Shadows & Spells Book 3

WILL

I found myself reading the ad for the new reservation teacher again, without really seeing it. My eyes were just going through the motions.

My coffee cup had been empty for about half an hour on the desk. I knew another caffeine hit wouldn’t do me any good. Nothing seemed to.

The ad, which Justin had drafted a week ago for my approval before it was sent to the local and state newspapers and online, slipped from my fingers onto the desk.

It landed somewhere between the pile that was a month overdue and the one that was two months behind.

My desk was a mess, papers piled high and scattered like snow in a storm. It was a clear sign of how messed up the current leader-in-chief was.

My head was throbbing, pounding like a war drum. I leaned forward to rub my temples for a moment.

Finding a new Res teacher for about thirty kids was going to be a challenge. The previous one, a middle-aged woman, had finally found love and was moving out of state. She’d left me with the tedious task of finding her replacement.

Someone who could handle the occasional odd Wenatchi member.

Someone who wouldn’t mind living off the Res and commuting every day, because living on the Res didn’t guarantee their safety.

Determined to accomplish something today, I quickly signed the paper, typos and all, and tucked it into its envelope.

I finally put it on the outgoing tray, a lone item for Justin to pick up later.

I leaned back in my chair and took in the chaos that was my office.

God, it was hot and stuffy in here. July temperatures in Western Washington were hitting the mid-nineties this summer, and I’d been sweating non-stop for the past week.

I considered going back to my house to change into cooler clothes but quickly dismissed the idea. If I left this office, I knew nothing would get done today.

I’d go into my bedroom, the bed would look inviting, promising sleep but maybe not dreams, and I wouldn’t get up for at least another five hours. The downside of living so close yet so far from the office.

When Margaret Wardwell had helped my father’s memory five months ago, it was as if she’d thrown out his Alzheimer’s in the process.

My old dad was back, like a miracle. Suddenly, sleeping in his house just to make sure he didn’t wander off at night seemed absurd.

My small cabin, a one-bedroom, was perched on a little hill over the river, about a five-minute walk to the south.

Even after I’d passed my trials at sixteen, it had taken Mom another year before she’d agreed to let me have it and move out of the family home.

But now, I was back. While it was better for my dad not to see my depression all the time, I’d lost the convenience of just walking into my room for a fresh change of clothes.

A bead of sweat finally dropped onto my shirt, and I pulled my long hair up into a ponytail, thinking for the hundredth time that I should just cut it off.

Long hair symbolized strength and vitality to our people. But I felt as strong as a newborn deer. Wobbly and exhausted.

But as chief, I was expected to at least look the part, even if I was only half present during our meetings and had let Justin and Smith handle most of the management duties for the past three full moons.

I held my long black hair in one hand at the back of my neck, wondering what Kelly would think of it when she came back. If she came back.

It had been three months since I’d last seen her.

Pinned against a bathroom wall, her soft body in my hands, digging into her thigh muscles as she clenched around me.

The smell of salt and sun that had clung to her that day was so deeply ingrained in my subconscious that the usual vanilla scent I associated with Kelly had been replaced by it.

I closed my eyes and leaned back in the chair, reliving those precious eight minutes we’d had alone.

Followed by about three infuriating minutes when she’d told me she didn’t need me and had sent me home like a stray dog.

A dog that she didn’t want interfering with whatever she was planning in that small Welsh town. With that other alpha.

I pushed my chair away from the table and bent over, gripping my head, trying to push the thoughts away. A constant uproar, a growl, his growl, lurking at the edges of my thoughts. It had to stop.

Every day since then had been the same endless cycle of shit that was keeping me from getting any work done.

My mind and body remembered every touch, every kiss, every thrust, and the wolf inside demanded more, only to have the man remember how much she’d hurt me, how she’d cast me aside.

Was that how she’d felt when I’d told her to stay?

But Kelly had said she’d be back soon. Almost done with whatever she was working on. Two long-ass months.

The front door opened and slammed shut—my dad with someone, walking through and heading to the kitchen.

It was probably one of the tribe’s elders who were now happy that my father, their friend and leader, was back for the time being.

Or it was one of the other few elders Margaret Wardwell had helped with their old age and dementia.

We hadn’t talked about his restoration yet and what it meant.

