Wolf Magick

Cynthia Cooke

“Come to us Rena. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Rena has heard the whispers in her nightmares for years, ever since the night her mother disappeared. She hopes studying at Vindecare, a school for witches, will finally stop the voices and help her to control her abilities. At last she has a chance at a new life—and maybe a relationship with Kaydin, the undeniably sexy gallery owner helping Rena with her art.

But Kaydin has dark secrets of his own, intimately connected to Rena’s nightmares. The shapeshifter saved the young witch’s life once, a mistake he’s bound to correct. Even if Rena makes him long with desire he hasn’t felt for centuries….

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter One

“Come to us, Rena. We’re waiting for you.”

The voice urged Rena onward while every instinct within her told her to turn back…to run. The moon cut through the trees, its icy-blue glow lighting the forest floor with a preternatural hue that made the shadows appear long and ominous. Rena pushed against a branch. The razor-sharp edge of a leaf sliced into her fingertip, drawing blood. She pressed her finger into her mouth, sucking until the sting disappeared.

She whimpered and she clung tight to her mother’s strong hand. She didn’t want to be here, would rather be anywhere but here. A wolf howled in the distance. The lonely baying skated down her nerves. “Mommy,” she cried. “I want to go home.”

“Shh, Rena,” her mother whispered. “We’re almost there.”

“I’m scared. I don’t like it here at night.”

Her mother stopped and bent down to face her. “There is no reason to be afraid. Soon, I will be very powerful, and no one will ever be able to take you away from me. Okay?”

Rena nodded, blinking against the tears prickling her eyes.

“Good. Now be a brave little girl for mommy, okay? And help me find the lights.”

Rena bit down on her lip and nodded.

Once more she moved forward, letting her senses guide her. Her heart danced, not in expectation, but in fear—a heady waltz that left her breathless as she moved farther along the path and deeper into the woods.

She found the clearing circled on all sides by towering trees. The wind howled in protest, beating the branches overhead until they thrashed against one another. It whipped Rena’s hair into a fiery maelstrom around her head and still she moved forward, one tentative step after another.

She had to do this. For her mother. So she could get stronger and they could be together. Always.

In the middle of the circle, light pulsed out of the ground. Breathtaking colors that danced and shimmered. They approached the prisms of light bending back and forth, expanding and contracting, earth’s altar to the gods, her mother had said.

“Rena, we’ve been waiting so long. It’s almost time. Feel the magic. Feel the power. It’s all for you.” The voice whispered in her mind.

Rena looked up at Mommy to see if Mommy heard it, too. Mommy was smiling. She let go of Rena’s hand and stepped into the lights.

Rena took a tentative step to follow but paused as she saw something hidden in the colors, a shadow peeking, peering, flickering into nothing.

“Mommy?”

Rena stretched her arm out, reaching her fingers toward the kaleidoscope before her, but hesitated as she heard a soft growl. The low rumble filled the air. She turned toward the menacing sound: her chest tightening, her heart racing.

Dark clouds at war with one another thundered across the sky. They rammed and converged, a bubbling molten stew that blocked out almost all the moon’s rays, except for a sliver of arctic light that broke through to pierce the shimmering black eyes of the beast.

Fear grasped Rena by the throat and squeezed. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t form the scream trapped in her throat. Her legs weakened, her bones turning watery.

The beast loomed over her. His elongated nose, dark and quivering, drew back revealing razor-sharp teeth glimmering to fine wet points. Doused in shock, her mind fractured, shuffling through broken images. Burnt umber, sienna, and kohl-black hair swept thick and full around the beast’s face. Its breadth, its impossible height, its neck the size of a tree trunk, it was too much to absorb, to comprehend, as the beast towered over her.

Rena cried out and cowered beneath the outstretched claw. And then she was flying, tumbling through the air, falling into the thick grass, and lying alone in a still, dark meadow.

“Mommy!”

Tears seeped from her eyes, wetting her cheeks, the only indication that she was still alive. But where was Mommy?

She heard the snapping of the branches and felt the rumbling of the earth beneath her and knew it wasn’t over.

She screamed. Calling, crying for her mommy to save her.

But Mommy never came.

Rena gasped a deep breath then rolled over in bed, flicked on the light and wiped the back of her hand across her wet cheeks. She’d had the dream again. But this time she’d seen even more. She climbed out of bed, stretching as she walked into the outer room of her spacious suite at Vindecare—a school for people with special abilities. A school for witches.

She’d never considered herself a witch. She hadn’t known her mother had been one, too, until after her grandmother had died and Rena had found her mother’s journals detailing her years at Vindecare, and how they’d helped her. If Grandmother had had her way, Rena never would have discovered the truth about her mother, or herself. She’d done everything she could to make sure Rena knew witchcraft and the people who studied it were an abomination, were evil and belonged in hell.

Rena didn’t know if there was such a place, but she did know growing up with grandmother had been real close to what she imagined hell to be. Before Rena had found that journal, she’d believed her grandmother was right and she, like her mother, was crazy and doomed to burn with the big man himself. Maybe she was crazy, but she had a gift. And hopefully, through her work at Vindecare, she’d be able to control it. To stop the voice from ruining her life.

And help her move past her nightmares. Obviously she still had a long way to go.

She filled the kettle with water and placed it to boil on the small stove in her corner kitchenette. In the living room, she pulled a sheet off an easel set up by a window revealing a large partially painted canvas.

The beast—all fangs and claws—stared back at her. This time she dreamed more than just a wet shine glinting off sharp pointy teeth. Her dream therapy instructor helped show her how to focus on different aspects of the dream. She hoped that by using her talents as an artist and facing the thing that scared her the most, she could excise the beast from her mind and get rid of the nightmare once and for all.

She squeezed paint from the tubes, mixing colors—vibrant greens, varying shades of browns and reds and cold white cast with a bluish tint. She set to work bringing life to the monster. The mixture of her colors coupled with the shallow quick strokes of her fan brush added depth and layers to the beast’s fur and life to its eyes.

She didn’t know how long she’d been standing there adding layer after layer when the doorbell rang. Surprised by the intrusive peal of the high-pitched chime, she looked around her, feeling slightly disoriented.

The sun’s rays shone bright through the window and an empty mug sat on the table next to her. She couldn’t recall making her tea let alone drinking it. The bell rang again. She dropped her brush and hurried to the door glancing down at her pajama shorts and T-shirt and wondered what time it was.

She glanced through the peephole. “Damn,” she muttered and opened the door.

Kaydin stood in the hallway, surprise filling his forest-green eyes as they swept over her body. He looked impeccable, as usual. Strong and toned, his soft cotton polo stretched over his well-defined chest. He was one of those men who could almost be classified as pretty with his smooth skin and long lashes, except the width of his neck and the strength of his jaw was the very definition of masculinity.

“Kaydin,” she said with a soft, embarrassed laugh and brushed her hands over her unruly hair, knowing with a moment of dread that not only had she not brushed her hair, chances were she hadn’t brushed her teeth, either.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “I thought we had an appointment at ten.”

Her eyes widened as alarm rushed through her. Of all the people to forget and she had to forget him. “I am so sorry,” she blurted. And wondered with dismay what time it was. How could she explain why she missed their appointment? She wasn’t sick, she hadn’t overslept, she was just in one hell of a brain fog.

He stood expectantly in the hall, his dark eyebrows lifting.

“Oh! Please. Come in. Make yourself at home. I’ll—uh…” She raked her fingers through her hair once more. “I’ll be right back.”

She bolted for her bedroom, pulled on a pair of jeans and a fresh T-shirt then ran into the bathroom where she scrubbed her face clean, ran a brush through her long dark hair before twisting it into a haphazard knot on the back of her head then quickly brushed her teeth.

She knew she shouldn’t, but she took a moment to put on makeup. She liked Kaydin, and it wasn’t just his incredible hotness or the way her insides quivered when their eyes met. He was everything she’d always dreamed she’d have for herself yet never believed she could actually get.

Because if someone like him spent too much time with someone like her, then he’d discover the truth about her.

And then he’d run.

“I’m sorry,” she said again as she hurried back into the room. “Can I make you some coffee?”

She stopped as she saw him standing before the easel studying the painting she’d spent half the night and all morning working on. She gnawed on her bottom lip and wished he hadn’t seen it. The beast was her nightmare and not something she wanted to share with anyone.

“This isn’t part of the series,” he said, his tone guarded, his hands clasped behind his back.

“No. This one is…” She searched for the word that would describe exactly what this was. This was her way of dealing with her nightmares. This was cathartic. This was an exorcism. “Personal,” she said finally.

