Reluctantly Mated
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M. L. Smith
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Witch Among Wolves
Book 1: Reluctantly Mated
The howls were drawing closer.
Kenzie stared at her reflection, her face paling with each ominous chime of the war bell.
This canât be happening.
Sheâd just jolted awake from a dream so vivid it clung like smoke. A massive wolfâdark, snarling, terrifyingâhad pinned her down while a witch with shadowed eyes circled the edges, watching.
She shouldâve been horrified, but part of her hadnât wanted to run. The wolf had felt like dangerâand something else.
Something she couldnât name.
When sheâd first looked into the mirror, sheâd even thought she saw bite marks on her throat. But when she looked again, they were gone.
And then the howls had started.
Was this still the dream?
No.
The cold tile under her bare feet was far too real.
The bell was still ringing.
Even she knew what that meant.
A pack war.
How was a powerless witch supposed to survive a shifter war?
Maybe Thomas, three doors down, would let her borrow his baseball bat. Not that it would do much goodâan enemy wolf would snap it in two like a breadstick.
Kenzie ran from the bathroom, expecting chaos in the hallway.
Nothing. Not a single door cracked open.
âHello?â
âDown here, Kenz!â Samâs voiceâurgent, afraidâechoed from below.
Kenzie bolted for the stairs, nearly slipping on the slick hardwood in her pink socks.
Great. Death by flooring.
At the bottom, she spotted her best friend silhouetted against the wide living room window of the pack house. Samâs red hair gleamed in the moonlight, wild and tangled. She was panting.
âSam! Where is everyone? Whatâs happening? Why the bells?â
Please let this be a new drill I missed the group text about.
Sam pointed toward the woods. âFull moon. Everyone went out hours ago for the lunar run.â
Lunar run? Wolf orgy.
Samâs face twisted. âIt was the perfect time for an attack. KenzâŠmost of the packâs been captured.â
Kenzie froze. âCaptured?â Her voice came out small. âWhy?â
Sam just rubbed her arms, gaze flicking toward the window.
âSam. Whoâs attacking us?â
Please donât say what I think youâre going to say.
Her dream clawed its way back. The predatory dark witch in the shadows.
The enormous black wolf. That unnatural sense of pull, of recognition.
And the name whispered in fear across all the pack lands: the Mad Alpha.
She shivered.
The Mad Alpha hunted witches.
He had devoted his life to wiping them out, and he didnât care whether they were light or dark.
That was why the Rainstorm Pack had kept Kenzie hidden.
That, and the fact that a dark witch called Beonca was known to be searching for the little girl whoâd been orphaned in the Bloodroot Coven massacre.
Rainstorm shiftersâboth wolves and bearsâwere gentle. Kind. They had provided Kenzie with a haven, never speaking of her existence outside the pack. They had raised her, and she owed them everything.
They loved bonfires and cuddle piles, not blood and blades. They didnât train for war.
If someone had attacked themâŠ
If her dream wolf was actually a premonitionâŠ
If this was about herâ
No.
No.
Kenzieâs breath caught. The howls sounded again. Closer now.
And this time, one of them made her blood thrum.
Not with fear.
With something worse.
A kind of sick excitement.
âWere Doug and Judy out there? Are they okay?â Kenzie twisted her hands. What if her adoptive parents had been hurt because of her?
Sam stared around wildly, as if looking for lurking enemies. âTheyâre okayâfor now. They sent me to warn you, since Iâm the fastest.â
As she spoke, Sam pulled Kenzie toward the back exit, guiding her around heavy furniture in the darkness. Unlike wolves, Kenzie had no night vision.
Sam had looked out for Kenzie from the moment theyâd metâKenzie, a bloodstained, hollow-eyed toddler whose parents had been slaughtered by witch hunters; Sam, a fiercely protective kindergartner with a warm heart and a mission.
âWe need to leave immediately,â Sam said. âIâm not sure who ratted us out, butâthe Mad Alpha knows weâve been harboring a witch⊠Heâs come for you, Kenz.â
Oh gods.
âAnd heâs not the only one. Thereâs a witch out there too. We smelled her. Sheâs evilâand powerful.â
Beonca. Sam didnât need to say the name.
Kenzie jerked her arm out of Samâs hold. So her dream had been a premonition.
Her heart picked up speed, her pulse fluttering wildly.
Why did she feel as if the dream wolf was some kind of kindred spirit? Sent to save her from Beonca?
She should have been terrified, and she wasâŠbut only for her family, her pack.
She wasnât scared for herself. At all.
She kept remembering the dream wolfâs voice. It had been almostâŠmesmerizing.
An odd buzz shot through her.
She would meet the Mad Alpha that very night.
Gods. As long as she didnât meet the dark witch firstâŠ
Kenzie barely managed to brush her ridiculous sense of anticipation aside for long enough to focus on the current situation.
