Rain poured, pelting her skin with little stings as they rushed across the wet beach. The old witch grinned when they reached the mysterious white glass still steaming from the bolt. It resembled a human nerve cluster, imbued with an almost imperceptible charge.
That was a week ago.
She was an Elemental Witch. Earth. Fire. Water. Air. With her powers strengthened at night, especially under a full moon. A Lunar Elemental.
If only her magic could’ve stopped her father from hurting her mom. Still, there was no fix for that kind of selfish. The bastard cheated on her mom, but he cheated himself out of a family and a daughter’s love.
Eying the strange white glass on her dresser, she smirked to herself. Maybe she’d fry his philandering ass with a personalized bolt. Or flood his oceanfront condo with a mini tsunami.
She sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees over her summer weight duvet. This past month…this past week, really, her life had taken such a right-angle turn, her head reeled. And it wasn’t over. She glanced at her bedroom door and the hall bathroom just beyond.
Nope, not over by a long shot.
Fate decides in her time, Gabs. Leaving us to deal with the fall out in ours.
Whatever, Ray. You do fate your way, and I’ll do fate mine.
Raven laughed at her friend. You don’t DO fate, Gabs. Fate does YOU.
Gabby leaned her chin on her knees. Ray was her best friend, but they were polar opposites. If Raven wanted to play chess with destiny, that was her choice. Waiting for an old crone to decide which cosmic strings to pull was not her idea of a good time.
Fate.
Still, it provided a reason for their very complicated situation. Did fate steer Raven and her demon-hunter ass to play magical matchmaker that day in New Orleans? Or was that just Ray being Ray?
Come out to the lake, cher. It’s too hot in the Quarter. Plus, the wolf shifter I’m bumping uglies with has a hot cousin custom made for you! Oh, and make sure to pack holy water and salt. You know, just in case…demons.
What Raven didn’t tell her, well…not fully, was she, and her sexy wolf lover, were involved in the demon-hunting case of the century. Hottie cousin, included. Hottie cousin, Luke Laval.
Gabrielle smiled to herself, stretching cat-like under the covers.
Holy Howl at the Moon!
Luke and the rest of his wolfy clan could fill a Hot Guys Calendar and then some, with him as the center spread. Just the thought of him sent butterflies winging straight to her sex. She’d never felt anything like it before. Her body actually ached for the man. He was her own personal drug, and she was completely addicted.
Gabrielle dropped her forearm over her eyes. It tingled like hell, but she was too preoccupied to care. Pulling her knees into her chest, rolled to the side to watch moonlight dance on her bedroom wall.
Chateau Laval was Luke’s family estate. His father, Gregory, was the alpha of the Montreal pack, one-third of an overall clan that sustained the Sentinel Brotherhood. An elite force responsible for protecting their world against supernatural attack, especially the demonic kind.
Everyone was polite, but she wasn’t sure she, or any outsiders, were actually welcome. They weren’t tenderfoots, the shifter term for humans, but their magical status didn’t score any points. They were simply the witchy brigade signed on to help the clan against a cunning and nearly invisible enemy.
Capiria must have sensed the tension, and requested the small guesthouse closer to the water and the woods, for her and the witches. Less distraction away from the main house, but it was more than that. Capiria chalked it up to overall tension, but she wasn’t so sure.
The small, stone guesthouse with its quaint slate roof and peaked gables reminded her of the buildings on Rue Jacques Cartier, where she lived as a child. Still, it had a large courtyard and a garden that edged the surrounding forest. Lots of places to lose yourself and think. Or lose yourself with someone whose sexy smile made you want to rip the clothes from your body.
“Don’t grin at me like that.”
“Like what?” Luke smirked, and his trademark crooked grin making her lower belly jump.
“With your ‘the better to eat you with, my dear,’ look. It gives you an unfair advantage.”
Luke’s eyes darkened with tiny flecks of gold. His smile deepened, dangerous and utterly sexy. “Unfair?” He walked her backwards, until her back pressed against a wide oak tree. “If I eat you, then you’re the one who benefits. You come like rockets, but I’m left hard enough to cut diamonds…”
Gabby shivered at the sexy memory playing across her mind, but more at knowing she never left the man unsatisfied. How could she? Her knees went weak just looking at him. Luke was everything her fanciful imagination dreamt about. A hot wolf shifter with an accent that made everything sound sinfully sexy.
Tall and dark, with deep set eyes that smoldered, Luke was all lean muscle, and when he walked, it was with a sinuous, yet predatory, grace. She still couldn’t believe fate threw them together.
It was a coincidence, right? Just as it was a coincidence Raven hooked up with Aiden Durant, Alpha of the New York pack and head of the Sentinel Brotherhood. Or that his brother, Jared, hooked up with a blood witch, Tanya Richards.
If it’s just a coincidence, then why are you all here?
She ignored the question she’d been asking herself since New Orleans. This was an adventure. Like living an
