Wolves of Wrath by Quinn Loftis
Jewel slipped on the dress she’d purchased. It was a deep green that complimented her red hair and clung to every curve. The material was incredibly soft to the touch. It had a plunging neck line with an Elizabethan collar that rose up in the back, framing her neck.
“Are you nervous?” Anna asked.
“Only because I know we are going to fail horribly and probably get murdered very painfully by a psychotic supernatural being. Statistics are not on our side. If I get into the math behind the likelihood of finding a girl that we can turn into a witch tonight without her thinking we are crazy, then, yes, I’m very nervous. Also, I feel like a weirdo going and searching for someone to turn into a witch.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure it puts us on the weirdo scale, and pretty high up there,” Anna pointed out.
Once Anna had her top and shoes on, she spun in a slow circle for Jewel. “What do you think? Am I club ready?”
“Definitely,” Jewel said with a smile. “Really wish we were just going out as friends with no agenda. I never had friends to go do stuff with.”
“I understand, Jewel. I didn’t have friends either. I was too busy trying to get through school, run my mom’s store, and make sure I had food in the refrigerator. I didn’t want anyone getting too close because I was worried they would find out how much my mom was gone and call social services on her.”
“I don’t think any of our group has had it easy. Maybe that’s why the Great Luna picked us. Maybe she needed healers who had endured hardship in order to understand those who might need our help.”
Anna nodded. “If that’s the reason, then I can live with it and not wish that I’d had something different growing up.”
There was a knock on the motel door, and Anna blew out a big breath, puffing her cheeks. “You ready to do this?”
“Absolutely not,” Jewel answered.
“Excellent. Unprepared and scared is how I roll.” Anna opened the door and shook her head at Z and Sly. “Did you guys get kicked out of the warlock group because you’re not right in the head?” she asked them. They were dressed head to toe in leather. Both had put on eyeliner and fake piercings. Anna didn’t know whether to laugh or lock them in the motel room and go without them.
“Alright then,” Jewel said with a sigh. “If that’s what we’ve got to work with, we’ll just have to make do.”
“Or we could leave them here,” Anna whispered.
“Hey,” Sly said, his brows scrunched up on his forehead. “We’re standing right here.”
“I know,” Anna said dryly.
“You need us to go with you,” Z said. “What if you run into some guys who don’t understand the meaning of no? We’re your muscle.”
“Fine,” Anna grumbled.
They haled a cab and told the cabbie where they wanted to go. He didn’t even bat an eye at how they were dressed. Anna guessed he was used to seeing outlandish things. Her eyes widened as she looked out of the cab window at the famous city. The bright lights of Los Angeles were pretty, but she would never pick it over her native New Orleans.
Gradually, as the cab continued on its way, the lights began to fade, and they were swallowed in the growing darkness. Anna felt her heart beating a little faster as she looked out the back window to see they were driving further and further from the lights.
Just when she was about to ask the driver where they were, a sign lit up the darkness. Letters in red declared the dark building to be Pure Indulgence. There were cars parked across the street, a lot of cars she hadn’t noticed. There was a line to get in, though it wasn’t too long.
The cab stopped, and the four of them climbed out. Sly took care of the fare, and then they were standing shoulder to shoulder staring at the club entrance. The people lined up waiting were dressed very similar to what they were wearing, only tighter, shorter, and covering even less skin.
“Looks like we got the dress code right,” Anna said.
Z wrapped an arm around Anna’s shoulders and began walking them to the end of the line. Sly did the same with Jewel.
When Anna started to pull away, Z leaned closer to whisper to her. “I’m not hitting on you, Little Annie. I’m protecting you. You and Jewel have already caught the eye of more than a couple of the men in this line.”
Anna’s mouth opened in to an O, and she nodded. “Gotcha.”
The line moved quickly, and within a matter of minutes, they were just a few people away from the bouncer. Anna noticed the woman at the front of the line pulled an ID from her bra. Crap. “We don’t have ID,” she told Z.
He dropped his arm from her shoulder and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a wallet, and inside were two driver’s licenses—one for her and one for him. She saw that Sly was doing the same thing, handing Jewel her own identification.
“Thanks,” she told Z.
He shrugged. “That’s what we’re here for.”
Anna didn’t say anything in return. She had a feeling the warlocks were with them for a lot more than just protection. There was something deeper going on, but she couldn’t guess what.
When it was their turn, Anna held her breath as she watched Jewel hand the bouncer her license. She needn’t have worried. The burly doorman barely glanced at it. Instead, he took her in from toe to head. Appearing satisfied, he made a subtle motion with his head for Jewel and Sly to go inside. He repeated the process when she and Z presented their own IDs. Apparently, she, too passed the visual pat down, because they were both ushered inside behind their friends.
The darkness immediately enveloped them. The foursome walked through a dark, winding hallway that seemed to go on forever. Finally, Anna saw flashing colored lights and began to hear the beat of a loud bass. The hallway ended in a set of swinging doors, and when Z pushed them open, the group was hit with a blast of sound, bright colors, and swaying bodies.
