Page 6 of Dawn Unearthed

Alden snorted. “I’m not helping a witch,” he said, glared at me one more time, then ran off, still in his human form. He hadn’t shown up naked, so unless he had brought clothes with him, he had found us in his human form rather than his warrior or shifter form.

Warrior form, the halfway point between bear and human, was difficult to hold, and only Trace and I had a handle on it—and we only used it when we were in battle. And even then, not always. It took a lot of energy to maintain it and was hard on the system. Plus, it was more comfortable to be fully bear or man. Alden didn’t have access to his warrior form without effort. I wasn’t sure he even used it at all.

When Alden was out of sight, I brought the woman closer to me and inhaled. My bear chuffed, nudging at me, wanting out, wanting to see. I let my eyes glow, allowing the bear to rise to the surface. My nostrils flared, her sweet and intoxicating rose scent wrapping around me. It mingled with mine, forest and rose, acting as an anchor to something I didn’t dare breathe. I shook.

I looked down at the unconscious woman in my arms—the witch, who I had a feeling knew nothing of our kind. I cursed.

Mate.

My bear couldn’t speak, couldn’t communicate with me, but I knew what word it wanted to use. What word itneededto.

Mate.

This woman could be my mate. The earth shattered beneath my feet as the gods looked down upon me. I’d found her. After all this time, I’dfoundher.

And now I needed to keep her. A woman who didn’t seem to know about our world and who looked to be a witch from Ravenwood’s lost coven.

I cursed again and brought her closer, running towards home. I had been out walking, surveying the storm that someone had seen on the horizon. I didn’t have my car. I didn’t even have my phone since the lightning hit had scorched it. I needed to call Jaxton, my friend and fellow fixer, to help clean up whatever had happened out here.

The town of Ravenwood was unique, and we needed to keep it that way.

I made it home without anybody noticing me. For a small town, that either meant that I hadn’t caught their attention, or I had simply gotten lucky. Either way, it was a good thing. I didn’t want to answer any questions yet as to who the woman in my arms was, and I had a feeling Rowen would feel the same way.

I went inside, closed the door behind me, and gently set the woman on the couch. I looked down at her as she breathed calmly. She didn’t look hurt. I figured she could be drained from whatever magic had poured out of her and into me. I didn’t know and only understood the most basic things about witch magic. I would be grateful when Rowen showed up.

I pulled out my spare phone—I had plenty since I tended to break them often with my strength—and dialed Jaxton.

The hawk shifter answered quickly. “Rome? You’re out in that storm?”

“It seems to have dissipated, at least from what I can tell. Long story that I’ll get into later. But, Jaxton? There’s a new witch in town.”

Jaxton was silent for a moment, and I knew his mind likely followed my thought process. “The three? The new coven?”

Not everybody knew of the Ravenwood curse and the need for a coven, but Jaxton did. As did I. Trace and Alden thought they knew, but they didn’t have all the information. They weren’t alpha or wing leader. They didn’t realize that the true darkness was coming. We’d tell them soon. We had to with this woman’s arrival. That storm had meant something, and the town needed to be prepared, not panicked.

I cleared my throat. “I don’t know. Trace went off to get Rowen and maybe Laurel.”

“Is that a good idea?” Jaxton asked dryly.

“About Laurel? Probably not. But we’re seriously low on witches in this town.”

“Maybe we gained one more. What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to get her car, her keys, and whatever else you can find out there and see if you can tow the vehicle to your place.”

“Okay. What else?”

“Make sure I didn’t miss anything in the cleanup. That storm came out of nowhere, and I don’t think it was natural.”

“Magic’s sparking. Even the young ones are having a hard time right now keeping their human forms.”

I cursed under my breath. “I’ll need to go check the rest of the den soon if that’s the case.”

“We can do that. Let me know what else you need.”

“Fine. Then we’ll see what Rowen says.”

Jaxton was silent for a minute before he cleared his throat. “I may have overheard something from Penelope,” Jaxton began.

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