Page 32 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

Fiona

The rest of the day passed in a haze of preparations. I was introduced formally to everyone, now that I was no longer fresh off a seizure and terrified by all the wolf talk. That included Karissma, the witch, who was Brielle’s adopted aunt.

She was… something else. The sparks of power I saw on Shay when she charged Brielle up? It was one sliver of the color spectrum compared to the rainbow of hues I saw if I looked too long at “Aunt Kari.” For all I kind of wanted to cringe back from the sheerintensityof her power, she seemed friendly enough. Except for the part where she’d studied me with one arched eyebrow for long enough that I thought she was trying to see through my bones. That was not the kind of special I wanted to experience twice.

By the time night fell and the moon was climbing toward its zenith, we were all behind the fortress at the heart of the enclave, following a tiny stone-marked path that twisted through wild forest.

Apparently, the reversal spell was most potent not only at night, but when performed in a natural body of water, and there was a spring-fed lake out here that was suitable.

But knowing that and seeing it were two different things.

Because the lake in question? Itglowed. Emerald water, in the shape of an eye, lit the night at the end of the path. It also exuded warmth, along with a slightly sulfuric smell. Spring fed, most likely.

“What makes it glow?” I whispered to Reed, whose hand I was holding.

Ever since we’d started touching each other, I really didn’t want to stop. I was a ball of early relationship, gooey emotions, but on steroids. The only reason I was okay with it was because he was every bit as into me as I was him, if not more.

“I have no idea. Water is usually just water, even for werewolves.” He grinned over at me, his face lit with green from the water.

I nearly choked trying to swallow a laugh, shoving his shoulder lightly as we took a place next to Shay and Dirge.

The couple who would be myin-lawsif Reed and I bonded. I wasn’t going to dig into that idea right now, though. That was about twelve thousand steps into the future. I only had a few days left of my week with Reed; in-laws weren’t even on the horizon yet.

Karissma, who I hadn’t noticed standing quietly off to the side, stepped out into the shallow lake, the water lapping around her thighs and sticking her long skirt to her legs. She didn’t say a word, yet she commanded all of our attention when she held out a hand toward Brielle.

Nervousness pulsed through me, though I had no real understanding of everything going on. Perhaps it was contagious. All afternoon, I’d heard people discussing tactics, how they’d handlewhat came next. And every time they said it, it sounded so ominous. From what Brielle had explained, her powers had been dampened in her mother’s womb to protect her from some ancient supernatural law.

I didn’t understand it all, but any time I’d looked worried, Reed kept reassuring me I had time to learn the details.

Now all my worry was for this new friend of mine, Brielle. She seemed so fragile somehow. Most of the wolves were strong, robust creatures. Even Leigh, who was several months pregnant, had picked up an entire suitcase with one hand and tossed it across the room earlier to clear out a chair she wanted to sit in. Like it weighednothing.

But Brielle wasn’t like that. She never flexed any noticeable shifter power, and while Shay had shifted for me that first day, Brielle’s eyes didn’t even glow.

Frankly, I didn’t see what the big deal was about one weak wolf, but I’d never been much for politics. Let alone interspeciesmagicalpolitics.

I watched with nervous excitement as Brielle waded out next to her aunt, the two of them exchanging a brief hug as Karissma whispered something into her ear, and she nodded. Brielle closed her eyes and faced Kari, and I could see the rise and fall of her chest as she intentionally calmed herself and shook her shoulders loose.

Kari rested one hand on each of Brielle’s cheeks and closed her own eyes as she began to chant. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, and my attention wandered a bit, scanning the rest of the pack and our two assigned maidens, Galyna and Elodie.

Everyone was tense, and in a strange way, it calmed my own nerves to see I wasn’t alone in the feeling, though I had no idea the background that had led them all here. It was important to the pack, toReed, and that made it important to me.

I turned my attention back to the two women standing in the middle of the small lake, and to my surprise, the bright green glow of the water had winked out. Tendrils of power visibly wrapped around Brielle now, writhing and snapping around her body under Kari’s direction.

When I saw the nasty green sludge dripping out of Brielle’s fingertips into the lake, I gasped.

“What is it?” Reed asked, his pensive stance turning to high alert in a heartbeat.

“Her fingers, don’t you see it? It looks like radioactive sludge from a comic book.”

He furrowed his brow as he looked between me and Brielle’s hands. “I don’t see anything but Brielle standing there.”

I leaned closer to him, whispering what I could see. “Kari’s power is all over Brielle, flashing and buzzing, sparking this steely color. And there is green ick dripping from her fingertips into the water. Although, now that I look closer, it’s not making any ripples.”

Kari’s voice rose, the words in an unknown language now that I could hear them, and I watched as the tendrils of her magic doubled in size, speeding up as they magically scoured Brielle.

And that was when something changed.

It was subtle at first. One moment, they were standing still; the next, Kari released her grip on Brielle’s face, and Brielle began to slowly levitate, almost in slow motion, with her eyes still closed as Kari lifted her higher and higher, dragging the lake water with her. It continued to flow until it wrapped her in a giant, spinning, pulsating ball.

---