“YES! I KNEW it had to happen sooner or later,” Soraya said.
“What’s going to happen?” Muezza asked.
“A witch ceremony! I hope it involves a spell. I was so disappointed when I realized we missed the one they cast to call their mates to their sides. It almost makes me feel as if we’re not needed.”
“Please,” Bygul said. “Just because the spell called on their mates doesn’t mean they’ll actually recognize them when they appear. Take Natalie, for example. She’s completely oblivious. So is the wolf, by the way.”
“What wolf?” Tivali asked.
“What do you mean what wolf? The one she ate dinner with last night!”
“They weren’t together last night,” Tivali said. “She ate with her coven. It was just coincidence the wolves were there at all.”
“Besides, Jared’s already mated to Pippa,” Soraya said. “Ooooh, are you saying he has two mates? I mean, he is the alpha.”
“Not Jared,” Bygul exclaimed exasperatedly. “Corwin.”
“The beta wolf?” Muezza exclaimed.
“Of course.”
“Why in the world would you think they’re mates?” Tivali asked. “They don’t even like each other.”
“She’s right, Bygul,” Muezza said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure she’s understating the case.”
“Haven’t you ever heard the phrase enemies-to-lovers?” Bygul demanded.
“No,” Tivali, Soraya and Muezza chorused.
“It’s a human thing. Apparently it’s quite common.”
“That can’t be right,” Tivali said.
“And if it is,” Muezza said, “it just proves my point.”
“What point?” Bygul asked.
“Humans are weird.”
* * *
Corwin barely got any sleep the night before, which was why he was incredibly grumpy the next morning when his alarm went off before the sun had even begun to lighten the sky.
The rest of the pack was in good spirits, excited to be invited to a witch’s ceremony on coven land.
Personally, Corwin could have skipped it all, but since that wasn’t an option, he dragged his grumpy ass out of bed and reported for best friend duty once more. “You owe me big,” he informed his alpha as they stood on coven land, waiting for the witches to finish setting up their ‘circle of power.’
Corwin had rolled his eyes when Natalie shooed them back so the witches could begin its construction and now he rolled his eyes again when she pronounced it finished. “Just looks like a bunch of rocks to me,” he muttered.
Natalie glared at him, then clapped her hands. “Pippa and Jared in the center of the circle, facing each other.”
Everyone chuckled as Pippa’s kitten, Hocus Purrcus, pranced beside them into the circle.
Pippa and Jared faced each other and Hocus Purrcus set himself up between Pippa’s legs, staring up at Jared, almost like a guard cat, watching for weaknesses.
“Hmm, that’s fine,” Natalie said, “but step back a bit, both of you. Leave enough space for the power to flow between you.”
Corwin snorted and mouthed the words “Let the power flow between you,” to his alpha, who simply flipped him off behind his mate’s back.
“Corwin,” Natalie snapped, “and witches,” her voice softened when addressing her coven, “form a circle around them, just outside the circle of power.”
Heaving a sigh, Corwin went to stand just outside the circle of rocks at a point where he could continue to make eye contact with his alpha and mock the proceedings at will.
Unfortunately, Natalie immediately ruined his plans by moving everyone around until he stood directly across the circle from her, with the other six witches positioned an equal distance from each other filling out the circle.
The only way he’d be able to make eye contact with Jared now was if Jared managed to take his eyes off his mate and turned his head ninety degrees toward Corwin.
Since that wasn’t likely to happen, the only one Corwin was in danger of making eye contact with now was Natalie herself.
“Everyone else,” Natalie raised her voice to be heard over the murmurings of the gathered wolves. “Create a second circle of power around the Coven. Come along now, don’t be shy.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Corwin’s packmates slowly filled in a secondary circle.
The moment the last person got into place, Natalie raised her arms toward the sky and said, “For Pippa and Jared, standing within this circle of power, we ask for the greatest of blessings.”
A couple twitters and shuffling feet told Corwin he wasn’t the only one who thought this was nonsense.
Why these witches, who had an incredible amount of power, wasted their time with silly rituals and ceremonies like this, he’d never understand.
