Page 10 of Alpha's Magic

When they found no outward threat, the dark-haired one with the growly voice said, “Well, no offense to Grimora and his mush and his apples, but I think we can do better than that.” He moved over to the pot hanging by the open fire, peered in and then waved his hand and muttered a few soft words. The air rippled and the pot was suddenly filled with a wonderful smelling stew.

The blond peered in and smiled. “Fat chicken pieces in a fine, thick broth,” he said. “Potatoes and those little peas I like and carrots and even some little florets of broccoli, all floating inside. If you were prettier, I’d kiss you.”

I was thinking, if either of you were any prettier, you couldn’t be real. These were the handsomest men I’d truly ever seen. Not that I saw a lot of men, other than the pirates that Grimora traded with. Two of them recently who had visited us had been this clean and extraordinarily good looking. Their names had been Brandon and Roxbury, but that kind of person was few and far between. Come to think of it, they had some magic too, though mostly for each other. Maybe it went with the territory.

The blond opened the larder to find some bowls and there were the green apples I’d remembered—they were on the small side, shriveled up, and sour. He muttered some word I didn’t recognize, and those green apples magically transformed into a succulent looking apple tart, with a buttery brown crust on top, and studded with fat, white raisins. Raisins were a rare treat I’d only had on a few occasions after a particularly good trading session Grimora had with the pirates who had just come from southern climes. They were some of my favorite treats.

“Here’s a tart for dessert,” the blond said, and the other one glanced at it appreciatively.

This was serious magic, to be sure, and these men were obviously skilled practitioners. I’d seen nothing evil, so I was hopeful they weren’t like the villainous Moravian queen, but I was wary of them all the same. I’d have to be careful around them and hope they didn’t drag me out of my hole before morning. I hated the idea of going outside in the dark storm and hoped to wait until morning to try and sneak out. I hoped they wouldn’t force my hand.

The blond filled a bowl with the stew and put a big wedge of the tart on a plate. He picked it up and started heading with it toward my hiding place. I fled as quickly as I could back into the shadows, but I needn’t have worried. He set the bowl and plate down in the passageway, near the entrance to my room.

“I’ve left you some food,” he called out. “I’ll back away, so you can come and fetch it. You need to eat it before it gets cold.”

I could see him hesitate near the opening, and I knew as surely as if he’d said the words that he had an urge to go in after me and pull me out. Not to hurt me but to watch me eat their food. I had an irrationally strong urge to go and show myself too, but my more logical self knew that would be a big mistake and that I’d only succeed in stirring them up. I believed now that they didn’t want to hurt me, but I could also sense that the blond one still had strange yearnings inside him that he didn’t understand. And they centered around me.

“Did you hear me?” he called out after a moment. “The food’s warm now, and it will taste much better that way. You need to eat a hot meal. Let me know you understand what I said.”

I waited what seemed like a long time to gather my courage before I whispered back to him. “I understand.”

He backed slowly away. When he went out, the other one said. “Still won’t come out, hmm?”

“No.”

“Must be badly frightened. Leave them for now, and we can try again in the morning.”

“If it’s Banshira, then he must be worried about the funeral pyre on the beach, but he hasn’t mentioned it.”

“We can take care of it tomorrow.”

They sat down and began to eat, and I wondered why I felt so unsettled and restless and like I needed to do something important. I was feeling drawn toward the blond Alpha in particular and tried to position myself so I could peek out and look at him from time to time.

“You’re reacting strongly to the omega,” the other one said to him, and he looked up in surprise.

“Are you reading my mind now?”

“No,” the Alpha said, smiling even broader. “I don’t have to. And by the way, I recognize the signs. I felt the same way when I first met Rory.”

“Don’t be crazy,” the blond said, scoffing at him. “Rory was beautiful as sin, and even though we thought he was a dangerous warlock at the time we met him, he was fascinating to all of us.”

“Yes, he was. But he was meant to be with me and me alone. I knew that from the beginning too, though I didn’t want to admit it. Maybe something similar is happening to you.”

“It’s totally different for me. I don’t even know if this is a man or a woman. And if it happens to be Banshira…then I’d have no idea what to do with something like that. He’s supposed to be afflicted with a disease.”

“Why not wait and see? We don’t know anything yet, and until we do…” He shrugged. “We should try and get some sleep. The journey here was exhausting, and I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The blond held up a hand and muttered a few words to put a barrier up in front of the entrance to the cave so that no one could enter or leave. The words of his short spell had rung out unnaturally clear and loud, and I could see a faint shimmer over the entrance, like a bit of glowing fog. Again, I didn’t recognize the words he said, which were in some strange language, but I knew it was magical.

I watched as both of them rolled up in their capes by the fire and were asleep and breathing deeply in only a few minutes.

****

Leo

I was starving, so first of all, I ate the food they’d made, and it was so good I ate every scrap of it. It was filling and sumptuous and the chicken was the best tasting thing I’d had to eat for as long as I could remember. But then, of course, they’d made it with their magic, so it probably wasn’t real chicken. I still ate it though.

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