Page 91 of Drive me Wild (South Island Shifters)

“Really? I can’t just drive down it?”

I shake my head. “No, we have security measures in place.”

“Must be fancy if I have to be escorted to your home,” Autumn says. “I’ll text Winter when I am at the end of the driveway.”

“Sounds great. Let’s go.”

We make our way out to the car and climb in. Zane jumps into the driver’s seat and starts driving down the road.

“I have a question. How the hell did you all find me?” I ask as we drive.

“Scent. When Jason told us about your car being burned, we went to check it out and followed a scent. Turns out that scent belonged to Scarlett. She had gone to so much trouble to mask yours that she forgot about her own. She admitted as much aloud, more to herself, I think, forgetting we were in the room,” Zane says. “Bitch was crazy as fuck.”

“You’re shitting me, right? All the trouble to whip up a love potion to affect my DNA, and she forgets to mask her scent?”

“Graham said that all criminals leave behind some sort of trace. Now, where am I taking you two?” Zane asks.

“Home,” I reply. I want a hot shower and then crawl into bed with Winter and rest for a while. My body has been through hell the last five days. “Home sounds like the best place in the world right now. Well there and in your arms,” I whisper so only Winter can hear.

Thirty-Three

WINTER

I awaken with a jerk, stretch my hand across the bed, and find it empty. Sitting up, I look around the room.

“Declan!” I call, thinking perhaps he’s in the bathroom. There’s no answer.

I toss the blankets off myself and grab my robe from the floor where I left it last night. I pull it on and tie it around my waist and head downstairs.

“Declan!” I call through the house. I find him sitting in the dining room with Zane and Edward from the café. I’m unsure why they’re here, but Declan looks like hell.

He turns to me and opens his arms which I race into. “Hey, I’m right here. I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to wake you, so I came down here for some air when Zane and Edward turned up. Edward says he might have a solution to my problem in a few days.”

“What sort of solution?” I ask sceptically. Declan’s been in and out of consciousness because of the potion he was given, and most days, when in this state, he pines forher.

He exhales. “Sweetheart, take a seat, and I’ll make you a drink while Edward explains.”

I do as told and look at Edward. “I didn’t know you and Declan were so close.”

He smiles. “As you know, I run the café, but I am also a wolf shifter and the Alpha of my pack. Tammy is also my daughter. I love her dearly, but she has been living with Declan’s clan for the last year in the hope that she and Declan might get together. I see now that it’s not meant to be, and she will return to my pack in a few days. It is a pleasure to know that you are Declan’s Luna finally. I’ve known you for years, Winter. You frequent my café most mornings. I’m so happy that Declan has found you.”

“How are you here and able to help Declan?” I ask.

“I have someone in my pack who has studied dark magic. They are mage, and I have rules prohibiting the use of it. Despite this, sometimes it’s the necessary evil. This mage thinks they can reverse Declan’s effects from his potion. The particular potion Scarlett used will come out of his system in time, but this will help him get back to work and normal faster. I never imagined Scarlett was behind all this. I didn’t even know she had her own pack when she came to work for me. She was filling shifts at the café until she found a job at the local hospital, or at least that is what she told me. I’m only sorry I never mentioned my mage to you earlier, Declan. I don’t advertise that I have one in my pack,” he informs us.

“It’s okay, Edward. Honestly, I thought for a while there, I was losing my mind.”

Declan places a cup of coffee in front of me. “Will it work?” I ask.

Edward shrugs. “I don’t know. I’m only here to give Declan an option. The choice is his to speed up the process or not.”

I glance at Declan. “Have you decided?”

He nods. “Yes. I want to try it. If it doesn’t work, well, I can’t say I didn’t try, right?” I nod. “We are also organising a meeting between our two packs. We’ll accept any members of Scarlett’s pack who decide to pledge their allegiance to join ours. From what Edward has informed me this morning, members of her pack have told us they were her first targets. They were under the influence of a love potion, not one like mine, but she has been trialling it for months and using it on her own as test subjects. These were the ones who were coming to our houses. Amanda and her brother were some of her first subjects.”

I gulp as I look at him. “Seriously? Why would she do that?”

“Because she believed our clan belonged to her. She told me that she is the daughter of the man who murdered my father and was going to force Mum to marry him and mate him. I have heard of that happening, but the mating isn’t a true partnership. The love isn’t absolute with the forced mate under the constant control of the other.”

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