Page 118 of What a Wolf's Heart Decides

The witch narrowed her gaze. “Careful, child. I can make you regret your insults.”

“Haley.” Bard rasped her name, and she looked at him. He gave his head a little shake.

She let her gaze linger on his face for a moment, trying without words to let him know she didn’t think any less of him. Then she took a deep breath and met Sabine’s stare. Forcing nonchalance into her voice, she shrugged. “It’s a cool story, but I’m unconvinced.”

Sabine’s eyes widened just a little. For a moment she stayed absolutely still. Then she curled one hand into a fist at her side. “His pack chose another. He refused to accept it, so he came to me begging for a charm. I warned him there would be consequences. Forcing a whole pack into blind allegiance requires immense power. Magic isn’t free, little wolf.”

Haley waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got the whole ‘magic has a price’ thing. You said it like ten times.”

Ben, who had risen to his feet and stood a few steps away, made a soft noise that sound suspiciously like choking.

Haley kept her focus on Sabine. “Your claim about Bard not being an Alpha shows you don’t know much about werewolves.”

The witch’s eyes glittered. “I know how to kill them.”

Ice slipped down Haley’s spine. In her mind’s eye, she saw the heart explode in Bard’s hand. Casual. Act casual. Sabine wasn’t a wolf, but she was a predator. It would be a grave mistake to show fear. Haley lifted her chin. “A wolf won’t follow a weak leader. If Bard wasn’t a true Alpha, the pack would have ripped him apart by now.”

“Stupid child,” Sabine said, her tone making it clear what she thought of Haley’s intellect. “Magic can override anything. Your kind is so limited, obsessed as you are with physical strength.” She looked at Bard, who had grown so pale purple veins were visible under his skin. “He knew this, which is why he sought my help. Magic can make people forget what they see. Make them follow a weak and crippled leader. Once he was charmed, no wolf could challenge him. None could kill him. Magic made him invincible, but the price was dire.”

Bard lifted his head, his good eye wolf blue. “And I’ve paid it, witch. With every wound and scar. With every new latent born in my territory. Your curse is a blight on this land and the pack.”

“You have tried to trick me.” Although she stayed still, Sabine’s voice rolled with power. The conservatory seemed to rock. Haley widened her stance, crossing her fingers that she didn’t fall on her ass.

Sabine went on, her words laced with increasing power as her voice rose in volume. “You sent your people away, draining the energy. Choking off the source. Making it impossible for me to feast!”

Feast?

Haley eased closer to Bard, moving slowly to avoid attracting Sabine’s attention. The way the other woman said “feast” was entirely too creepy to ignore, especially with Bard’s blood all over the place. As far as she knew, witches didn’t eat people, not like vampires or some of the Fae. But there were stories of them using animal sacrifices to fuel their darker charms. Some stories even hinted at human sacrifice—something the witches’ public relations people tried hard to dismiss as prejudice or jealousy. Yet the stories persisted . . .

Bard’s voice dropped below human range. Even sprawled on the ground, with his life draining from him, he managed to project menace. “The charm was for me alone. It wasn’t supposed to hurt the pack.”

The witch gazed at Bard, and the glow in her eyes grew brighter. For a second, Haley thought she was seeing double as an image of Sabine from the past—her black gown shimmering—flickered over Sabine in the present. Both Sabines spread their arms away from their body and spoke in a low monotone, their words like a chant.

“Gift and creed. Beauty and seed.”

The flickering stopped and then it was just present-day Sabine standing there. “That was our agreement, wolf. Don’t you remember?”

Bard grimaced. “I’m reminded every time I look in the mirror.”

“No,” Sabine said softly, “you forget.”

The hair on Haley’s nape lifted. Her heart pounded. In her head, Joel’s voice rasped.

Danger.

“No!” Haley darted toward Bard—

—and was thrown back, her feet skidding on wet glass. Before she could recover, an unseen force seized her and held her in place. Every muscle tensed. Every tendon locked.

Trapped.

She couldn’t move or speak or turn her head. She could only breathe.

And watch.

Sabine moved closer to Bard, her boots once again soundless on the glass. “When you became Alpha, you became the pack. Everything that affects the Alpha affects the pack. You have meddled with our bargain. You’ve upset the balance, and now the magic hungers. What better way to feed it than with an Alpha’s life?” She raised her hand, which suddenly held a long, jagged piece of rose-colored glass with a pointed tip.

No! Haley’s scream echoed in her mind, trapped there as solidly as her body was trapped. Sabine was going to kill Bard right before her eyes. There was nothing she could do about it.

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