He turned toward her, his dark eyes narrowing into hard glittering stones. “Rena, your opening is a week from now. You’re still short one painting in the portal series. Why would you be working on a painting of a wolf?”

She stiffened, feeling the hairs stand on the back of her neck. “A wolf? Is that what you see?”

“Isn’t that what it is?” Confusion played across his face. “What do you see?”

She hesitated as her tongue thickened. “A beast.”

He was giving her that look. The one Grandma always gave her. The one the kids at school gave her. He thought she was crazy.

“Rena, I’m concerned about you.”

Oh, no. This was how it always started. “We’re concerned about you Rena, worried you’ve lost your ever-loving-mind.” She stared at him, wide-eyed and unflinching.

“The gallery showing will mean a lot of press, a lot of attention. You will no longer be able to hide here in this castle.”

“I’m not hiding. I enjoy my classes here. They are helping me. With my…art.”

He looked at the painting of the wolf again. “Are you sure about that?”

“I will have the portal painting done in time, Kaydin. I promise. In fact, I’m going out to the last site this afternoon, getting a motel room nearby and staying all weekend. You can trust me. I want this. I need this.” She stilled, waiting expectantly for his response. She didn’t know if it was his height, a good six inches taller than her own, or his dark penetrating gaze that seemed to hook right into her soul and give a little tug. But something about this man grabbed her by the jugular and said—sit up and pay attention. Don’t screw up. There will be no second chances, no do-overs.

Well, she was paying attention. Not only to the intensity of his gaze, his rock-hard chest and large arms, but to the voice inside her that wanted to please him, that wanted him to notice her as not just an artist who would fill his gallery, but as a woman. A desirable, fascinating woman who happened to have mind-wrenching, heart-stopping nightmares. And who heard voices. But no one was perfect, right?

Her lips parted as she blew out a heavy breath. She wished he would calm down and smile. Just a little. A small smile that would have her insides popping and fluttering, like pancake batter on a hot buttery griddle.

“I’m counting on you, Rena,” he said, his voice deep and husky.

She cleared her throat. “I…I won’t let you down. I promise. That—” she pointed to the beast on the canvas “—is just me working through some bad dreams.”

He turned around and looked at the painting once more.

“Do you always paint your nightmares?”

Her gaze shifted back to the canvas. “Only the recurring kind.”

“Trying to work it out of your system, eh?”

Her eyes locked onto his and something quivered inside her chest. “Some guys are just hard to get out of your mind.”

“Do me a favor and forget about this one,” he said. “Focus on your art. I’m counting on you. The gallery is counting on you. Don’t let me down.”

He didn’t say the words that hung heavily in the air between them. Let me down and you won’t get another chance. But she heard them loud and clear. Second chances were never an option. Not for her.

“I won’t. I promise,” she said and walked him to the door. As she closed it behind him, she leaned against the hard wood, took three deep breaths and tried to grab hold of herself. He was right. She was letting her nightmares take over her life. She had worked hard to get to this point, to get to Vindecare and she wasn’t about to let some dark vision from her past destroy her future. What she had with Kaydin, an opening at a gallery, was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

What’s more, he saw her monster and he didn’t turn away. He didn’t think she was crazy. Because she wasn’t crazy, those were the accusations, the ramblings of an old woman who was terrified of things she didn’t understand. It was time to put the past behind her and move forward. She had to face the woods of her nightmare and prove to everyone that she wasn’t insane.

She grabbed the bag she’d packed the night before and her satchel, placing her paints and brushes inside along with a sketchbook, her travel easel and a clean canvas then hurried out the door of her suite. She had one last place to visit for her final painting, the one spot she had never wanted to return to again. The one place her instructors at Vindecare had said she must go to, if she wanted to put the past behind her and move forward.

She knew the threat of having to face those cold woods again was the reason the beast was back haunting her dreams. The last time she’d been there she’d lost everything. She’d only been six. She’d gone in with her mother and had come out alone. No one could ever say definitively what had happened to her, but Rena knew.

She’d seen it. She’d seen him.

The beast.

For years just the thought of him had terrified and paralyzed her, but not anymore. She was taking back her life. She had a chance now. Kaydin, her art and Vindecare had given that to her. She wasn’t going to be afraid anymore. Not of the voice. Not of the beast.

“Good for you, Rena. Stand strong. Come back to the woods. Come back to me.”

She ignored the voice, pulled down the sheet covering the beast’s face and walked out the door.

Chapter Two

Kaydin left Rena’s apartment more determined than ever. She was finally beginning to remember. All the pieces of what had happened that night were falling into place. He had to hurry. If she knew what was waiting for her, he’d never get her back into the woods and to the portal. What surprised him was of all the horrible things that had happened that night, the only one she focused on was his face.

And yet, she promised she would go back to the site today. Did she still believe it was only a dream? She’d been so young when her mother had taken her to the demon. He’d made the mistake of saving her, and he’d had to live with ever since. It was time to put things right. He couldn’t let his human attraction toward this woman get in the way of what needed to be done. He wasn’t human, and he hadn’t been for a very long time.

But even as he thought of Rena, her smile, her large trusting brown eyes, he was angered again at why her mother would have brought her young child to the portal in the first place. Was Rena supposed to be a sacrifice? A misguided way to increase her power?

Kaydin could only guess. All he knew for sure was that it was always a lonely witch who fell victim to a demon’s seductive whispers. He only hoped Rena hadn’t succumbed, too. The demon gate was still open, and no matter how many ways he’d tried, he hadn’t been able to close it. Kaydin only hoped Rena wasn’t following in her mother’s footsteps and listening to the demon’s voice.

He drove north out of the city toward the woods and the house he kept there. It looked as if he were finally reaching the end. All these years he’d watched the girl grow from a child to a beautiful woman, raised by her grandmother who had no clue who Rena was or what she could do. But then neither had Rena herself until she moved into Vindecare. All she knew was that she could see things others couldn’t. Light. Colors. Shapes. Prisms.

Doorways to another world.

She must be a very powerful witch to be able to see the lights that highlighted the entrance to the demon realm. In years past, only shapeshifting portal guardians such as himself had been able to see them. But times were changing, everything was changing.

And somehow, someway, this particular doorway had been left open. And it fell to Rena to close it, to finish what her mother had started. Something had happened that night, something he missed that was keeping the gate open. He needed to discover what that something was. One way or another, he would rectify the mistake he made on that tragic night when he’d foolishly saved a little girl and left the portal to the demon world wide-open.

As Rena drove down the dirt road, she took a deep breath to ease the tightness squeezing her chest. Many times in the past few months she had driven out to this place, had sat in her car, staring at the trees only to be seized by terror. Even now, fear was nipping at her nape. She took a deep breath and focused on the relaxation techniques she had learned at Vindecare.

Doing the portal series for Kaydin’s gallery was the best opportunity she’d ever had to showcase her work and make her mark. She couldn’t turn back now. This place, this nightmare was her demon to slay and she would do it. She was tired of living in fear. Of hiding.

Kaydin’s words came back to her. He was right, she thought with annoyance. She’d been so afraid of proving Grandma right, of being crazy, she had hidden herself away, had sabotaged her own dreams. Not anymore. She wasn’t crazy. She had a gift and it was time she used it.

She grabbed her stuff and walked down the long path though the trees. She felt the wind’s gentle breeze on her face and could almost hear her mother’s voice whispering in her mind telling her about the woodland sprites and faeries, unicorns and imps. Her mom had made everything seem so magical. Rena had loved this place, until the darkness came.

One by one, the memories came to her, dissipating the tension, overshadowing the fading tendrils of her nightmares. Here, there were no monsters hiding in the thicket, only the heartfelt and happy memory of her mother. These woods had been her mother’s favorite spot. She’d brought Rena here to pick wildflowers in the spring and blackberries in the summer. It was their special place.

And the last place Rena ever saw her.

Rena wanted her art to portray her mother’s magic. This series of the forest’s enchanting lights would be a tribute to her mom. To the woman she’d missed so much. Rena lugged her canvas and easel and large pack full of supplies down the path, breathing in the fresh summer air. And with each step deeper into the woods, happiness and a sense of well-being filled her. A sense of doing what was right.

Those feelings were something else she’d carried with her all her life, along with the nightmares and the voice, sometimes she just had a certainty of knowing when something was right. An instinct that had never steered her wrong. And as that instinct hit her once again, she felt even more certain that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

After another half hour, she walked through a thick grove of poplar trees and saw the lights shimmering in front of her, every color in the rainbow bending and moving. Rena reached out her arm, stretching her long tapered fingers toward the magical light brought forth and worshipped by mere mortals such as herself for centuries.

