Page 29 of Do You Even Hex, Bro?
I can't believe Sadie's spell actually worked. Micah's stepsister is skilled, but her methods are usually unconventional. I had serious doubts and even the blue flame seemed almost theatrical.
Yet here we are, following the scent of a witch whose magic calls to us on a level I've never experienced.
Our Bonded.
The piece our pack has been missing.
They're heading back toward the house, Micah projects, russet fur flashing through the trees ahead.
Strange. Why would she double back? Unless...
The wards, I realize suddenly.Our territory protections. They must have redirected her, pulled her back to the origin point.
Ancestral magic soaks the grounds of Killian's family estate. The wards aren't just barriers but magnetic fields, designed to confuse intruders, guiding them in circles if they mean harm. But they've never attracted someone before, drawn them in.
She belongs there, Sean's thoughts are surprisingly profound.The house wants her as much as we do.
We burst from the tree line just in time to see her climbing the massive oak beside the house. Even injured and exhausted, she moves with determined grace, launching herself from a branch to catch the second-floor windowsill. My heart nearly stops when she dangles precariously for a moment before hauling herself inside.
Into Micah's room, if I'm not mistaken.
She's in the house, Micah confirms unnecessarily, all of us watching in collectively held breath as she disappears through the window.
Relief floods through me, quickly followed by renewed tension as the three witch-hunters emerge from the forest on the opposite side of the clearing. They're winded but determined, scanning the grounds with coordinated sharpness. The leader, radiating self-importance, gestures sharply to the others. The fire-haired woman begins tracing sigils in the air while the blond witch's hands glow with golden energy.
Defensive positions, Killian orders, and we spread out automatically, forming a semi-circle around the witches and our home.
My hackles rise, a growl building in my chest. These strangers have no right to be here, hunting what's ours. The audacity of them, to chase a frightened woman across campus and into our territory. For what reason? What claim could they possibly have on her?
The coven leader notices us first, halting mid-stride. His face reveals a fleeting moment of surprise before settling into cool assessment. Not the terror most humans show when facing four massive wolves. Interesting. Experienced with our kind, then.
"Shit," the blond man mutters. "Shifters."
"Stay calm," the leader responds, voice pitched low but easily captured by our enhanced hearing. "They're campus wolves. Undergrads. Not a threat."
My lips curl back from my fangs at the dismissal.
Not a threat? We'll see about that.
The leader steps forward, hands raised in what's meant to be a placating gesture, but blue lightning crackles between his fingers. Not so non-threatening himself.
"We don't want trouble with your pack," he announces, voice carrying across the clearing. "We're just here to collect one of our own."
Killian's snarl is deafening, a clear rejection of whatever this witch thinks is happening.
One of us needs to shift to communicate, Micah says.
I'll do it, I offer reluctantly. While we can understand human speech in wolf form, responding requires shifting. I'd rather stay four-legged and fanged for this confrontation, but someoneneeds to speak for the pack, and Killian's too enraged to form coherent sentences right now. His thoughts are a constant stream ofmine-protect-kill-threat.
I let the shift take me. The change is smooth after years of practice. Bones reorganizing, muscle reforming, fur receding.
"You're trespassing," I state flatly, walking barefoot through the fallen leaves to stand beside Killian. "Supernatural territorial law is clear. You have no right to be here."
The witch leader's eyes narrow. "This is university property."
"Leased to the Underwood family for generations and currently housing the Lupe Tau fraternity," I counter. "AKA, our pack. Registered territory with the Supernatural Council. And you're herewhy, exactly?"
"Kyle," the redhead murmurs, anxiety evident in her voice. "She's inside the house. I can sense her."