“Silence is the first requirement for a blessing of this magnitude.” Natalie’s voice boomed across the clearing, and as if by her will alone, silence fell. “For our sister and her chosen mate, we offer these blessings and these gifts.”
“May your mating weather all the storms that come its way,” Tempest’s voice rose and with it, the air became charged with electricity.
The hair on Corwin’s arms rose, then the tension broke with a loud crack of thunder, followed by the snap of a lightning bolt that slammed into the ground barely an inch from where Jared and Pippa stood.
Six more lightning strikes hit the ground in quick succession, creating a circle of scorched earth around the couple.
“May your mating live beyond the scope of death,” Morana called out, her voice rising to echo across the field. “May it rise again and again to flourish in lifetime after lifetime. May it knit your souls together as one, so that death is never a true end, but simply a journey into eternal life.”
From beneath the charred soil, directly behind where Pippa stood on one side and Jared stood on the other, blackened vines rose, snaking around and around, creating a small wall around them.
“May your mating be blessed with passion and love,” the voice was barely a whisper, yet Corwin heard it perfectly.
It was the Coven member who rarely spoke. Amari, he thought Pippa called her.
Oh, shit.
Hadn't Jared said the shy witch was the one who had set off that sex magic bomb at the diner a while back?
A strong gust of wind rushed by, sending leaves flying through the air.
Those leaves swept into the space between Jared and Pippa and hovered there, spinning round and round before blowing outward with such force, the couple swayed, though some unknown force kept them upright, while Corwin—
He jerked his head up, heat spiraling through him as a scent like none other barreled past, and Natalie caught his attention.
She stood directly across from him, that stupid staff she always carried gripped in one hand as she whipped it through the air before tossing it to the other hand and continuing the weave.
As she worked her magic, the red jewels at either end of her staff glowed brighter and brighter.
Bright green eyes blinked and that’s when Corwin realized a white cat was weaving with the staff, directly under it.
The cat wasn’t even looking up at the staff, but was somehow moving with it, as if following a dance routine only it and the staff knew.
He knew Natalie was powerful—of course, he did.
He was a beta wolf, after all, trained to recognize any potential threats to the pack.
And regardless of what others might believe, Natalie of no last name, High Witch of the Zero Cum Laude Coven, was a cauldron of power.
He figured it was why she set him on edge every time he was around her. Because he could sense the power boiling beneath her skin and couldn’t stand the thought of it so close to the vulnerable of his pack.
Still, knowing she was powerful and seeing it were two different things.
Watching her now, he could feel the rising power of the spell she was weaving with elegance and grace.
He couldn't look away.
Even more disturbing was how riveted his wolf was. Almost as if—
“No fucking way!” His voice shattered the evening air as his wolf finally let slip the truth it had known from the moment they met Natalie for the very first time.
This crazy, powerhouse of a witch, the one who drove him mad with her superior attitude and abundance of arrogance, was his mate.
* * *
An hour later, Natalie was still seething.
Was it too much to ask that the wolf respect their rituals and ceremonies? After all, her coven had been perfectly respectful at the wolves’ den two weekends before when they were celebrating their alpha’s mating wolf-style.
Sure, the witches could have done their ceremony at that time, but waiting gave the ceremony more power, as did holding it on their own lands, for they were imbued with the power of the entire coven and all of Natalie’s line.
“Aw, come on, Natalie, cut the poor wolf a break,” Tempest said. “He apologized, didn’t he?”
Natalie scowled. “Not the point.”
“He said it had nothing to do with the ceremony, he just got an unexpected text, that’s all.”
“He didn’t even have his phone out at the time.”
“You were busy casting the blessing,” Tempest said. “You might have missed it.”
“I didn’t miss anything. He’s a jerk. In fact—” Natalie leaned over and scooped up the cat she’d named Moonbeam. “Sweet love,” she murmured in her ear, “maybe you can go have a little bit of fun with the wolf. You know… vengeful fun.” She set the cat back down and, with a huge grin on her face, watched her dart away.
“Seriously?” Tempest demanded. “Was that really necessary?”
“Hell, yes,” Natalie said. “And you’d think so too if it was one of your father’s minions—or worse, that chameleon who’s been trying to charm you.”
