Aric kept his hand on my knee but didn’t say anything for a while. After a few minutes of silence, I spoke for me and my beast. “The anise, being an herb, is associated with witch magic, correct?” Aric nodded. “What’s associated with sulfur?”
“Anything evil a dark witch helps create.”
Fantastic.
Aric didn’t miss my eyes widening, despite my efforts to squelch my surprise. “Celia, you don’t have to be here. I can take you back home.” He groaned. “In fact, I’d rather.”
I placed my hand on his shoulder when he attempted to turn the SUV around. “Home’s not safe anymore, Aric. If it was, I wouldn’t have carcasses falling through my front door. I meant what I said about protecting my family. And about helping you.” I stroked him a little. “Besides, don’t you think I’m safer being with my wolf than home alone waiting for some slobbering monster to show up?”
Aric’s sideways glance melted my toes. “You think of me as your wolf?” A blush crept its way into my cheeks, answering for me. He caressed my knee, his fingers skimming just a little bit upward. “Good,” he whispered. “That’s how it should be. I’ll protect you, Celia. I swear I will.”
I’d shared brief moments of physical intimacy with Aric, but I never felt as close to him as I did now. I curled my arm around his and left it there until he pulled into a spot in front of a small antique store. He reached for a pack filled with extra sweats strewn across the backseat. “Koda, Liam, Shayna, and Emme are headed to the old were’s house, just in case they pick up a scent from a different direction. They’ll call if they find anything.”
I wouldn’t have typically allowed my youngest sisters to track an unknown danger without me, but considering that Liam could eat glass like popcorn and Koda was roughly the size of a tank, I figured they were in safe hands. I stepped out into the crisp air and waited near the door to the shop. Chips cut into the cream-colored paint, adding to the charm of the quaint little place. Ordinarily I would have liked to look inside. But evil didn’t allow time for browsing.
Taran and Gemini parked a few lanes down. Aric motioned to them as they walked toward us, trying in vain to hide his smirk. We’d donned long-sleeved tees and old jeans to make for an easy change. Gemini wore his classic pair of slacks and a sweater. My sister? You’d think she was set to catwalk for Prada’s winter line instead of hunting supervillains. Her black knee-high leather boots clicked along the cracked sidewalk, and her long gray pencil skirt hugged her curves. I’d have teased her for wearing boots to march into danger, but Taran could probably climb trees in four-inch heels. I’d end up with a nosebleed after falling on my face.
Gemini’s eyes locked on to her strut, but he kept his distance. Aric at least held tight to my hand. As sexy as Taran dressed, she remained one step away from another head pat judging by how awkward Aric’s Beta seemed around her.
“Shit, it’s cold.” Taran adjusted the silk scarf around her neck before digging her hands deep into her cropped leather jacket. “Is this damn place far from here, Aric?”
Taran’s enthusiasm always made her endearing.
Aric shrugged. “I don’t think so. We just need to follow the path. It will lead us in the direction of where the old possum said he’d scented the magic.”
“If we need to go off the path, I’ll carry you,” Gemini told Taran quietly.
Taran’s vixen smile reddened Gem’s face. A sweet move if he hadn’t taken a step away from her. Then another. Taran’s shoulders dropped and she let out an exasperated sigh. Most males would have humped her in public just for breathing in their direction. She puckered an eyebrow my way. Other than a sympathetic glance, I had no clue how to respond. Gemini’s aroma didn’t suggest fear or intimidation of Taran. It suggested something my tigress nose couldn’t quite figure out.
“Are we ready?” I asked.
Aric led us through the small brick-laid alley between the antique shop and its neighboring café. A young couple sat in metal patio chairs sipping hot chocolate and discussing their upcoming rafting excursion along the Truckee River.
“Where you headed?” the guy asked as we passed. His casual tone suggested he hadn’t taken a good look at the two wolves and the tigress. Our predators’ side sparked a sense of danger and fear, although we didn’t consciously project either. Most humans kept their distance. Far distance.
“Just for a walk,” Aric answered him. He pulled me closer. “You girls want anything from the café?”
The chilly and breezy fifty-degree afternoon felt more like a hot beach day in August around Aric. The closer he drew me in, the more the warmth accelerated between us. If anything, I needed a cold drink to squelch back the intensity. “No, thank you. I’m fine, wolf.”
“How about wine with dinner following our walk?” Taran suggested.
Aric’s hand skimmed down my back. “Even better,” he murmured.
We reached the end of the alleyway and stepped onto the worn, frozen path. The snow had melted, but it seemed the grass hadn’t quite recovered from the winter’s bashing. The rain and warming sunshine of April would soon resuscitate it. Come summer, the shop owners would struggle to maintain the large section of lawn. For now it lay asleep. Parts of it yellow, other parts balding. Only a few shoots of green daring to make an appearance.
The path widened as we traveled up a small incline leading into the forest. “Would you like to have dinner with me?” Taran asked Gemini. She tried to sound casual, but I recognized the underlying hope. He hadn’t, after all, responded to her suggestion.
Gemini gave a stiff nod but didn’t speak. And his silence wasn’t due to his shyness. His entire demeanor changed as the thick-pined forest swallowed us whole. His dark watchful eyes took everything in. Except he wasn’t the only predator reacting to unknown territory. Aric’s touch turned from affectionate to protective once the trees shadowed the path and blocked out the faint afternoon sun. My tigress stepped forward, sharpening our sense of smell, sight, and hearing. Even Taran knew better than to speak. Chitchat didn’t allow the full use of our senses.