My heart leapt in my chest. After seeing Willow and Luna so happy with their mates, it was hard not to imagine what it would be like to find mine.
But then my eyes connected with Barrett’s, and I felt my stomach drop. Ilikedhim. A lot. It was getting harder to deny that. What would happen if he found his mate, and then I had to say goodbye? I hated even thinking it.
Trying to shake the thought away, I turned back to the conversation.
“But the full moon is only a few days away. Can we even get everything ready by then? Breaking the wards will require a lot of precise magic,” Willow said. Damien crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a look that said,over my dead body.“…And I’m not exactly sure I can participate in this condition.” She waved a hand to her growing belly. I could only imagine how much strain it was on your body to grow a child, let alone to use that much magic as well. And she was seven months along now, with an adorable little waddle and a bump that couldn’t be hidden.
“I’m sure we can find someone to fill in for you,” Cait said, closing the grimoire and turning her attention to me. Or, rather… the man behind me.
“Why is she looking at me?” He mumbled in my ear, and I looked back at him.
Cait nodded to herself. “Yeah. You’ll do. Maybe even better than one of us.”
Barrett shoved his hands in his pockets. “Well… We were always taught that witches gave us our wolves,” he shared with all of them. He’d told me this before, and I still thought the idea was incredible. “That they unlocked this ability within us. I don’thave magic like you all do, but I’ll do whatever I can to help. In a way, we’re all linked. Whatever the reason your ancestors had for sealing the town off, I suspect it was much bigger than just humans persecuting witches.”
“You think whatever is attacking the wards now was after us back then?”
My wolf man just shrugged. “It’s plausible, though I doubt it. If it’s been living nearby, feeding off the magic of the wards… We would have known sooner if it had been here for centuries.” He looked between all of us. “The barriers between worlds are growing thinner. I think this one isn’t from ours at all.”
A shiver ran down my spine.Death,he’d said once. Gods, I didn’t even want to think like that.
“Do you know of a creature that can do that?” Willow asked. “Feed off of magic?”
His eyes met mine. “Only one.” The words were ominous, and I hated the way a trickle of fear ran down my spine. That didn’t sound good. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. “I’ve been going through every bestiary I can find in town and…” The room quieted as the candles flickered more intensely, the smell of the sage we were burning filling the room. He shook his head. “It’s not good. I’m going to keep looking, though. I hope I’m wrong.”
I breathed deep, trying to push the negative thoughts out of my mind. Too many what if’s plagued me. What if we did this, and something terrible happened to the town? What if the monster attacked when the barrier came down?
“Don’t we need to make a plan for putting new wards back up? We can’t just leave the town open to attacks.” If this thing was whatever Barrett feared, then we were in trouble.
Cait scooped up the book. “Leave that to me. I’m going to spend the next few days studying these and then figure out a spell that will keep all the beings that wish to do us harmout. Barrett, do you think you can find whatever is out there, infecting the barrier?”
He dipped his head. “I have a pretty good idea where to start looking. And my partner is coming to town for backup. Between the two of us, well should be able to take care of it. There’s not much that can stand a chance against both of us.” I was pretty sure he was talking about his hunter friend, though he hadn’t given me specifics.
“Anything you need,” Damien said to the ginger haired man at my side. “I’m here, too. And my brother is just a call away.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Barrett said, though he was staring directly at me. “Anything to keep the town safe.”
Though I had a feelingthe town, in this case, really meant me.
I couldn’t decide how I felt about that.
“Mmm.” I cozied up next to Barrett on the couch a few hours later, after our little coven meeting had been disbanded and everyone had gone home.
Cait had the spell book—along with a few more things Rina and Wendy had found in their grandma’s attics that she thought would help her figure out the magic behind it, and I felt better, just knowing we had a plan. Roping the rest of the coven in was the right move, even though I felt anxious over the idea of anyone getting hurt because we’d involved them in this mess.
Right now, I didn’t want to think about any of that. Not when my entire body was practically buzzing with awareness, begging for his touch. Right now, I didn’t need words. I just wantedhim. Every look, every small touch this evening, had just made me want him even more.
I ran my hand down his front, popping open the buttons on his shirt as I went.
“What are you doing?” He whispered as I kissed one of his pecs, and then the other.
“I want you,” I said, knowing I wasn’t above begging. “You haven’t touched me. Not since that night.”
His eyes softened, like he knew exactly what I was talking about. “But I hurt you.” He slid his hand into my hair, cupping my cheek. Barrett’s thumb stroked my skin, and it was almost like I could feel the turmoil within him.
I shook my head. “You didn’t.” I took his hand in mine, kissing his palm. “Please. I don’t regret it. Not one bit. And I don’t want you to, either.”
His hand slid around the back of my neck as he kissed me softly, tenderly. Like I was something precious. Something he wanted to keep.
