Magic Bound Page 2

  "Back!" the warlock shouts. "Back, all of you!"

  I lift my head. He stares at me. Though human, his acid green eyes bore into me.

  I retreat from the sickness. The others do the same. Breathing the fresher air, I struggle to maintain my footing on the snow. But I can't stop now.

  I turn to Matthew. Cayden and Remo circle our prey. Matthew's hackles rise. Blood runs down his mouth. He's bitten Remo, who bleeds from his shoulder and growls in pain. The sight of Matt explodes rage in me. I charge as he faces Cayden, struggling to keep my quivering legs working, as Everly joins me with the Savage snapping at her tail.

  I leap onto Matt's back, digging claws into tough hide. Cayden locks his jaws on the bigger wolf's neck. Remo pulls at Matt's back leg. We'll rip him apart. Matt growls, this time in pain, and with a heave, shoves Cayden off his neck. It barely bleeds. As I watch, the wound starts to close.

  Why is he so strong? Even I'm not much good against him.

  I slip back as Matt charges Cayden, jaws open and ready to tear out his organs. I land as snow takes up my vision. Black fur and red highlights roll towards me and stops. Cayden lies on his back, stunned.

  I growl a warning and spring to my feet. Get up.

  Matt closes in on Cayden, eyeing his exposed belly and determined to rip out his organs. Everly and I charge, sinking teeth into each of Matt's sides. The huge wolf lowers to the ground, protecting himself, as Everly and I dig into flesh, drawing blood. I claw at his side, determined to roll him over and tear out his heart. But he refuses to move. It's almost as if he's waiting.

  Watch out. Remo's thoughts explode in my head, distracting me.

  The warlock's footsteps approach.

  "Et Partitus!"

  He has a deep, terrifying voice. I lift my head. He stands feet away. Something flies, giving off smoke, and descends on us. I back away from Matt, expecting more toxic herbs, and Everly and Matt separate, too, dodging the incoming cloth bag. It lands where we fought a second before, smoking and fizzling. A gunpowder scent fills the air.

  Brie! Cayden springs up and rushes me, jumping over the bag. The black wolf, my mate, slams into me with enough force to throw me back into the deepening snow.

  And then the bag explodes, tossing Cayden to the side.

  Cayden's dark form flies over me, doing side flips. Time slows. A ripple of sadness and terror sweeps through me.

  In that moment, I'm almost sure he's dead.

  But Cayden yelps when he reaches the ground and rolls, absorbing the impact. He stirs, pushing himself up, but I feel no relief. Something feels wrong.

  I face the warlock. He still holds the first smoking bag of herbs before him, keeping every Wolf away, and I know I can't reach him without getting poisoned. He backs to the trees, not missing a step as his black robe swishes around him.

  What has he done to Cayden?

  Why am I full of sadness when he's still alive?

  Cayden whirls and charges the warlock. He wants blood. But he veers as he approaches.

  Matt rises from the snow. Alesha screams as he passes her, leaving her alone, and snaps at Remo one last time before bolting toward the trees.

  I watch him go as he bounds with incredible speed. The other Savage follows and they both disappear into the pines, leaving quaking branches in their wake. The warlock is the last to go, backing into the gloom and leaving Alesha behind.

  This whole thing was a trap.

  And now the warlock has done something terrible to the pack.

  Chapter Two

  Alesha screams again, now surrounded by wolves. Like the people at the dance in October, she doesn't realize we're here to help. I've gotten used to that reaction.

  She sounds a million miles away. I look to Cayden, who's stopped near the tree line. He's all that matters right now. I run to him as his scent fills my lungs. It's still alive and vibrant, full of the wilds. Stopping before him, I sniff his coat for any sign of blood. None. The impact didn't cause any open wounds.

  He looks back at me with deep hazel eyes. I'm okay, Brie. His voice echoes in my mind. Cayden shakes. He sniffs the air, searching for any sign of Matt and the warlock. The look he gives me tells me we're good to shift back, dress, and free Alesha.

  Are you sure? I think. But he doesn't answer. I sniff, too. The revolting Savage scent has faded to an echo. The three have fled, including the warlock. And I know without pursuing them we can't catch up to Matt.

