Shadow of the Wolf

didn’t want him to know too much too soon.

Not until Grammy had a look at him. “You’ll need to be assessed, but I’m betting you’ll grade fairly high on the scale.” Actually, you might break the scale.

Zach gulped, his eyes wide.

Daniel laughed.

She wanted to smack Daniel when Zach’s eyes filled with hurt.

But when they filled with anger … when he turned to his brother…

She stepped between Daniel and Zach and placed her hand on Zach’s chest. “No!”

She pulled his face down to hers. “Anger is what cursed the Becketts. Never cast in anger.” She waited until she saw he’d acknowledged that, breathing deep, reigning in the rage.

“I wouldn’t have.”

She might have believed him if he hadn’t been talking through clenched teeth. “Take that anger. Dilute it. Channel it. Allow it to fuel you, but never allow it to use you.” She huffed. “A witch gets a stronger boost the more they feel. Love, anger, hate, determination, all of it fuels your gift, but if you allow it to rule your gift, you will find yourself on the wrong end of the karma stick. Got it?”

That got through. “Karma stick?” Zach’s lips twitched, the tension in his shoulders easing.

“The witch who cursed you? She’s a giant bunny.”

Zach blinked, swallowing hard. “Bunny?”

“Her great great great blah blah grandchildren are serious vegetarians.”

Zach collapsed into a chair, laughing his ass off.

“You really think he’s a witch?” Gareth was frowning at them, but he looked intrigued.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“How do you know?” Daniel still sounded hostile, but some of the wind had gone out of his sails.

She grinned slowly. “Let’s just say it takes one to know one.” She flicked her finger, and every peanut in the bowl landed on Daniel.

She slid her arm through Zach’s and hauled him to his feet, ignoring both Daniel’s sputtering and Gareth’s laughter. “Come along, Zach. You and I have someone to talk to.” She led the still chuckling Zach out of the room and went looking for Annabelle.

Grammy was going to love this. A Beckett witch?

Zach’s parents were going to shit a cow.

* * *

Christopher returned from his run to find Gareth and Daniel sitting quietly in his office, waiting for him. The Registry lay open between them, the picture of Zach smiling up at them. “What’s wrong?”

Daniel glared at him. “When were you going to tell us Zach is a witch?”

Christopher sighed. He so did not need this shit right now. “I’m not sure. Did you read the entry?”

Gareth looked like he’d bitten a lime and wasn’t sure if he liked the taste or not. “It doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, but yeah, we read it.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you.” The entry on Zach was unlike any other he’d ever seen. It still confused the hell out of him, and until he could do a bit more research he wasn’t going to call his brother a witch. “Why aren’t you two in the great room?”

They shivered.

“Mom’s here?” Christopher raced from the room, ignoring the shouts of his brothers.

He slid to a stop in the great room and found Zachary, hands holding what looked like a purple rose, standing over his end table and staring intently at the vase of flowers sitting there. Staring up at him was a tiny little old woman intoning, “You’ve got it. Now, cast.”

Zachary’s hand flew out. The rose touched the vase.

“At my touch this color you’ll see.

As I will so mote it be.”

Christopher grinned. The flowers were turning a rich, deep purple. Not his favorite color, but if Grammy could help Zachary with his magic, he could live with the illusion of purple flowers for a bit.

Zachary whooped. “Yes!”

Christopher’s grin slowly faded. The vase was turning purple. Then the end table.

The lamp. The sofa.

The walls.

“Zachary. Take the illusion off.” Purple bled across his hardwood floors. He stepped back, worried about what would happen if that leading edge touched him.

“Oops.” Zachary turned to the elderly woman who stood there, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I told you not to get overly excited.” She sighed and waved her arm. Then she frowned. “Zachary.”

“I’m trying!” Zachary leaned down and peered at the purple flowers. “Well. Crap.”

“What?” Christopher was glad the purple stopped on the edge of the kitchen.

Zachary straightened up, his face filled with wonder. “It’s not an illusion.” He turned to Christopher, a huge grin slowly taking over his face. “It’s not an illusion, Chris.”

The wondrous happiness on Zach’s face was something he hadn’t seen since they were children. It made him sad to realize how much Zach’s apparent lack of ability had dragged his happy-go-lucky brother down.

Chris blinked as his brother’s words sank in. He got down on the ground and touched the floor, using all of his senses, magical and wolf, to detect the spell.

There was no spell. The lingering traces sifted over his senses, the faint hint of rose and lavender, but the spell was no longer active. “My great room is purple.”

“Sorry.” Zachary didn’t sound very sorry. He sounded ecstatic. “I’ll try and put it back.”

“No!” Two strong voices rang out, one male, one female.

Christopher and Grammy looked at each other. The old woman laughed. “Zachary, you are to touch nothing until I’ve got you properly trained. Preferably under shields.

And wards. Maybe even underground.”

“I’m that bad?” Zachary tossed the rose onto the couch. “What am I saying? Of course I’m that bad.” He started for the kitchen, his expression the same old devil-may-care Zachary Christopher was so used to seeing and was finally beginning to understand was a mask. “We need to make lunch. I’m starved.”

“Zachary David Elijah Beckett.”

There was power in the old woman’s voice, power that stopped Zachary in his tracks.

“Do you hereby swear to abide by the laws of the Witch’s Council?

Zachary turned back to Annabelle, ignoring Christopher’s gasp of surprise. “I do.”

“Do you swear fealty to our Prince, forsaking all other oaths?”

Christopher swallowed. That was a big one. To swear fealty to the ruler of the Witches was to forswear his oath to the Wizards.

“I do.”

The woman smiled and winked. “One last oath.”

Zachary smiled back. “Law of three.”

One salt and pepper brow rose. “Very good.” The smile dropped from her face, and she was once more all business. “Do you promise to stand before our prince and swear your oath to him, binding yourself forevermore to Court and Council?”

Christopher frowned. That last part wasn’t a part of the wizard’s oath.

But Zachary showed no hesitation. “I do.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride.” Christopher turned to find Lana in the doorway, clapping her hands. “See, Grammy? Didn’t I tell you?” Lana entered the room and gave Zachary a huge hug. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” Zachary looked stunned. “What happens next?”

“You go for training, silly!” Lana turned to Annabelle, her arms still looped loosely around Zachary’s neck. “Philadelphia?”