She stood mesmerized. She didn’t know what the lights meant or why she was the only one who was able to see them, she only knew that they called to her. She longed to take her shoes off and walk barefoot through the grass and into the center of the lights, to let them dance around her.

And she would.

When she was done. But now, she had to get started on this painting. Kaydin was right. She’d let her obsession with the beast get in the way of what was important. Her goals. Her future. She had a long week ahead of her before the opening and she had best get started.

She took a deep breath and circled the lights in the clearing, finding the spot that spoke the loudest to her then set up her easel, laid out her paints, a jar of water, turpentine and brushes on a large blanket. She stood before the blank canvas, brush and pallet in hand, staring once more at the lights and heard the voice again. It talked to her in soothing whispers, cajoling, bolstering her confidence, promising of rewards to come.

And it had always been correct.

She first heard the voice when she was young. And again after her mother died, when she’d had to go away and live with her grandmother. Even then, the voice promised she would be all right, that she was destined for great things.

At first she didn’t believe. But then things started to happen. Good things. Competitions won. Hearts stolen. Wishes granted. As she mixed the paint, the soothing voice entered her mind once more, putting her fears to rest. She would finish this paining. She would be successful. She would impress Kaydin. All she had to do was focus.

She picked up her brush, dipped it in the turpentine then in the paint on her pallet, mixing the colors, sweeping red into white and yellow, mixing a large array of varying shades.

And she wondered, as she often had as a child, if somehow it was her mother whispering to her, helping her find her path. But then grandmother had found out, yelling she insisted that her mother was dead, that she must be left to rest in peace.

After that, Rena learned to keep the voice a secret. Not to talk about it or tell anyone. And she didn’t. And after a while, she’d stopped listening. Until Grandma died, and the voice had become the only comfort she had. Even now, the whispers urged her to walk into the light. To feel it circling around her, to let the warmth and the colors cascade across her skin.

The wind picked up, sending the clouds racing across what had moments ago been a clear blue sky. She pushed her hat down onto her head and dipped her paintbrush into the vibrant red, swirling it around and pressing it against the paper. But was red the right color? Or was it more magenta? Purple?

As she mixed and swept the paint across the canvas, she frowned. She wasn’t getting the exact hue right. She had to get closer. She had to see. She picked up her easel with the canvas held tight in her grasp and walked toward the lights, moving so close she could see them reflecting off the paper.

Better.

She started mixing again. Yes. So much better. She moved her arm up and down in long sweeping strokes, the bristle brush blending one color into the next. So intent on the images revealing themselves, she hadn’t realized she had moved into the light until it was flashing across her skin.

She stared at it, mesmerized, hearing her mother’s voice in her mind.

Look at it, Rena. Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it powerful? It’s magical and it’s going to make all of Mommy’s dreams come true.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Rena tingled everywhere as electricity fired her nerve endings. The small hairs on her arms stood upright. She knew this place was special. It was where she belonged. She set down her brush and walked deeper into the center of the lights. She saw what looked like a doorway and beyond the door—darkness. She focused, staring through the shimmering lights into the shadows beyond, her heart kicking up its beat.

The low menacing sound of a growl echoed around her. Fear froze the air in her lungs as a shadow filled the corner of her eye. She knew she should look, but she couldn’t make her head turn. She didn’t want to see. To know….

“Rena. Help me,” the voice from inside the doorway called to her.

Her mother’s voice?

“Help me, Rena. Call my name.”

Horrified, she stepped forward, focusing on the darkness within the lights. “Mom?”

“My name. The one She gave me.”

Rena stared as confused horror seeped through her chest.

“You know it, Rena. You’ve heard it so many times before.”

Panic filled her. It couldn’t be possible. “Mom!” She reached for the darkness, for her mother.

“Remember, Rena! Remember the blood.”

Images flashed through Rena’s mind: Her mother dancing. Lights pulsing, glinting off the large gold locket hanging from her neck. There had been someone else, someone she was smiling at. A knife, long and sharp. Grabbing the blade, her mom pulled the sharp edge through her hand. Blood dripped. Her mouth slashed a bright smile against a pale face. Her fingers dripping crimson reaching….

Tears filled Rena’s eyes. She cried out and stepped backward, brushing up against something behind her.

Something big. Something pliable.

This wasn’t happening.

Not again!

It was only a dream. A nightmare.

Not a memory.

And still she wouldn’t turn. Couldn’t.

Thunder cracked across the sky.

The disappeared into a rush of ominous black clouds. She turned quickly looking behind her, but nothing was there. She turned back and a large black panther appeared before her, its yellow-green eyes gleaming, its ears standing straight up pointed toward the dark sky. It was snarling at her, baring its long sharp teeth. It was unlike any cat she’d ever seen. But she had seen it before. That night. Then she knew it wasn’t a cat. It was a demon.

Rena…

She stared into its feline eyes and a deep feeling of calm washed over her. Would it hurt her? The cat looked up at her with wonder. Its big golden gaze locked onto hers, and she felt a whisper in her mind, an urge to move forward. To touch. To whisper the name—Ubasti.

Damn!

He was too late.

Kaydin stood off to the side watching Rena paint. She seemed focused on her work but then started walking toward the portal. A witch in direct contact with an open portal was all the invitation needed to set the demon loose.

He would not let that happen. Not again.

But it already had. Somehow she had pulled the light to her, without even moving. How was it possible? Unless she had already been in contact with the demon. The demon’s familiar spoke to her now, beckoning her forward, enticing her with its words of seduction. Words that made so much sense. That spoke to a human heart telling it exactly what it wanted—no, what it needed to hear.

And the witches fell for it. Time and time again.

This was all happening much quicker than he’d expected. He stripped out of his clothes, calling on the ancient gods to help him. He stretched, reaching for the sky as he pulled the strength of Kratos into him, the fire from Hephaestus and begged protection in the pit from Hades. His limbs lengthened. His arms bulging. His neck thickened. Bones popped. Tendons tore. A roar of pain and triumph filled the air as he reshaped to his true self.

He could smell Rena’s fear, her confusion, but most of all her special enticing scent that called to him like no other. The light swelled, encircling, moving around her, pulling her into its grasp as long tentacles of reds and purples reached for her grasping, soothing, caressing.

He extended his back, going up onto his hind legs. He roared; the sound echoing into the afternoon and bouncing off the trees. Forest animals scurried in fright running far and wide away from him. As if he was fire, as if he were the one bringing destruction to the land.

If she saw her mother behind the gate… If she muttered the demon’s name then he’d have no choice. He’d have to do whatever it took to kill the demon, no matter who it was using as its vessel. He only hoped he could stop Rena before that happened.

Running into the lights, feeling the heat of the fire and the pull of the pit, he lunged. A roar bursting from deep inside him split the air.

Damn, he thought he’d have more time.

Chapter Three

Rena’s fear crawled up her throat as the beast from her nightmares charged into the clearing and leaped on the panther, bouncing off its back and skidding to a stop beyond it. The panther snarled, baring its sharp teeth. Rena gasped a disbelieving breath, her eyes widening painfully as she stared at the large wolf. It was real!

Pierced with fright, she inched away from the animals and farther into the light. Dizziness swept through her. She faltered, stumbling, reaching out to steady herself as the two creatures, snarled, gnashed and thrashed one another.

She took another step then froze. Her hand fluttering to her mouth as she let out a small cry. A woman stood before her looking just like her mother had that summer day all those years ago when she’d walked into the lights and never came out.

Rena blinked, stunned and astonished.

Before she could step closer, could speak, the panther flew past her and smashed into a tree. The beast skulked, moving toward her. It was bigger than she remembered from her dream and Kaydin was right, it did look like a wolf. A very large, very dangerous wolf. She should run. She knew that, but she couldn’t seem to make her legs move. Soft whimpering noises came from her throat as she lowered her head, letting the beast know she was not a threat.

And still it continued toward her.

Heart pounding, adrenaline surged through her. She screamed, long and loud, letting loose all her fear in one steady stream as she turned and ran away from the beast, away from the strange lights and straight into the cat. She skidded to a stop. It snarled, pushing her back toward the lights, toward the beast. She tried to move around it, but it came at her, swatting its paw, its outstretched claws swiping down her arm.

She screamed as fire burned through her body. The pain was excruciating. Blood flowed down her stinging arm. She grabbed the wound to staunch the flow, but it seeped between her fingers.

In a fury of horrific growls, the beast charged at the cat. Rena didn’t wait to see what was happening, she turned to run but stopped.

She had to.

Her mother stood clear as day before her, beckoning, gesturing for Rena to come to her. “Rena. Help me,” she called from inside the doorway.

