Kody retched, his stomach heaving at the evil stench in the room.
Mary screwed up her nose and threw him a sardonic smile. “Your boyfriend has a weak stomach.”
“He isn’t used to black magic, Mary. You know I don’t use it.” Chantelle’s voice didn’t waver, those same soothing tones making it clear she was in control.
“Well, you’re soft. I don’t know why I came to you.” Mary spat in disgust.
“Because I’m the best and you know it. Leave us. I need to concentrate and you’re distracting me.”
Mary glared at Chanti, but his mate just looked back at the old bitch with a calm, but stern, expression.
Mary finally gave up, throwing up her hands. “Fine then.”
Chanti continued to examine Tania, checking her eyes, her hands, her belly.
As soon as the door closed, Kody bolted to his brother.
“Marty.” He crouched in front of him. “Marty! Can you hear me?”
His brother groaned and nodded, but his eyes were too swollen to open.
“Give him some water,” Chanti said. “There’s some in my bag, but don’t untie him yet, Kody. Please.”
He grabbed for Chanti’s bag where it lay next to the bed and pulled out a bottle, then held it to his brother’s lips. It took everything in him not to untie Marty, but he had to trust that Chanti had a plan.
Marty drank as much as he could, some of the water spilling over his cracked lips.
“Oh fuck, brother, what happened to you?”
“Don’t really remember,” Marty slurred.
“They tried to kill him, but it didn’t work.” Tania’s weak voice filled the room as she sat up and pushed off the bed, staggering to her feet. “I’m so sorry.”
Chanti rushed to help Tania, putting an arm around her friend as Tania grabbed for her huge belly. The poor girl’s face was thin and pale. She looked so sick.
Kody’s heart broke for the two people in front of him. They were the strongest of the strong, a pair that could rule his pack if he chose to step aside.
And look at them.
He took a shuddering breath. It was probably a great thing they were as strong as they were. They would have been dead if they were anyone else.
He looked to Chanti. “What are we going to do?”
Chanti blew air out her nose. “I don’t know yet. We can try to carry them out of here, but we’ll be stopped at the door.”
He looked toward the only sunshine in the room. “The window maybe?”
They were on the second floor.
She screwed up her face. “It’s a thirty-foot drop.”
Onto concrete.
“Yeah... but if I can get outside, I might be able to shift. Which means I can catch them.” Kody grinned, the idea becoming more and more inspired.
Chanti turned to Tania. “I know you wanted to get rid of this baby, Tania. But you won’t be able to. It needs to be born. Are you ready for that?”
Tania nodded, tears leaking from her pale blue eyes. “Yes. I think my heart broke in two when I saw my mama hurt Marty like that...” Her voice trembled and she sobbed. “I never wanted that to happen. I just didn’t want... oh, God.... I’m so sorry...”
Chanti pointed to the door. “Lock the door, Kody.” She turned back to Tania. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Kody did as his mate bade, then rushed to free his brother from his chains. He pulled and pushed, using all his strength. The chains finally broke apart with a clang.
Fuck. That will bring someone.
“Hurry!” Chanti hissed.
Kody picked up Marty’s weak form, his brother’s weight heavy and stinking of death. “He smells like decay.”
Chanti grunted as she pushed open the double window as far as it would go.
“They tried to kill him. I have to assume my Voodoo protection, and his natural born strength, kept it from happening.” She stepped back, gesturing to the window. “Jump out, quick.”
Kody propped his brother up against the windowsill, jumped up onto the ledge and let himself fall. His wolf leapt to the surface, his clothes ripping apart as he transformed, landing squarely on all four paws.
He shifted straight back, holding out his arms. “Jump, brother.”
Marty pushed himself forward, twisting awkwardly as he fell.
Kody caught him, his head inches from the concrete. He righted him, pushing him against the white wall of the house.
“Come on. You, too!” he yelled at his mate, his heart pounding as the real danger his mate was in rammed home.
He’d left her alone up there.
Chanti’s head disappeared from sight and then Tania slid onto the ledge, her eyes wide with shock as she squealed, then fell, her arms flailing as Kody caught her.
He placed Tania on the ground too and she staggered toward his brother.
Chanti was next. He braced, ready to catch her.
A scream issued from the bedroom beyond the window. Something smashed.
“No! Chanti!” He glanced at his brother and future sister-in-law.
Neither of them would be able to help rescue Chanti. They needed to get out of here. “Marty, if you can, shift and take your mate back to the pack.”
Shifting into wolf form would make Marty’s injuries heal faster, but that was only if he could.
Marty nodded once. A horrible moan of pain rolled off him as his clothes ripped apart and a huge black wolf stood in his place.
Cries of alarm rang around them as people in the street saw what they were doing.
He didn’t have time to deal with them.
“Quick, Tania, get on his back and hold on,” he said, nudging her toward Marty.
The poor, pale girl nodded, then staggered as if she were about to fall over. With a glance up to the window, he lifted Tania and placed her on his brother’s back.
“Hold tight and don’t fall off,” he said, patting her hands.
“Thank you,” Tania whispered.
Marty lumbered down the street, limping and yelping as he tried to run. Kody cringed to see his brother in so much pain, but he needed to focus on his own mate. She was the one still in danger.
He turned back to the window. “Chanti!”
A growl ripped through him as his muscles bulged, readying for the shift.
One of her legs appeared, and then the other.
Relief washed over him as she jumped without a seeming thought, straight into his arms.
He pulled her tight to him and pressed his lips to hers.
Thank God.
A loud curse came from above them. A glass vase shattered beside them on the pavement. “Quick,” Chanti said, pulling away. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
“Jump on my back and hold on. Do not fall off.”
He didn’t wait for her to agree. He let the change take him over and dropped to his paws. Chanti jumped on his back and clenched his fur.
He took off through the streets, following his brother’s bloody footprints and odd smell.
People screeched and screamed, jumping out of his way. Food was thrown at them, so he took a shortcut, turning right and running straight down the main street.
They had to get out of New Orleans and back to the pack. He didn’t know what Tania’s family would do when they found them, but having a Voodoo priestess on their side had to be a good thing.
***
CHANTI KEPT HER EYES open and clung tight to the gray fur that covered the wolf she rode like a horse.
Her muscles ached as she clasped her thighs tight to his lean frame, the sheer thrill of running so fast making her heart pound like a bass drum.
How had she been so wrong about these creatures? They were majestic. Strong. Honorable.
Kody turned left and jumped over a log as they moved into the forest. She squealed and swallowed the sound.
She couldn’t be scared. She refused to be. She’d known her whole life there was a reason she hadn’t realized her full powers and potential. And this had to be it.
Her life partner was a wolf shifter. And her whole community had an inbuilt hatred for them.
This was going to be a harder road that any she’d traveled before.