Page 49 of Freed Wolfsbane

“No,” he growls, sounding more like the Wyldharts than my normally even-tempered mage. “I want another one.”

“Saint…” I trail off, unsure if I can even come again.

“Give it to me,” he demands as he pinches my clit. The bite of pain has me crying out, so Saint does it again. I shatter on top of him with a shout. I squeeze my eyes shut as wave after wave of pleasure sweeps over me that’s so good it hurts.

When I finally surface from my climax, I collapse in a sweaty heap on Saint’s chest. He keeps thrusting in me before his smooth rhythm turns jerky. Groaning my name, Saint finishes, his warm cum shooting inside me. His hips buck a few times before eventually stilling.

Saint runs his hands over my bare back soothingly as we both come down from our climaxes. “Was that good for you?” I murmur into his neck.

He snorts. “Good is a fucking understatement, little shadow. That was amazing.” I lie on top of him for a long moment with him still inside me, both of us enjoying the closeness. Eventually he turns his head to check the time and groans. “We should probably get to Nan’s.”

CHAPTER24

BRIAR

Malachi glances up from where he’s sitting at the same desk he was working at a few hours earlier. His hair is mussed like he’s been running his hands through it. “Find anything useful?” he asks once Saint lets the portal close behind us.

I shrug. “Kinda?” My statement comes out more like a question because I don’t know if the potion will end up being helpful or not. With the whole sacrifice thing, I don’t know when we’d use it, and I hope we’re never in a situation where it seems like a good idea.

Pushing to his feet, Malachi stretches as he stands up, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of his abs. I tear my gaze away from his muscles to glance up at his face. Luckily, he didn’t notice my staring. He strides over, and when he reaches us, his nostrils flare, and his eyes snap to mine. “Have a good time?” he rumbles with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep,” I squeak, my face flaming. I’m pretty sure he can smell that we just fucked, and I don’t really know how to handle having multiple mates in this situation.

His mouth quirks up in a half smile. “Good. So, what did you find?”

I exhale in relief at Malachi not making it weird. I won’t apologize for getting it on with my other mates, but I never want to rub it in anyone’s face.

I hand Malachi the small amber glass vial. He holds it up to the light to inspect the murky contents curiously. “What does it do?”

“It can strip a person’s or object’s magic,” I tell him. Malachi raises his eyebrows in surprise and looks at the potion with newfound appreciation. “The bad news is it kills whoever uses it.”

“Fuck.” He scrubs a hand over his face. “That’s one hell of a catch.”

Tell me about it.

We found the answer to all our problems for the low, low price of one of our lives. That’s par for the course with the prophecy, though. Everything is just one big riddle, catch, or impossible task after another.

“Yeah. It wasn’t what I wanted to find, but maybe the diary entry will have something more helpful in it.” Here’s hoping. I could really use something going right with the stuff we found in the crypt.

Malachi nods, his mouth flattening into a harsh line. “I finished translating the letter. It mentions something about a potion.”

By his expression, I’m guessing whatever the diary entry says isn’t good. “Can I read it?”

He dips his chin and heads back to his workspace cluttered with papers, books, and pens. Saint and I follow him. When we reach the table, I hop up to sit on the edge that’s reasonably clear of the mess. Saint stands beside me and wraps an arm around my waist. I lean in to him and enjoy the comfort he’s offering for a second.

Malachi sifts through his scattered notes before handing me a crumpled piece of paper with his neat handwriting on it.

I smooth it out on my jeans and begin to read.

11 August 1077

I can no longer feel my wolf. She is gone, just like women have reported from all over the continent. The Knights of Aeneas have finally succeeded in their mission to take our wolves away. Peculiarly, it only seems to affect women, perhaps to target Dido’s descendants directly. They learned of the prophecy, despite our attempts to guard it.

Whatever the reason, we female wolves are now an easy target for the Knights and other species. Along with taking our wolves, this curse also took our strength, speed, and senses. We can hear, see, and smell better than humans but not as we once could.

In my weakened state, I am unable to combat the curse directly. May another of Dido’s descendants break the curse swiftly for we are already dying. Two of my sisters have been killed in the month since news of the Knights of Aeneas’s success reached us. I fear that we may not survive long enough to fulfill the prophecy if the destined one is not revealed soon.

To aid the one mentioned in the prophecy, I will leave everything we have found about the curse in the newly built crypt for safe keeping.

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