But how could it be her? It had to be a trick. An illusion.

“Call my name, Rena. Please. Set me free.”

Rena’s insides twisted with anguish. Could it really be?

“Mom!” she cried, and hurried toward her into the lights. But as she neared the strange doorway, sounds intensified. Suddenly she could hear water rushing from a nearby river, wind moving through the trees and, above it all, the grunts and snarls of the two beasts posturing behind her.

But it wasn’t just her hearing that was affected, suddenly her vision was off, greens were more muted, looking almost yellow and the sky had become a kaleidoscope of various shades of blue and gray. She saw her mother clearly now, standing in the darkened doorway, her feet hovering just beyond the edge, inching forward as if she wanted to come out, but couldn’t. As if she were…trapped.

“Oh my God, Mom!” Fear filled Rena to the bursting point. Had her mother been trapped here all these years? Horror saturated her brain at the thought. As she moved closer, she saw that the darkness behind her mother wasn’t as dark as she’d originally thought. Flashes of light flickered within. What was that place?

“Come, Rena.” The words whispered through her mind, pulling, enticing.…

She’d almost reached her mother when she heard the quick pants of the wolf behind her. She glanced over her shoulder. The beast was barreling toward her. The cat was nowhere to be seen. Rena knew she couldn’t outrun a wolf, but there was no logic left inside her. Only fear. And the instinct to flee.

“Rena….”

She couldn’t. Not now. She ran, feeling the power of the muscles in her legs as they carried her away from the clearing, away from her mother, away from the beast.

Once more, dizziness swam through her mind. Her strength left her and she fell to the forest floor. As she lay on her back, staring past the lush canopy of green at the bright blue sky, fatigue and sorrow washed over her. Her eyes drifted closed. Suddenly, she was so tired. She couldn’t run anymore. Would the beast would find her? Would she die here all alone?

Rena woke to darkness but she was no longer lying on the ground. It was infinitely softer, warmer. A bed. She turned her head and saw a figure sitting in the shadows. He stood towering over her. She gasped and jerked back.

“It’s okay,” he said, softly. “You’re safe.”

She knew that voice. She stared into the gloom, her eyes trying to fill in the lines the dim light hid. “Kaydin?”

“You’re going to be okay now.”

“But how?” she asked, her head aching with confusion. She tried to sit up but pain fired through her shoulder. She winced and fell back into the soft pillows.

“Don’t try to move,” he said.

She looked at her arm and saw the oozing wounds. He leaned forward rubbing a thick oily salve across the deep gashes in her skin.

Immediately she felt better and as she watched his long fingers stroke across her arm, she realized she wasn’t wearing anything but her panties under the sheets.

You undressed me?” she asked as heat flamed her cheeks.

“I had to. Your clothes were ruined.”

“But how on earth did you find me? The last thing I remember…” She paused. How could she say what she’d last seen? What had happened to her? He’d think she was crazy. She was crazy. She had seen her mother.

He waited for her to continue, his gaze sharp with expectation.

“I’m not sure what I saw,” she finally said.

“From your wounds it looks like you tangled with a raccoon.”

She almost choked. “A raccoon?”

“Crazy, I know, but they can be ferocious little beasts.”

She thought of the two animals—no, not animals—monsters fighting one another in the clearing and closed her eyes. Yes, it was crazy.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Starved,” she admitted, at once noticing the uncomfortable yearning in her stomach.

He picked up a bowl of strawberries off the nightstand, chose a berry and brought it to her lips. It looked wonderful. He looked wonderful. She took a bite, the juice spilling onto her lips. She slipped her tongue out of her mouth to lick it away then warmed as his eyes followed the movement.

How was it possible she was lying here naked in Kaydin’s house and he was feeding her berries? She must be dreaming.

A clattering of rain beat the roof.

“Oh, no! My stuff!” she cried, and tried to sit up but stopped as pain arced through her shoulder.

“It’s okay. I got it all,” he said, and eased her back down with a firm hand.

“You did?” she asked, clearly surprised that he’d been able to find it. To find her.

“I did. And not a moment too soon. A storm hit not long after I got you into the car. It’s been raging for hours.”

She heard the wind whipping through the trees, the rain beating at the ground washing away all evidence that she’d ever been there. That the beast and strange cat had ever been there.

“Did you see anything?” she asked, hoping she hadn’t imagined it all. Praying that she wasn’t losing her mind. Though obviously she was.

“No, just you, lying on the ground, your stuff in shambles. I’m afraid you’re going to have to get a rabies shot. We can’t take any chances. Not with raccoons,” he pushed.

“It wasn’t a raccoon,” she said softly.

“No?” He looked at her expectantly waiting for her to explain what had happened. But how could she tell the truth without taking the chance that he’d drive her straight to the nearest mental institution? “No.”

He brought another berry to her lips. She took all of it in her mouth, the sweet flavor bursting on her tongue.

“Dinner will be ready soon, if you feel up to it,” he said, his voice sounding strained as he leaned forward and wiped the excess juice off her lips with the tips of his fingers. She stilled as his skin touched hers, completely aware of how close he was and how nice he smelled. Strong. Spicy. Male.

“How did you find me?” she asked, and had trouble swallowing as her breath hitched. “Why were you even here? Were you checking up on me?”

“No. I—” He brought another berry to her mouth. She took a smaller bite this time, though she had to fight the urge to let her lips slip over his fingers. To taste his skin.

“I felt bad about the way we left things this morning.” His eyes locked onto her hers. Her chest tightened. “When I saw your car parked along the road, I thought I would make sure you were all right and talk you into letting me take you out to dinner to make up for…everything.”

She smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed. “There is nothing to make up for, but I am glad you found me.”

“Me, too.” He gave her another berry, his gaze focusing on her lips.

She knew she shouldn’t. Knew it would muddy their relationship but when his fingertips brushed her lips once more, she opened her mouth around them, flicking her tongue across his warm skin.

An energy of expectation swirled around them. Desire curled in her stomach. “Oh, hell,” she muttered and brought her good arm up around his neck and pulled him down to her. She tasted his lips, opening her mouth to him. He groaned and covered her mouth with his, pushing his tongue inside. Sweeping, tasting, kissing her with a passion that surprised and excited her.

She had imagined this moment, dreamed of this moment since the first time she had met Kaydin and yet, her thoughts, her expectations had never compared to this. Kissing him felt like she’d found a piece of herself that had been lost. His touch filled her with a rush of warmth, with a feeling of rightness. She wanted to burrow into him. To feel his arms wrapped around her, to feel his strength, his heat.

She tried to pull him closer, to lift herself higher. But as she did, pain shot through her and she let out a soft cry.

Kaydin pulled back, alarm on his face. “Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she assured him, feeling slightly surprised and embarrassed by her ardor, though she didn’t want him to stop.

But he did. He stood, stepping stiffly away from the bed. “I should check on dinner. I’ll be right back,” he said and hurried out the door.

What had just happened? Kaydin couldn’t remember the last time he’d desired a woman. He’d spent the last few centuries keeping witches out of the portals, never quite understanding how they could fall victim to the seduction of a demon. And yet, he wanted Rena. Wanted to kiss her. Wanted…. It was just so…human.

Which he definitely wasn’t. And hadn’t been since his descent through the portal and into the pit where his transformation from mere man to shapeshifter and portal guardian had taken place. It had been an honor and one he welcomed. It had given him purpose.

And yet, he had once been a man. He remembered what it had felt like to want…and need…and desire.

But he couldn’t let those baser emotions affect him now. Not at this critical point. Something about this witch and her mother was different. Somehow they were able to open that portal and keep it open. Why couldn’t he close it? What was so different about this witch?

And why was she so closely connected to this demon? So many questions, and yet, he sensed Rena had no idea of what was happening. And if he spooked her, she’d run. He couldn’t take that chance. He had to help her remember what happened that night. What had been different? The demon had her mother as a vessel. Why hadn’t it come back out? Why was it still trapped?

The answers were locked inside Rena’s head. Somehow he had to discover what they were. Together they had to finish what her mother started. They had to close that portal.

He only hoped he could do it without losing Rena, too.

But that shouldn’t be a factor.

Why was he so drawn to this woman? What was it about her that made him forget everything but the touch of her skin, her delicate smell, her intoxicating taste?

His body pulled at him even now, even as he tasted her sweetness on his tongue. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by it. Whatever it was. Whatever she was—a witch, a temptress, a demon—he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that if she called the demon’s name, if she invited it into her before they could get the portal closed, then he would have to kill her.

He would have no choice.

His only hope was to convince her of what was happening, what was at stake and hope she believed him.

He thought he’d have more time.