But I was sure that when Margaret’s spell started to fade, they’d all ask for a top-up, to stay sane for as long as they could or as long as we stayed in the good graces of the coven.

The sound of my dad’s voice and the clinking of teacups echoed down the hallway, and I sat up with a new resolve to actually get something done today.

It didn’t have to be paperwork, but maybe I could do the rounds on the land, let the tribe see that their chief and alpha wasn’t a complete mess. I was still in good shape, thick and broad.

The anger I felt towards Kelly was burned off every night when I let the wolf take over and escape from my own thoughts. Let him consume all my energy and doubt until I was an empty shell.

I stood up and took off my overshirt, feeling like I could wring it out from all the sweat it had soaked up before 10 a.m.

There was a faint sound of a woman’s laughter from the doorway, and I froze, focusing on the house for the first time.

The hallway greeted me with a faint scent of lavender and something tangy I couldn’t quite place. I gripped the doorframe, the wood groaning under my hold.

My father’s low voice echoed from the kitchen, a soft-spoken woman responding to his queries. I made my way down the hallway, through the living room, and halted at the kitchen door.

My father stood up as I filled the doorway, my breath coming in hard and fast as if I’d run a marathon.

She sat with her back to me, not bothering to stand or fully turn around. She just tilted her head to give me a side view.

Kelly Fucking Jones.

Her deep-red hair was piled high in a curly bun, and she wore a floral spaghetti strap dress paired with combat boots.

Her creamy, unmarked shoulder was bare, and my pulse quickened with a mix of anger and desire.

Kelly, however, remained calm and serene, unfazed by my sudden appearance and the intensity of my gaze.

My father, sensing the tension, mumbled something about giving us a moment and slipped out the kitchen’s back door.

Instead of turning to face me, she sipped her tea, her attention still focused on the table.

I let out a breath, releasing the anger that had filled my chest, and walked into the kitchen. My eyes never left her until I stood at the opposite end of the table.

Jesus Christ. The last time I’d seen Kelly, she was beautiful, like a budding rose. She’d been experimenting with her looks, trying to figure out who she was.

Now, she’d blossomed, and beautiful didn’t do her justice. She was striking, stunning, divine. Bewitching.

Her skin was deeply tanned, and her heart-shaped face had slimmed down, giving her a more mature, composed look.

As always, she wore no makeup, letting her freckles, darkened by the sun, showcase her natural beauty.

Her bare shoulders flexed under my gaze, revealing the muscle that remained despite her weight loss. She’d left as a freshman and returned a senior.

Kelly finally set her cup down and met my eyes, a slight grin playing on her lips.

“I’m sorry, I walked in past the greenhouse, and your dad caught me. It felt rude to say no when we were headed the same way. He seems great. He told me what Margaret did for him and the others.”

I was taken aback, unsure of what to say. The fire in my chest cooled slightly at her unexpected words.

I let go of the chair I’d been gripping and started pacing the kitchen, my hand rubbing my neck that had started to sweat again.

Fuck. Think of the she-devil, and she shall appear, huh?

But if I was being honest, I’d thought of her every day, every hour. It was inevitable.

I paused to look at her, sitting calmly at the kitchen table. Her hand lightly held the teacup, and a hint of a smile played on her lips as she watched me pace.

Her eyes traveled down my frame, taking in my wifebeater and jeans.

But she wasn’t the devil, a hard truth to admit. She was just my personal demon because of how much I wanted her, and she’d kept herself hidden and away for so long.

“I like your hair,” she suddenly commented, “and of course everything else,” she added with that damn smirk.

I looked away, down at my feet, and continued my pacing, occasionally stopping to make sure she was real, that she was really here and wasn’t going to tell me to leave my own house.

After a few moments, she broke my train of thought. “Are you not going to say anything?”

I stopped and faced her. “Not here.” Without another word, I walked past her into the living room, through it, and out the front door.

The morning sun was blazing over the reservation lands, the tall grass shimmering like golden sand. I walked down the porch steps and into it, like a man walking into the ocean.

I didn’t check to see if she was following. I could hear her soft steps over my heavy, angry ones as I made my way southward to my home.

I used the time between houses to think of what to say, how to act, how to regain some control over the situation.

Kelly had put me through hell, and it showed. Depression, neglecting my duties, shifting into my wolf for longer.