“Whoa,” Anna whispered.
“It’s a little overwhelming, isn’t it?” Jewel said, coming up beside her and leaning in close so she could be heard.
Anna nodded.
Z took Anna’s hand while Sly took Jewel’s and led them further into the mass of humanity. They moved to the bar and found two empty stools. Anna and Jewel sat while Sly and Z stood protectively next to them.
“What now?” Anna asked.
Jewel pursed her lips as she slowly scanned the room. “We find a girl who looks lonely. Someone that no one here would notice leaving.”
It didn’t take long until Anna and Jewel both noticed a brunette sitting by herself at a table on the far right side of the room. They watched her for a half hour and no one sat with her or approached her. She looked bored, but Anna could see past the boredom to the loneliness in her eyes.
“Sly,” Jewel said. “Go hit on her.”
Z stepped forward quickly. “I should probably be the one to do the honors. Sly’s a bit rusty when it comes to the ladies.” Z looked quite eager to take over the job.
“He does know he isn’t really hitting on her, right?” Anna asked.
Sly chuckled. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean he won’t enjoy it.”
Fifteen minutes later, Z was walking back toward them with the woman’s arm wrapped in his. Anna smiled at the girl and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Anna.”
The girl smiled back hesitantly and took Anna’s hand. “I’m Amy,” the girl said.
Jewel held out her hand next. “I’m Jewel, and this is Sly.”
Amy shook their hands and then stood there shifting from foot to foot, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Are you waiting on someone?” Anna asked.
She shook her head. “I just needed a night out. It’s been a rough month.”
“Breakup?” Sly asked gently.
“Is it that obvious?” Amy asked.
“You just look like you could use a friend,” Jewel said quickly.
“You’re welcome to hang out with us,” Anna added, wondering if she sounded like the witch with the apple from Snow White.
Amy seemed to think about that for several minutes. Anna nearly let out a relieved sigh when Amy nodded and said, “Okay, that sounds good.”
“We’re going to check out some other scenes,” Z said and started walking toward the exit, Amy in tow. Anna, Jewel, and Sly followed. Anna wondered if they felt as nervous as she did.
They hailed another taxi, a minivan. As they climbed in, Jewel looked down at her phone and began searching for something. When Anna glanced over, she could see Jewel was looking for industrial buildings for sale in Los Angeles.
“Could you take us to 4500 Track Street?” Jewel asked.
The cabbie looked at her in the rearview mirror as if she’d lost her mind, but then nodded.
Sly kept Amy distracted by whispering something in her ear, but Anna couldn’t guess what. Whatever it was, the girl liked it, as evidenced by her giggling, blushing, and playfully smacking his leg. Anna never understood girls who would fall all over a guy simply because he said the right things. Didn’t they want someone who had more substance than pretty words?
The taxi came to a stop, and Jewel opened the door. Each of them climbed out, and Z paid the cabbie. He drove off as though the hounds of hell were chasing him.
Amy, no longer lost to Sly’s charms, looked around, her eyes growing wider and wider. “Why are we here?”
Here appeared to be a huge plot of land crowded with industrial buildings nearly stacked on top of each other.
“We needed privacy,” Jewel said coolly.
Anna glanced at her friend, taken aback at how unemotional her voice had been.
When Amy started to back up, Jewel snatched her arm. Her hand began to glow as she spoke. “You will come with us. You will be calm. We don’t want to harm you.”
Amy nodded, her eyes looking a bit unfocused.
“What did you do?” Anna asked.
“Just influenced her with my magic,” Jewel said.
“We can do that?”
Jewel shrugged. “I kind of figured we might be able to do something like that, considering we basically coerce the body to heal itself when we work our magic in a good way.
“Okay.” Z clapped his hands together and then rubbed them like an eager child. “Pick a building, any building.”
“That one should do.” Jewel motioned to the nearest one.
Sly and Z managed to kick in the door and, after going in and checking things out, came back outside and bowed dramatically. “After you, ladies,” Sly said.
Inside, the building was one big, open area with some large crates stacked on one side. The floor was concrete and covered in what looked like oil stains and paint. The air was musty and left a gritty taste in Anna’s mouth. They walked further in, and Jewel directed Amy over to a stack of crates that was low enough the girl could sit on. As she felt the magic rising up inside her, Jewel noticed one of her fingernails sharpening and growing. The same thing had happened when she’d used the spell on Anna. She reached for Anna’s hand and slashed across it, drawing blood. Then she took Amy’s hands and slashed each palm. Her own palm was the last she cut. Jewel wrapped her uncut hand around Anna’s uncut one. “Now, with your other hand take Amy’s hand and press your palms tightly together,” Jewel told her as she did the same with her own hand and Amy’s free hand. She tightened her grip so that their palms were pressed tightly together.
“Should I be concerned?” Amy asked, her words slightly slurred. Jewel knew whatever magic was inside of her was already working on the woman.
Once all three of them had joined hands, Jewel closed her eyes. Anna looked down at Amy, whose eyes had widened a little. “I’m sorry,” Anna whispered.
