Page 21 of Pack Witch
Bo laid a hand on his arm. “I can’t. It’s my recuperation, Leroy. My punishment from the Moon Goddess for hurting MissZinnia. It’s like Grandma Ida told us when she made us re-stain the porch floors back at the house. Sufferin’ builds character.” He sighed deeply. “I just hope it don’t build so much character, we die from it.”
Leroy pulled him away. “Let’s go find some vegetables, then.”
I gave a nod. “There may be some wild garlic down by the river, or dandelion greens.”
I left them arguing about what wild plants tasted best, and went inside to check on Zinnia. She was sleeping on the bed, her long hair half-over her face. I perched beside her and moved it gently away, wondering at the softness of it. Ignoring the surge of magic that rushed to the skin where my hand came into contact with her.
She’d asked if it hurt when she touched me. I hadn’t known how to explain that it was agony and ecstasy combined. That the only pain worse than having her skin on mine was the moment it was removed, and I was alone again.
But I’d hurt her so much worse. I’d rejected her, left her suffering, chasing me.
For some reason, her words to the boys echoed in my ears.“I’d recommend wearing shoes.”I stood and moved to the bottom of the bed, where a beam of sunlight from the window was pouring across her lower half. Her legs were perfect, but her feet…
If I hadn’t already thrown up everything I could, I might have been sick again. I hadn’t seen this in the night, couldn’t have known to look. The bottoms of her feet were scarred beyond belief, all the way up the sides of her heels. Her little toes were the worst, but the thick, rough scars made a slipper-shaped mass on both small feet.
I didn’t have to hear her say it to understand. She’d run after me; her wolf had probably driven her to run in whatever form she could hold.
I’d done this to her. The one creature in the world I would have never wanted to damage had lived her whole life hurting.
Restitution. The word that the boys couldn’t seem to get right rang in my mind. I had to do the same: make restitution to my little star. Ask her to heal me, but make sure she had whatever she wanted from me as well. I had wealth, after years of living on a shoestring, with no one to spend my pay on. I had power within the packs. I had connections. I owed it all to her.
I took in her lithe form, the threadbare dress covering her perfectly formed limbs, the way her lips curled into a smile as she dreamed. My mouth watered to kiss her again, even if it was agony. “I’ll never hurt you again, little star. Never again.”
Not even if it meant my own death.
Chapter 12
Zinnia
The sunlight woke me, moving over my body in a warm caress. I stretched lazily, but didn’t open my eyes immediately. Instead, I listened.
This time, I wasn’t alone. Soft snoring, and the scent of cedar and ink had me sitting up with a smile. Julian slept in my rocking chair, his torn shirt and sweatpants doing nothing to hide the power of his frame. I let myself stare for a long moment, savoring the feeling of waking with another shifter in the house. Especially this one.
I peeked down at my side, feeling a familiar slither as Urchin lifted her head from her nap as well.
Years ago, I’d insisted that Ida and her whole pack leave me alone as much as possible. In exchange for solitude and safety, I’d made the vow to give whatever magic I could when she needed it. I’d thought I loved being alone, but taking in Julian’s muscular body and drawing his scent into my lungs, I was able to recognize the lie.
“Your eyes are so beautiful.” My gaze lifted to Julian’s face. He’d stopped snoring while I stared and was drinking me in as greedily as I had him. I blushed at the heat in his gaze. “You’re stunning. Like some kind of forest nymph.”
I rolled what I knew were perfectly ordinary eyes and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I still had on the horrible house dress, but I slipped it off now, standing naked before him. “I’m a fifty-year-old woman with a little bit of magic, and a full-length mirror that shows me exactly how I look, Julian. I’m not beautiful or special. There’s no need to flatter me.” I turned to look at myself in the long, walnut-framed mirror, a gift from a pack member two years before when I’d helped his mate heal after delivering twins.
The mirror didn’t hide anything. I had scars no shifter would carry, from living a life as a magically gifted human. Small nicks littered my arms, while my hands and fingers bore old burns from cooking pans and from distilling tinctures and boiling down ingredients for my salves. My hair was long and fell in waves around my breasts, and the curls at the juncture of my thighs were still lush and dark. I supposed I had some golden flecks in my brown eyes, and good, straight teeth.
My nipples beaded as Julian’s gaze blazed in the reflection. He stood, stalking toward me. He stepped behind me so his body loomed over mine. At five foot eight, I wasn’t short for a woman, but he was over six feet, and wider than any shifter I’d met, other than the Mountain Alphas.
“Look at you,” Julian purred into my ear, leaning down to wrap his hands around my waist. “How could you think there was anything imperfect about you?” He lifted my hands in his, turning them palm up, then down. “Ida told me a little about you on the way here. She said you were a witch who took care of the children of the pack and the injured. These hands saved the lives of pups and healed the suffering.” My hands dropped to my sides as he moved his hands to my hair, his fingers trailing lightly over the length of it to linger at my beaded nipples. “These are the most perfect breasts I’ve ever seen in my life, and this?” One hand moved lower, cupping my mound firmly. “This is theclosest to heaven I ever need to be.” He leaned down to nuzzle at my neck and froze, making a choking sound.
Was he in pain? Was touching me… hurting him? “Julian?”
“Something’s on my foot,” he whispered.
I peeked down. “Oh, that’s just Urchin. She’s blind. Hold still, and she’ll move away.”
“Ur–Urchin?” His reply was oddly high-pitched, and his grip on my mound had gotten a little too tight. I pushed my pelvis back and turned, bending down to lift the garter snake off the ground.
“Yes, Urchin. She’s perfectly harmless.” I tilted my head, taking in his stance. I could see his pulse pounding in his throat, his eyes fixed on the half-blind garter snake like I was holding a cobra. “Julian, are you afraid of snakes?”
His silence was answer enough. I stepped away, placing Urchin in her wicker basket by the wardrobe, before turning back and crossing my arms over my chest. I wanted to tease him, but his fear had been all too real. Irrational, but real.
