“Now, answer the question. What are you doing in our yard?”
The werewolf scurries back, dirt and leaves rubbing against his bare body, and his eyes fill with fear.
“You’re a witch,” he starts, voice shaking. “With a vampire.”
I turn my gaze away from him and look at Lucas with a smile. “Talk about a power couple, right?”
Lucas speeds forward, getting down and in the werewolf’s face. “I haven’t had were-blood in a while. Don’t tempt me tonight,” he threatens. “Tell us what you are doing in the woods.” Unlike witches, werewolves and shapeshifters can fall prey to a vampire’s powers. Only the alpha and his immediate family have the ability to resist being held spellbound.
And this werewolf is clearly not the alpha.
“I was sent here,” the werewolf answers.
“By who?” Lucas asks, straightening up now that he has the guy spellbound.
“My pack master.”
“Why?”
“To see if the rumors were true,” he says, aware that he’s spilling all the secrets.
“What rumors?”
“The Ley line is protected by witches.”
I toss my head back. “Not this again.” Since the discovery of the line, my coven has protected it. We’ve tapped into its power from time to time but have always used it responsibly since we know the consequences firsthand. The Ley line is not a force to be reckoned with. “What do you want with the Ley line?” I ask, crouching down to Lucas. The werewolf before me is naked, as one would expect after shifting from wolf to human.
Still…it’s kinda weird.
“Let me guess,” I go on, unable to help myself. “Power?”
“Yes. Our numbers have dwindled, and we want to raise back up in the ranks.”
“Well, you’re going to have to find it elsewhere,” I tell him and stand back up. “Tell your pack master to get the hell out of dodge before…before…fuck…I can’t remember how the rest of the saying goes.” I roll my eyes and yawn, so fucking annoyed that my perfect romantic night by the fire got interrupted. “My coven doesn’t have any issue with werewolves. Go now, before we have a problem.”
“Okay,” the werewolf says, agreeing to anything since he’s under Lucas’s hold. “Wait…I…we…can’t.” He blinks several times, wrestling with what he wants to say—or doesn’t want to say—and what he’s being compelled to tell us.
“Because she…she…wants to be here,” the werewolf goes on, wincing as the words spill out of his mouth.
“Your pack master?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, cool! The alpha is a chick,” I say, and Lucas turns, looking at me incredulously. “What?” I ask with a shrug. “That’s the first time I’ve heard of a female leading a pack. It’s very progressive. Which makes me think maybe we could talk.” I look at the werewolf. “Your pack, my coven…we can come to some sort of agreement. Because, I’m sorry, but Thorne Hill is ours. Though that doesn’t mean we can’t come up with some sort of peaceful arrangement.”
“She says witches are dirty, devil-worshipping whores,” he says almost apologetically.
I blink. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.” Letting out a heavy sign, I shake my head. “If that's how she wants to be, then you’re going to go and give her a message.”
“That won’t do any good,” the wolf goes on, eyes glossing over even more.
“Why?” Lucas asks.
The wolf swallows, trying to keep the words from coming out.
Lucas leans in. “Tell us why.”
“She’s…she’s…already decided we want a war against the witches.”
I ball my fingers into fists, and all the anger I was feeling earlier wells up inside of me. Werewolves raging war on us is the last fucking thing we need. I’m not worried about being beaten, but there will be bloodshed for sure, and what’s a better way to bring attention to both the werewolves and the witches?
To fucking fight each other.
Angels want to kill me. Demons want me to rule. A group of vampires has been targeting Lucas for a while now, and they’re striking closer and closer to home, getting hunters involved. It’s just too much. My heart pounds in my chest, and the anger mixes with intense frustration.
“That will never work,” Lucas tells the werewolf.
“We’ve got two other packs ready to fight with us,” he replies. “Their pack masters agree it’s time to take the power of the Ley line back from the witches.”
I sharply inhale and clench my jaw. Wolf packs can be anywhere from ten or so members all the way to nearly a hundred. It’ll be a blood bath, and I’m so fucking tired of supernaturals picking on each other.
“Take the power back?” Magic sparks around my fingers. “We don’t have the power of the Ley line.” My hands start to shake with anger, and I feel power swelling inside me like a coil, winding tighter and tighter. “We protect the Ley line from idiots like you who think it’s yours for the taking. Disturbing the Ley line endangers us all, but you’re too power-hungry to ever admit it. You see it as a weakness when really you should be thanking us!”