Jewel began the same chant she’d recited when she’d done this very thing to Anna. Wind blew around them, even though they were inside the building, and the walls seemed to tremble as Jewel spoke.
“Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire,
Hear my voice, obey my desire.
Welcome us with open arms.
Teach us of power and of charms.
The craft has called to us.
Fate has chosen us.
Now we come, embrace us.
Here we stand, protect us.
Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind,
Pour your power deep within.
Teach us so we may share.
Help us draw more into your care.
Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire,
Hear my voice, obey my desire.
Amy heeds your command.
Anna and I, with her stand.”
As soon as she’d said the last word, dark smoke flew out of Anna and Jewel’s hands. It blanketed Amy’s skin, absorbing into her flesh. When it was completely gone, Anna attempted to let go of Amy’s hand, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t release Jewel’s hand either.
“Jewel, what’s going on?”
Jewel was pulling back on her hand as well. “I don’t know. I did it exactly as I did yours. I don’t get—” Her words were cut off by a gasp of air.
Anna gasped as well as pain shot up her arm. Her eyes closed of their own accord as she felt something forcing its way into her mind and her body.
“JEWEL!” Anna yelled. She could hear Z and Sly calling out to them, but she couldn’t open her eyes to see them. “What’s happening?” As she asked the question, Anna began to see images in her mind. Images of Amy in different places, doing different things at different ages. Were these her memories?
“I’m so sorry.” Anna heard Jewel say.
“Sorry for what?” Anna asked.
“For taking her life.”
Anna felt alarm run down her spine. “What?”
“We are absorbing her soul, her essence. That’s why we are seeing her memories.”
“Why can’t we let go of her?”
“I’m not sure. I just know that I killed her.” Jewel sobbed. “I took away her life.”
Chapter 2
“I feel her distress, her shock and guilt, yet I do not know what has caused it. She is beyond my reach, beyond my ability to help and protect her. For centuries I have waited for her, and now that I’ve found her, I may very well lose her before I even meet her face to face.” ~Gustavo
Gustavo stood abruptly as he felt the pain shoot through him. It was her. It was his Anna. What was happening to her that she was feeling such pain? He attempted to reach her through their mental bond, but he kept hitting a wall. A minute later, sadness, guilt, fear, and an array of more complicated emotions flooded his mind.
“Are you alright, G?” Adam asked. The fae had taken to calling him the annoying nickname, if it could be called a nickname, considering it was just a letter.
“Something’s wrong.”
Heather, the blind healer, snorted. “Are you just now figuring that out? We’re stuck in a realm full of little winged beings, while an evil fae attempts to hunt us and turn us into wicked witches, and you are just now deciding something is wrong?”
“Heather,” Crina whispered. “Probably not a good idea to provoke the already-wound-tight Alpha werewolf.”
Gustavo glanced over his shoulder and saw Heather raising her hands up in front of her. “You’re right. I apparently have a death wish or, at the very least, a maiming wish.”
He would normally have found that amusing, considering no wolf in his right mind would ever hurt a female, let alone a healer. But there was no humor inside of him now. All he could think about was the fact that something was seriously wrong with his mate, and there was nothing he could do to help her.
He began to pace as he ran his fingers through his hair. His wolf was itching to run, to tear into something, but the only things around him were beings he was not permitted to kill.
“Anna.” He tried again, and this time he used as much as his Alpha power as he could, drawing on the power of his whole pack.
“You have to leave me alone.”
Gustavo gasped as her voice, soft and anguished, filled his mind. Lea
“Criña, that is something I cannot do. The Great Luna has given you to me, just as she has given me to you. I can help you if you will let me. Mí amõr, por favor, what is wrong?”
He could feel her need to hide from him. Whatever she was doing, or wherever she was, Anna did not want him to know.
“There’s nothing you can do to help. There’s nothing anyone can do.”
Shock filled him as he felt a familiar bleakness come through their bond. It was dark, sinister, and very similar to the darkness that lived in him and the other males of his kind. How could a healer possibly have darkness like that inside of her? Healers were light and goodness. That is why they so perfectly complemented their dark mates. And why were there so many damn unanswered questions?
“He looks like he’s about to have an aneurysm.” Stella’s voice grated on his nerves because it wasn’t the voice he wanted to hear.
“Are you alright? Can you tell me that much?” Gustavo asked her. He was still having to use a large amount of his power to get past whatever block she’d managed to put up between them. He wanted to crush it. He didn’t want any boundaries between their minds, especially since he couldn’t physically see and touch her.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” she said, sounding very hesitant.
“Are you physically un-harmed?”
“I guess.”
“Are you mentally unharmed?”
“Pretty sure the answer to that one is a no.”
No? What the hell did that mean? Cago, she was going to be the death of him. “Can you explain what you mean?”
“No. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I did explain it, and you sure as heck wouldn’t want me anymore.”
“Anastasia,” he practically purred her name. Gustavo loved her name. He loved how elegant and old worldly it sounded. “Nothing would make me not want you. Nothing. That’s the first thing you will have to learn, mi Gitana.”