  This was a trap for sure.

  Cayden bolts back to our original hiding spot. His woodsy scent remains, though the sad feeling, not unlike the time his father died, lingers inside me like a heavy, unpleasant meal. Though thrown by the exploding bag of herbs, he shows no ill effects. But I can't let my guard down.

  "Alesha!" Leonora shouts, running into the clearing at last. Why didn't she help fight the warlock? "I'll untie you. Stop screaming. Yeah. The wolves are fine. Just stop screaming for a min—"

  I run after Cayden. Everly and Remo do the same.

  "What is going on here?" The disgust in Alesha's voice rolls over us. First Matthew, naked, and then a ritual, and then wolves, and now the weird girl at school will untie her. Leonora's in for a fight.

  Cayden vanishes into the trees.

  We follow, leaving Leonora with the worst.

  "Did you set this up?" Alesha shouts. "Is this a prank?"

  "No. I swear. I'll explain if—"

  "You freak!"

  Diving into the trees, I brush past pine needles as I find my coat, lying under a tree and open like a soft bed. The others turn back in the underbrush nearby, popping and stretching. In the dark, the rest of the pack are shifting shadows. Standing over my coat, I reach for the human inside. The thought of Alesha speeds the transformation. I'm still self-conscious of my nudity in front of regular humans. Joints pop and skin pulls as I stretch, and the cold wraps around my bare, furless body as I straighten, pulling the coat around myself and then pull my boots back on. At least it's thick.

  "Better," Cayden says, walking up and buttoning his long coat. Remo and Everly dress behind us while Leonora keeps trying to calm Alesha down.

  "You witch!" Alesha shouts. "You're with them!"

  "Be quiet or they might come back," Leonora says. My hearing picks up her nerves.

  "Maybe she shouldn't have gone out there with that leather sack," Everly mumbles.

  "Cayden, are you okay?" I ask. The lingering despair fades by the minute, but it reminds me too much of the time the old alpha died.

  "I'm fine," Cayden says. "That bomb just threw me a few feet."

  "I think it did more than that," I say, drawing close to him.

  The sounds of rope rubbing rope follows. Leonora's untying Alesha. Through my hearing's dulled in human form, I can still detect noise better than a regular person.

  "You're free," Leonora says.

  "Now I'm calling Tiffanie and I'm getting out of here," Alesha huffs. She storms across the clearing, but the adrenaline smell remains.

  "Wait," Leonora calls, disappointed. "Did you get bitten or anything?"

  "No. Don't tell anyone about this, okay? Or I'll make your life a living hell."

  "What a bitch," I say under my breath.

  "Let her storm off," Cayden says with a sigh. "We'll hear her screams if she runs into trouble on the way back to her car."

  We stand inches from each other. The last of the despair vanishes as we hold each other in our gazes. A visceral tug between us returns, begging me to draw closer, to touch him, to taste him. My urges have grown since October when Cayden treated me as his full mate. I know what I want. And Cayden's smile tells me he wants the same.

  Cayden flicks his dark hair from his perfect forehead and turns the corner of his lips up into a teasing smile. Behind him, light from Alesha's phone swings as she navigates down the trail, but she's far enough away she won't see us.

  Cayden takes my cheeks with his warm, perfect palms. I breathe his scent as his hazel eyes study my body. Everything tingles. I trace my finger down Cayden's exposed collarbone.

  "Would you two get a room?" Everly asks, walking past us to retrieve Leonora. Remo's already left to get her.

  "Lighten up, sis," Cayden says. "This is what non-emotionally stunted people do."

  She leaves us with silence and falling snow. "Leonora? Don't bother chasing her."

  "I wasn't going to let that bomb hit you." Cayden closes his eyes and leans down to kiss me.

  I do the same. Our lips brush and then I lap up Cayden's wild taste. Our bodies press together, and despite the coats now between us, the tingling over every part of my body intensifies. My heart races as I wrap my hand around his back, then slide it up his neck to entwine my fingers in his messy hair.

  Cayden gasps and pulls away.

  I drop my hand as he backs into a tree, sucking down air. His lips move like a fish's and I wonder if he's trying to say something.