Tempest scowled. “Don’t remind me.”
“Then don’t judge me for seeking a bit of vengeance on the wolf.”
“I’m just saying since Pippa seems to have forgiven him, maybe you should too.”
“When pigs fly.”
* * *
“Man, that witch is pissed at you,” Rocco said.
Corwin winced.
Yeah, he’d seriously fucked everything up and he had no idea how to fix it.
“What the hell’s wrong with you anyway?” Sal demanded. “You’ve been in a terrible mood for more than a month and now you’re cursing in the middle of our alpha’s mate-blessing, witch-thingy?”
Rocco snickered. “Witch-thingy?”
Sal shrugged. “Well, what would you call it?”
Rocco thought about that for a moment, then said, “I guess witch-thingy will do.”
“That’s what I thought,” Sal said. “So come on, fess up. What’s your deal, Corwin?”
Before Corwin could even decide whether he wanted to share, a white blur leapt onto the table and raced past, sending Corwin’s beer flying.
Only his quick reflexes saved him.
He managed to bat the cup away, which sent the beer cascading over the table and onto the empty bench beside him.
Better than his lap, he supposed, except now he had no beer and the pack was showing no signs of letting up on their interrogation.
“Yes, fess up.” Mallory stepped up to the picnic table, eyed the beer that was dripping from the table and bench, then walked around to the opposite side and settled next to her mate, Warren.
This pack had no concept of privacy.
Didn’t they realize Corwin had retreated there to brood? Alone?
Of course, they did. Didn’t change a thing, though, considering they were all practically salivating to know what had come over him during the witch-thingy.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to share, Mallory,” Warren said, probably just to get on her nerves since for some idiotic reason, they loved giving each other shit.
Mallory’s response was simply an elbow to Warren’s gut and an expectant look on her face as she faced Corwin. “Well?”
He sighed.
They’d find out about it eventually, so he might as well admit how badly he’d fucked up.
“I found my mate.”
Smiles broke out across his fellow packmembers’ faces.
“But that’s great, Corwin!” Mallory exclaimed.
“Not really,” he said glumly.
A flash of white had him dodging to the left and the cat that had been aimed at the back of his head sailed over his shoulder.
Somehow the demon cat twisted her body mid-air and managed to score a line across his right cheek as she landed on the table.
She didn’t even hesitate before launching herself again, this time straight at his face, claws fully extended.
Corwin let out a shout and jerked back, falling completely off the bench.
He lay there, stunned, staring up at the white demon-cat who sat smugly on the picnic table, staring down at him.
That’s when he realized his entire pack was laughing so hard, some of them were on the ground with him.
“The look on your face,” Sal howled, rolling back and forth on the ground. “Tell me someone got that on video.”
The worst part wasn’t even the fall backwards.
It was that Corwin now lay with his legs over the damn bench and his upper body on the ground, with no way to extricate himself gracefully. “Damn cat.” He started to pull himself up, but then froze when he realized exactly which part of him the cat was staring at.
He let out a growl of pure menace. “Don’t even think about it, you mangy furball. I’ll have you roasted over a fire pit in two point nine seconds.”
A loud gasp made him close his eyes in horror.
“What is wrong with you?”
Though he desperately wanted to avoid looking, he slowly opened his eyes to see Natalie standing over him, hands on hips. “You’re an ass and a bully.” She snatched up her cat and whirled away.
“Hey! Your cat attacked me,” Corwin scrambled to his feet, not even worried about the lack of grace involved now that his mate wasn’t watching. “And frankly, she was eyeing my balls like they were full of catnip.”
Natalie froze mid-step, her shoulders trembling for a moment.
Corwin narrowed his eyes.
Was she crying or was she laughing?
“I’m certain Moonbeam would have zero interest in your mangy wolf-balls.”
Oh, yeah, she was laughing, all right.
After delivering that cutting remark, Natalie stalked away, leaving Corwin speechless and aggravated as hell that he’d once again managed to piss off his mate.
“I think I figured out who his mate is,” Rocco said, laughter in his voice.
“Don’t even say it,” Sal said. “No one could be that stupid. Or that unlucky.”
