Broomstick Breakdown

Midnight hit unmistakably as the magical energy imbuing the world peaked. All Hallows Day had arrived, with the power of its arrival zipping through her body like a lightning bolt. As if the fire and magic called them, ghostly forms rose in a sinuous trail from the bright flames, weaving and bobbing over the congregation. Like a signal, the dance began.

Unlike the Wiccans with their earth-based magic, Sophia belonged to a darker sect, one that still worshipped the Lord of Hades-with powerful results. Over the centuries legends and rumors abounded about witches dancing naked around fires for Satan. Although never actually witnessed by human eyes, or at least no people who ever lived after seeing it, it was actually true. Liberating in so many ways, the dance brought them back to a primal time when witches were celebrated instead of persecuted. In a graceful move synchronized without practice, robes went flying off, which bared hundreds of females of all shapes and sizes. Male witches, also called warlocks, celebrated elsewhere in their own fashion.

Sophia vaguely felt the kiss of the cool night air on her naked skin, however, caught up in the building magic of the dance, she ignored it. Her body moved intuitively, weaving and swaying to an unheard rhythm, which made the gathered coven move in an undulating wave of bare skin and flying hair. Women of all ages and races spun faster and faster, their breath coming short, eyes gleaming, limbs flying.

Closing her eyes while opening her arms wide, Sophia basked in the power flowing throughout the clearing and felt her cares slip free. She lost herself in the wildness of the dance.

* * * *

Aidan, in his wolf shape, sat on the edge of the clearing watching with yellow eyes as the witches poured into the open space. His eyes, though, remained trained on one body only-Sophia’s. She looked pensive compared to the other happy, chattering witches, and he wondered-hoped-it was because she thought of him.

He’d returned, and even though he’d wanted to charge in to find her and divulge the truth of what he was, he held back. The Halloween gathering of the witches was something even he’d heard of. He could wait until she’d completed the celebration, but that didn’t mean that he would leave her alone. A protective instinct forced him to follow her, not that he expected trouble, but he liked to be prepared.

Oddly enough, Aidan was not the only shifter in the woods. He could sense and smell other shapeshifters. Some wolves like himself, but other beasts as well-bear, panther, and even the rare musty scent of dragon. He didn’t ponder for long the presence of other shifters. His attention was caught by the sudden silence. The fur on his body stood on end as energy churned and boiled in the air, the result of having so many witches in one place and on such a powerful date. With an almost ecstatic burst, the magic overflowed to stroke everyone, including him, and to leave those in its wake feeling more alive than ever.

Aidan, who’d never heard of such a thing, howled in response, a sound repeated in different cadences all around the gathered women. He howled again when he saw Sophia shed her robe, her beautiful naked body moving sinuously as she and her sisters danced. Aidan in wolf form cried out again, unable to help himself as Sophia twirled faster and faster, perspiration gleaming on her bare skin, her hair twirling in a silken mess. After several revolutions around the clearing, her face finally broke into an exhilarated smile, and with his enhanced hearing he heard her joyous laughter, an emotion and sound repeated all over the place as the witches basked in the heady magic eddying around them.

The witches didn’t notice, but Aidan did as the fire in the center built up brighter and brighter the faster they danced. He kept one eye on it, the other on his pagan mate, whose enjoyment in the dance stirred his lust.

A figure arose from the flames, a naked, solidly built man. And at his appearance, the witches, like puppets, suddenly collapsed as if an unseen power had cut the strings that held them up. Kneeling on the ground, the witches swayed and hummed as they faced the man who still floated in the flames.

“My beautiful harem,” boomed the man Aidan somehow instinctively knew was Lucifer. “Happy Halloween!”

“Lord of Darkness. Father of Sin. Satan love us. Lucifer bless us.”

The pagan chant shocked Aidan. Figures my true mate would be a dark witch instead of a Wiccan. Not that he actually cared. Actions meant more than who you owed allegiance to. As a wolf, he and his pack worshipped no deity, even if they were aware and had a healthy respect for the super powers known as God and the Devil.

Respect or not, Satan’s next words made Aidan’s vision turn red, and he growled.

“Who will serve their master tonight?” Lucifer dropped his hand to an engorging cock that put every mortal man to shame. “I have a mighty need to bless my flock.”

Aidan went to lunge forward when he saw Sophia stand, but a firm grasp on his wolf’s nape held him back. He turned his head as he snarled and bit.

“Quiet wolf,” said a voice low in timbre but resonant with power.

Aidan inhaled the scent of dragon and quieted. How the hell did he sneak up on me? Surely, I wasn’t that distracted? Evidently not.

A voice chuckled in the darkness. “A wise decision. Not so smart, though, would be to interrupt what goes on in the field. I take it this is your first All Hallows ceremony with your witch?”

Unable to reply in beast form, Aidan shifted back, uncaring of his nakedness, a trait common among shifters who often found themselves without clothes. “She’s not my mate yet.”

“Aah, just found her, did you?” Again a chuckle floated from the darkness, and try as Aidan might with his enhanced eyesight, he could not see the shifter who spoke to him even if his sensitive nose caught whiffs of his scent. “Fear not, your lady has chosen to abstain from the festivities. Most witches who’ve found their mate do.”

Indeed, Aidan, who’d never completely lost track of Sophia, saw her pick up a robe off the ground and shrug it on before leaving with others. Several handfuls of witches stayed behind in a naked orgy that Aidan found acrobatically impressive. Satan certainly was a skilled lover judging by the blurring motions and moans of the ladies as he managed to pleasure the large group left behind.

The dragon spoke and drew his attention away from the naked fest in the clearing. “Have you spoken to your pack leader about taking the witch as your mate?”

“There’s been no time. I know it’s not common, but I don’t see why there would be an issue. She’s my true mate.”

“True mate or not, acceptance of a witch as your mate really depends on your pack alpha. Some welcome witches as mates. They actually make valuable additions to the pack, but others are obsessed with purity of the line.”

“Who the fuck are you, and why are you telling me all this? Why do you care?”

“My name is Dracin, and let’s just say I’ve lived long enough to see the interspecies mating thing be an issue. Take my advice or leave it. I don’t really care. I just thought you might like a head’s-up.”

Aidan could sense no deception in his words, but he still didn’t completely trust him. He had, however, raised questions. It had never occurred to Aidan to wonder how his alpha would react. He’d found his mate, and, apart from convincing her, he’d never thought farther ahead. “I’m sure everything will be fine.” Aidan couldn’t hide his sudden doubt completely.

“Fine or not, should you find yourself cast out of the pack, tell your female to contact a witch called Clarabelle. She can give you directions to a pack that welcomes mixed pairings. I’ve more to tell you, but I must rejoin my mate now. I will contact you again shortly.”

The stranger melted into the forest as mysteriously as he’d arrived, which left Aidan with a mouthful of questions. Would his pack leader, a gruff, no-nonsense man, accept his pairing with a witch? Aidan had never heard of an actual ban on such matings, but, then again, he’d never noticed one in his pack either. Coincidence or intentional?

His musings would have to wait. He didn’t want to lose Sophia, who’d left the clearing already. There were lots of brooms around here, and although he assumed she’d spend the night before heading out, he just couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. He changed back to his wolf form, then flitted through the trees, coming as close as he dared to the path, his keen nose picking up the unmistakably sweet scent of his soon-to-be mate.

And, even better, she was alone.

It occurred to him for a few seconds to keep his shifter side secret for a while longer, but she needed to know,