He was wrong.

Dead wrong.

Chapter Four

Rena kicked herself two ways from Sunday. What was she doing kissing Kaydin? What was she doing here? She looked around the well-kept room at the pine walls and rustic furniture. The rust colored curtains perfectly matched the bedspread and the pillows on the bed. But what drew her eye were the pictures on the walls, and the cast iron sculpture on the dresser all with the same motif—wolves.

Dread skittered up her spine.

“Where are we?” she asked, as Kaydin came back into the room.

“My house. Here, I found an extra pair of sweats.” He held up an oversize black sweatshirt and sweatpants.

“Your house? You live out here in the woods?”

“Most of the time, though I do have a loft in the city. This place has been in my family for generations.”

She took the sweats from him as her sense of foreboding grew. “What are the odds that you live in the same forest where I was painting?”

Where she saw the lights?

His eyes held hers. “I’m just glad I saw your car parked along the road.”

What could she say to that? If he hadn’t found her, would she still be lying out in the dark and the rain, miserable and lost deep in the forest?

“Kaydin,” she called, stopping him as he turned to leave. “Would you mind helping me up?”

He hesitated. He was reluctant to come near her again. Why, because she kissed him? Or because he wanted to kiss her again? Her skin flushed with heat as she remembered the feel of his touch.

“Of course,” he said and walked back to her. He helped her sit up. And even though her head was swimming, she gingerly lifted her arm and let him slide the oversize sweatshirt over her head. He helped her stand, holding her steady for a moment until the room stopped swaying and she found her footing. After a moment, she leaned against him and stepped into the sweatpants.

The feel of his warm touch around her waist along with his distinctive spicy scent and suddenly she was against him, unable to stop herself from putting her arm around him, from leaning her head against his shoulder, from inhaling his scent and nuzzling his neck.

She felt him stiffen. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know why I’m so weak. Every time I stand, I get dizzy.”

“Let’s get you something to eat. That should help.”

He helped her out of the bedroom and into the great room. A fire was roaring in the stone fireplace and the delicious scent of garlic and onions filled her nose. Her stomach growled. “Smells wonderful.”

“I figured you’d need a little more sustenance than strawberries.”

“Very perceptive.” A large painting of a wolf hanging above the fireplace caught her eye. She shivered as she stared at it. “You like wolves, don’t you?”

He followed her gaze. “My grandfather had that painting commissioned. He rescued that wolf as an orphaned pup in Canada and raised her. They were inseparable.”

Nice story. Heartwarming even, so why did it leave her so cold? For years after her mother’s disappearance, she’d been told she’d imagined the beast. But she had seen it again today. She hadn’t imagined it. She wasn’t crazy. And yet, she also thought she saw her mother looking exactly as she had fifteen years ago. If that wasn’t crazy, she didn’t know what was.

“After you get some food in your stomach and a good night’s rest you’ll feel better,” Kaydin said, as if he could read her thoughts.

He helped her to a seat at the table then walked into the open kitchen. He came back carrying a large casserole dish. “I hope you like Italian.”

“Love it,” she said, and inhaled deeply as he filled her plate with a large serving of lasagna. “Looks great.” She took a bite. “Tastes great, too.” She marveled at the deep rich flavor of the sauce.

Attractive, sexy and a great cook. This man seemed too good to be true.

But one thing she learned today, nothing around here was as it seemed. As they ate in silence, she realized she wanted to trust him, to confide in him about what she’d seen. But would he believe her? Would he help her or would he look at her like her grandmother had.

“Kaydin, I know I said I would be able to finish the painting—”

“We’re not going to worry about that right now.”

She stilled, staring at him as she thought about how adamant he’d been earlier at Vindecare. “No?”

“No, but tomorrow I would like you to take me back to the clearing where you were painting.”

If it were up to her, she’d never go near that place again. “Why?”

“I need you to remember everything that happened there. If there is a dangerous animal in these woods, I want to know about it.”

“Can’t we just call the wildlife department?”

“We could, but they’d take one look at your arm and tell you what I told you earlier.

She lifted her eyebrows.

“That you tangled with a raccoon and you’re going to need a rabies shot.”

She grimaced. “It wasn’t a raccoon.”

He waited for her to continue, to explain what she meant though she wasn’t sure she wanted to. She wanted to go back to Vindecare and leave the forest, the lights and the beast behind her. If she could. But somehow she knew that running away wasn’t the answer.

Her gaze swung to the painting above the fireplace. “It was a lot bigger than a raccoon. In fact, it looked like a wolf.”

Kaydin stiffened. She thought he’d hurt her? He’d been waiting for her to open up to him, prompting her to tell him the truth. But this? Did she not even remember the demon’s cat? How was he going to get her to understand what was happening if he couldn’t get her to remember the truth?

“I know it sounds crazy,” she said in a rush.

“No, it’s just…well, those marks were made by sharp thin claws. And there haven’t been wolves in New York in many years. What about a cat?”

“A cat?” Doubt crossed her face as she looked at her wounds once more.

What was she hiding? He could feel uncertainty and vulnerability rolling off her in waves. A part of him wanted to stop pushing. But he couldn’t. Too much was at stake. He was going to have to try a different tactic. “Do you really see the lights you paint in your pictures?”

She looked up at him, indecision warring across her face.

“I only ask, because I’ve seen a painting a lot like yours before.”

Disbelief widened her eyes. “You have?”

He nodded. “That’s why I was so interested in contracting a series from you in the first place.” Finished with his dinner, he stood and held his hand out to her. She took it, her soft small hand dwarfed within his.

He led her into his room. Above the bed was a large painting portraying a kaleidoscope of colors and within the colors, in the center of the geometric patterns was the subtle outline of a dark doorway. Beyond the rectangular darkness was a cluster of twinkling white lights.

Rena gasped as she stared at the painting.

And then he knew. She hadn’t just seen the lights. She’d seen the gateway to hell.

Rena stared at the painting on the wall, her heart skipping and thumping in her chest. The lights in the painting were exactly as she’d seen them. How was that possible? She stepped as close to the painting as she could without climbing up on the bed and stared at the dark shadow in the middle. She hadn’t seen it in the other places where she’d seen the lights. This one was different. This one looked like a doorway.

It was a doorway. Suddenly she was certain. She turned to Kaydin at once suspicious. “This isn’t about a gallery exhibit, is it?”

“No,” he admitted.

Wariness had her on edge. She was sore and scared and tired of feeling ambushed. “Then what is this about? Why am I here?”

“I need your help to close the portal,” he said, stepping closer. The warm timbre of his voice echoed through her.

Portal? “What’s a portal?” She didn’t know where he was going with this, but she was beginning to feel itchy inside. “The lights are a doorway to the demon realm. And one your mother left wide-open when she walked through to the other side.”

Demon realm? She shook her head. “No. That’s crazy.” But was it?

“You don’t believe me?” he asked, surprise filling his voice.

“Would you?”

“You hear voices,” He stated matter-of-factly. As if it were common knowledge. As if it were no big deal.

“No,” she said, the denial automatically coming out of her mouth before she even had a chance to wonder—how did he know?

“Your mother brought you here as a child. She opened the gateway. She walked through. You were saved, but the gate was left open.”

Rena shook her head. “No, not saved. Attacked.”

“Attacked?”

“By the beast. It’s all I can remember. It’s what I dream about.”

“You don’t remember the demon’s cat?”

He knew about the cat? But how? Was he there today? Did he see? “You said it was a raccoon?” she challenged.

“It was a cat from the other side. See, look.” He pointed to a shadow in the lights. At first glance, the faint outline wasn’t noticeable. But she’d seen that shape, that shadow. The panther.

Her stomach turned. Had the panther been there that night, too? Her head spun. She needed to sit down.

“Think of it like a doorway to the other side.” He pointed to the darkness buried within the lights. “The lights you see are portal sites. Gateways. There are several of them around, but only a very few, very special people can see them. And only a witch calling upon a demon can open one.”

This wasn’t real. None of it was real. But she remembered golden eyes set deep into black fur. And she heard the name whispered through her mind…Ubasti.

“What happens if a witch calls the demon’s name?”

“She becomes a vessel for a demon.”

“A vessel,” she repeated, her stomach turning sour. “Why would anyone do that?”

“Why does anyone do anything? For power.”

“Are you saying that’s what happened to my mother?”

“No. That’s what almost happened to your mother. Except instead of the demon coming out and entering her, your mother went over to the other side.”

“To the demon dimension,” she said, trying to understand, but not really able to make sense of it all. It was crazy. He was crazy. But she’d seen her mother standing there…waiting.

“What about the beast?” she asked.