  "What's wrong?" I ask, heart racing.

  He catches his breath and peels his gaze from the ground. "I don't know." Cayden grimaces again for a second. "We were just getting caught up, and then this lightning bolt of pain just shot through me and I couldn't breathe for a second." He swallows. "I promise I'm not pulling my crap again. You're my mate and it'll stay that way."

  "I know you weren't pulling crap," I say. "There's a difference between that and you hiking up your shoulders and pushing me away with a nasty look on your face. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" With each word, I struggle to keep a lid on my panic.

  Cayden smiles at my words. "I'm fine now. That only lasted for a second."

  "Maybe we need Leonora to check you out. You said she was the medic."

  "No. She said that." Cayden flexes his biceps. "I'm Noah. I can handle anything."

>   "You're pinning your alpha male traits on my friend?" I'm glad to see Cayden trying to joke around. He's not as good at it as Noah, though. Cayden's talents are dancing and singing.

  "Anyway, I don't know what that pain was," he says, serious again. "Maybe the warlock did something or injured me. I don't know much about warlocks. Us Noble Wolves don't see the dark kind often. My parents used to say they used witches and warlocks for some of their rituals, but those were always kept out of sight. It's weird they did one in the open where anyone could have stumbled on them."

  "I agree," I say, walking up to Cayden. I reach out, giving him the option of taking my hand. Every muscle tenses and I almost take it back, but Cayden reaches out and gives it a squeeze.

  "No pain," he says. "So it's not your touch that caused it. That's a relief."

  The pull returns as I take a breath. Things feel normal again.

  We enter the clearing. Leonora and Remo stand near the post, now empty. Though it's dark, I spot Remo wrinkling his nose. The acrid stench of the smoking bag of herbs remains. A spot of melted snow looks dark against the expanse of white, now dotted with blood and covered in wolf prints. Leonora tucks her freezing hands into her coat pockets. And Alesha has already gone. Her footprints storm to the trail leading back to the gas station.

  We need to talk to Leonora.

  Before I can mention it to Cayden, he lets go of my hand and approaches her. "Do you know what that warlock did?"

  "It was dark, and I was ducking behind the trees," she says. "I'm sorry I didn't come out and help. I was just getting a protection spell ready, but I should have cast it before the fight. That would have made better sense. But I saw something flaming that flew, and then an explosion like fireworks were going off." She stares at me and Cayden, squinting and trying to see in the dark. Only the waning moon shines overhead and provides light.

  "It hit me," Cayden says, raising one hand. He speaks in a deep, confident voice worthy of swooning. "I pushed Brie out of the way before it could explode. I smelled gunpowder in the bag. Herbs, too. The warlock tried to throw an old-fashioned bomb at us."

  "Or did he?" I ask. I want to give Cayden the chance to open about the phantom pain. If anyone knows about warlocks, it's Leonora.

  "That guy could have done a lot of things with herbs," Leonora says. "Don't look at the movies if you're trying to learn about witches and warlocks. We don't use wands and instead work with what the earth gives us. Well, I suppose one thing is right. Good witches and bad witches both exist."

  "We figured that out already. Do you know what spells the warlock could have done?" I ask.

  "First, he tried to poison us," Everly says. She kicks the wooden pillar which still has ropes hanging from it. With the third kick, it cracks and falls into the snow, making an indent.

  "Anyone could have done that," Remo says, "with the right herbs."

  "Some plants can cause reactions in humans when they're cut," Leonora says, sounding more confident than before. "Or burned. I'm sure that also applies to wolves. He might have been burning wolfsbane, which would have repelled you and the Savage Wolves."

  "Even evil witches would have to protect themselves from the Savages." Cayden paces around the fallen pillar, leaving new footprints in the snow. "Savages care about nobody. All they value is power and dominance."

  "The second one had gunpowder," I say. "And it smelled different from the first."

  Leonora screws up her face and looks at Remo. He shakes his head.

  "That could be a lot of things," Leonora says. "Different herbs have different meanings and he could have used them in a spell before throwing them at you. It's likely a spell he did ahead of time."

