Page 93 of Bewitching the Wolf

And then I hear the rasp of… a little snore.

I chuckle softly. My poor mate is so tired that even his wolf’s appetites can’t keep him awake.

Well, so be it.

I am bone weary too. There has been so much to take in today. It feels like a whole truckload of secrets have come to light, things that I’ve wondered about for years that are finally coming to pass.

My feelings for Jax, which once defied logic, now make perfect sense.

Finding out that my aunt was trying her best to re-ignite the magic—Traggar, too—and that Otis’s father had been entrusted with the Golden Book. The vital role the portal cape has played throughout. It brought Sammy and Arlo together. Then it brought Clem down here. And now it’s found Aurora. All of the strands are tying together through the weft and weave of magic.

I don’t doubt now that we can overthrow Marsha Winters’ malediction.

What happens after that—the dismantling of the domes, the freeing of monsters, the rehabilitation of humans—it’s all too much to contemplate tonight.

With a sigh, I curl into my beloved mate’s sleeping form. His arm is slung loosely over my belly, his hand resting close to the soft red fur of my sacred place.

Remembering how those long fingers first stroked me to my blinding release, I can’t help a smile, and a soft moan.

I want so badly to relive that experience.

But sadly, now is not the moment.

I must let Jax sleep, and I must sleep, too. We need our energy for tomorrow, because I sense it is going to be another portentous day.

Finally, I close my eyes and join my beloved in slumber.

JAX

“Wake up, you bastard.”

I cover my ears and try to roll over, but the voice continues to growl in my ear.

Finally, I open a bleary eye to see a big green face and two red eyes staring at me. “Fuck, you sleep like the dead,” Otis grunts.

“What’s the time?” I yawn.

“Four am. It’s a long way to the lake and we must be there as the sun rises.”

I sit up and rub my eyes.

Otis leaves the room, throwing over his shoulder, “Sally has cooked breakfast. So get your sleepy heads out of bed and into the kitchen, pronto.”

Tippy stirs beside me and I glance longingly at the perfect pink nipple exposed over the top of her lace nightgown.

I sense my wolf’s lascivious grin inside me. Sleep has clearly replenished its energy and now it’s ready for action, if the hard rod between my legs is anything to go by.

Go on, rut her until she begs for mercy, my wolf goads. I slap it down, but with humor now, and it chuckles low in my belly. We’re getting used to each other’s different ways of expressing our feelings toward our mate.

I kiss Tippy and tell her we have to get up. She rolls into me and snuggles close, and it takes all my willpower to resist my wolf’s advice.

You can’t keep magic waiting.

When we get to the kitchen, Mom and Clem are already there with Otis, eating breakfast. Well, to be precise, Clem is nibbling on a piece of dry toast and looking almost as green as Otis. The cape is slung over the back of a chair, letting out the occasional spark. Sally is making packed lunches.

I go over to Mom. “How did you sleep?”

She smirks. “Sleep wasn’t really high on my agenda. I’ve been doing a lot of it lately. But I have done a lot of thinking.”