“He’s a portal guardian.”

“You mean he guards the gateway? From what?”

“From witches who let demons loose into the world.”

“And my mother?”

“He saved you. He lost her.”

She shook her head. “No. That’s not how it was.”

He rocked back on his heels, his jaw hardening. “Then how was it?”

“I wasn’t saved.”

“You are here today. Your mother isn’t. Your mother opened the gateway. It’s still open and calling to you. You know it’s true. You dream about it every night. Your paintings prove that much. You are responsible for fixing what your mother broke.”

“My mother,” she whispered. “I think I saw her today.” Panic squeezed her heart as she tried to make sense of it all, tried to understand. “So you’re saying my mother has been here all this time, trapped in some demon dimension?”

Antsy, she started pacing the room, rubbing her hands across the top of her head.

“Yes.”

Sick dread filled her. It was too horrible to imagine. Too horrible to grasp. So many years. She thought about what that must have been like for her, how unbelievably mind-numbingly terrible. She tried to reject it, but as incredible as it sounded, she knew it was true. Every crazy thing he said.

“I have to help her,” she whispered over the lump in her throat.

“The demon is inside her, but for some reason it can’t get out of the portal. I think you were supposed to go in, too. I think she took some piece of you in there with her. That’s why she can’t come out and the doorway can’t close. It’s why you hear her so strongly, and why you were compelled to come back here.”

“A piece of me?” Rena thought of her mother standing in the doorway beckoning to her, and then she remembered the large gold locket that had always hung from her neck. “She was wearing a locket with a cutting of my hair.”

“That would do it.”

“But how can I help her? If I go in, can she come out? Is that what’s keeping her locked inside?”

He shook his head. “There is nothing you can do to save her. The demon wants you to call its name, to become its vessel so it can come out. If you do, you will be lost.” His face hardened. “Somehow, we have to get that locket. Then we can close the portal. I will take care of it. It’s important that you stay away from there and away from the cat. Do you understand?”

“I can’t just leave my mother there.” Her voice sounded shrill, but she didn’t care.

“Do you really believe after fifteen years there is still a trace of your mother left? What you saw was a shell. A skin for a demon. Your mother is gone.”

Horror-struck, Rena stared at him as his words barraged her. Before she could fully grasp the implication of what he said, a loud screeching howl lifted the hairs on the back of her neck.

“What was that?” she asked, turning toward the window, her voice shaky.

“The demon’s cat. It’s found you.”

Chapter Five

The cat hit the window shaking the glass within its frame. Rena screamed.

Kaydin came to her and pulled her into his arms. “Shh. It’s okay. It can’t get in.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“What does it want?”

“You. It won’t stop until it has you.”

She shuddered. “How can this be happening?” She backed away from him. From the painting. From the glowing eyes of the cat at the window. “I don’t understand.”

“Rena, come to me. Come where you belong.”

“I’m here to protect you. If you listen to me and trust what I say, I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise,” Kaydin said, his eyes softening. “I’ll get the locket and close the portal. It’s your only chance.”

“Rena!”

He opened a panel in the wall and hit a button. Heavy shutters slid over the outside of the windows, blocking her sight of the cat.

And yet, she could still hear it. Calling to her. Begging. Pleading.

She pushed her hands against her head, trying to block out the voice, but knew it was no good. The voice came from within.

Kaydin placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. “Are you all right?”

The voice stopped. She looked up at him. “I am now.”

He dropped his hands and stepped away from her. She reached for him, pulling him back. “Please. When you’re near, when you’re touching me, I don’t hear its voice.”

He sat on the bed and took her hand in his, pulling her down next to him. “I want to help you. You have to trust me.”

“I…it’s just so hard to comprehend. You’re talking about demons.” She stared at his face, his lips. She wanted him to hold her, to make her feel like the world was normal like there wasn’t a demon’s panther waiting outside the window, that her mother wasn’t stuck in some demon dimension, that everything was as it should be.

But the world wasn’t normal. And she feared it never would be. Not for her.

Seeking his warmth, she leaned into him and he put his arms around her. She could hear the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and it comforted her. She’d thought about touching him, wishing she could hold him ever since she’d first met him. But did he want her the way she wanted him? She nuzzled closer, taking a deep breath, inhaling his masculine scent and wishing he would kiss her. She wanted to feel his lips against hers; she wanted to feel his passion for her.

She lifted her head and pressed her lips against his neck then moved them gently across his collarbone, kissing and tasting until she reached the hollow of his neck where she pulled the tender skin into her mouth.

He inhaled a quick breath. She looked up at him and hoped he wouldn’t move away. His deep green eyes locked onto hers and she could see the indecision warring within him. He wanted her, she could feel it. But she could also feel him trying to fight it.

She moved closer to him, her breath running shallow as she felt his temperature rising, his muscles stiffening. Before he could pull away, she shifted over him, pressing her breasts flat against his chest, resting her hands on his shoulders, pushing her lips against his.

Slightly embarrassed by her wantonness, she held her breath as she waited for him to respond, to kiss her back. It was unlike her to be so brazen, but at this point she didn’t care. She wanted to feel his arms around her. She wanted him to kiss her back.

“This…is not such a good idea,” he said, pulling away, even as his hands moved over her shoulders and down her back. His words might be pushing her away, but he was drawing her closer.

“I need you,” she said, and ran her hands up the side of his neck until her arms twined around his neck. Expectation thickened between them. “Please,” she murmured, moving until she was only a breath away.

As if a dam broke, his mouth fell over hers, crushing her.

He kissed her long and hard, until finally she had to break free to breathe. Her heart fluttered erratically in her chest, and all she could think about, all she could feel was his touch on her skin and his taste lingering on her lips.

Which was exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want to think about what he’d said or what any of it meant anymore. She didn’t want to sleep or dream. She only wanted to lose herself within him.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised on a heavy breath while he ran his lips down her neck, nibbling her tender skin, setting her nerve endings ablaze.

Heated, her body turned liquid beneath his strong touch. She swept her hands up his massive chest, feeling the swells beneath her fingertips, marveling at his perfection. His nipple peaked at her touch, and she played with it, pulling a deep gasp from within him.

“I…I haven’t. It’s been a while,” he confessed.

She smiled. “How about if tonight, we take care of each other?” She lifted his shirt and clasped her lips around his stiff nub, flicking her tongue until it tightened in her mouth and his breath turned ragged.

She had to have him next to her. Touching her. She raked her nails down his back in her effort to remove his shirt, to feel his skin, now almost hot to the touch. Overheated, she struggled with one hand to take off her sweatshirt and almost cried out loud when he helped her out of it then took the tender skin of her breast into his mouth, sucking as if he couldn’t get enough of her.

Fiery passion rose within her and she pulled him closer, her own breath coming in short heated gasps. She took off the rest of her clothes and within seconds was pressed against him. Mercy, he was beautiful. Large, strong, hard and so male. She clung to him as he shifted and in one deep, ragged breath, buried himself within her.

She held on tight and with each stroke, rode their passion as he went deeper and moved faster. Her temperature spiked. Her body quivered. Her lungs constricted, until she felt like she couldn’t get enough air.

The room around her spun, as the hunger building within her tightened all her muscles until they were taut enough to snap. Unbelievingly, he moved even faster, harder, holding on to her as if she were a part of him, and he a part of her. The room darkened, but sounds intensified and all she could hear was the pounding of her blood rushing through her veins, all she could feel was the stretching of her skin as the tension within her reached the breaking point.

She screamed, her back arching as she pulled him deep within her and let loose a bellow that rattled the windows. Desire, hot and fluid, moved through her in wave after wave, stealing her breath and her strength as she fell in an exhausted heap against him. He grasped her tighter as he approached his own release, his already hard body stiffening. He gasped a deep breath, then threw back his head and roared.

The sound shot terror straight through her heart.

She looked up at him, fully expecting to see the beast. But it wasn’t there. It was Kaydin she was clinging to, Kaydin who was still buried deep within her, Kaydin who sounded so much like the wolf from the clearing. Only his beautiful forest-green eyes were now jet-black.

Rena scampered off him, moving as far across the bed as she could.

He fell back against the pillows, his hand reaching for her. “Come back,” he said, his voice gravelly.

Wide-eyed she stared at him, trying to comprehend what just happened.

He took a shaky breath then turned to her, his eyes once more deep forest-green speckled with amber flecks. “What’s the matter?”

“Your eyes,” she whispered and climbed off the bed. “They were black. They were different. They looked like…”

She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t think it.

“Like a wolf’s?” he asked.

The cat was going crazy outside.

