Page 26 of Brick

She rubbed her cheek on his chest and held herself tight against him, her hands digging into his back as she pulled herself even closer. He rested his head on top of hers and inhaled her sweet scent. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of it.

“I’d like to stay with you,” she said. “If I’m allowed since I’m not a pack member.”

“You’re my mate, which makes you an unofficial pack member and under the protection of Adam and Cinder, not to mention me. If you weren’t allowed to stay in the house, I’d just take one of the empty homes in the territory and claim it for us.”

“I like this house,” she said. “But maybe someday we could have a place of our own.”

“That works for me.”

“Oh shit. Sorry,” Adam said as he walked into the kitchen.

Brick kissed the top of Jade’s head and said, “Don’t be sorry, we were just talking about Jade officially moving into my room, and then, of course, I was going to come talk to you.”

“That’s awesome, welcome,” Adam said with a grin. The smile dropped quickly and he said, “I have a task for you.”

“Sure,” he said.

He and Jade separated, and she fixed herself another cup of coffee as Adam explained that because Cinder wouldn’t be able to shift any longer, and they were aware now that the Humans Against Shifter jerks were watching them, he wanted to have Brick talk to the Wiccans about setting up some protective wards around the territory.

“Sure, I’d be happy to go talk to them. I’ll grab Linus and Dove to ride with me.”

Linus and his sister Dove were new to the security team, but both were fitting right in and were very serious about helping keep everyone safe.

“Jade could go with you,” Adam said. “If you’d like to get out of town for a bit.”

“Really?” she asked. “I’ve never met any Wiccans before.”

“They’re a great bunch of females,” Adam said. “Cinder was part of their coven before she and I got together. Her lygisa magic isn’t the same as Wiccan magic, so she left the coven but the North Corner Lorene is like an aunt to Cinder, and Bitty, one of the Corners, studies shifter history and mythology so we reach out to her when we have questions about things related to our people or other types of shifters.”

“I’d love to go,” Jade said.

“Lorene’s expecting you,” Adam said. “Tell her I said hi.”

Brick nodded, then turned to his mate. “Road trip.”

“Sounds awesome,” she said. She grabbed a travel mug and poured her coffee into it. He reached out to Linus and Dove, who met them at the security office. After assigning them to follow him and Jade, they set off to the Cleveland Mother Earth Store, which the Northern Ohio coven used as their main office. On the drive, he told Jade about what had happened when Adam and Cinder became mates and her lygisa power had made her a target of some pretty nasty wolves, and how Lorene had been instrumental in helping the pack to get Cinder back when she’d been abducted by her biological father for nefarious purposes.

Brick parked in front of the Wiccans’ store and got out, meeting Jade at the front of the SUV. They walked inside and the scent of sage and dried herbs was heavy in the air. A young female stood behind a counter and smiled brightly.

“Hi, I’m Lulu. How can I help you today?”

Before Brick could answer, Lorene strode into the room, her long skirt swishing around her ankles. “Lulu, Brick is here for our meeting.”

“Oh, of course,” Lulu said.

Brick looked at Dove and Linus. “Hang out here and keep an eye on things.”

“You got it, boss,” Dove said with a curt nod.

Brick took Jade’s hand and led her to Lorene. She was two hundred-something years old, but looked like she was in her thirties thanks to her supernatural long life.

“Hi, Lorene,” he said. “This is my mate Jade.”

Lorene extended her hand and when Jade shook it, she said, “It’s lovely to meet you. I’m the North Corner and head of the coven. Come into my office where the others are waiting for us.”

Inside the quaint office was a round table with three other females seated around it. Lorene introduced them as the other Corners, Bitty, Gwen, and Maritza, as they all took their seats, and Brick introduced Jade.

“The floor is yours,” Gwen said.

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