Skye’s screams pealed through the air. She knew she was screaming, knew it wouldn’t keep the wolf from attacking, but she couldn’t seem to stop. She also couldn’t seem to move.
Jason had turned into a wolf. Right in front of her.
A great big motherfucking silver and gold wolf.
Fear, deeply ingrained, swept through her. An electric burn surged down her arms, into her hands. Before she could think what that meant, fire leapt from her fingertips towards the large wolf.
The wolf managed to twist out of the way of the flames, but she knew she’d singed it. Could smell the scent of burned fur.
She stopped screaming, the fear of her magic even greater than the fear of the wolf standing before her.
Fire leapt from her fingertips again.
The wolf whimpered and stepped closer. Blue flames lashed out at him, just missing him and singeing the carpet.
Skye, stop.
‘Skye, stop.’
She heard the two voices intertwining, Jason’s inside her head and Grandpa’s coming from right beside her.
Blue fire arced out of her fingers now in response. ‘I can’t. I can’t,’ she cried as the heat of the fire ran up her arms, expanding in her chest.
Breathe through it. Push it back.
She tried to listen to her grandpa’s words but it was so hard to hear past the roaring in her ears.
Oh God! She couldn’t make it stop.
Her eyes were burning now with the heat of the flame inside her and seeing the wolf whimpering in front of her, looking at her with Jason’s eyes, didn’t help. She knew it was him, didn’t want to hurt him, but he was a wolf, so like the large dog that had attacked her when she was younger, so much like River when he—
She clutched at her head as sharp, slicing pain stabbed into her mind. Something warm trickled from her nose as the pain intensified. Her vision went dark. Someone was screaming.
Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell.
Jason caught her as she went down, having made the change the moment she stopped shooting blue fire at him and clutched at her head.
The door behind him burst open.
‘What the hell happened?’
‘Can someone get a cool cloth?’ he snapped, carrying her to the bed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shelley and Bron at the door looking at the smouldering carnage, Adam standing behind them.
Shelley’s gaze darted to him and then to Skye as he laid her on the bed. ‘I’ll get my things. But when I come back, you’ve got some questions to answer.’ She turned, edging past Adam, careful not to touch him.
‘What are you doing here?’ Jason asked his brother as he wiped the hair from Skye’s sweat-soaked brow.
‘Bron called. Said you might need some back-up.’ He stepped into the room. ‘Whoa, I can see she was right. What the hell happened in here, Jase? Did she flame out again?’
‘No. She didn’t. Everything was fine. In fact, the second part of the mating ritual kicked in, even though I never intended it to.’
‘Shit. Well, congratulations?’
If he hadn’t been so worried about Skye, Jason would have laughed at his brother’s tone. But any comment he was going to make was cut off by Bron as she walked over and hit him across the head.
‘You’re mating to her and you haven’t told her what you are?’
Jason’s gaze darted accusingly to Adam, but Adam held up his hands in surrender and said, ‘I never told her. She guessed. She reads auras, among other things. Apparently ours were so animalistic she could almost see the outline of our wolves in them.’
‘And you don’t have a problem with this?’
Bron snorted. ‘I’m from an ancient Wiccan family who have links back to the covens who tied themselves to the Weres for protection. I’ve read the family grimoires—although, until I met you and Adam, I always thought they were an allegory of some kind. But after getting to know Adam, it was hard not to believe what was right in front of my eyes.’ Her attention focused on her friend once again. ‘I had no idea Skye was a Pack Witch. Although it does explain a lot.’
Jason’s mind spun as he processed this information. He hadn’t known there were people outside the Were and the Were covens who might know about them and their histories. ‘Okay. So you know a lot more than I ever thought you might. But can you help Skye?’
‘It depends on what you did.’
‘Why do you think it was something I did?’
She shook her head at him. ‘Do you think I’m an idiot?’
‘I don’t know you well enough to think you anything.’
She snorted at that. ‘Yes, well, whatever you may think of me or Wiccans in general, we do know about power even though we might not have any we can truly call our own.’ She edged closer and reached out to touch Skye.
He growled at her.
She snatched her hand back, shooting him a look of outrage. ‘I’m not going to hurt her.’
‘I’m sorry.’ He looked away. ‘I know you’re her friend, but when she’s so helpless like this, my wolf can’t help but be a little protective.’
Bron huffed out a laugh. ‘I don’t think it’s just the wolf.’ She looked at Skye. ‘As I was saying, ever since I’ve known Skye, she’s kept her powers bound because she’s afraid of them and what they can do. There is no way she would let them loose like she just did without provocation. So, I ask again, what did you do?’
