I sighed, tapping my foot on the floorboards.
Seth had called his brother over an hour ago.
For that entire hour of waiting, Seth worked on his vehicle with Jewel’s assistance, while I was standing or sitting bored.
I hadn’t brought entertainment, and with the stares Seth kept throwing me, I was incredibly uncomfortable.
After an hour, I finally decided to stand outside and take in my surroundings.
I was startled to find Cole outside smoking a cigarette. I recognized him after only a moment.
His hair was almost black, and his eyes a bright blue—a giant contrast to his brother’s golden eyes and brown hair.
Their features were identical, though Cole seemed to be perhaps a fraction taller and thinner where Seth was a bit more compact.
“Hello, witchy-woman. I wondered how long it would take for you to head outside. Your people really are tree huggers,” Cole said, taking a drag off his smoke.
I think he meant it to be offensive.
I narrowed my eyes at him, folding my arms. “You’ll find we like being caged as much as your kind does,” I replied, bitterness and sarcasm dripping like venom.
Each word out of my mouth was hard like a whip. I wanted him to know how angry I was with him. “Care to tell me what nonsense made you abandon the coven’s agreement?”
“We agreed to host you, not spend time with you, doll,” he said, taking a long drag of his cigarette again. There was a sly smile on his lips.
“The agreement was that I was to meet with you both after your beta escorted me to you. We would talk over the spell and I would spend today and two more to find sacred ground.
“The longer you two dink around the less time I have to look before we perform the spell.”
“We can’t just delay it a day?” Cole asked, rolling his eyes before throwing down his cigarette and crushing it with his foot.
I narrowed my eyes at him, folding my arms as I walked forward and angrily looked up into his eyes.
“That’s like telling a snowstorm not to hit or a baby to not be born. If you want the most bang for your buck then do as you’re fucking told so I can do my job,” I said, poking his torso to emphasize the last few words.
Cole’s eyes burned into mine and I could see his wolf stirring, how utterly angry and annoyed he was with me.
I narrowed mine further, not backing down even as I heard the door open and both Jewel and Seth came out.
“Everything okay?” Seth asked. He seemed almost amused as Cole continued to look down at me, his eyes turning more heated as he drank me in.
I felt my cheeks go pink involuntarily as I turned my gaze and stepped away from Cole.
“Well, now that you’re here I will speak to you both. Jewel, you may leave,” I said, turning and walking a few more steps before I dismissed her.
It allowed me to calm down and get to business. Wolves liked that sometimes, as much as any supernatural with an ego.
I knew better than to encourage it, but they were tempting.
Plus I could really spin this to my advantage; it’s not like they’d care anyway once I found their lunas.
Jewel looked at me with fury in her eyes at me ordering her around.
Oops.
She looked to Cole first, but Seth looked at her pointedly and nodded.
She took one last lingering look at Cole, whose eyes were still solidly fixed on me, before heading to the car and taking off down the road.
I waited until she was on the road before I turned to address them. “Why did you both deliberately break our contract?”
Both pairs of eyes bored into me at my direct question. An electric charge filled the space, making my breath catch.
These two were dangerous alphas, and their presence was hard to bear with the amount of energy around me.
Cole answered me with a sly smile. “Well, we did say before the ceremony that there was no true specifications as to the ti—”
I held up my hand, cutting him off. He blinked at me, confused.
“No,” I said forcefully. “The specification was clear as fucking shit. I need three days to look and prepare, but I had to meet with you both first.
“So don’t play this coy, power-trip, wolfy bullshit,” I continued, raising my voice. “Or I leave now.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Seth growled, looking at me gravely as he took a step forward.
I should have been terrified, and my heart did flutter, but I didn’t back down.
Instead, I stripped my shirt off, showing my black lacy bra. I tossed the shirt aside and turned around.
“Don’t threaten me again or I leave now,” I growled, pointing at my spine.
Along it was a long line of tiny black runes—runes that I spent a little over a month drawing on, in case I needed a quick escape.