  "The ritual was planned to bring us out here, then," Remo says. "Matthew never meant to make Alesha his mate. He waited until Leonora saw him take her into the woods because he knew we'd come after her. That means he knows Leonora's with us." He sidesteps closer to her, protective.

  "I felt a weird pain through my whole body when Brie and I were in the trees," Cayden says. "And no, it wasn't Everly slapping me."

  His twin crosses her arms and grins.

  "This isn't funny," I say. "What if the warlock did some kind of poison spell?"

  The air thickens with seriousness. Leonora looks at Cayden. "Are you feeling okay? There are poison spells out there. Not that I'd ever do them."

  "I'm fine. It was just for a second," Cayden says. "He threw a wolfsbane bomb at us."

  "Did anyone else feel weird when Cayden got hit?" I face Everly and Remo.

  Everly nods as her eyes widen. "It was almost like the time with our dad."

  The air goes from thick to suffocating. The Lowes don't talk about the moment their father, the old alpha, got killed by the Baltic Wolves.

  "I'm fine," Cayden says, squaring his shoulders. "I don't want you to worry. Whatever he tried must not have worked. And we shouldn't stand out here. For all we know, the Savages could gather the whole pack as we speak. Why don't we go to Leonora's place so she can do her job?"

  * * * * *

  Cayden drives despite my pleas for one of us to do it instead. Even if I'm his mate, he's still the alpha, and I'm supposed to just have a lot of influence on him. It's influence that's not working right now. He wants to convince us all he's okay so we stop freaking out.

  The roads make knowing Cayden could have another pain attack any second worse. I grip the armrest on my door as Cayden navigates roads now barely visible. We crawl back to the Breckenridge limits on hills and curves, following the tire tracks left by Alesha's car. The tracks are already half-filled and I'm guessing she left ten minutes before we did. So much for waiting on Tiffanie to pick her up. We pass a spot where her tracks do a dance, widen, and then continue down the road. And at the same spot, we slip towards the ditch.

  "Ice!" Everly shouts.

  "I want off," Leonora says.

  "Not out here," Cayden says as he regains control. "We're still outside our territory."

  Huge flakes fall, thickening until we can't see far in front of us. After a tense half hour of crawling, we pass the sign for Breck and another, closed gas station. We're back in our territory.

  "Are you sure you can get us up to Leonora's cabin?" I ask. The road there is just a path through the woods.

  "I will," Cayden says. "Worst case, we walk. We're safe now. Even Leonora won't have to hide."

  "I'm not useless," she says, reaching over Cayden's shoulder and slapping her hand on the dashboard. "I'll do a healing spell on you once we get home, just in case. There should be room in the greenhouse."

  I wait for Cayden to refuse in that alpha male way of his, but instead, he nods. "Thank you."

  Leonora grins and sits back down as Cayden makes the turn down the hidden drive and hits the gas, forcing the SUV uphill. We slow from a crawl to a creep. Tires spin, struggling to get traction, and even Cayden lacks the skill to get the vehicle to the cabin. I see why the Russells don't use cars.

  "We walk," Cayden says.

  He links his hand with mine once we're out, and the five of us make our trek up to the cabin. On the way, I text Aunt May with my free hand.

  Home safe. The girl is fine. Will tell you about it later.

  Have another half hour of work. Sorry I couldn't go.

  While Aunt May is also in the pack, she wound up stuck working at our store tonight. With finances still tight, she can't afford to close the store every time there's pack business. So she's spent her night worrying if I'd come back. I feel terrible. I wish I could solve our problems. In desperation, I've even offered to work at the store for free to cut down on her expenses, and though her eyes want to cave, Aunt May refuses.

  We might have months left before we close down.

  And we can't afford to move away. Breck needs us.

  But as I walk in silence with Cayden up the snowy road, I force those thoughts away. I'll worry about Cayden first and feel much better once Leonora gets out a bunch of herbs to heal him. She's an expert on them. Whatever the warlock did, she should be able to reverse it.

  Leonora's cabin is almost full dark once we reach it. Only orange firelight sneaks out from the front window. Leonora's parents sit inside, dark shadows against the fireplace. I haven't spoken to them much or even seen them a lot, but when Leonora knocks, a man answers the door.