âIf heâs already here, then itâs no use running.â
Flee a crazy wolf? And on a full moon? His instincts would practically demand he rip her in half if she ran from him.
As a wolf herself, Sam should know this.
It would be much better to face him.
After all, Kenzie considered herself a good person. The Mad Alpha might show mercy if he sensed she harbored no dark magic. Yes, sheâd been born into a coven of dark witchesâbut sheâd only been a child!
She wasnât a wielder of dark magic, nor would she ever be.
But if she ran, she was as good as dead.
Wolves never gave up a chase. It went against their very nature.
And even if she escaped the Mad Alpha, the dark witch was out there, waiting.
Kieran Gallagherâthe Mad Alphaâwas known to be ruthless, violent, and arrogant. But she would much rather deal with him than the infamous Beonca.
Remembering the feel of fangs pressing into her throat and a sensual voice calling to her, Kenzie felt almostâŠgleeful.
How bizarre.
Something was definitely wrong with her.
Ignoring her comments, Sam grabbed Kenzieâs hoodie and yanked her toward the back door.
Kenzie stumbled as she tried to keep up.
âIs everyone else all right? Alpha Taylor? Beta Joseph?â Kenzie didnât know what she would do if her family were hurt, all because theyâd been protecting her from a lunatic and a witch.
Exhaling loudly, Sam spun on a dime, grabbing both of Kenzieâs arms to steady her as they stared at each other.
âThe Mad Alpha has agreed to leave the rest of the pack alone if we turn you in without a fight, but he sees keeping you from him as an act of war and a betrayal.
âHe knows Beonca is after you, and heâs determined not to let her have you.â
âWhy?â Kenzie asked.
âGods, who knows? Maybe he thinks youâre powerful?
âAnyway, Alpha says he will most likely kill us with or without your surrender, so your parents and Alpha want me to get you out of here. Come on!â
âNo!â Kenzie jerked back. She couldnât leave. The Rainstorm Pack was her family.
âIâI have magic. I can defend myself.â Great. Stuttering just when she needed to show her strengthânot that she had much of it.
Rolling her eyes, Sam picked Kenzie up and threw her over her shoulder.
Damn, thought Kenzie. Sometimes it sucks to be short.
Sam reached the door and threw it open, ignoring the fists pounding on her back.
âYou and I both know youâre a light witch with essentially no real magic, Kenz.â
Kenzie bristled at the statement, even if it was true.
âWhat are you going to do, exactly?â Sam went on. âOffer to heal his fucked-up heart? Maybe make him a calming potion?â
Snorting softly, she began sprinting into the woods, not even breaking a sweat. Kenzie glared at Samâs ass as she bounced along on her shoulder. Her stomach ached, every firm step jostling her.
Some light witches were rumored to be very powerful. Maybe someday, Kenzie would be too. IF she lived that long and could figure out how to use her magic.
It was inside of her. She could feel it sometimes, writhing to break free. She just had no idea how to access it.
She was a witch dud.
âPut me down, Sam. Please! What if he kills them all? Iâm not worth it. Iâm not!â
âWhat kind of family would we be if we gave you up to save ourselves?â
Kenzieâs heart nearly stopped. Then it began to beat furiously, urging her to act, to do something.
The Mad Alpha had agreed to spare them all if she were handed over. Kenzie had to at least try to save them.
Her pack had saved her life nearly twenty years ago. And theyâd been protecting her ever since, shielding her from dark witches who came looking for her. Now, it was her turn to return the kindness.
âWhat kind of family would I be if I left you all to die for me?â
Kenzie should have put more thought into her quickly forming plan, but time was of the essence, and if she thought too hard about it, she was going to chicken out.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She needed to focus, and bumping along on Samâs back was not helpful.
Once, when a boy in the pack had been harassing her, Kenzie had accidentally hit him with a glowing ball of pure energy, knocking him down and rendering him unconscious.
While her magic was unstable and limited, Kenzie had found that she could do this one small thing if she tried really hard.
Or if she felt threatened enough.
She didnât want to harm Sam. But she needed to free herself and find Kieran Gallagher.
She would save her pack, even if it meant dying in the attempt.
Tears pricked Kenzieâs eyes as she focused on drawing power from nature. She pulled it into her, filling her palm slowly with a beautiful green ball of energy.
As it grew larger, she hoped Sam wouldnât notice the glow.
Sam would feel no pain, but Kenzie hated the idea of leaving her best friend out cold, with enemies in their territory.
âIâm really sorry, Sam,â she sniffled. âI love you.â With that, Kenzie slammed the ball of light into Samâs back.
Both women hit the ground almost instantly, Kenzie falling flat on her face.
Breathing hard, she righted herself. Then she rolled Sam over and inspected her still form.
Samâs breathing was nice and even, the steady rise and fall of her chest easing the stab of worry Kenzie felt.
Sam was going to be okay.
Kenzie was pretty sure she herself would suffer a much different fate.
