Season of the Witch (Claws Clause 2)

She was the broken one. The broken witch with backwards magic. But… but wasn’t he just a little screwy himself?

Didn’t matter.

He wanted to break their bond. He wanted her to find a way to dissolve their mating. It didn’t matter what fate said, or what the Goddess willed, the hard-headed wolf wasn’t going to back down.

She’d better get used to it.

Of course, that didn’t mean she was going to let him bulldoze right over her.

Evangeline warned her about that. Back when she foolishly thought that his mating instincts might have been enough to overcome his prejudices, Shea had met Evangeline for coffee downtown and asked her for advice on how to deal with Colton.

Hint number one? Colton was an alpha wolf shifter, the most dominant male in his Bumptown. He respected power, hated witches, and had a temper that she never would have expected from his boyish good looks. He would push her, he would protect her, he would dominate her—and he wouldn’t even be aware that he was doing it.

His wolf would insist that she was his. Colton would refuse.

And Shea would be caught in the middle, leaving her with a standoffish shifter who was way more cold than hot.

No.

&nb

sp; Not anymore.

As soon as she opened her mouth to take back her apology, the phone started to ring again. Shea eagerly grabbed for the excuse.

“Hello?”

“Shea? Finally! I called you like three times. Are you busy?”

Colton went still. Considering how well a shifter could hear, she wouldn’t be surprised if he was listening to what her brother was saying on the other end of the line.

She had to make this quick. Hudson was her problem. And Colton might tell her that he didn’t want to be stuck in their mating, but she was almost positive that, if Hudson tried to involve her in whatever mess he’d landed himself in now, Colton would be right there with her, trying to save her himself.

She didn’t want to let him bulldoze over her. Sometimes, that was easier said than done.

“I’m at work,” she told Hudson.

“So you’re not busy. Good. Listen—”

“Actually, I’ve got someone in the store. Give me five minutes. I’ll call you back.”

“No, wait. I just—”

Shea ended the call with a decisive press of the red end button. A second later, the phone was ringing again. A quick flick with her pointer finger and Shea switched the ringer from sound to silent like she should have in the first place.

Colton was still watching her closely.

“So, yeah… that was Hudson alright.” And then, because she had this urge to explain, she added, “I’ll call him back after you’re gone.”

Colton didn’t react one way or another.

Shea didn’t know how she should feel about that. For a second, she thought… well, it didn’t matter what she thought.

“Anyway, I’ve got a few more grimoires to go through, and if that doesn’t work, I’m going to check with my grandmother. She’s somewhere in Europe right now and it’s hard to get in touch with her while she’s working, but I’m sure she’ll be willing to help us with our… problem.”

Was it just her imagination or did his nostrils flare when she said ‘problem’?

Hey, he was the one who called it that first. She was only repeating what he said. And, oh, it didn’t seem like Colton appreciated that at all.