Corwin groaned and retook his seat at the picnic table. “Apparently, I can.” Seriously. He had the worst luck.
“I don’t get it,” Mallory said. “How can finding your mate be unlucky?”
“Because it’s the witch,” Sal said.
Her eyes widened in horror. “Which one? Tell me your mate isn’t the one whose familiar you just threatened.”
“I’m doomed,” Corwin groaned.
“No way!” Clarissa’s voice rang out across the field.
Corwin whirled and glared at his sister. “Rissa, don’t you dare—”
But it was too late.
She was already making a beeline for the nearest group of wolves.
He groaned and banged his head down on the picnic table.
Every single member of the pack would know in about fifteen minutes and then he’d never hear the end of it.
How he’d screwed up his own mating by—
“Corwin Anthony O’Neill!” The shout cut through the evening air and made his shout earlier seem like a whisper.
Corwin groaned and lifted his head just in time to see all his packmates scatter.
“Cowards!” He hissed after them, vowing vengeance the next time he saw them.
Rissa would be the first one to feel his wrath.
He couldn’t believe she’d gone to their mother.
“Tell me it isn’t true, young man.” His mother settled across from him and glared.
“What isn’t true?”
“Tell me that you didn’t just ruin your chances with your fated mate!”
Corwin sighed. “First of all, could you please keep your voice down? No sense in making things worse than they already are, is there?”
She stared at him in horror. “How could you be so stupid? I thought we raised you better than this.”
“Now, Marjorie.”
Thank the wolf gods, his father was there. Hopefully he could reason with his—
“I’m sure the boy has a perfectly logical explanation for why he would disrespect his fated mate in such a blatant manner.”
Great.
Now his father had joined his mother on the other side of the picnic table and they were both glaring at him.
“I didn’t know she was my mate, now did I?” Corwin growled.
“That shouldn’t matter,” his mother snapped. “We raised you to be polite and accepting, not judgmental and rude.”
Corwin sighed and sat back. Might as well get comfortable since this was going to take a while.
An hour later, his ears were ringing from the endless lecturing.
Eventually, his packmates took pity on him and started swinging by the table with entirely made-up reasons for needing his input on this issue or that situation.
Not that Corwin was willing to forgive them their abandonment in the first place, especially since their efforts took entirely too long to make a difference.
In the beginning, his mother just shooed them along, but eventually, she gave up and the lecture portion of the evening was finally over.
With one last admonishment to, “Make things right. Immediately!” his parents left him to his misery.
As soon as they were out of sight, Jared and Pippa, who had stayed far from the drama up until that point, joined him at the table.
“Is it true?” Pippa asked. “Are you Natalie’s mate?”
He nodded glumly. “How bad is it, do you think?”
She winced. “You might want to consider letting go of any hopes or dreams you once had of a happily ever after with your fated mate.”
He groaned.
“Then again,” Pippa said, obviously trying to cheer him up, “even though your chances are pretty close to zero, it could still happen. After all, we live in a town called Zero, so that has to count for something.”
* * *
Corwin stayed at the picnic table and waited as the party slowly died down.
Of course, his packmates took their own sweet time leaving.
It was as if they knew he was waiting for an opportunity to speak with Natalie in private, so they lingered just to torture him.
More like they were hoping he’d give up on the idea of privacy and grovel in full view of the pack.
Like that would ever happen.
So he waited and snarled every time one of his disrespectful packmates stopped by to smile or snicker at his very obvious impatience.
Eventually—finally—they all left.
One by one, even the witches went back inside the coven house and then it was just Natalie and Corwin.
“Finally,” Natalie muttered.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Corwin said as he stretched to his feet.
Natalie let out a yelp of surprise, then glared at him. “What are you still doing here?”
He grinned at her. “Waiting for an opportunity to speak with you in private.”
“We have nothing to talk about. Now go away, wolf-boy.”
He groaned. “Come on, Natalie. Just let me explain.”
She sniffed in derision. “Explain what? Why you’re such a jerk? No one cares, least of all me.” With that, she stormed inside the coven house and slammed the door behind her.
“Damn.”