turned himself inside out and become the largest beast out of that group of beasts. It just didn’t make sense. Maybe Rocko worked some kind of curse on me and left me befuddled, unable to make sense or hear right. Maybe he wanted me locked up in a looney bin so he could “rescue” me later, make me feel indebted to him. I wouldn’t have been surprised by such a tactic.
Henry’s expression didn’t soften as he studied me. “Of course I have a pack. Where’s your coven? Are they waiting outside the city to attack us when you give the signal? Are you here looking for Deirdre?”
My jaw went slack as the second person that night accused me of being a witch. I tried to push upright from the chair and step forward strongly so I could poke him right in the chest. When in doubt, make counter-accusations and go on the offensive. History told me that letting people call you a witch never ended well for the accused, even when they weren’t actually witches. And it just got worse from there when they were witches.
I lifted my chin and squared my shoulders and fixed him with a dark glare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’d better—”
I didn’t get more than one step before the day and the night and everything caught up with me, and instead of poking him in the chest and giving him a piece of my mind, I ended up leaning forward and then kept on going. The floor rushed up at me and I had half a second to think that I could have used magic to save my dignity if I hadn’t used it all up saving myself from the damn wolves before I braced to collide with the chic tile floor.
Chapter 6
Henry
He didn’t know why she looked so surprised when he asked about her coven, but for some reason the witch’s face lost all color and she started wobbling like a toddler on unsteady legs. He frowned more are she tried to square off against him and wound up for a hell of a diatribe, if she was anything like the other witch he knew, but the witch didn’t get more than a deep breath into it before her eyes rolled back and she crumpled.
Henry jumped forward to catch her, since Sasha was a bit too far away and Henry’s wolf side didn’t want the bear anywhere near her, and managed to keep her from hitting the floor. He maneuvered the girl around so her face wasn’t smooshed against his chest, and carefully put her in the chair she’d been hiding behind. He kept her upright with a hand on her shoulder, and glanced at Sunny. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s probably in shock,” the very pregnant woman said. She studied him coolly, both hands on her belly, and apparently didn’t like what she saw. “Why were you chasing her, hero?”
He really didn’t like the bears or their mates. They were confrontational and aggressive for no reason. And with Sasha standing there, looking murderous at having another male in the presence of his mate, Henry couldn’t say what he really wanted to say to the human woman. “I needed to find out why she was on our territory. That’s it.”
Sunny didn’t believe him, that was for sure, but luckily for Henry, the witch stirred and sucked in a breath as she straightened up in the chair. Sunny smiled at her and offered a bottle of water to drink. “It’s okay, Ophelia. Deep breaths. Have you not…heard any of this before?”
Henry couldn’t move from standing next to the witch; for some reason, he didn’t want to stop touching her shoulder. Instead of the terrifying shocks of earlier, her skin resonated with a slight electric charge—just less than static, but enough that the wolf noticed and took interest. He hadn’t gotten that sense on the few occasions that he’d hugged Deirdre, and wondered whether it was something unique to the witch in front of him.
The girl—Ophelia—took a shaky breath and covered her face. “You guys are freaking me out. I don’t…I’ve never seen anyone…do what he did. Ever. I didn’t even know it was possible. I’d heard stories, of course, but figured they were just that—stories. Are you saying… None of you seem surprised by calling me a witch. Are there a lot of witches around here?”
Her voice got soft, like she was afraid of drawing attention to herself, and Henry swallowed an