With one arm, Rena struggled back into her sweats, then leaned against the wall, trying to still the trembling in her legs.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said.

Rena didn’t say anything, but if there was any way she could push herself through the wall to get away from him, she would have done so.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you.”

“What are you?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“I’m the portal guardian.”

She started to shake her head. The beast? “No. Not possible.” She slipped down the wall to the floor.

He got off the bed and walked slowly toward her. “It’s all right.”

“Stay away from me.”

“I’m here to protect you. To help you.”

“I don’t want your help.” She scrambled to her feet and backed away from him out of the room.

He followed. She had to get away from him. She didn’t care if it was storming or pitch-black outside. She couldn’t stay in here with him. Not a moment longer.

“Rena, you need my help. I know now why you can see the lights. And why the demon wants you so badly.”

“What are you talking about?” she screamed, as she continued down the hall and into the guest room she’d slept in earlier. She grabbed her purse, checking to make sure her keys were inside.

“You aren’t a witch,” he said. “It’s why they couldn’t help you at Vindecare. Why you weren’t making any progress.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I was making progress. I was remembering more and more of my dreams.”

“But you couldn’t stop the voice. It calls to you. It’s why you are compelled to paint the portals, opened ones and closed. It’s why you feel the need to come back here over and over again.”

She narrowed her eyes as fury filled her. “The only reason I’m compelled to come back here is because this is where I lost my mother and faced a beast.” She yelled the word so loud her voice broke into a high-pitched shriek.

“I am not a beast. I’m a shapeshifter. And I’m here to help you. If you’ll let me.”

“The only way you can help me is to leave me alone.” She turned and ran from him, but hesitated at the front door, knowing the demon’s cat was out there somewhere. But better she take her chances out there than trapped in this house with him. She ran then, out of the house and into the dark.

She had to get as far away from him as she could. How could he have fooled her so completely? She made love to him! She rushed around the front of the house but didn’t see her car. Where could it be? Was it still on the main road? She hurried down the wet gravel drive, hoping her car wasn’t too far. Luckily the rain had stopped and the moon had come out to guide her.

She ran until her sides ached, then stopped, bent over and took a deep breath. She started moving forward again, but froze when she heard the peeling cry of the panther.

Terrified, she stepped off the drive, crouched low into the bushes and held her breath.

Please don’t let it find me.

She hid in the darkness, her tears mingling with the rain dropping from the leaves and dripping onto her face. How was it possible that Kaydin wasn’t…human? A shapeshifter? A portal guardian. What was that anyway? And how was it that he could make her feel so safe? So wanted?

It doesn’t matter. It had all been a lie.

She wiped the tears off her face and looked around her. She had no idea where she was. As the rustling of the underbrush filled her ears and the dank smell of the damp earth filled her nose, she wished she was back at Vindecare. Wished she was anywhere but here.

When she could no longer hear the cat, she stood and started moving again. This time, staying in the trees. Before long, she was standing back in the clearing, looking at the lights, watching the demon’s cat glide into the circle. The rectangular darkness in the center shimmered, opened, and her mother stepped into the doorway. Why did she always end up here?

Because this was where she was supposed to be.

“Rena.” Her mother gestured toward her.

Tears burned Rena’s eyes as she walked toward her, remembering the sound of her laugh, the gentleness of her touch.

She didn’t care what Kaydin said. How could she believe anything he said? It didn’t matter how she felt when she was with him, or what it felt like when he touched her. He was the beast.

He was the cause of all her nightmares.

Rena had to help her. If there was even the smallest chance that Kaydin was wrong, that her mother was still in there, stuck inside that horrible place, then Rena would get her out. She wouldn’t leave her there.

She remembered now why her mother had come here. Her grandmother had threatened to take Rena away from her. Grandmother was afraid of what her mother was. Afraid she would go to hell.

And maybe she’d been right. Maybe her mother was in hell. But if she was, she went in there to keep Rena, now Rena would bring her back.

Determined, she stepped into the lights and toward the doorway. She heard the snarl of the panther behind her and thought that maybe she heard the low growl of the beast. But she knew now, it wasn’t a beast. It was Kaydin.

The man who had saved her.

And let her mother walk into hell, leaving her daughter alone to be raised by a crazy woman.

How could she ever get over that?

“You came,” her mother said, smiling.

“Yes. I’ve come to bring you home.”

“I am home, Rena. Come, join me. As you were meant to do so many years ago.” Her words touched an empty spot in Rena’s heart and she realized that since her mother had left, Rena hadn’t been anywhere that she’d felt wanted.

Could this place really be why? Was this what she’d been missing, what she’d been longing for all these years?

Her mother held out her hand and Rena took it. And the moment she did, the moment she felt her mom’s warm, familiar touch, she knew she’d made the right decision.

She knew she’d finally found her home.

Chapter Six

Kaydin ran after her. She’d seen what he was and horrified, she’d run from him. He was what she’d always feared and what had haunted her nightmares since she was a child. As he ran into the clearing, he saw her reaching for the shell that was her mother, her hand outstretched.

“Rena,” he called! “Don’t!”

She turned back to him, her eyes gleaming with moisture, a small smile lifting her lips. He ran toward her but it was too late. She stepped through the doorway and the demon in her mother’s skin stepped out.

“No!” he yelled. But it was no use. It was too late. Rena was gone.

The demon sauntered up to him, her red hair flowing around her shoulders, her green eyes gleaming with an otherworldly glow.

“Hello, Kaydin.” She reached out her hand, running her fingers along his jaw, tempting him, like the wicked temptress she was. But it wouldn’t work on him. Not while he still had Rena’s scent in his mind.

“So are you going rogue or going soft?” she taunted. “You could have killed the girl and closed the portal years ago. Why didn’t you?”

He snarled at her and she drew back, but she didn’t lose that wicked smile.

“I know you’d like nothing more than to take me to the ground and have your wild, ferocious way with me. But that isn’t going to happen. Not if you ever want to see your precious little Rena again.”

“You got what you wanted. Leave her alone.”

“Oh, I plan to. By the time you go in there and bring her out, I’ll be long gone.”

“And how do you know I won’t kill you right now?”

“Because if you do, the portal will close and you will never see your sweet little Rena again. And you’ve already sacrificed so much for her. I know. I’ve watched you.”

“You don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Don’t I? Happy hunting, Kaydin. I really hope it won’t take you too many years to find her and then find your way back out. As you know, it’s a maze down there.”

She turned and walked away and he knew she was right. Knew he was making a critical mistake. Again. By letting her walk away, he was letting a temptress demon loose in the world to cause all kinds of hell on earth. It could take him years to track her down, years that this portal would stay open, unguarded and unprotected. It went against his creed, his honor, his principles.

And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to kill her. If he did, the portal would close trapping Rena inside with no hope of rescue. She’d go mad within days. And she’d be lost to him forever.

He couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t let her die today any more than he could let her die fifteen years ago. Something about her had reached inside him, grabbed hold of his human heart and refused to let go.

He turned his back on the demon, stretched up on his hind legs and roared as he began his transformation. He only hoped he’d be able to find her. And soon.

Kaydin entered the portal lights and ran through the doorway. Immediately he was immersed in darkness, guided only by the lights twinkling far off in the darkness. He hadn’t been inside the portal since his transformation, but he remembered his fear and confusion, he knew what Rena must be feeling.

He hurried forward, taking one turn after another, passing demon after demon, some who shied away, some who taunted and laughed. He caught a faint whiff of Rena’s sweet scent and followed it, turning down one tunnel after another, chasing that scent, chasing her.

He knew she must be scared and confused. The demons would be taunting her, trying to drive her to madness. If she lost touch with reality then she’d never find her way back. She’d never be able to make the transformation to guardian.

He turned down another corridor and saw her crouched against the wall, her head buried in her knees. He hurried to her, and pushed his nose against her hair and whimpered. She looked up at him, her eyes the same golden amber he’d seen when they were making love.

It was then he knew the truth of why she could see the lights, why the demon wanted her so badly. She wasn’t a witch. She was a shapeshifter. She was one of the few left who had a dormant gene passed down through the generations. It would have stayed that way had she never come near the portal or made the descent into the pit. Once they entered the gateway, they became what they were meant to be—guardians of the earth.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his fur. He whimpered and licked her cheek. This was why he was so drawn to her, why he couldn’t let her die. She was meant to be with him. He was meant to help her.

And to do that, he needed to change. He needed to return to his human form and hope they could find their way out together. Hope she’d let him help her do what needed to be done. He took a deep breath and focused on his human form, the beat of his heart, the tenderness he felt for this woman clinging to him. And then he shifted once more, back into his body. And as he did, his senses became muted. He felt the demons circling, heard their taunts, their laughter and he knew he had to get her out of there. Now.

