Page 29 of Witch Unexpected
Wren whimpered and clung to my neck like a furry scarf.
Bramble stood with her back to us, twin daggers clutched in her hands, back tight and shoulders tense as if it was taking great force of will not to wade into the chaos.
“Bramble!” Elijah snapped.
She started and turned to face us. “We need to go.”
“Let’s get you back to the car,” Elijah said to me.
“What? What about them?” I looked back at the fight, my gaze tracking to the crimson wolf. “He saved my life.”
The wolf tore out another beast’s throat before his gaze locked on me. A shiver ran over my skin as if he’d reached out and touched me, but then his gaze slipped to Elijah, and he snarled.
“Yeah,” Elijah said. “He saved you, and now he wants us to get you out of here.”
With a final look into the crimson wolf’s eyes, I allowed Elijah to lead me away.
* * *
Elijah startedthe engine and peeled back onto the road.
Bramble was picking her nails with a dagger tip, one boot braced on the dash. She looked perfectly relaxed, but the beads of blood on her fingers and the tightness of her jaw belied her pose.
I set Wren down on the seat beside me and scooted forward. “What the fuck just happened?”
“Vargs,” Bramble said. “Evil fuckers. I thought we lost ya.” Her tone was tight. “We almost did.”
“I was right there. I mean, you could have helped me.”
Fuck I hated saying that sentence. I wasn’t often the one who needed help, but I wasn’t an idiot either. Right now, I was way out of my depth.
Bramble bristled, her eyes flashing to mine. I caught the flare of anger in their chestnut depths, but instinct told me the anger wasn’t directed at me.
She was kicking herself over this incident.
“We couldn’t see you or sense you,” Elijah said. “It’s how the varga work. They hunt in packs of five, and together they mute any magical ability their victim may have. They can also cast a net of silence around their prey.”
That explained a lot, but “I heard Wren. They were chasing him.”
“A lure to get you off the road and closer,” Elijah said. “Varga are always hungry. The dire wolves keep their numbers culled.” He met my gaze briefly in the rearview. “That’s who saved you. They try to keep the locals safe, but they put themselves at risk every time they go up against the varga.”
“What do you mean?”
“A varga bite can turn a dire wolf varga. It’s an infection. The varga are a fucking infection.” His lip curled. “Their bite can turn a wolf, and it can drive a witch or warlock insane.”
“And the crimson wolf leaped into the circle anyway? Why take that risk? It was five on one.”
“And his pack was nearby,” Elijah said. “Leif knows what he’s doing, and it’s just as well he intervened.” He met my gaze in the mirror again. “He just saved the life of the witch he’ll be anchoring to.”
“Wait, what?”
Bramble turned in her seat to look at me. “You just met the ascending alpha of the Vita Pack, and your future mate.”
Chapter Eight
Imust have fallen asleep because the next time I opened my eyes we were driving down a gravel path toward a massive, shadowy building. The moon had slipped behind a cloud, so the colossal form looked menacing and forbidding.
Wren rose in my lap to look out of the window before snuggling into me with a whimper.
