Caravan Witch (Questing Witch Book 2) Page 2

  “Ahhh,” he nodded. “A pair of questions. That’s the Pammy I know.”

  I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep the snort in, mostly because I was afraid it would turn into a sob. He was still Alex. Still teasing me even though we’d been apart for three years.

  I never really answered him or managed another question. I didn’t get the chance before a wall of white fur slid between us.

  Mac in polar bear form shoved me back. I couldn’t see over him; he completely wiped out my view of Alex. I put a hand on his back and tried to get around him, but he moved with each step of mine to keep me safe. I could feel his fear running along my own veins, feel it as if it were my own.

  He snarled at Alex and swiped at the dirt with a massive paw. Though I couldn’t see him, Alex returned the sentiment, a rippling snarl followed by the clack of his teeth snapping.

  “Mac, simmer down,” I said. “He’s a friend of mine. A very old friend. From before.”

  Mac wasn’t having any of it. His thoughts came through to me, crystal clear. You don’t know who he is now. The Rending changed us all, forced us all to survive in ways we might never have considered before. He could be looking to add to the numbers of his pack. Alphas always are. What if he wants to take you as his beta? You don’t know.

  Mac’s suggestion made me laugh out loud. Alex, an Alpha? I finally got around to Mac’s side. He let me, though the tension in him didn’t ease, not even a single hair.

  I made myself look at Alex as though I didn’t know him, as though I hadn’t seen him eat ice cream at the farmhouse table so fast he got brain freeze, as though I hadn’t seen every goofy, silly thing he’d ever done.

  I looked, truly looked at him. The lines of his body, the bulk of muscle, the confidence in his eyes, and knew that Mac’s assessment was true, as sure as I was standing there. Alex was so different from when I’d last seen him. A full-fledged, huge wolf. I wouldn’t want to face him in a fight. I wouldn’t want any of my friends to face him in a fight. Even if I’d still had all my magic at my disposal—which I most certainly did not. I rubbed at the bracelets.

  The damned things had been slapped on me by rather spiteful elementals right after the world broke. And they kept me from my full power as any manacles kept a prisoner from freedom. They clanged as I held up my hands, a bit of a peace gesture. “Boys, please. Let’s chat, shall we?” The problem was my voice was drowned out by their growling and snarling.

  “Let’s chat?” Oka trotted up to my other side. There was a mixture of amusement and irritation coming off her bond. I’d told her all about Alex, so she knew my feelings for him. But she knew my feelings for Mac too. They’d both saved me, in different ways. She sat at my side, her ears and tail twitching. “You want to offer them tea and biscuits while they tear each other’s throats out?”

  I looked behind us. The caravan was a good distance away, and I was glad for it. Richard wasn’t going to come closer until I gave him the okay, and that would give us at least a few minutes to work out our apparent differences. If Richard was smart, he’d keep everyone away until I knew what kind of new twist had just been thrown into my life. Not that I minded, not really. But I couldn’t have the two boys fighting.

  They circled each other, sizing up the threat, and I pinched my mouth shut and put my hands on my hips.

  “This is ridiculous!” I snapped, thinking that would be enough to bring them back to their senses. But they were so focused on each other, they didn’t so much as flinch at my voice.

  “Look at those two idiots. What is it with testosterone? Does it naturally kill brain cells or something? Do they not realize that fighting over you is truly useless since we all know you’ll do whatever you want?” Oka snorted and shook her head. “Really, it’s dumb.”

  “Oka, they are not fighting over me. And they could really hurt each other.” I started toward them, determined to get between them. Because they didn’t need to fight over me. I was with Mac. I loved Alex . . . but like a brother. Or a cousin. My best friend. Nothing more.

  Liar, liar.

  I buried that voice deep.

  I’d only taken two steps when Mac launched himself at Alex, a roar booming out of him. Alex snarled and dodged the bigger animal’s paws, but just barely. They danced around each other, fairly well matched despite the size difference. Where Mac’s power would have taken Alex down, Alex’s speed kept him out of range.