He lifted Rena into his arms.

“She wasn’t there,” she said into his ear. “My mother was gone.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and held her close as she wept into his shoulder.

“I should have listened to you.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re going to get out. We’re going to find her.”

“No. I’m going to find her, Kaydin.”

He looked down at her surprised by the steel in her voice.

“I’m going to find her, and then I’m going to kill her.”

And he’d let her. But first, they had to make it out of the pit. The voices were overpowering now, whispering, pulling, pushing. He was going in circles and couldn’t find his way. Finally, out of breath, he stopped and leaned against a wall and was stunned to discover it was the same wall he’d found Rena against earlier. All this time, and they were back where they’d started.

“Rena, we’re not going to be able to find out way out of here. Not as we are.”

She looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve been wandering in circles. We’re in the pit, which is nothing but a huge maze. It entices you one way, pushes you in another until you end up back where you started without knowing how you got there.”

“We can do this, Kaydin. We have to.”

“You need to embrace your path. You need to transform.”

“What are you talking about?” Her eyes widened in the gloom.

“The reason you’re here. The reason you hear the voices. It’s because you’re like me. You’re a shapeshifter. You had to enter the pit to make the change. We all did, at one time or another. It’s your rite of passage. It’s how you’ll find your true path.”

She shook her head. “No. You’re wrong. I’m not like you. I’m nothing like you. You’re not even human!”

“You are. And you know it.”

She pushed away from him as angry tears filled her eyes. “If you hadn’t brought me here, if you hadn’t commissioned me to paint those lights, I never would have come back here. I could have gone on living at Vindecare with my friends. Life could have been good. Life could have been normal.”

“You always would have heard the voice of the demon calling you.”

“So? I could have ignored it. Like always. You did this to me. You brought me here!”

He tried to grab her, to put his arms around her and pull her tight, but she beat him, her small fists flailing against his chest.

“You did this to me. I won’t become like you. I won’t.”

“You have to. If you don’t, we will never get out of here. Don’t you understand, it’s what you’re meant to do. It’s your journey. I can help you. I can guide you. But in the end, it’s you who will have to make it back out of the pit. Only you can find the way.”

“But I can’t. I don’t know how.” She collapsed against his chest, her shoulders heaving with her grief. And his heart broke for her. For all she was about to lose, and for the incredible burden she was about to gain. He only hoped that she would find her way and that maybe, if the gods allowed, they could find happiness together.

“Think Rena. Think back to all the times you just knew. When you felt guided by something beyond yourself. Look inside and listen to the voice, not ‘her’ voice, but yours. You are the only one who can lead us out of here.”

And then he changed, doing what he had to do. He transformed in front of her, turning into what she had always feared, yet what was buried deep within her. He turned into her beast.

Rena watched in morbid fascination as Kaydin left her. She knew she should be afraid, but she couldn’t anymore. There was no fear left in her. Only anger and sadness. Everything she knew, everyone she loved was gone. Nothing mattered any longer. Not even her humanity.

And as Kaydin dropped to the ground at her feet, she yelled at him. “Go away. Go on. Get out of here. You don’t belong here. I don’t want you with me.”

He just looked at her and whimpered, then laid his head on her feet.

“Damn you,” she muttered.

She knew they had been going in circles, knew they would never find their way out. But he didn’t need to stay in here with her. He could go back and do what he’d always done. Guard a doorway.

And not very well.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let her mother go in all those years ago. And he would have killed her tonight when he had the chance. But he didn’t. And now it was left to her. She would kill the demon who stole her life. That was her purpose now. Her only reason for getting out. For dragging him out.

She reached down deep inside herself and found the path he was talking about. She found the hard, dark fist of anger clenched around her heart, and she felt it squeeze.

And as she did, she lifted her head back and roared.

And then she was running, loping on all fours. It didn’t matter that it was dark, because suddenly she could smell the forest, she could hear the water rushing in the nearby river. She could easily find her way out of the darkness and toward the demon that had brought her there.

She could smell the demon, too. Smell her evil. Hear her whispers. It fueled her fury, and she ran faster, not even sure if Kaydin was still behind her. She just kept running, until she saw the lights ahead, and then she extended her front legs and jumped, breaching the perimeter, bursting through the heavy darkness and into the night of the forest.

She ran into the dark, following the scent of the demon, determined to end this once and for all. She didn’t know how far she’d run or for how long, but now she felt Kaydin on her heels behind her. She stopped in front of a small cabin. The woman was inside.

The woman who would be her mother.

But before she could step closer, she heard the growl of the panther. The hair rose on the back of her neck. Then Kaydin was flying through the air. And as the two beasts clawed and tore at one another, Rena moved closer to the cabin. She concentrated on her body—her legs, her arms and easily transformed into her human self once more.

She walked up to the cabin and knocked on the door.

“Rena,” her mother said, and smiled as she opened the door. “It’s good to see you.”

“Is it?” Rena asked. She walked inside, grabbed a throw blanket off an easy chair and wrapped it around her, covering herself.

“Of course. I only needed you to go in long enough for me to get out. I didn’t need you to stay in there. In fact, now that you’re out, we can be together. The way it should have been. Could have been, if it wasn’t for that damned wolf.”

“He came after me.”

“He must be very attached to you.”

Rena stared at the woman who would be her mother, but she knew her mother was no longer there. Now it was so easy to smell the demon within.

“You killed my mother. You stole her from me,” she accused. “Then you whispered to me for years, wanting me to call you. To say your name.”

Surprised, the demon took a step back.

Rena stepped forward. “Ubasti,” she whispered.

Her mother’s face paled and her eyes widened as she shook her head.

“Ubasti,” Rena said again then yanked the golden locket off her mother’s neck. “I’m calling your name. I’m commanding you to enter me. Come to me, Ubasti. Come to me now.”

In a flash of light the demon flowed from the form of her mother and filled Rena’s body. Her mother dropped to the floor, and without the life force of the demon inside her, quickly decayed and turned to a pile of dust.

Rena walked out the door and as she did she pulled the strength of Kratos into her, the fire from Hephaestus, and the protection from Hades inside her. Then with a roar of sweet satisfaction she transformed into the wolf—into the guardian of the earth.

Ubasti screamed inside her.

“I am not like my mother, Ubasti. I am not a witch. And now that I’ve been inside the pit, I can never be host to a demon. Because I kill demons. It’s what I’m meant to do.”

Ubasti screamed again before disintegrating and pouring out of Rena in a powerful column of smoke and ash.

The next morning Rena woke in the tall grass with the sun shining in her eyes and the morning dew kissing her cheeks. She lifted her hands in front of her, stared up at her fingers and wiggled them. Had it all been a dream? Had she been lying here since yesterday afternoon?

She turned her head and saw Kaydin lying naked next to her. He had three long bloody gashes along his side. Claw marks. And then she knew it was all true.

She traced her fingers along the cuts knowing that by tomorrow, they’d be healed just as hers were now.

He opened his beautiful green eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Better than okay.”

He smiled then ran his fingers down her arm, gently caressing, sending shivers of heat along her skin. He kissed her, gently at first then harder and faster as his hunger rose. His taste filled her, heating her blood as he pulled her to him. Skin against skin, tongue against tongue.

She heard the thunder of his heartbeat as his blood pulsed within him and smelled the musty scent of their desire thickening in the air. She arched her back, pushing her breast into his cupped hand, letting loose a whimpering moan as he tweaked her hardened nipple.

She felt his need for her, hot and hard, pushing against her inner thigh. And she wanted him. Wanted him buried deep inside her. She rolled herself beneath him, thrusting up her hips and wrapping her legs around him, cradling his erection within her moist heat.

“Now Kaydin.”

With one quick thrust he sheathed himself within her, moving fast, moving hard, until she couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, could only feel the sensations shimmering through her. She clung to him, riding their primal movements, oblivious to everything but this man and his love. And when she finally reached her release, she leaned her head back and screamed, again and again, until the screams echoing back at her sounded almost like a howl.

After a few minutes of lying in the grass, trying to catch her breath and still her beating heart, Kaydin rose off her. He stood looking down and smiled.

She smiled back, not needing to say anything, to put words to how she felt. He held out a hand. “Let’s go home.”

She put her hand in his. He helped her up and they walked together through the woods toward the house with the painting of the wolf above the fireplace. Toward where she was meant to be. She knew it, just like she knew Kaydin was who she was meant to be with. She knew it with certainty.

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ISBN: 978-1-4268-7020-0

Wolf Magick

Copyright © 2010 by Cynthia D. Cooke

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