I probably looked like a wild man, while she looked crisp, clean, and pert in that dress. I glanced back to make sure she hadn’t disappeared.

She was still there, her palms brushing the tops of the grass as she gracefully kept pace.

She wasn’t looking at me with the fear I’d imagined she would, like a teenager coming home after curfew.

Instead, she was staring out at the river and land as we walked, a dreamy look on her face as if she’d been imagining this moment and wanted to savor it.

I followed her gaze to the river flowing past the lowlands of the Wenatchi Reservation.

It was a sight, for sure. The high, golden grass swayed in the slight breeze like waves on the ocean.

I’d almost been blind to it for the past five months, since Kelly had come along, and we’d been separated by my hasty decision to leave her behind.

I’d been blind to everything I’d known since she’d come along. Then she’d left and had told me to get the fuck out too.

The audacity of it washed over me for a moment before I returned my gaze to my feet, now treading the outer yard of the small cabin.

Kelly’s footsteps quickened, realizing we were heading for the lone house on the hill.

I climbed the steps quickly and flung open the door, not bothering to hold it open for her like a gentleman would.

I started pacing again in front of the fireplace, motioning towards the couch. I was afraid that if I looked at her for too long, I’d lose my nerve.

The door closed with a soft click, and I heard the rustle of the couch fabric. When I finally looked up, she was sitting there, hands resting on her knees, which were pressed together.

There was a faint scent around her that made my nose twitch, but I ignored it when her smile returned, complete with that adorable dimple on her cheek.

“I’m mad at you,” I finally blurted out.

“I can see that.”

I started pacing again, clasping my hands behind my head to keep them from reaching out to her.

“That scene in the bathroom? That was messed up, Kel. Using magic on me so you could pretend with that other alpha. Messed up,” I emphasized.

I stopped pacing to see if she agreed. She was looking up at me with something that looked like pity, her hands nervously fidgeting.

“I know… I wish I didn’t have to—”

“Where have you been?” I cut her off, and she looked confused. “You said you’d be home soon. Three months is not soon.

“Do you know how many times I thought about going back to that stinky little town that reeked of fish and wolves? Just to see if you were still there? Do you kn—”

Suddenly, she was standing in front of me, her warm hands cupping my face, silencing my anger. “I’m sorry for hurting you. But I did what I had to do, and I’m back now.”

Her soft hands stroked my shaved jaw, and I stared into her blue eyes. The anger in my gut started to soften as we stood inches apart.

She must have seen the anger leave my face, because her lips parted, and she watched my own. “I missed you. So much.”

My hand moved up and gripped her wrist, stopping her from caressing my face, and I let go of the anger I’d been holding onto.

What she’d done was wrong. She’d disobeyed me as an alpha, as a boyfriend, and then when I’d tracked her down and found her with another man, she’d sent me away.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, watching instead as she slowly leaned in and our lips met.

She felt like a warm glaze on my mouth, and my eyes closed, my hands moving on their own, one wrapping around her waist, covered in thin fabric.

It was as if my touch gave her permission, and she moved her body closer to mine. Her body heat was against mine, her tongue invaded my mouth, our kiss deepened, and a moan escaped her throat.

“Pin her. Mark her,” my wolf demanded, and as a man who hadn’t seen his girl in three months and didn’t like using his own hand on cold, lonely nights, I almost gave in to his will, to her body pressing against mine.

But she could easily hurt me again. She hadn’t promised she wouldn’t.

Taking a firm hold of her arms, I pulled us apart. She’d closed her eyes, and a dreamy look had come over her face. Eventually, she opened them.

“Sit,” I commanded sternly.

Her brow furrowed, and she stepped back. I heard the sound of the couch legs scraping across the wood floor, and I watched as my little loveseat slid across the floor to meet her.

She sat down, a calm look on her face at the magic she was casually using. I blinked, trying not to show my surprise. Damn, now she could move things?

I shifted my weight. Kelly was now eye level with my groin and my growing erection, visible through my jeans.

She immediately noticed it, her attention fixated, and she squirmed in her seat, her legs pressing together.

Good. She’d been aching just like I had. She could wait a little longer.

“I told you to stay at the house,” I said, ignoring my own desire.

Her eyes flashed up to mine, a hint of surprise that we weren’t already tangled up in each other, then hurt as she remembered the events that had brought us here five months earlier.

I’d told her to stay in the safety of her house.

