Page 58 of Her Wolf's Demands

My feet skidded to a halt as ice sweat dripped down my spine. I had to swallow several times to stop myself from throwing up. I wasn’t cut out for the action adventurer stuff. I liked love potions and chocolate before curling up to read a book.

“Stay back, Della,” Ertha said, her voice shrill.

Looking up, I licked my lips. I was a little afraid of water and fish. Water because drowning was my worst fear. Who would want to die that way? And fish because… they smelt so bad.

“Ertha,” Malone said, “you need to let Drake go.”

My brother’s face was pale, the skin almost translucent against Ertha’s dark-skinned hand where it rested under his chin. The fear in his eyes radiated into mine as I stared at him, shaking my head ever so slightly. My brother wasn’t usually the hero, but he would try hard to fix everything. What he didn’t understand was that he was a pawn in Ertha’s plan and it was too late to change it.

“I will kill him if you come any closer.” Her threat was enhanced by the shuffle of her feet and the tightening of her arm.

Drake wouldn’t fight her. Like most people with mental health issues, he believed that he deserved her wrath. But it wasn’t true. He was a victim.

Biting my lip, I folded my fingers into my palm, pressing my nails into the skin. It was a habit I’d picked up when I was frustrated and unable to help Drake as a child. It helped soothe me so I could think clearly.

“This is over,” Ertha called. “I will have my ritual and you’ll all be gone and leave us in peace.”

“In peace?” Malone barked. “You’re the one who’s created this divide. For centuries, we’ve lived side by side, not needing to fight over our lands. Why has that changed?”

Snarling, Ertha looked up at a shark as it swum overhead. “Your father antagonised me for years, even killing my own daughter.”

My gasp echoed as Malone frowned. I’d known that Ertha’s daughter had died ten years ago, but we were told it was a car accident. Why had she kept the true cause of her death from the coven?

“How was my father involved?” Malone’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.

A tear dribbled from Ertha’s eye, flinging from her cheek when she shook her head. “He was chasing her in his car, all because she accidentally strayed onto his land when gathering herbs and plants. She was a herbologist. She never hurt a soul in her life and he ran her off the road on purpose.”

“How do you know it was him?” The alpha was searching for any way to excuse his father. I understood, the man sounded like a brut, but he was still Malone’s dad.

“I was in the car with her…” Ertha’s throat closed. “… I cradled her as she died and your father just laughed as he drove past in the car that had been chasing us.”

My chest squeezed as a shaky breath released from the alpha. The truth bent his spine, giving the impression of a defeated man. He couldn’t argue with Ertha on behalf of his father. He just had to right his wrongs.

“Malone isn’t Tom,” I said softly. “Drake isn’t Tom. Not all men are the same. We can overcome the past and move on with a fresh pact.”

A hiss came from Ertha as she threw up her hand and shouted in Latin. As easy as it was for me to use magic now, I still didn’t know many of the traditional spells.

The cracking of glass resounded overhead. My heart thrust into my throat as Ertha spun with Drake and pushed him out of the tunnel in the other direction. The crack started to grow bigger above our heads, quickly spreading in all directions.

The sound of voices approached us from behind. Shit, there were people who could be killed by the water.

Both Malone and I turned at the same time and ran fast in the opposite direction.

“Run!” we screamed, waving when we exited the tunnel.

A crash of glass was followed by a strange whoosh sound that puffed my hair in front of me as we all thrust into the room ahead of us.

Malone grabbed my arm, trying to get me in front of him. The other people screamed at the realisation of what was happening. There was no way we were getting out with no injuries or worse…

Ripping out of Malone’s grip as the sound of rushing water blasted behind us, I spun, holding my arm out and shouting a reversal spell. The mammoth funnel of water that had been emerging from the tunnel froze. The strength of it was heavy, pushing against my spell.

Malone’s hand slipped onto my shoulder, his fingers pressing into me to give me strength. I recited the spell, over and over, forcing my magic to change the molecules of the water and pushing it back the way it had come.

“You can do it!” Malone’s deep voice slipped through the noise of the screaming and into my ear.

Lifting my other arm, I shouted the spell, smiling when the funnel spun backwards and sucked into the roof of the tunnel. As the glass floated up from the ground, it locked the water back into the tank and sealed together, looking brand new.

“Come on!” Malone charged forward, dragging me with him.

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