Hella cursed herself as she sprinted along the promenade, weaving between people in a poor attempt to throw the somewhat annoyed looking wolf off her trail. She shouldn’t have dropped the bottle. The huge dark-haired shifter was a clever one, was far more intelligent than she had given him credit for. She risked a glance over her shoulder as she grabbed a female elf and shoved her into his path.
He didn’t even slow down.
He barged into the female, knocking her down, his sharp eyes more gold than steel-grey now as they remained locked on Hella. A shiver traipsed down her spine at the intensity of his gaze on her, the way his eyes brightened towards glowing gold, heating her blood and bewitching her.
She took it back.
There was another man in this world with eyes as enchanting and captivating as Ethyrian’s.
But that didn’t mean she was going to fall head over heels for the wolf.
She was going to make him fall head over heels.
She grinned as she swept her hand out behind her, magic surging to her fingertips as she chanted the incantation in her mind. A bright blue orb shot from her palm, rocketing towards him, and those stunning eyes widened.
He reacted impressively quickly, kicking off on his next step to propel himself to his right, behind the cover of two fair-haired fae males. The spell struck them instead, sending them flying like bowling pins, and they bellowed in unison as they tumbled through the air. Damn. She faced forwards again, pretending not to see the smug grin on the wolf’s face as he ran at her, and redoubled her efforts, her gaze leaping around to chart a course through the crowd that would give her the most cover.
She silently apologised to all the poor unsuspecting people as she wove through them, aware that the wolf was going to maintain his straight as an arrow course, knocking them out of the way. Their grunts as the wolf hit them filled her ears, churning her stomach and making her want to look back and yell an apology for the brute’s behaviour. She focused on outpacing him instead, while at the same time rattling through every incantation she knew in the hope she would find one that would be more useful.
And wouldn’t level half the town or harm innocent people.
Too many of the spells that would have removed him from her tail and freed her from his wrath involved ingredients, something she didn’t have at her disposal.
But she did have at her home.
If she could just put more distance between herself and the wolf, she could buy some time to put a proper spell together, one that would rid herself of him.
She glanced back again as a shriek sounded.
Wolf gruffly muttered, “Sorry.”
It didn’t stop the two females he had sent flying into a group of men from looking as if they wanted to claw his eyes out.
Hella summoned another spell as the crowd thinned, making it easier for the wolf to close in on her. Desperate times called for desperate measures. She had been through enough today without letting an angry wolf get his paws on her.
Her blood heated a little, an echo of the fire that had burned through her when he had demanded a kiss as his prize for freeing her from her shackles. Just the thought of him claiming her mouth with his firm lips ignited an inferno in her veins, one that had awareness of him growing stronger inside her, pulsing through her with every hard beat of her heart. She had come close to going through with kissing him, had been so bewitched by the thought of discovering just how a male like him would kiss that she had almost fallen back into his arms.
But there had been too much at stake.
If she had let him kiss her, it wouldn’t have stopped there.
The wolf thought she was his fated mate.
That couldn’t be good.
So she set her sights on a group of men ahead of her, completed the spell in her mind and felt the power of it flow to her hands. Twin orbs formed, violet and green that swirled together, and she hurled them at the unsuspecting group, stretching her hands out in front of her. She yanked her hands back as the spell hit two of the black-haired demons, dragging them towards her and then past her, hurling them at the wolf.
Roars sounded behind her, pure fury that had a cold shiver bolting down her spine now, and then a series of muffled grunts and wings beating the air. Wolf growled, his displeasure clear in it as his gaze caressed her back and she glanced over her shoulder at him.
He wrestled with the demons, taking blows as he attempted to break past them and continue his pursuit. The demons didn’t let up and she breathed a sigh of relief as the wolf turned his focus to dealing with them, his handsome face a mask of rage as he swung hard punches at his foes.
Hella faced forwards again, aware she didn’t have much time. Eventually, he would either lay the demons out cold or would escape them. She sprinted as fast as her tired legs would carry her, her wet black dress clinging to her thighs. The witches’ district loomed ahead of her, the elegant three-storey buildings a sight for sore eyes as she raced towards them. Colourful canopies stretched out into the street from each of them, the rich jewel tones a contrast to the cream, white and pastel façades. Her boots pounded the flagstones, her pace drawing curious gazes from the witches attending to their wares beneath the canopies, stirring copper pots and topping up crates of herbs and spices, or dealing with customers.
She could only imagine what she looked like. Wet dress. Damp hair. Running for her life. She was never going to live this one down. They would probably all think she had fallen in the lake or something equally as ridiculous. She could only imagine how dire the rumours would become if they saw the wolf chasing her. It wasn’t going to happen.
She banked right, down a narrow alleyway between two buildings, and crossed over the next street. When she reached the end of the next alley, she veered left and ran harder, forcing herself to keep going. Her home, a pastel blue townhouse with a cerulean canopy that was currently rolled up against the building to signal she was closed for business, came into view and she almost stumbled as relief blasted through her.
Hella skidded to a halt at the dark blue door set between the four windows on the ground floor and muttered the incantation to open it. The locks clicked, and she pushed the door open and slammed it behind her. The temptation to sink against it and catch her breath was strong as she stared at her shop, feeling safe now that she was home.
Only she wasn’t safe.
She forced herself to move, hurrying for the stairs at the back right of the room, beyond the long wooden counter. She took them two at a time, not slowing even when she reached her private floors.
She grabbed her favourite carpet bag, one she had enchanted a long time ago after watching a movie called Mary Poppins, and began tossing everything she might need into it. Bottles, jars, spell books, ink and a few clothes. She needed to cover all her bases. The bastard nymph would come for her again. She was sure of it. It wouldn’t take him long to figure out that she hadn’t drowned in the river.
She had to move house at the very least, and country at most. Maybe even spend some time in Hell until everything died down. She rushed back down the stairs to her shop and began grabbing more ingredients. You could never have too many, and who knew when she would be able to come back here. It might take months or years for her to rid herself of her pest problem.
The thought of leaving her home for that long—her business—had her stalling in the middle of the room and looking at her shop. An ache bloomed inside her, sorrow swift to sweep through her, and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to scream or cry.
Hella opted for screaming when the door behind her burst open.
She pivoted on her heel and locked up tight.
The wolf filled her doorway, his broad chest straining against his damp, dark grey Henley with each hard breath he sucked down. Mother earth, he was a big bastard. Far bigger than she had thought. He had to stoop to fit through the door, had to be over a foot taller than her five-seven. He growled as he panted, looking like a feral beast with all the scratches on his chest and in the dark stubble that coated his square jaw and the blood that stained him in places.
His eyes glowed gold in the low light, a fire in them that beckoned her together with his raw strength as he stepped into the room and straightened, sucking the air from her lungs.
Hella knew how the three little pigs felt now.
Because this wolf had just blown her house down.