Page 10 of Taken By the Stone Wolves

Since that moment, her every thought had been about getting back here and seeing them again. A need and a compulsion she didn't bother to analyze. She knew what it was. Even though she'd known them merely hours, she'd fallen head over heels in love. It didn't make sense, but love often didn't. No way was she allowing them to continue to suffer.

Staying away wasn't an option.

Sitting in front of the massive gates, she watched the two statues as the sun settled. Never in her life had she been aware of the passage of time as she was at that moment. Next to her sat her backpack and this time, a sleeping bag. A few creature comforts since she had no idea how this night was going to go.

The sun dipped toward the horizon and then disappeared. Darkness fell. She looked up, both stone statues were still there. Reaching up, she scrubbed at her eyes and looked again. Nope, she hadn't imagined it. Her wolves were still locked in stone.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" a female voice asked behind her.

Nat whirled around, scrambling to her feet to see an impossibly beautiful woman. Tall and slender, she had the sort of figure the prettily-plump like Nat could only dream of. Add in luscious hair that curled around her face, perfect features rather than too-large eyes, and thin lips...and Nat felt a surge of instant dislike. This was the sort of woman whose looks opened all doors and from her sneer, looked down on anyone less genetically fortunate.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean," said Nat, frowning in feigned confusion. She did know, or she was fairly sure she did. An aura of otherness surrounded the woman, one Nat's strengthening lycan abilities instantly identified as witch. And a witch had cursed her men in the first place. Could this be her?

"For centuries my family has guarded these bastards," the woman continued, somehow gliding sensuously over rough ground in skyscraper heels to stop less than a foot away. She looked down her nose at Nat. "Centuries stuck in this stupid-ass little village with its dumb people."

Nat's temper surged. She'd always been fiery but this was something else. Something deep inside formed into a ball to bite and claw its way to the surface. "Say that again."

Ms. Perfect's brow furrowed, only a little, no doubt frozen with too much Botox. Close-up, Nat could see this woman wasn't as young as she'd first appeared; a combination of illusion and conventional medicine making her look youthful.

"What...the part about my family being stuck here for hundreds of years to make sure these two don't get free? Are you deaf as well as stupid?"

Nat fought back the urge to snarl. "No. The other part. But while we're on the subject, why has your family been stuck here that long? Weren’t they smart enough to get out of town after the damage with the curse?"

Why she bothered questioning the woman, who was obviously a witch, Nat didn't know, but the little voice inside, the one who thought in colors and instinct, urged her to stall, to draw out the conversation. Never one to discount her gut feeling, she went along with it.

The witch sneered, looking Nat up and down, dismissing the plump girl as non-threating. "For those in the classroom who are slow, we’ll have Magic 101. All curses degrade over time, even a curse powerful enough to hold two alpha wolves. Someone from the original bloodline needs to be around to keep it strong. To power it with their presence." She flicked a glance behind Nat and her features twisted with hatred. "Because of these two, I've wasted my life in this piss-ant village. I could have had everything, the world. Instead, I had to stay here to hold the curse."

"Why?" Nat tilted her head to the side questioningly. "I mean, you're an intelligent woman, and it's not your curse. I'm assuming your grandmother is dead if you're stuck here...and this was her work. Why would you care if the magic withered away? What's the worst that could happen?"

The woman focused on Nat, and for a moment she saw indecision in her gaze. A fleeting chink in her armor. "They'll be loose and the curse rebounds."

Nat frowned, brows raised in unspoken question.

The witch huffed. "Rebound, like doubles back on the one currently holding the curse. And I've no wish to spend eternity in stone," the woman snapped, hatred back in her eyes. "You're a Larkin, aren't you? Just as stupid as the rest of your line. Any sense your ancestors had disappeared when we bred the lycan blood out of you."

Nat's rage coalesced and harden. "You've been interfering with the village bloodlines? We all thought that was natural because we had no local alphas. How long have you been doing this?"

"Stupid, stupid, stupid. All of you," the witch chanted and cackled. Her beautiful mask slipped to reveal the aged crone beneath and Nat gasped. Okay, so not as young as she'd first thought. But the woman couldn't be if she was the granddaughter of the original witch. There were too many years between then and now for a normal lifespan. "Not interfering, improving. You think we want the stink of lycans or other paranormal sub-species near our coven. Granted, none of you will ever carry magic in your blood, but better human than...than those heathen animals."

"Animals, huh?" Power surged within Nat, from the depths of her soul where instinct and wildness lived, battering at her control. This lady stood between not just her and her men, but the whole village and their birthright. This woman and her family destroyed their pack, reduced their abilities to mere human. Not that Nat had a problem with humanity; she considered herself human most of her life. But they should have had the choice...and that she couldn't let go.

"One chance," Nat said quietly. "Walk away, get as far from the village as you can."

The witch lifted her eyebrow. "Or?"

The snarl started low in Nat's chest as she opened herself to the new presence buried within her. "Or I'll rip your heart out and shove it down your fucking throat."

Chapter 9

The witch burst into laughter, hand on her stomach, bending over. "Yeah, right. A Larkin? Last time any of you shifted was generations ago. How are you going to manage that?"

"Watch and find out." Fur brushed the inside of Nat's skin, the creature within ready to burst free. With a smile, Nat accepted the wolf, accepted the animal side of herself and let go.

As naturally as breathing, she felt the change take her, wash over and through her. The fur exploded through her skin and flowed over her body. Her human form disappeared as her bones popped, snapping and reforming before she could register it. There was no pain, just an itch, then an all over body sneeze and within a heartbeat she advanced on the woman, teeth bared in a snarl.

"Shit...how did you do that?" she gasped, staggering backward with utter shock on her face. "No, you cannot do that. This is a dream—"

She fell over as Nat stalked her, landing on her ass. Her feet scrambled in the dirt, one of her heels lost in her desperation to get away, but Nat was too quick. Gathering power in her muscles, she pounced, landing on the witch, massive paws on the woman's shoulders and her teeth bare inches from her throat.

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