Jason ran his hand through his hair, looking down at his mate. ‘I was trying to tell her about myself, but it was like she couldn’t hear me, or didn’t want to. So, I thought the best thing to do was to show her.’
‘Why are men such idiots?’ Shelley asked as she marched into the room with a first-aid kit in one hand, his clothes in the other. She threw them at him. ‘You changed into a wolf in front of her? It’s no wonder she spat fire at you.’
Jason’s hackles rose at her tone and he had to stop himself from growling. Instead, he stood and pulled his jocks and jeans on. ‘Why do you think that caused it? She’s seen Weres changing before. Her own mother and her brother used to change in front of her all the time and even though her memories seem to be blocked from her, I know they’re in there somewhere. Otherwise, how on earth did she know how to channel her power into me up at the snow? I just don’t understand why she’d react with such fear.’
‘She’s frightened of big dogs, you moron,’ Shelley snarled, picking up Skye’s wrist to check her pulse.
‘What?’
‘She was attacked by something big and wolf-like when she was younger,’ Bron said.
‘When did this happen?’
‘When she was a child,’ Shelley said, placing Skye’s wrist on her chest and then lifting her lids to check her pupils. ‘For all we know, it could have been one of your kind she remembers going after her and her brother.’
‘Impossible. A Were would never attack a witch, let alone a Pack Witch. Her existence is more than precious to us: it’s essential.’
‘Fine,’ Shelley said. ‘But she was still attacked by a big dog, like a German shepherd or something. So it’s no wonder she completely freaked out when she saw you turning into one. Why you didn’t think to come to us to find out about Skye is beyond me.’
‘That’s what Adam was doing.’
‘Well, he was really bad at it. You should have sent someone a little less annoying.’
‘Can you stop shouting? My head is killing me.’
‘Skye!’
Skye winced as her name was shouted at her by four voices. The bed dipped beside her and then cool hands were on her forehead while her hand was clasped in a warm, firm grip.
She knew the cool hands were Shelley’s, but the other hands—those hands had touched her last night, all over, bringing so much pleasure.
This morning, she’d seen them transform into paws.
Skye shot upright on the bed and away from that warm grip. Eyes wide, nostrils flared, she clasped her hands to her chest, crouching, ready to spring away at the first sign of attack.
But there was no attack.
Jason sat on the edge of the bed, Bron and Adam behind him. There was no sign of the big wolf.
‘Skye?’
Her head whipped around to see Shelley standing beside her. Then her gaze returned to Jason. ‘You were a wolf.’
‘It’s okay, Skye. He won’t change again, will you Jason?’
Skye’s gaze darted between them, Shelley’s words confirming what she’d seen hadn’t been the product of a nightmare. ‘You changed into a wolf,’ she repeated, needing him to confirm it.
Jason nodded.
Skye gasped in a breath and turned to Shelley. ‘And you knew he could do that?’
Shelley nodded. ‘Bron told me, last night. She’s known about Adam and his brother since not long after meeting Adam.’
Her gaze shot to Bron. ‘You knew they were warlocks and yet you let them be around me? How could you?’
‘They’re not warlocks, Skye. They’re Were.’
Skye clutched her head as pain spiked through her again. ‘He used that word.’ She refused to look at Jason, let alone say his name. She was afraid if she did, the fear would make her power flare out again. ‘Is it some fancy word used for a magic user that I don’t know about?’
‘He isn’t a magic user.’
‘Then how was he able to change into a wolf?’
‘Don’t you remember, Skye?’
She shook her head against the sound of his gentle voice. ‘No. You don’t get to talk to me. In fact, you can’t be here. I can’t be around magic users. It’s too dangerous. I want you to go. You and your brother.’
‘I can’t go until you understand.’
‘Get out,’ she shouted, clutching at her aching head. ‘Get out. Get out. Get out!’
Still, he didn’t budge.
Heat tingled in her fingertips. She looked down at them. Blue fire sparked there. ‘Oh God. Oh God. It’s happening again.’
Skye. Calm down. Breathe.
She tried to do as her grandpa told her, but it made no difference. ‘I can’t. I can’t.’
Shelley. Grab her hands. It’ll help ground her. The fire isn’t enough to hurt you yet.
‘Okay,’ Shelley said, leaning forward to grab Skye’s hands. The burning, tingling sensation abated.
Skye jerked, looking at her friend to whisper, ‘Did you hear that?’
Shelley nodded.
‘You can hear him?’
‘Hear who?’ Jason asked, his eyes narrowing.