  “Stop it, both of you!” I yelled, but like the two idiots they were, they ignored me. What I would have given for my connection to the air element, so I could blow them apart. And maybe bump them into a tree to knock some sense into them while I was at it.

  Sure, I had the tiniest bit of spirit at my disposal because of a crack in that bracelet. But that wouldn’t help me here, and using it didn’t come without a rather painful cost, and a massive drain on my energy.

  “Let me handle these two,” Oka said as she launched herself into the air, landing on Mac’s back. “Knock it off, you,” she said as she dug her claws into his back. He roared and twisted around but he couldn’t reach her. She’d landed in that sweet spot where he couldn’t so much as bump her with his nose.

  “Damn it, Oka!” he snarled.

  I put a hand on Mac’s hip and Oka released her hold on him. I thought that would have it done, that the fight was over.

  Nope.

  My once-submissive best friend took the opening Oka had unintentionally given him, and slammed into Mac hard, knocking him clean onto his side, which in turn sent Oka flying through the air. True to Oka, she landed on all fours and puffed up, hissing.

  I darted between the two huge men, even though they were currently acting like the animals they embodied, and looked at Alex, his breathing heavy from the fight. “Enough. Both of you, enough.”

  Mac stood behind me, anger rippling off him so hard, I would’ve felt it even if he wasn’t my familiar. I turned to look at his clear blue eyes, eyes that had saved me when the darkness threatened to claim my existence.

  “Mac, it’s okay, honestly. Please trust me,” I breathed the words, trying to soothe him as he’d once soothed me. To pull him back from the edge of things he would regret. But the anger rolled off him in waves, fierce and hot and full of emotions I was scared to even try to identify. Because they felt like more than I was ready to admit, even to myself. I touched a hand to his cheek, running my fingers through the thick fur. His jaw didn’t relax, though, and I frowned. “Trust me, Mac. He’s one of the good ones.”

  There was a surge of emotions and then suddenly, they were gone. For the first time, he shut me out, just like that. No longer could I hear him or feel him. I mean, I knew he was there, in front of me, I could still feel our bond. But nothing else. And it hurt more than his anger. Like he didn’t trust me enough to handle his wild feelings.

  Oka leapt up to my shoulder, still puffed up. “Let it go. Boys don’t know how to be around each other sometimes. They’re being a couple of prancing peacocks with their feathers all up and their knickers in knots so tight, they should be singing soprano. I’m sick of the display.”

  “Hey,” Alex said as if he was hurt. But how could that be? He couldn’t hear Oka. Could he? “I resent that, cat. I’m a wolf, not a peacock.”

  I stood corrected.

  “How . . . ?” I shook my head. “You can’t possibly hear her.”

  Alex backed up a few steps, giving us room. His eyes suddenly looked as tired as I felt, the burnished gold orbs losing some of their spark. “I’ve come back from the dead, Pammy. I can hear all kinds of things. There’s a lot for us to catch up on.”

  I shook my head. This was all too much to take in. “All right, fair enough.” I looked at Mac and then back to Alex. “Both of you, in your human forms. Now.” I made my voice as stern as I could, leaving no room for ifs, ands, or buts, and snapped my fingers on one hand for good measure.

  Alex shifted first, and I’d forgotten the number one thing about most shifters—stupid of me, but I�
��d gotten used to Mac.

  Alex stood there, a lopsided grin on his face, and nothing else on him. Like nothing. Not a stitch of clothes. I kept my eyes up and on his face, but not before I got a glimpse of . . . well, everything else. Abs, lean muscles, darkly tanned skin.

  I spun around and found myself facing Mac, sure that I’d turned about eighteen shades of red. Although Mac had blocked me from picking up on his emotions, I thought I detected just a hint of jealousy from the way he watched my reaction. The flare of nostrils, the tightening of the lines of his mouth.

  This could not be happening. I was not going to deal with jealousy from Mac. Not with Alex. Alex was my friend. That was it.

  “Alex, tell me you have clothes,” I said. I was not turning around until he at least had some pants on.

  Oka snorted behind me. “Your legs are seriously hairy.”

