Page 74 of Craved By a Wolf

Hella carried the book to the armchair by the fire and sat sideways on it, dangling her legs over one of the arms and resting her back against the other. She glanced up to her left, towards their room. Surprise trickled through her, mingling with worry. Why wasn’t MacKinnon trying to bash his way out of his current prison? She had expected him to kick up a fuss, enough that she would have to excuse herself and go to him.

But he was silent.

Was he all right?

Her stomach twisted as a possible reason for his silence hit her.

What if his captivity had involved more than chains?

She tensed and Fenix glanced at her, and she buried her face back in her book, hiding from his inquisitive gaze. She wanted to go and check on MacKinnon, maybe even talk to him and get some things out in the open so things between them could be better, but she couldn’t. She had promised to help Fenix.

And she knew there would be comments that would hit too close to the mark if she left now.

Fenix was watching her closely.

Too closely.

The last thing she needed when her feelings were in a muddle and she wasn’t sure what to do was Fenix teasing her about the wolf, saying things that made her want something she was starting to feel was impossible.

Like MacKinnon being her boyfriend.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had been in a serious and committed long-term relationship with someone.

But mother earth, part of her wanted that with MacKinnon.

Why couldn’t he just do things right? Why did he have to keep pushing her buttons? She glanced at Fenix, feeling worn down and sure he could see it as his gaze softened and he looked as if he wanted to ask her if she was all right. A thought struck her. Fenix was mated. She wasn’t sure incubi suffered the same overpowering mating instincts as shifters did, but maybe talking to him would still help her gain some perspective and help her forgive MacKinnon whenever he did something that riled her.

At the very least, it might help her cut him some slack.

Lightning struck, casting bright light into the room from the sash windows to her right and she glanced there, tempted to go and deal with the witch that was currently intent on rattling the house and everyone in it.

Fenix glanced at Rane where he stood sentinel by the window.

The dark-haired incubus kept his focus on the world outside, his back to Hella. Was he the cause of the current pest problem Fenix was facing?

“No point standing there staring out of the window.” Fenix walked around the table, heading for the younger incubus.

Rane glanced at him and quietly asked, “Will the barrier hold?”

“It will hold.” Hella looked up from her book.

Rane tensed and wasn’t that charming, and telling? He was on his guard around her, a witch, and another one was having fun with thunderbolts just a short distance away. It didn’t take a genius to see the incubus had upset a witch and the one guaranteed way of doing that was tainting her connection to nature and her magic.

Although apparently the rumours were true and a witch could retain her power after accepting demon seed into her body.

She curled her lip as Mort cast her a heated look. Not that she had any interest in finding that out for herself.

Mort had clearly forgotten Fenix’s warning or perhaps the hours they had passed in this room together and her stupid choice of outfit had finally taken their toll on him, stoking his incubus hunger and bringing it to the fore, because the blond incubus abandoned his work to casually lean against the armchair opposite her, his left elbow resting on top of the tall back.

He purred, “I bet you could reinforce it for us. You look as if you could cast spells that would make the witch who had cast this one look like an amateur.”

Hella rolled her eyes for effect and returned her focus to her book as she sighed. “Shoo. You can’t charm your way into my panties.”

Mort looked at Fenix, his tension a palpable thing in the air, drawing her gaze back to him. She held back a smile as he paled and she could practically see his mind churning, running over the reasons he might not be able to charm her.

Judging by how terrified he looked, she figured he hit on the one about mates. An incubus couldn’t use his charms on his mate. According to Fenix, an incubus’s fated one was immune to them, meaning they had to win her over the old-fashioned way rather than manipulating her emotions to suit him.

Fenix shook his head. “It’s not that. She takes precautions. A spell that makes her impervious to our powers.”

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