Cole decided to escort me.
He didn’t walk in wolf form, but instead right next to me in his black jeans and black tee.
He attempted to smoke the moment we entered the woods. I smacked it out of his hands so fast he looked down at me with anger flooding his face.
“I cannot find where we need to go if that’s what I smell,” I said, leaving it at that.
I could tell neither of them enjoyed being ordered around. In fact, he and Seth had a nice, long, little argument in the back room while I waited.
Their fight was petty, and more of a banter. I could see how reasonable they were being and wondered if that’s how all their fights went.
I could see why they wanted mates, if they were this reasonable.
“How long are we going to be out here?” Cole asked after we had been walking for over an hour.
Getting lost in the woods was important—to become one with it. Hard to do with a grumpy wolf, but it was necessary.
Feeling their essence close to me for the next few days would help me find a place that resounded with them.
That was the thing about a sacred space, it had to be unique.
“Tell me about you and your brother. You both desire to find your mate. Why? To have children? Be loved by one? Sex?” I asked, not answering his question as I hopped over a mossy log.
Cole gracefully stepped over it, making no sound. “We desire a mate for either of us so we will no longer fight when a female goes into heat.”
“Ah. Two alphas fighting. I imagine you tore each other to pieces.”
“Damn near,” Cole admitted in a half mutter.
I could see his eyes pressing into me as I walked, my movements light as I began to feel the earth more beneath my feet.
He was opening. And the more I knew about them the easier this would be.
“That’s a pity. So you don’t actually want a mate?” I asked, flicking my hair back to look at him briefly.
His eyes drank me in hungrily.
I could feel the sweat on my skin as I flushed and turned back around.
I hadn’t trudged in the woods for this long in a while, and while my clothes weren’t exactly hiking material I still felt a small bit of perspiration.
“No, a mate isn’t exactly on the list of things I want most in this world,” Cole admitted. “I enjoy not being tied down.”
“Pity,” I said, stopping as we came to a river to cross.
“We’re stopping here?” he asked casually.
“Not at all,” I replied, stripping off my shoes.
I threw my keys and cell into my shoes and patted myself down to make sure there were no other valuables. Once I was satisfied, I walked forward.
“You’re not seriously going to—”
“It may be cold, but that’s part of the journey. We’ll be back for our items. Are you coming?” I asked in a singsong voice, sinking into the water up to my waist.
The cool water made my skin go numb, but I was also starting to feel the magic all around me, pulling me.
I lay back, floating down the river, not caring if Cole followed or not. After a few moments, I peeled an eye open and saw him, his face still grumpy.
Laughing, I got off my back, letting the current continue to swirl around me slowly, lazily.
The water was so deep I was barely able to touch at certain points. “You need to relax, or we’ll never get to where we need to go.”
“Where is it that we’re going?”
“We’ll know when we find it,” I replied with a small laugh. “We have to get lost first.”
Surprisingly, Cole smiled. “Okay, Alice in Wonderland.”
I laughed, lying back into the water again. “I suppose in a way it is like that—like being pulled down the rabbit hole, lost in the rows of roses.”
Thinking about the story made me smile. I looked at him sitting back up again. “Tell me more. Why did you guys do that to me? Surely there’s a reason.”
Cole’s lips twitched as he considered what to say, then he sighed.
“Seth and I weren’t entirely sure if they sent a…proper witch. We also paid extra for this. The last two times we’ve hired your services we haven’t gotten someone that could give us results.
“We know magic, Seth and I. We’ve worked with you guys since we were cubs on and off, specifically your coven. So it’s pretty obvious when we’ve been screwed.”
“Screwed?”
“Swindled, conned…” he added, stripping off his shirt and joining me in the water.
“So you were trying to figure out if I knew my stuff?” I asked with my teeth chattering. The water was pretty cold.
“Exactly,” Cole stated, looking at me as I began to shiver. “Here,” he said, coming close and pulling me to his body.
He was incredibly warm, even in the cool water. Wolves always were warmer than your average human. Or witch.
“Thank you,” I murmured, holding on to him as we floated.
“You realize if we stay in here too long you might get sick?” Cole said in concern as he wrapped his arms around me in a loose hug.
“Part of the sacrifice, I suppose,” I said, closing my eyes and resting my head on his chest.
I could hear his heart speed up slightly, yet he made no move. That was fine; I wouldn’t be concerned about their frustration until nearer to the ceremony.
“What is with you witches and sacrifice?”
A giggle burst out from my throat as I pulled back to look at him.
“Let me put it in a way you might understand. Magic isn’t just this thing that we can use anytime we want.
“It’s not like your wolves for example—you guys can turn at will. The drawback being you can also turn against your will when your emotions run high.
“With us,” I explained, “it takes energy and preparation. Some magic can come from sheer will, but anything we do takes effort. The stronger the magic, the more preparation—and the more sacrifice.”
“Have you ever... killed anyone for those sacrifices?”
I pulled back from him, anger on my face.
“Anyone that does blood magic without consent from the party is not a witch, they are ugly creatures that shouldn’t exist. Blood magic is an extreme sacrifice and it’s incredibly dangerous.”
Cole looked down at me with unfathomable eyes. “I see. I didn’t mean to offend you…”
I realized I’d never even told him my name.
“Delilah, or Dee,” I told him, looking up at him searchingly.
“Dee,” Cole said with a small nod, looking back at me.
Something magical was pulling me toward him—a call of some sort.
If it led us to where we needed to go, I was to answer the call.
I kissed him.
There was no protest from him, in fact he wrapped his arms around me tighter, his feet dragging on the river floor to stay upright as his mouth hungrily drank in mine.
His tongue was warm as it explored my mouth, his body gripping mine. The combination of heat and the cool water made my head spin.
This was dangerous and chaotic. I pulled away, but he gripped the back of my head, his body molding to mine, wanting more.
I wanted to give in, to feel more of his hot, hard body against my cool, soft skin—
The river pushed into a deeper area and Cole went under, suddenly letting go of my body.
He came up sputtering a moment later, making me throw my head back, laughing as I stayed afloat.
He looked sour. My body was drawn, wanting to be locked in his embrace again. It ached for him.
I shrugged off the feeling—then there was another feeling drawing me back into the woods.
“This way,” I told him, back on a mission as I swam to the nearby rocky shore.