  “I’m a wolf.” Alex laughed. “And I didn’t have a chance to drop by the spa before I got here.”

  She snorted again, but I heard the laughter in it. I bit back the smile. It wouldn’t take Alex much to win her over. I looked up under my lashes at Mac. My bear might take a little longer. I reached out and brushed my hand against his. No words, just a touch to let him know I was still here with him.

  “Clothes, Alex?” I repeated.

  “Yes, they’re with my pack, if you can call it that.” He let out a whistle, and maybe thirty seconds later came the sound of wolf pads on the hard ground, galloping toward us. The urge to whip around and stare down the new wolves was strong. I was the caravan’s protector, and these new wolves had to be checked out. The question was who was he traveling with, and would they mesh well with the humans and shifters already in our group?

  “A pack, Alex? Are they nice? The others in the caravan . . .” I trailed off, and he picked up on my train of thought.

  “No, not a pack like that, Pammy. There are only three of us.” Zippers and more shuffling told me he’d gotten his things, at least. But was he dressed? I bit my bottom lip as I endured the passing moments, shifting from side to side. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, waiting to open presents.

  “Goddess, keep your panties on, Pam, they’re getting dressed as fast as they can,” Oka scolded. Mac glared down at her, and I’m sure I turned an even deeper shade of red. Did she have to use that phrase?

  The thing was I couldn’t get the image of Alex standing there naked and grinning, golden eyes flashing and messy brown hair falling over the edges of his face, out of my head.

  Only days ago, I was fighting for my life, fighting with my magic, and now, I stood with a piece of my heart, finally come home. And damned, if he didn’t look good naked.

  Bad, bad. Don’t go there.

  “He’s decent,” Mac said, or rather growled. I watched him and felt like apologizing to him, even though I didn’t know what for. He was an outsider to my life as it had been before, just as I was to his. How would I feel if some lover from before crossed his path? Except Alex and I weren’t lovers. We were friends. Good friends.

  “Pammy?” Alex asked, forcing me to turn around before I was ready. Or maybe, I was more ready for that moment than I had been for anything else in my entire life. Oka hopped down from my shoulder.

  Her thought to me was pure and simple. He’s your friend. You have every right to be happy he’s here. Ignore Mac. He’s just . . . well, he’s just being protective.

  I let out a breath as I turned. Oka was right. This moment had been a long time coming.

  Alex had put on a shirt and pants, but no shoes. The clothes weren’t really what I cared about anyway. His eyes were as soft and kind as they’d always been, if a bit fatigued around the edges. He smiled, half his mouth turning up. I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry, smile or break down.

  There were no words to encompass the emotions running through me.

  He nodded. “I know.” Then he reached out and tugged me toward him, wrapping me up in his arms and holding me tightly. He rested his chin on the top of my head and I closed my eyes, breathing him in.

  Death had taken him away. And I’d fought to bring him back.

  Distantly, I heard Oka speak. “Simmer down, Mac. No one can take a familiar’s place.”

  But in that moment, there was only Alex and me. There was no broken world. No caravan. No Immune children. No dangers. Just my best friend and his strong arms engulfing my body, keeping me safe.

  I drew in breath after breath. “You took long enough to find me.”

  Alex laughed, his chest rumbling under my cheek. “I took a few detours. Went to the beach, made a sandcastle.”

  I pulled back enough to give him a smack on the chest. He laughed and put a hand over mine, his eyes intense suddenly, the edge of his jaw flicking as a muscle jumped.

  Yeah. The last three years had changed him, made him stronger, more confident, more . . . just more.

  Jealousy hit me like a bolt of lightning out of the sky and I gasped as it burned away any other emotions I had rumbling through me. I pulled away from Alex with a sharp jerk, completely killing the moment.

  RIP reunion with long-lost bestie. Welcome back to the reality of the world we were in.

  Mac cleared his throat, and I knew where the jealousy had come from. The question was had it been on purpose to break up the hug, or because he couldn’t hold it back?

  “Sorry,” he said softly.