I replenished its energy each full and new moon.
No matter the situation, all I needed was a tiny bit of blood crossed between my wrists or arms and I’d be home.
Granted, the aftermath of such a spell would leave me sick for three days like a nasty flu, but it was well worth the effort in a pinch.
“Bullshit me again and I’m using it. And the coven will never work with you again,” I said, adding the last bit for my satisfaction. I did have the power to do it after all.
I turned back around, crossing my arms again with my shirt off trying to look stern despite being half-naked in front of two strangers.
They both ogled me—I could see the hunger in their eyes and it made me want to tremble.
New, fresh meat was all their wolves could think about. A new possible playmate.
This was good. I could work with it.
I knew I hadn’t been imagining their desire earlier.
“Now are we ready to discuss what I need from you two?”
Cole and Seth glanced at one another, and after a moment they both nodded.
“Good. Now for the next three days, I will be roaming the forests with one or both of you for protection. I will attempt to find the best spot for the spell.”
“In those three days, I will be consuming only simple foods and on the final day only liquid. So forgive me if I get snappy the closer we get to the ceremony. You guys will have to do your part as well.”
“Three days without food will be a problem,” Seth replied, frowning.
“Our wolves require us to eat more,” Cole agreed, furrowing his brow.
I held up a finger. “No, not eating. You two are free to eat anything. Your part is to become—” I took a deep breath; this was always the hardest part of the spell.
“—sexually frustrated,” I confessed, splaying my fingers.
Cole shook his head, looking at me with a quizzical stare.
Seth looked like he was ready to choke on his spit as he stuttered, “C-come again?”
“Sexually frustrated. If you have a partner, you may no longer lay with them for the next three days. The more you want and crave, the more it fuels the spell.
“Normally, when you find your mate, you have sex to solidify the bond. But if your mate hasn’t shifted or never will without being transformed—”
“We’d never know if we actually met them or not until we slept with them,” Cole cut in.
“Typically, their marks are nearly identical to ours, assuming they even transform. That’s what makes finding your mate so difficult,” he said, finishing my explanation.
“Exactly, so since we have no idea who these people are, we fuel the bond with sexual frustration that we channel.
“This will make your lunas also be drawn to you. The longer you’re apart, the stronger the spell pulls you together.”
“Yeah, but say my random mate who’s human is all the way in Scotland. How the hell is the spell going to fix that? How are we going to know who we’re looking for?” Cole explained his thoughts, frustrated at my previous answer.
“Trust me, you’ll know. It’ll be like water in the desert and you’ll be in a haze until you finally have sex and complete the mating ceremony, including marking her,” I said, resting my hands on my thighs.
“If the luna is underage, however, this spell will not work. It only works if they have bled. I’ve used it many times and it works every time as long as your luna is of age to lay with.”
The last part was a lie. Sometimes it didn’t work.
It didn’t work for people who had no soulmate, as well as if their mate wasn’t on this plane of existence.
But everyone wanted to believe they had one. Better they believe she was simply underage.
Or it could turn out to be a male, if that was their actual secret preference. It was rare but it happened.
I know I wanted to believe I had a mate, despite the glaring truth after years of searching.
“You’re saying she would have no choice in becoming a wolf?” Seth asked with a deep frown.
“That is correct,” I said, nodding.
“It’s unique to your kind being mates, but all spells have a consequence. That is the one for this one. I’m sure your mates will forgive you if it upsets them at first for not having a choice.”
Both of them were silent for a few moments thinking this over.
“Now, as for the sexual frustration—as I said, you can no longer lay with anyone. Sometimes, this will upset your lovers, and then sexual frustration isn’t properly received. In that case, I am... available and at your service as well.”
I cleared my throat, letting the sentence’s double meaning settle for a moment.
“I have multiple poultices that will cause sexual frustration and desire, but they must be taken with caution. For now, though, one of you shall escort me into the woods,” I said, picking up my shirt and shrugging it on.
“Which one of you wants the first shift?”
