Page 30 of Craved By a Wolf

The wolf’s arm shot up from behind the counter, his hand slammed down onto it and he hauled himself up. He growled as he shook off the blow to his ego but he looked groggy, which worried her.

Was he telling her the truth about the curse?

Would he really die if she didn’t add him to the tally of notches on her bedpost?

She intended to find out the answer to both of those questions.

Her finger settled on the yellowing page just below the name of the spell she had been looking for. The language was old, one witches had used centuries ago, a strange blend of Latin, Old Saxon and Greek. She had studied it in school at the coven, but had never been good at it. There was a chance she might get an ingredient or measurement wrong and the spell wouldn’t work, or would have terrible consequences, but needs must.

“What are you doing?” he muttered, a wary edge to his voice as he watched her working, sorting through her ingredients to find the ones she needed.

“Making a potion.” She lined all the jars and bottles up in front of her, relieved that she had everything she needed.

Or everything she thought she needed.

One of the ingredients was either frog spawn or snake milk, and she only had frog spawn, so she crossed her fingers that was the right one.

“What will it do?” He tried to pick up one of the bottles and she swatted his hand to stop him, mostly because he would probably refuse to drink it if he realised it contained newt entrails.

She had to admit, it wasn’t the nicest sounding potion, and she did feel a little bad about the fact she was going to trick him into drinking it, but then he deserved a little payback for demanding she just spread her legs for him because she was his fated one.

If she was his fated one.

She wasn’t convinced of that.

“It’ll make you stronger for one.” She mixed several of the ingredients in a dish, mashing them together into a paste, and was tempted to weave another spell into it, one that would reveal if she really was his mate and it wasn’t just something the witch who had cursed him had made him believe so he would come after her.

She was a master combiner, but mixing another potion into one that was already a blend of two and included a spell she was already having her doubts about, was a guaranteed way to make it backfire on the wolf, and as much as he annoyed her, she didn’t want him dead.

Yet.

He grunted, “I’m strong enough.”

Hella rolled her eyes again. “No need for the macho attitude. How about I word it a different way, one that won’t dent that precious overinflated ego of yours? It will keep you strong and buy me some time to look into this curse you claim someone put on you.”

He muttered, “I dinnae claim anything. A witch cursed me.”

“You must have done something to deserve it.” She sprinkled ash on the paste and watched it closely. Nothing happened for a few seconds and then it hissed and smoked. The delayed reaction probably wasn’t a good sign. Were her ingredients a bit old? She couldn’t remember the last time she had taken the time to burn cedar and sage to make ash.

The wolf growled now. “I did nothing.”

She looked up at him and the indignant look on his handsome face said he was getting tired of her blaming him for this mess. Rather than responding with another taunt, she focused on her work, adding drops of frog spawn to the paste and then mixing it with a silver spoon to loosen it up. What if the wolf was telling the truth and he had done nothing to deserve being cursed by the other witch?

That would only leave one answer.

The witch had a problem with her and the wolf was collateral damage.

Hella scraped the gloopy liquid into a flask and added distilled water, several drops of different extracts, and some vodka. The alcohol wasn’t listed in the ingredients. It was just something she always added to a potion to make it go down smoothly. Some potions tended to be rather thick.

Case in point, the liquid currently turning into a black jelly-like substance in her flask.

There was no way the wolf would be able to drink it, so she added a couple more shots of vodka and mixed it in with a glass stirrer. The jelly loosened, becoming more like yoghurt. It would have to do.

She set the flask down and looked for a nice cup to put it in for him.

The wolf snatched it and lifted it before him, his silver eyes bright as he stared at it. “Will this reveal I did nothing to deserve being cursed?”

“No, but it will reveal if you are cursed.” She tried to take it from him and he held it higher, beyond her reach.

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