  I sighed. Option number two: he couldn’t hold it back. Damn it. The thing was, if a woman from Mac’s past had shown up, I’d have been as protective.

  And just as jealous.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  Alex rubbed a hand through his hair. “Here, let me introduce you to the others.”

  He turned slightly and made a motion with one hand to beckon them forward. The first woman was nearly as tall as me, dark, and slender on the point of being underfed and . . . goddess, her boobs had to be fake. They were huge on her frame, totally unbalanced with the rest of her.

  Oka snickered. “I agree, Pam, those babies have to be fake.”

  Alex stiffened, his shoulders trembled, and Mac choked on a laugh, covering it with one hand. Of course, the woman didn’t hear the conversation, only saw us reacting to her as she drew close. Which left her thinking we were laughing at her. To be fair, we kind of were.

  Her eyes narrowed farther, and her lips tightened as if she’d smelled something bad. And she was looking at me. Her dark eyes were mere slits as she lifted one corner of her mouth in a silent snarl. Message received loud and clear. Stay away. Had Alex taken a mate? The thought made me take another step back. Mac was right. I didn’t know anything about what Alex had been doing the last three years. He could have a mate. He could have had several.

  “Pammy, this is Jasmine,” he pointed to the woman on his right that was giving me the stink eye, “and this little pup is Marley.”

  Marley . . . the name rang a bell and it took me a moment to remember why. Macey’s little sister had the same name. Macey’s little sister had been taken by wolves. But that had been three years ago, right at the beginning.

  “Impossible.” I stared at a smaller girl who stood behind his other shoulder, large brown eyes watching me carefully. Impossible and yet there she stood, the spitting image of her older sister, down to the small frame and the long brown braid slung over one shoulder. She lifted her chin, just a little, and that defiant look was all Macey.

  My first thought was I hoped she wasn’t as reckless as her sister, but then maybe she didn’t have to be. She had Alex to protect her. And he’d done a better job with her than I’d done for Macey.

  And just like that, within just a few heartbeats, two wolves had come back from the dead.

  3

  The braid over the young girl’s shoulder was clutched in her hand, and all I could see was Macey, defiant and angry. But this girl, she was not defiant, or particularly Alpha by the looks of her standing partially behind Alex.

  “Marley? As in Macey’s sister?�
�� I asked the question because I had to be absolutely certain.

  “Macey? You know my sister? Is she here?” The young girl peered around Alex, which was no small feat. He was a bigger man than I’d known. Almost as big as Mac.

  I glanced over my shoulder, grateful Richard had kept the caravan at a safe distance where nothing could be overheard. There was too much shit here to wade through to have the others involved in it. At least not until I absolutely had to.

  “I knew her, yes . . .” I trailed off. How could I tell her what happened to her sister? I changed the direction of the conversation a little, in the hopes I could lead up to the truth gently. “She never stopped looking for you, Marley. She told me about you, and that she always hoped she would find you.” Macey had been one of my few friends in the caravan when I’d first joined them. And I hadn’t been able to save her because my magic was stripped from me.

  Not all of it. The darkness whispered up through me and I breathed through the tingle. No, not all of it. But the magic that was black as death was . . . unpredictable, to say the least.

  I carried the guilt of Macey’s death around like a battle wound I couldn’t heal, and now, seeing her sister standing in front of me was nearly more than I could bear and still stay on my own two feet. Marley’s trusting brown eyes made me want to go to my knees and apologize to her, to beg forgiveness for letting her sister die. Another friend lost to the monsters, to the world that we lived in now. But I didn’t do any of those things. I stood tall and shifted my weight a bit. I looked at Oka who shook her head.

  “I think you just tell her, Pam,” my small familiar said. “She’s young but not that young.”

  Oka was right. I drew a slow breath in and blew it out as I slowly shook my head, searching for the right words. I lifted my eyes to see Marley watching me, her eyes filling with tears. She knew. But I still had to tell her.

  I’d rather clean the shit pits than do this.

  Marley’s face crumpled in slow motion and with it a tear fell. “What happened?” she asked in a whisper as her eyes went to the caravan behind me, as if she already knew.