But Nickie was gone. The redhead was back, standing beside the fireplace, staring at her glass of wine as if she couldn’t quite remember how she went from the couch to standing. She glanced at her drink, then grabbed her head. “I had the weirdest feeling just now.”
“Oh?” Jason felt like a filthy creep for letting her believe it was all in her head, but telling her she’d just been possessed by a wicked fairy wasn’t an option.
She frowned at her still full glass. “I think… I might have a migraine coming on. I should go.”
His inner beast chuffed at the possibility of letting her go without fucking her, and Jason had to shove that side of him down once more. Thank the goddess, it wasn’t close to the full moon, or he might not have been able to control himself. “I think that would be a good idea.”
He showed her to the door. As he closed and locked it behind her, a soul-shaking fear rumbled from deep within him. Nickelova had used his vice to curse him. She’d laid the magic the first time he’d had sex with her. All she’d needed to do was trigger it. This was one STI that couldn’t be cured with a shot of penicillin.
Disgusted, he staggered to the shower and turned the water on as hot as it would go. The soap wasn’t strong enough, but it would have to do. He scrubbed in the scalding heat, enduring the self-inflicted punishment he deserved. His pack was at risk again, because of him, because of this hole he had in his fucking soul that he’d been trying to fill since Jessica was killed.
As the water flowed over his skin, he looked down his body. His dick was hard as steel, and the throb of need inside him seemed to pound all the way to his temples. If he got himself off, would that bind him to her as well? Make the cravings worse? He turned the water as cold as it would go and stayed under until his teeth were chattering, relieved when his erection finally softened.
He needed help. But whom could he trust? If he told Silas about what happened, he could find himself in chains. The alpha might be his brother, but he was unforgiving when it came to Alex and threats to the pack. And with Laina’s wedding coming up, his brother was already on edge. But if he told no one, Nickelova would use his vice to make him her slave. Because even as he struggled to wash all memories of her away, a tiny voice inside his head, one he knew was not his own, was already whispering about how much he’d enjoyed being with her before he knew who she was, and how incredible it would be to have her again.
ChapterFour
That night, Jason arrived in Red Grove feeling twitchy and uneasy. It didn’t help that the tiny town was home to a cemetery that stretched on for miles, the army of headstones ending at the creepy Victorian home of demigoddess witch, Grateful Knight. No way did he want to run into her or her caretaker husband. The witch was a friend of Silas’s, but Jason always found her eerily unsettling.
Per Laina’s instructions, he turned down a winding road that led deep into the woods and parked near the quaint cabin by the lake where Kyle and Laina now lived. He could see why his sister wanted to get married here; the place was untarnished and magical. The early-spring blossoms on the trees above shed pink petals that swirled overhead and weighted the air with a floral scent that was decidedly feminine.
“Welcome. You must be Jason,” a melodious voice said. He scented her before he saw her, his wolf nose detecting a luscious concoction of mango and vanilla with a hint of spice that cut through the other smells and drew his full attention. When he divined the source, he was not disappointed. She was tall, willowy, and dressed in a flowing pink robe that matched the blush of the petals that circled her perfectly coifed caramel-colored hair. Standing beside the twisting branches of an oak tree, she smiled at him, and the effect was like something out of a dream. Jason’s wolf responded so fast and hard it froze him in place. He stared at her with an intensity he knew was inappropriate but was helpless to control.
Mine,his inner beast growled.
Jason gritted his teeth. This woman was certainly nothis. He’d never even met her.
“Are you all right?” the woman asked, rushing forward to take his arm.
Her eyes were violet, a rare color he thought must actually be blue in the right light. But it was the innocence in those eyes and the soft, graceful way she touched his shoulder that unsettled him the most. His usually suave and practiced demeanor was nowhere to be found. He struggled to find his voice.
“I’m here for the rehearsal,” Jason gritted out.
The woman nodded. “Of course you are.” Removing one of the white flower leis that hung from the nook of her elbow, she looped it over his head. “I’m Selene. I’m an acolyte working with Artemis on your sister’s wedding. I don’t believe we’ve ever formally met.”
“No,” he said. He would have remembered meeting her. For forever and a day.
“I’m honored to help today. I’ll show you back to where the others are waiting and where the ceremony will take place tomorrow.
“Am I late?” he asked.
“No. We’re still waiting for the groom’s brother to arrive.”
Thank the goddess.
“Wait… Did you say you’re an acolyte?” he asked. “You’re pursuing the werewolf priesthood?” Jason’s jaw tightened, and he realized too late that he was making a face like he’d smelled something bad. Inside, his wolf was still urging him to claim her. He had no idea if Nickelova’s curse or his own attraction was to blame. That was reason enough not to act on his impulses, but this landed the last nail in the coffin of any interest he might have in her anyway. Acolytes were celibate, and they most certainly did not take mates.
Her eyebrows drew together at the look of disgust painted across his face. Before he could fix his expression, her gaze dropped to the forest floor. “If you’ll follow me, the others are this way.” She pointed a hand toward a trail leading into the trees. He followed her, walking side by side on the narrow path in silence. Fuck, he’d offended her. Goddess, he was a dick.
“I’m sorry for the reaction,” Jason finally said. “That was rude of me. I haven’t been myself today. This is all… harder than I expected.” Skimming his gaze down her robes, his mouth went dry. He wanted to pull the bow at her waist and slip that robe off her shoulders. His dick twitched, and he redirected his attention toward a bird in the nearest tree.
“It’s normal to feel some anxiety about your sister getting married. You may have feelings of pressure to marry yourself or fear that you’ll never find a mate,” she said in the rehearsed way of someone who was trained to counsel pack members.“Think of it like this: you’re not losing a sister, you’re gaining a brother,” she continued. “The scrolls say that a wedding of any member of the pack is a reminder of our unity as a species. We’re stronger when we work as one.”
Her words hit him like a bucket of ice water. “The scrolls?” He laughed cynically.
She raised an eyebrow and laughed in a warm way that seemed to wrap around his heart and squeeze. “You’re not a fan of our holy texts?”
“No offense, but I find it hard to believe that a goddess loved wolves so much that she turned twelve of them into men, only to curse them to return to their true form for three nights a month during the full moon. Oh, and while she was at it, further cursed them with individual vices that rule their lives almost as much as them turning into an animal once a month does.” He laughed acerbically. “If there is truly a goddess, she’s a bitch.”
