Foster’s shoulders went rigid, and his hands balled into fists at his sides. “He tried to kill Andie.”

  “I know that, but this wolf right here? He’s only thirteen. Whatever happened, I assure you that he didn’t willingly want to hurt your mate.”

  “Fuck.” Foster kicked the ground, sending a chunk of grass flying past the alpha.

  Holden resumed heading back into the house, but before he got too far away, he turned back and looked at me. “I’m sorry, Andie. This never should have happened. Not on my land.”

  I glanced up at him and back down at the wolf still twitching in his hold. “It’s okay. I’m sure whatever this is, Beatrix can fix it.”

  Holden nodded stiffly before continuing toward the back door.

  Foster returned to my side. “This is far from okay. You’re supposed to be safe here.”

  I swayed, and my head almost hit the ground before Foster gathered me into his arms. “I’m taking you to the coven.”

  There was so much I wanted to say, but the intensity of the burning sensation was growing. All I could do was nod in reply.

  The farther Foster ran from the pack house with me, the more familiar my pain seemed. The heaviness of the energy, the way my soul was rapidly tiring, and the darkening thoughts racing through my mind…

  This wasn’t poison. This was something I’d experienced before.

  “Moira did this,” I murmured.

  “What?” Foster asked as he leaned his head down.

  “Dark magic, not poison.” My words were so low, I wasn’t sure he would hear them, but I knew the moment they registered with Foster.

  His grip on me tightened, and his body heated up while his speed increased tenfold.

  Moira was already making moves again while we hadn’t even talked about retaliation for what her witches had done to Spell House. If Beatrix didn’t take this current attack more seriously, I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep Foster from putting his own plans into motion.

  Plans that just might get him killed.

  2

  FOSTER

  Heat smacked me in the face as soon as we crossed the barrier into the witch coven. Beatrix appeared out of nowhere, and energy was pulsing off her.

  “I gave those dogs a shield to keep Andie safe. Not so she can nearly get killed again,” she spat.

  I wanted to snap back at her and remind her that the wolves were nothing like human house pets, but I agreed with her rage. I had no idea how one of the pack members had been compromised—especially a child—but Holden had better find out quickly. Otherwise, I wasn’t going to walk away next time I saw the wolf responsible. Teenager or not, I wanted answers.

  Andie groaned in my arms while I followed Beatrix toward the coven infirmary, a place I’d been all too familiar with lately. Andie, who obviously didn’t want to let Beatrix off the hook so easily, said softly, “Wasn’t their fault. Moira got to a kid.”

  “You’ve been putting off talking about what we’re going to do. I understood because Andie needs time to accept Junie’s power, but we can’t wait any longer,” I said, my tone low but demanding.

  Beatrix’s long, silver hair floated behind her, and wrinkles scrunched around her emerald eyes that darkened with a bit of disdain. “I’m well aware of what we can and can’t do, Foster.”

  At least she hadn’t called me “Wolf.”

  It helps when you’re not trying to rip her head off every five minutes, my wolf said.

  I grunted. She deserved every time I attacked her.

  Maybe, but two wrongs don’t make any situation right.

  I didn’t have time to argue with my inner beast. Andie’s eyes were rolling around, and the ooze on her arm wasn’t only burning her skin. It was dripping onto mine, and we needed to get this shit out of her.

  The infirmary was in the middle of the coven, past the main cobblestone streets that half the witches lived on but before the more spacious cabins started popping up. I began to run with Andie, doing my best to keep my stride even and not further jostle her.

  I passed Beatrix. She huffed, but I didn’t bother to look back. I knew where I was going. Only, when I arrived in front of the light-tan metal building, Beatrix was already waiting at the door.

  “If you’d told me you wanted to get there quicker, I could have helped.” She smirked at me before opening the double doors and waltzing inside.

  I slipped in the stark, white building before the doors closed. There were six beds on each side. Only one of them had the curtain pulled shut to give the patient privacy. I headed to the bed right next to him, because I knew that was what Andie would have preferred.

  Camille and Ava rushed out of the back room. I was glad to see the former, because she’d been the one to heal Andie last time she’d been scorched by dark magic. Ava, on the other hand, had better be in a good mood, because I wasn’t in a mindset to tolerate any of the attitude she liked to throw around when she was stressed.

  “What happened?” Camille asked as she gently picked up Andie’s arm. The healer’s dark eyes inspected the injury before she looked back up and pushed brunette strands behind her ears.

  A rumble built in my chest as I settled Andie onto the bed. “I wasn’t there. I was with the wolf pack for the new moon run, but from what I could tell, Andie was waiting for us to get back when one of the younger wolves attacked her. She did something to him that caused him to convulse on the ground before he reached her, but he scratched her before he went down. Before Andie went unconscious, she mentioned whatever that is”—I pointed to the black ooze—“was caused by Moira’s dark magic.”

  Beatrix moved to stand much closer to me than I was comfortable with, peering at me with narrowed eyes. “Where is that wolf now?”

  “Holden is handling him,” I answered, holding Andie’s hand on the uninjured side.

  The old witch made an odd noise from the back of her throat. “I’ll be back.”