“You commanded me to stay, like a dog,” she retorted, a hint of fire in her voice.

I ignored it, my own anger flaring up. “Then you kick me out and use magic on me to make me leave.”

I moved closer to her, looming over her and invading her space so she had to look directly up at me, my arousal in her face.

“You would have been caught. He would have kill—”

Finally, having heard enough, I let my real anger and frustration with her show. I grabbed a handful of her hair and tilted her face up.

“Who’s alpha, Kelly?” I growled.

Her lips pressed into a hard line as she realized what was happening. This wasn’t a romantic reunion.

She hadn’t treated me like it was. You don’t do the things she’d done to someone you love, someone you respect. Kelly had made it clear I had to assert control first.

She stayed silent, and I tightened my grip on her hair, giving it a tug. “Who’s alpha?” I demanded again.

Something flashed in her eyes, something primal and angry I hadn’t seen before.

Her voice came out distorted and deeper than usual. “I’m my own alpha,” she muttered, and for a brief moment, her irises might have been a deeper shade of gray, like a stormy ocean.

My fist tightened in her hair. “Ahhh, I see. I get it now. So, you finally shifted and met that angry wolf inside. Feels good, huh? Powerful?

“So you don’t need me. Is that it, Kel? I’m just another guy you’ve come to see?”

She almost growled at my insult, and I pushed her back onto the couch, straddling her, using my weight to pin her down, and I pressed my nose against her cheek.

“Is that it, Kelly?”

“You know that isn’t it. We are mate—”

“Don’t throw that word around. Don’t fucking say it unless you mean it, unless you’re ready to back it up.”

I pressed against her, letting my hardness brush against her thighs trapped between my legs. I wanted to be inside her. So deep she’d never be able to forget me.

“Who’s your alpha, Kelly? Who do you belong to? Who are you going to let in?” This was the heart of it. She seemed to be able to get whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. If I wasn’t this to her, I was nothing.

Suddenly, the fight drained from her body, the tension that had kept her rigid against me fading away, and she leaned her head forward, looking sincere, even as my hand held her hair.

“You, Will. You.”

I held her gaze with mine, those ocean-gray eyes, and straightened up, still straddling her. “Take me out,” I ordered, keeping my face stern.

She blinked, taking a moment to understand what I’d asked, then reached for my groin and unzipped my jeans.

My erection sprang free, ready for her, and she wrapped it with a warm hand.

She looked up at me one last time as her hand stroked me, moving up and down, and I nodded to her, giving her permission.

The warmth of her tongue nearly undid me. It had been too long, and I held her hair and scalp in my hand as she moved back and forth.

Her hand moved in sync with her mouth, and I finally looked down at her, watching the woman with her eyes closed savoring every moment. Still closing her eyes.

Suddenly, I pulled out of her grip and yanked her off the couch, quickly flipping her over to lean her on the back of it.

Her dress rode up, revealing simple black underwear, and I quickly covered her back and once again gripped her hair, pulling it up harder than necessary.

Instead of wincing or groaning in pain, she rubbed her backside against my exposed groin, almost reveling in my anger and the sting.

She arched her back, and I looked down between us. I pushed aside the thin material of the black underwear that separated us, exposing her creamy skin.

My finger traced down her slick center, and she practically purred.

I was so close to entering her, to giving her what she’d clearly come here for, a connection no matter how raw or primal. Carnal desires for only my body.

I let my tip rest just on her lips, circling, teasing, then readjusted my grip on her hair, pulling her back up and farther off the couch so I could whisper in her ear.

“Say it again, Kelly.”

She paused, trying to arch her body farther down, onto me, and I shook her head to still her. Finally, clear and resolved, she said, “You’re my alpha, Will. Happy?” she added, slightly irritated.

I thrust myself inside her, my entire length in one hard push, rewarded when she yelped. I leaned over her, my own eyes closing with the sensation.

“Ecstatic,” I whispered, and pulled myself out, beginning slow and punishing thrusts inside her warmth.

Kelly moaned with each thrust, sharper and louder each time, gripping the back of the couch and pushing herself to meet me. Writhing on my furniture.

Her moans turned salacious and erotic as I watched her back tense and flex underneath the slip of a dress still clinging to her frame, raised at her hips.

I closed my eyes again and let him take over a little. Just a little to give me what was needed.

