Shadow of the Wolf

“Ow.” She’d pinched him, hard. “Okay, okay. I get that. But why you?”

“You think men are the only ones who can ride to the rescue?”

He decided not to answer on the grounds that he might be incinerated.

Lana glared up at him impatiently. “I thought so. If I had been the one on the ground and Zach reached for you, what would you have done?”

He didn’t even hesitate. “Whatever was necessary.”

“Because…?”

Because I love you. He blinked. A slow smile spread across his face. He’d never felt so happy in his entire fucking life, not even when his mark had appeared on her skin.

“You love me.”

“Duh.”

“Duh? The best you can say is duh?” He held back the urge to tickle her, to force her to say what he already knew.

She held her hand to his cheek. “We both do.”

He gulped. “We?” His hand immediately went to her stomach.

“Huh?” Her eyes went wide. “No! Not that. Zach!”

“Oh.” He was more disappointed than he’d expected. “I guess we’ll have to try harder, then.”

It was her turn to gulp. “Harder?”

“Mm-hmm.” He held a grape to her lips, teasing her with it. “Much harder.”

“Oh boy.”

He chuckled and slipped the grape between her lips. “Say it for me.”

She swallowed the grape. “You first.”

Not a problem. He wanted to shout it from the highest rooftop, post it to his Facebook, hell, he’d put it on the front page of Black Wolf Designs if he could. “I love you, little witch.”

“I love you too, wolfman.”

When he kissed her, she tasted of grapes and the sweetness that was his witch.

* * *

Lana picked at the bandage on her hand. She’d been bedridden for two weeks now, and finally Grammy was going to let her get up. She was still in some pain, but between her grandmother’s nursing and Chris’s attentiveness, she was mostly healed.

Davis Godwin was now officially listed as a warlock in the Registry, along with two other members of the Godwin family, including his second son, Paul, and his daughter Genevieve. The only odd thing was Genevieve had called Chris to personally apologize for the actions of her family members, and to offer reparation for their injuries. Neither of them had been willing to accept her offer, and she’d left it at that.

Lana had no idea what the younger woman was up to, but there’d been something…

strange about her. Something Lana almost wanted to trust. But until they could figure out how Cole and his father had tampered with the Registry, she was unwilling to trust her instincts on where this particular Godwin was concerned. She had no idea if Genevieve had attempted to contact any of the other Becketts.

“Ready, sweetheart?”

She blinked up at Chris, pulled out of her thoughts. “More than.”

He looked back at Grammy, who nodded. “Any sign of serious pain and you’re back on the bed, young lady.”

Lana stuck out her tongue and put her hands in Chris’s. “Pull, He-Man.”

With a muffled laugh, Chris pulled.

Lana stood. Her legs were wobbly, but there was very little pain. “I’m good.” It felt great to be on her own two feet. Chris had been forced to carry her everywhere; just trying to place weight on her legs had caused excruciating pain. The first time they’d tried she’d actually screamed. “Can we take the bandage off my hand now?”

Chris held her steady while she made her way to the gold wing chair he’d moved from the great room into the bedroom. “Let’s get you settled in first, okay?”

That chair was looking better and better. “Sure.”

Chris helped her to sit. The fact that her legs were shaking like leaves let her know her recovery was going to be a lot longer than she’d thought. It was disappointing, to say the least. “You did good, sweetheart.”

He was grinning, but she could see the strain the last couple of weeks had put him under. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and it looked like he might have lost some weight.

She’d had to beg him to go running more than once, just so his wolf could get out for a while. “Thanks.” She began picking at the bandage again. The scar underneath was itching like a son of a bitch. “Can we get this off now?”

Grammy frowned and moved forward. “Does it hurt?”

“No, but the itching is driving me nuts.”

Grammy’s face blanked. “Itching?”

Uh-oh. That look on Grammy’s face never boded well. “Um, yes.”

Grammy took a deep breath. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”

Grammy reached for Lana’s hand, and the itch turned to a searing burn. “Ow!”

“What?”

“It burns!” Lana snatched her hand back, and the burn immediately diminished.

“What the fuck?”

“Alannah!”

Lana grimaced. “Sorry, Grammy.”

“Let me.” Chris reached for her hand, and Lana let him take it, waiting for the burn.

It didn’t come. It still itched, but it didn’t burn. “It doesn’t hurt, but the itch is still there.” In fact, with Chris’s touch the itch had increased.

Grammy was looking worried. “Unwrap it, please.”

Chris pulled the bandage off carefully. “Holy shit.”

Grammy didn’t bother yelling at him for the curse. Everyone was too busy staring at Lana’s palm.

There, in the center of her palm, was the shadow of a wolf. “What the hell?” She’d known the outline of a wolf had been burned into her palm from the protection amulet, but that’s all it had been, an outline. Now the outline had been filled in, the black fur almost visible, the eyes a searing gold. And it itched worse than ever.

“I need to call Zach, find out if he has any idea what’s happening.” Chris reached for the phone and dialed a number. “Zach? Get back to me as soon as you get this, okay?

Something odd is going on with Lana’s scar.”

“Grammy?”

“Hmm?” Grammy was studying the wolf, careful not to touch Lana’s hand. Lana stared at it as well.

Suddenly she knew who that wolf was. “I think Gareth is in trouble.”

“Why do you say that, sweetheart?” Chris returned to her side, his expression concerned.

She shrugged. “Instinct.”

Chris picked up the phone. “I’ll call him now.” He put it on speaker when Gareth answered. “Listen, Lana thinks you’re in trouble.”

“Um. I wouldn’t call it trouble, precisely.”

“What would you call it?”

“Having an ‘oh shit’ moment?”

Chris rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Gareth.”

“Maybe FUBAR would be a better description.”

Lana hobbled back to the bed. “Gareth?”

“Hey, Lana!” He sounded pleased to hear her voice. “How’d you know something was wrong?”

“You know the scar on my palm?”

“Yes,” Gareth drawled.

“It looks like you.”

Chris growled. Her wolf was getting all possessive again. “Really?”