Pretty Girl: Pretend all you want you’re not jealous that I wouldn’t touch your dick with a ten-foot pole.
My reply was fast and furious, and if I didn’t have all the tech help on the phone, not one of those words would have been spelled correctly. I didn’t have time for spelling or grammar when I was pissed off.
Finley’s reply was super quick as well.
Grouchy Bear: How’d you know I had a ten-foot pole in my pants? You been spying on me, Icy? Why are you obsessed with someone who is not interested?
I was about to shoot back a long-winded message where I called him for every fucked-up thing he’d ever said and done, before I paused. I took a few deep breaths and thought about what the best response would be. Finley wanted a rise out of me. He wanted to make me look pathetic and childish. I would not give him the satisfaction.
Pretty Girl: You’re entitled to your opinion, Finley. I have nothing further to say.
When the reply came, I almost didn’t open it until I saw Hunter’s name.
Daddy Alpha: That’s my good girl.
Whoa, now that was an ending to the text wars I hadn’t expected to receive.
But… it felt hotter in here suddenly.
Wait…Heat. Kellan. I’d been about to check his temperature when the first message from Finley showed up. I dropped my hand on his cheek and flinched at the slap of heat against my palm.
Whipping out my phone, I quickly voice-chatted the message because I was too shaken to type and google to figure out spelling.
Pretty Girl: Guys, Kellan is burning up. I just noticed when I put my hand on his cheek. I don’t know if this is a normal part of the spell’s process, or if we should be worried, but I’ll try and cool him down until you get back to me.
Hunter rang and I answered straight away. “Emme, tell me exactly how he looks.”
Running my gaze over Kellan, I said, “He’s paler than usual, and there’s no sign he’s flushed, but I can feel the heat coming off him. His heart’s beating a little faster than it has been as well, and—” I paused to listen again. “And there’s a slight skip every three or four beats. He’s not doing well, Hunter.” Panic sent myvoice into higher octaves, and I couldn’t sit still, jumping up to pace back and forth.
“Jewels is on her way. We’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Hunter replied, his voice low and reassuring. “The magic is reacting strongly to Kellan’s alpha essence, but that doesn’t mean he can’t fight it. He can and he will. Put me on speaker.”
Removing the phone from my ear I hit the speaker button and held the device closer to Kellan. “Listen to your alpha,” Hunter commanded, and even I wanted to obey that deep rasp. “You will not get worse. You will keep fighting the magic. You will come back to this pack. We are not complete without you, Kel, and I refuse to let you fade into the magic. Fight, brother. Fight for us all.”
The line went dead, and I clutched the phone tighter than ever, trying to calm myself enough to do what was needed. I had to cool this fire burning beneath his skin.
Pocketing my phone, I rushed into Kellan’s bathroom and grabbed a hand towel, running it under the cold water. Back in his room, I placed the cloth on his forehead, before repeating the process with all the hand towels I could find. The next twenty minutes were spent switching out the cloths for newly cooled ones, while I dabbed down his cheek and neck.
He wore a soft cotton shirt that I got quite damp, and as I debated stripping it off, he released a soft groan. I stilled, unsure if I’d heard that or just wished it into existence. “Kel,” I whispered. “Can you hear me, love?”
The endearment slipped out, and I prayed that one day soon he’d be awake to hear it. I’d never saidI love youor any other variation of itto anyone before, and I couldn’t only be brave when he was unconscious.
“Come on, Golden,” I continued, dabbing him with the cool edges of the cloth. “Make another sound. Wake up for me.”
The heat of his skin leached the coolness from the cloths fast, so I kept racing back and forth to the bathroom. Florence would have provided ice water, but I was scared to leave him and ask for help. For some stupid reason, I felt like it was my presence and hard work with the towels that kept Kellan from falling victim to the flames beneath his skin.
On my twentieth trip from the bathroom, hurrying faster than ever, I clipped my toe on the edge of Kellan’s rug, landing on the bed and half on top of the alpha himself. A rush of heat washed over my skin as I tried to scramble off, unable to find traction. My hands rested on his bare forearms, and I was surprised to find that after a few seconds there, his skin felt cooler, as if my palms had absorbed the heat and dragged the potency of the spell from him. The irritating scent of magic grew stronger in my nostrils, but I ignored it in the hopes of helping Kellan make it through this new attack.
Hunter burst into the room a beat later, Slade right behind him, neither of them blinking an eye at the sight of me sprawled awkwardly across an unconscious shifter. “What happened?” Hunter bit out quickly, looking around the room.
Maybe he thought there was a threat, and I threw myself on Kellan to save him. If only the story was that heroic.
“Uh, I tripped over the rug as I rushed back and fell on him. But…” I cleared my throat. “My bare skin touching his appears to be dispelling some of the heat. Certainly more than the cool cloths did.”
Hunter and Slade exchanged a quick glance, and I swallowed my gasp when Hunter shucked his suit jacket and started to unbutton his shirt. “We need to pack huddle,” he said quickly, looking down at Kellan and me. “He needs our energy to fight the witch magic, and the best way is for skin-on-skin touch. As you’ve just discovered.”
Spluttering, I blinked at him. “Are you serious?”
“As serious as Kellan’s death,” he shot back. “Now get your clothes off or I’ll get them off for you.”