  I paid her no attention when Ava’s black bob of hair caught my attention. She was bringing over a cart full of bottles and containers. Her light-grey eyes focused on Camille. “Use this first. I made it after the last attack.”

  Camille opened the offered jar and smelled the pink lotion-looking stuff. “Genius.”

  Ava grinned, and I had no idea what they were talking about, but as long as that shit helped Andie, I didn’t really care.

  Camille grabbed a wooden spoon from the top tray and scooped out some of the goop. She dribbled a bit over the scratches on Andie’s arm, and a wave of energy pulsed off my mate, sending all three of us onto our asses.

  “What the fuck was that?” I roared, getting up off the floor and taking a step toward the two witches doing the same.

  Only Ava and Camille were both smiling, and I was ready to tear their heads off until Ava answered. “Andie’s magic. Look at her.”

  I whipped my head around to check on my mate. I blinked and tilted my head. She was glowing a faint purple color. “Why isn’t she pink?”

  Andie’s hands had glowed pink before. I assumed that was the color of her magic, something that wasn’t supposed to change over a witch’s lifetime unless they began tampering with power they had no business getting involved with.

  “Her body is finally merging with Junie’s energy,” Ava said.

  The three of us moved closer to the hospital bed again.

  The magic surrounding Andie was thrumming and shimmering around her. I glanced at her arm, and the black ooze was drying up by the second.

  Camille approached my side. “Let me help you while Andie heals herself.”

  I couldn’t tear my eyes from my mate. “Is that what she’s doing?”

  “Not in the conventional way, but yes. Her magic is removing that which doesn’t belong in Andie’s body.” Camille grabbed my arm without waiting for my permission. Cool liquid poured over my skin, and my jaw tightened until whatever Camille was doing began to warm.

  I wanted to watch what the witch was doing to me, but seeing Andie’s cheeks take on the rosy shade I loved so damned much and making sure her chest continued to rise and fall at a normal pace was more important to me than anything else.

  “This is exactly what we needed,” Ava said, standing across from me.

  I finally looked away from Andie. “What do you mean?”

  Ava gestured toward the energy around Andie. “Beatrix wouldn’t retaliate until we knew what Andie was capable of. Andie’s ability to take control of the magic inside her determines just how worried we need to be about the necklace in Moira’s hands. Andie successfully bonding with Junie’s power proves the spell on the moonstone is unbreakable.”

  I glanced back at my mate. “How so?”

  “If Andie wasn’t strong enough to receive ancestral magic, then it would have told us that she wasn’t the witch her family hoped. Not that it would have been terrible, but it would have changed our tactics. Now, we should be able to test the merged energy, confirm what we’ve been hoping for, and finalize our plans.”

  “How long until we get to go after Moira, then?” I asked with a growl filtering through my words. I had no doubts Andie would be the powerful witch they’d been suspecting her to be.

  Before Ava could answer, Andie’s back arched, and the shield around her shattered into glowing pieces of magic that dissipated within seconds. She sucked in gulps of air and began to cough.

  I stepped forward and helped my mate onto her side. My hands rubbed over her back, and I bent down so I could get level with her face. “Andie?”

  She smiled at the sound of my voice, and the connection between us ignited—no, exploded. I was nearly on my ass again, but Andie reached for me. “Foster.”

  Fuck.

  Heat enveloped me, and my wolf howled inside my head. I locked gazes with Andie, doing my best to maintain my composure, but the tingling in my chest, the clenching in my stomach, and my shortness of breath were making every normal action seem unbearable.

  I dropped to my knees and moved one hand until my fingers stroked her cheeks. “Do you…” I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to ask. The bond was too damn powerful to allow me to think straight.

  “I thought I felt the connection before, but this is… It’s everything,” she replied, tears brimming in her eyes.

  I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers. Her tongue darted out, and I opened fully for her until a throat cleared, reminding the two of us that we weren’t alone.

  “We should double-check the dark energy is gone before the two of you continue,” Ava said, trying and failing to maintain a straight face.

  Camille was bright red and still standing near me. I’d forgotten she was trying to wrap my arm when Andie had begun to move again.

  I glanced down at my forearm, and there was white gauze mostly secured to me. I finished pulling the fabric taut and stood, but I didn’t back away from my mate.

  “How can you be sure Andie is free from whatever caused the black ooze?” I asked.

  Ava rubbed her hands together, and pale-green swirls grew between her palms as she pulled them apart and held them over Andie’s feet. “I’ll scan her body, and then she’ll be free to go if everything is clear.”

  I helped Andie roll onto her back again. Her eyes wouldn’t leave me, and her hand held tightly to me. This was the moment I had been hoping for when I’d first arrived at the coven. This was the bond I hadn’t known I’d crave more than my next breath.

  Our mate, my wolf whispered.

  All ours.

  He’d already accepted Andie, but until the bond had been complete, there’d been a sense of despair from him I couldn’t ignore. Now? Now, I couldn’t wait to get Andie alone and show her just how much she meant to me.

  Ava finished her scan and smiled at my mate. “Congratulations. You have active magic inside you, Andie.”

  “Thanks, Ava,” she replied with a grin.