She thrust against me especially deeply, meeting my hilt, a guttural sound coming from her throat, and I ran a tongue along the sharp teeth replacing my own.

Still gripping her mass of hair, I pulled us together.

My chest pressed along her entire back as she rose up and turned her head to watch me as I trailed biting kisses down her shoulder, letting the teeth graze across her soft, delicate skin until I met her ear.

I spoke low into it. “Ready?”

Her face in profile, she nodded.

Remembering our past times, I brought my fingers to her clit as I picked up my own pace, rocking in unison.

Her hand grasped my head, soft fingers threading themselves through my hair, and I finally let myself go.

I allowed myself to be lost in the sensation of fucking the woman who had driven me crazy since the night I met her.

She was tight and warm and fit perfectly around my length. Her body arched and swelled in my hands like we’d been molded together. Made for each other.

Her insides clenched, and a moan, rising in pitch, made its way out from deep within her chest, building and rattling from her lungs.

I eyed a new spot on her neck. The connection of her throat and shoulder, full of muscles and soft flesh with a strong pulse beneath.

Kelly’s body convulsed underneath my hand, shuddering around my dick, and I bit into her with everything I had. Bit down so hard that no one, ever, would be able to remove the mark.

She screamed with her orgasm and the bite, her hand holding the couch now coming up to grab my head, either to push or pull it away, I couldn’t tell, and I felt blood flood my mouth.

It seeped in messy dribbles, and her scream faded. I continued holding her body up and close. There was a slackness in her muscles as I emptied myself and felt the wave of euphoria wash over us both.

She collapsed on the couch, laying her whole body down, and I followed. Her head rested on my arm while our heavy breaths filled the silence of my small living area.

She eventually exhaled, full of relief and satisfaction at the orgasm, and I tilted her head toward me, catching her eyes.

“Never again, Kel? Okay? If we’re together, then it’s you and me together, all right?”

The grin left her face, and she nodded. “You remember you said that, and I won’t forget.”

I grimaced, remembering that the one time I’d left her behind had been my undoing, but I nodded and stared at her in my arms.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head into a more comfortable position.

Sunlight streamed through the front windows and hit her hair, creating shadows on her face. The red streaks I’d only seen once before were highlighted, and I looked at all of her.

She was definitely different in ways besides her natural hair. Beautiful wasn’t the right word for her anymore, but I couldn’t think of any other.

She moved again, her nose brushing my neck in a way that was almost animalistic. I remembered her confession. She’d finally shifted, after twenty-eight long years. It must have been excruciating, savage.

Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t been there to witness it.

“What’s she like?” I asked, burying my face in her hair. She smelled different now.

I didn’t need to clarify who I was asking about, and she responded nonchalantly. “Apparently, she looks a lot like my dad’s. Mostly quiet. Doesn’t take any crap, though. Knows what she likes and doesn’t like. Gets angry easily.”

I chuckled at her description. “Yeah, that’s pretty much how I pictured her.”

Kelly smiled and snuggled closer into my chest.

“Where were you, Kel? Why didn’t you at least give me a call?”

She sighed and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. “I was ready to come home a few days after you left. But then I realized I still had a lot to learn. I needed to improve before I could come back.”

“You mean with magic?”

She nodded. “My mother was willing to teach me. How to control myself, how to exist as two beings at once. There was a lot of studying, a lot of burnt fingers.”

“And you and your mother are okay now? After what happened in the caves? I mean, I saw the video, Kel. What she made those men do to Diana? To…you.”

Her lips tightened into a thin line. “No, my mother and I are not okay. She did some really messed-up things, but she justified them in her own mind. Anyway, she’ll be gone soon.”

I rested my head back on the arm of the couch, trying to process everything.

Kelly swung a leg over me, preparing to get up from the couch. I grabbed her leg and held her in place, straddling my waist.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She smirked and glanced around my place, which was minimally furnished but unmistakably a bachelor’s cabin. “I’m going to give myself a tour.”

I traced the strap of her dress. Tiny streaks of blood from my bite had trickled down her shoulder and stained it.

I slid the strap off her shoulder. I did the same with the other one until her dress fell down, revealing her bare chest to me.

“If you can walk, then this wasn’t a proper reunion,” I said, and grabbed her again to pull her closer, shifting my hips up to enter her once more.