Shelley rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘It’s not something I talk about. I usually block myself from those spirits who reach out. I don’t like it. But your grandpa—he’s kind of loud.’
Skye’s mouth hung open. ‘Are you saying that’s not the spell voice? That it’s actually my grandpa? And you can hear him?’
Shelley nodded again, wincing. ‘Yeah. But don’t make a thing of it. I don’t.’
Tell her what you see, Shelley.
‘Her grandpa wants me to tell you about what I see in her,’ she said, for the benefit of the others.
‘I don’t know if I want to hear this,’ Skye muttered.
Just listen. This is important.
‘I don’t know if I believe you’re real.’
It doesn’t matter right now if you believe I’m real, love. All that matters is you believe your friends.
Shelley gripped Skye’s hand, gave it a shake. ‘I know you don’t believe that magic can be good. I know you shun magic. But one of the reasons we were drawn to you in the first place—despite your surliness—was because of the power in you.’ She smiled affectionately.
Skye didn’t return her smile.
She hurried on. ‘Back then, we hardly knew what any of this meant other than what we’d overheard from our grandmothers. But even as ignorant as we were, we couldn’t help picking up on the power that seeped out of you, seemingly without your knowledge or consent.’
‘But, that’s not possible,’ Skye protested. ‘Grandpa’s repression spell has been fully functional until that day at the snow. There’s no way I could have been leaking any kind of power. It was well and truly locked away.’
‘Believe me. It’s never been fully locked away. Changed, suppressed, yes, but not completely hidden. But it’s got worse since you met him.’ Shelley glanced over at Jason then Adam, her mouth thinning as she saw Adam’s amused grin.
Skye pulled her hand out of Shelley’s grip, betrayal a tight band on her chest. ‘I want you to go. All of you.’
Let her finish, love.
‘What else is there to say? He’s a warlock. Shelley and Bron knew and didn’t say anything. I can’t trust any of you.’
Don’t jump to wrong conclusions. Listen to her, love.
‘That’s not what’s going on.’
‘I think you’re losing your touch, Jase.’
‘He’s not a warlock, he’s a Were.’
The voices pummelled at her, Grandpa, Shelley, Adam, Bron, all at once. The only person who didn’t talk was Jason.
‘Aren’t you going to defend yourself?’ Her voice, twisted and bitter, hardly sounded like her own. ‘Don’t you have some excuse to make?’
Jason, who hadn’t moved from where he’d been sitting on the edge of the bed, just shook his head. ‘You didn’t remember, even when I showed you, so I don’t see how saying anything right now is going to make any difference.’
He sounded defeated, lost. And at that sound, the anger in her died.
‘You’re not going to try and convince me you’re not a warlock?’
‘I’m not a warlock. I’m a Were. I have a second natural form—that of a wolf.’
Skye swallowed hard. ‘As in werewolf?’
He nodded. ‘It might seem magical, but for too many centuries it was a curse. Then a pact was made with witches and warlocks to save us both, and their magic turned that curse into a blessing, one that allowed us to change at will, to live in harmony with our wolves. So while I am filled with magic, that magic isn’t mine. It’s yours to give.’
‘I haven’t given you anything.’
Bron grabbed her hand. ‘That’s what Shelley is trying to tell you. You did give him the power. Up at the snow. The thing you thought was the flu wasn’t.’ She turned to Jason. ‘She flamed out, didn’t she? When you slept with her that first time?’
He nodded, his misery so obvious Skye felt its touch.
Shelley shook her head at him. ‘Typical male, taking what you want with no thought to the consequences.’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
Shelley opened her mouth to respond but Bron butted in. ‘This isn’t time for recriminations, Shelley. We have to think what’s best for Skye. It doesn’t matter if we don’t like how they went about it, she needs their help.’
‘I don’t need their help,’ Skye said, edging further away from all of them.
‘Yes, you do. If you don’t want to get sick again, you need to listen to what they’ve got to tell you and try to believe. I don’t want to push you, but I think Jason has a story to tell you of your past. And it’s in your best interests that you listen to what he has to say.’
Trust your friends, love. You need to hear this. For yourself. For River.
Tentatively, trembling because what she was about to do went against everything she’d been brought up to believe, she nodded. She didn’t know if she could trust the voice that Shelley said was actually her grandpa, but she did trust her friends. They might not fully understand the danger that was her magic, but they had never forced her to go against her will. They had her best interests at heart.
‘Grandpa is saying I need you to tell me your story. That it will help me and River.’ She looked at Shelley, who nodded her approval. ‘Is that true?’
‘River? Your twin, River? He’s alive?’