  Ava nodded and stepped back. “We’ll leave the two of you alone. Just don’t forget you’re not the only one in here.”

  Andie’s cheeks brightened while I watched Ava and Camille leave, shutting the door behind them. When I glanced back at my mate, she was trying to sit up.

  I wrapped an arm around her and lifted her into my arms. “To your house?”

  She glanced at the curtain next to us. “Maybe we can check on him really quick since we’re already here?”

  I smiled. “Of course.”

  Andie wiggled out of my hold, and I followed her to the next bed. She pulled the curtain back to reveal the boy I hoped would be awake.

  Benjamin was laying silent on the bed, eyes closed and hands folded over his stomach. His chest still rose and fell on its own, but black veins pulsed beneath his fair and freckled skin, not allowing for much hope.

  Andie reached for him, grabbing his hand just as she did twice a day, every day since we’d brought him back to the coven.

  Ava had managed to shield his heart before the dark magic could penetrate the vital organ while we’d been at Spell House, holding off what I was certain to be his imminent death. When we’d gotten him back here, a half-dozen witches had worked on Benjamin until he’d been as healed as they could get him to be.

  The rest was up to fate and Benjamin. He had to be stronger than the foreign energy inside him. Fate got to decide if that was enough. All the rest of us could do was wait and see what happened. Though, what I worried about most was Andie losing him a second time.

  She hardly knew Benjamin, but I couldn’t deny that they shared some sort of connection. I wasn’t sure if that was because of what had happened in the attic that day or something else, but whatever the cause was, I wasn’t threatened by the pull she felt toward him.

  Andie’s thumb stroked over his frail skin, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Hey, Benjamin. I hope I didn’t disturb you when we came in. I wasn’t expecting tonight’s visit to include me being a patient, but good news. The magic from Junie is finally cooperating with me.”

  She held her hand out in front of her, and within the blink of an eye, a four-inch orb pulsed over her palm.

  The pride she was exuding soaked into me like it was my own. I could taste her excitement as I watched her grin grow and the orb bouncing between her hands.

  Gratitude filled me, lightening the tension I’d been holding on to and allowing me to breathe easier. All I wanted was for Andie to be mine and to be happy. Knowing she had access to Junie’s magic brought us another step closer to both of those things.

  Andie closed her hand, and the orb shattered into tiny flickers that flew in the air before falling onto Benjamin, settling over his arms and face.

  I waited for them to disappear like the shield around her had before, but instead, they embedded into Benjamin’s skin, growing brighter by the second.

  Andie’s eyes fluttered shut, and she reached to hold both of his hands. I took a step closer and tried to ask what was happening, but Andie began to glow again, the energy warning me to stay back.

  The door to the infirmary opened, and Beatrix strode toward us, but I didn’t pay much attention to her. Not when Benjamin began to cough and Andie groaned, seeming unable to move.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Beatrix demanded.

  She approached the bed, standing at the end, and then began to cackle. “Oh, Junie. You sneaky, sneaky witch.”

  3

  ANDIE

  At first, I didn’t understand what was happening to me. Heat scorched my insides, magic ignited around me, the pull I felt to Benjamin became heavy, and I had to hold on tightly to him while everything else became dark for a few moments.

  Though, between all of that, there was a layer of peace settling inside me. One that told me no matter what was about to happen, everything would be okay. Once I accepted that as truth, I let the newly expanding magic within me move freely, forcibly sharing the power with the boy too young to die.

  Benjamin was still filled with the dark magic he’d willingly taken to save me from the fate he seemed to be stuck in. While I hadn’t voiced the thought out loud, a part of me wondered if he had to willingly give the energy up before he could come back to us.

  Except if my theory was true, then it was a lose-lose situation. If Benjamin couldn’t wake up, thanks to the dark magic, how was he supposed to consciously reject the energy?

  With Junie’s power ebbing and flowing inside me, I finally had the answer.

  Benjamin needed more magic inside him. Not the kind to heal him, but the kind to force him back to life—and not in the gentlest way, either.

  The sparks from my orb that had burrowed into his skin were glowing a light purple. I called more of my newly inherited power forward and pressed my hands over his chest, sending energy toward each of the bright spots.

  Benjamin’s white shirt began to smoke, but I ignored the burning and continued to pulse power into him.

  I could hear Beatrix and Foster arguing, but that was nothing new, and there wasn’t anything I was going to let distract me until I woke Benjamin up.

  He had been lying in this bed for over four weeks because of me. I had to help him, just like he had helped me.

  Warmth traveled up my spine, extending into my arms before spilling out through my palms. The harder I drew on the magic, the darker it became until the light purple was almost midnight in color.

  Benjamin’s veins throbbed with such intensity that I worried they might burst and I’d end up killing him instead of saving him, but my instincts were guiding me forward, and I listened.

  Something pressed down on my shoulders, and I closed my eyes, squeezing tightly. My chest expanded, and goosebumps traveled along my body. Yes, this was right. Benjamin was going to be okay.

  I leaned forward, pressing all my weight onto Benjamin’s chest. When I did that, sharp pains pierced my hands, and I winced but didn’t let up.