Page 12 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
I was due to meet up with Yvanna tomorrow to talk about the spell work I had been doing, but I needed to see how long my work tonight would take me.
Heading down to the beach, I pulled my jacket tighter around me. It was more of a gray-and-black checkered shawl. If Harper knew I was putting these shields in place in the dead of night, alone, she’d freak. Or maybe even worse, she’d pair me with Zephyr for protection.
I scoffed under my breath. I was a Lindell witch. We were one of the most powerful, ancient covens, bound by both blood families and some sworn into the coven from other bloodlines. The coven was scattered across the States, but my grandmother and I remained true to our roots on Azure Cove. It was the very reason I had come back here when I had turned eighteen, following my parents’ death.
The moon rose in the sky. The thing I loved about the island was not that the night got eerie butpowerful. It was heavy with a weight I loved to be under. It was as if the night held the eyes and power of the former Lindell witches, watching over me. I walked past Gramma’s store, the Emporium completely dark at this time of night. Sometimes, I went there when I couldn’t, lit some candles, practiced my power, and found comfort that couldn’t be sought in my own bedroom.
Then, I surpassed Hesketh’s Fish Bar, Adrian’s Convenience Store, and every other place that had serviced the island for generations. We all knew one another. I knew that Hesketh’s eldest daughter wanted to date one of the fishermen and go to the mainland but wasn’t planning to tell her father. I knew that the old manager of the convenience store had always liked my grandmother but had never been brave enough but left her flowers on her birthday, right outside the Emporium. I knew so much about this place, had poured so much of myself into it.
It was one of the reasons I felt so damned to let a group of wolves try to take Azure Cove from me. I would not give them the satisfaction of defeating the demons alone. Still, I didn’t want to ally myself with them.
Not even to honor our ancient civility with them? Our ancient allyship?The voice in my head was not my own. I shook off the shivers that danced down my spine, and walked on to the dark beach ahead, leaving the empty ghost town behind. The island didn’t have a curfew, as such, but ever since this summer’s slew of demon attacks, people had taken to leaving public spaces right after sunset.
It meant I was never bothered, and my work could be carried out uninterrupted.
I unfurled my map that highlighted where I had worked on my shields. I needed to recruit more witches to cover more ground. Soon, the shields would weaken, and I would find myself in an endless cycle of reworking them. I didn’t have enough power to constantly enhance them.
But for now, I continued where there were no shields. I had started at the island's northern tip, where the Cove was mostly populated. Lights were still on in the cottages behind me.
Crouching down on the shore, I got to work. Using a blend of malachite and iron, both of which I had melted down in the Emporium earlier that day, I began to pour, murmuring my incantation as the thick liquid dissolved into the sand, kissed by the water.
“Bind and lined, these shores will hold, into a shield they will mold. Turn the tide and send the threats away to hide.”
The moonlight seemed to waver as it glimmered on my skin, as if in response to my incantation. The shields gave off a soft glow as they dissolved into the sand. It covered a patch of shoreline that spanned my own body height. It would take hours to finish the whole coast, but I had to do it. More witches would help soon; they’d be powerful enough.
I continued into the dark hours, letting the night guide me, empower me.
And when I heard the piercing howl of a wolf in the distance, I did not flinch nor hesitate. I did not think of my coven brethren, centuries past, who had coexisted with those beasts. Who had perhaps awaited shifter lovers on this very beach I worked on now.
No, I thought.I will not think of that.
Even if I could pick out Zephyr’s howl from the rest of his group.
Silence settled once more after the howls died down. Part of my powers were how attuned to the energy I was, and I could feel when the shifter left my nearby proximity.
Yes, I thought.Go back to the woods where you belong.
But they would never truly belong anywhere on the Cove. This wasmyhome by right. Witches had prevailed here in secret long after the shifters were wiped out by demons. We continued our bloodlines with humans, never shifters, and succeeded while the shifters were cowardly, fleeing their home.
I lifted my hand, ready to pour more liquid to begin another length of shield before my energy completely depleted when the water glimmered with a faint blue tinge. It was small, a fist-sized ring that sparked. I heard a sizzle coming from the shallow depths of the foamy shore.
And when I looked out, I saw a demon’s face peering back at me, its hollow, black eyes watching carefully. Where was it? What landscape of Hell was it amidst while it watched me through the portal. Some demons didn’t attack—some merely watched, to toy, to torment, to see where they might rebuild their home if they overpowered us.
Which they wouldn’t. Over my dead body.
I hissed, scrambling back. The demon’s head rose up from the water, razor-sharp teeth flashing in the moonlight.
Witchling, it hissed.We crave the taste of witch blood. We remember it well.
I didn’t think twice—I cast a banishing spell, draining the last of my energy. The water bubbled, as if boiled, beforereturning to normal. The face disappeared, and it was only then that I realized I could have tested my shields.
I stood up, brushing myself off—but it appeared again, laughing manically.
Try again, witch.
But I had no energy left, and I sagged back against the sand, scrambling to put more distance between me and the creature. It got taller, more of its spindly body coming through the portal. In the darkness, I was a mixture of scared and angry. This was my home.
“You won’t win,” I threatened, but the demon’s smile only grew sharper.
