Not touching her made me almost physically ache. I stopped in front of the witches behind her. “Can I take that for you?”

  She eyed me for a second and set it down. The shorter of the two put a hand on her hip. “All by yourself?”

  I chuckled. “I’m stronger than I look.”

  I picked up the trunk and walked behind the witches. It was heavy, but I didn’t have any trouble with it. My breath came out in puffs of fog. Even though werewolves usually ran hot, it was fucking cold out tonight. If not for the roaring fire, we’d all be icicles out here.

  I set the trunk down beside Ruby and looked up at her face under her hood. The inside of the hood was lined in a crimson that matched her lipstick. She looked regal, like a queen. I wanted to tell her she was beautiful, but instead I blurted out, “Is the trunk all right here?”

  “Yes.” She nodded, her lips parting just enough to drive me to distraction. “Thank you.”

  She opened it and removed a small table and good-sized crystals. She withdrew a jeweled dagger, tucking it into a sheath on her belt, and then distributed a white candle to each witch. They took their places around the circle. Lillian stopped in front of the table. Her robe was a deep-violet color, and the fur along the edge of her hood was black instead of brown like the rest of the coven. She held up a thick black candle.

  Ruby took out a bronze plate and set it on the table with some crystals in a grid pattern. I looked over at Mathias. He would start the night’s ceremonies. I would ascend for the pack, and then Ruby would claim her place as the high priestess.

  Lillian nodded to the witches, and Ruby pulled a gnarled branch from the wood pile. She lit the tip in the flames of the bonfire before carefully delivering the fire to each of the witches’ candles. They chanted something and the air stilled around them as the clouds rolled in, blanketing the stars and enfolding the night in silence. The crackle of the fire was the only sound.

  Once the candles were lit, Mathias raised his arms toward the sky. “I call on our ancestors, the wolves of Salem, to recognize a new Alpha.” He moved behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Strengthen him with the power of the eternal wolf pack.”

  I looked up at the black sky overhead and shouted, somewhere between a howl and a scream. Gradually, the pack joined me, bellowing to the heavens. I dropped to my knees, my arms outstretched, bellowing until my voice finally cracked. A current of energy ran through me, making my skin tingle. The hair on my arms rose.

  It didn’t hurt exactly, but something was changing, and I was powerless to stop it. From the ground, I looked to the dark sky. In the clouds above us, my red wolf appeared, and one by one, the rest of the pack joined him. I stared at the vision as more wolves gathered. I didn’t recognize them. Maybe they were the ancestors Mathias had invoked. My eyes burned, getting hotter the longer I focused on the wolves. The weight of their presence sat on my shoulders until entire body ached. The responsibility was now mine. My chest heaved as the massive wolf pack faded into mist. The howls around me vanished, too, and the silence of the cold night air settled in.

  Mathias moved beside me and offered his hand, pulling me up to my feet. “It’s done.” He looked around the circle and shouted, “It’s done!”

  Across from me, in the inner circle, Ruby smiled. I nodded and focused on my packmates again. “We stand tonight with the Coven of Light to guard them as they welcome a new high priestess. This begins a new chapter where we work together to end the hunters who come for our pack and the shadows that threaten their coven.”

  It was Ruby’s turn now. She met my eyes, and my lips curved in a secret smile just for her. My mate.

  Lillian lifted the black candle. “I call the magic into our circle. Protect us as we raise our sister to lead us.”

  The rest of the coven lifted their white candles and answered, “We call forth the magic of the elements.”

  Ruby stepped in front of the fire and lowered her hood. Her eyes met mine, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe. She was my air.

  She opened a thick grimoire on the table, and a white snowflake drifted down from the sky, settling on her dark-brown hair. Snow, in late April. A chill shot down my back, and from the depths of my soul, my wolf snarled, clawing his way into my consciousness.

  At first, I figured it was because of the ceremony. We were the Alpha now, after all. But as I sniffed the air, glancing back into the darkness behind me, I realized we weren’t alone. Even with my heightened sense of smell and hearing, nothing seemed off, but there was…something. A new intuition like a sixth sense I hadn’t had before. Was this my Alpha gift?

  Ruby recited incantations with the coven echoing her, but all I could see was the gathering snow on the ground. Her vision.

  But I was a wolf in the vision. That wouldn’t happen for two more weeks.

  I sucked in a slow breath and caught something I’d never encountered before. On the surface, it had an overpowering sweetness, like fresh cotton candy, but there were also undertones of decay and rot. What was happening to me?

  Ruby lifted her hands. I tried to focus. She was about to fly. This was her big test that would allow her to ascend to high priestess. The coven chanted, the words taking on a lyrical, almost melodic cadence as Ruby rose above them. She’d done it.

  We’d done it.

  As soon as her feet landed softly on the ground, I tapped Wyatt’s shoulder and whispered, “Do you smell something…odd?”

  He sniffed the air and shook his head. “No.”

  I looked into the darkness again and back at Wyatt. “I need to check it out. I’ll be right back.”

  He grabbed my shoulder. “You’re the Alpha now. I’m not letting you go alone.” He cracked a little smile. “Can’t have you walking into a bear trap.”

  “Fine. Let’s be fast.” With any luck, we’d be back before the coven finished their ritual.

  CHAPTER 21

  Ruby

  I nailed the landing. And when the coven parted enough for me to see the outer circle, Zeke was gone. Luckily, I’d practiced the ritual order so many times that I could recite the incantations in my sleep because now I was distracted. He knew tonight was important to me. He wouldn’t have just left.

  Lillian stood beside me and placed her hand over the offering cup. I drew my jeweled dagger from my belt and pricked the tip of her finger. The coven chanted as three drops of her blood fell into the bronze chalice. Then I punctured my own finger and added my blood to the cup.

  “Our blood carries our magic.” I lifted the chalice toward the sky. “The blood of the high priestess blends with mine. I will continue her line and leadership.”

  Energy zinged up my arms like I’d just stuck my finger in a light socket. That hadn’t happened when we’d practiced. I lowered the cup to the table and looked over at Lillian. Her darker robe was covered in white snow. I looked back at the empty space where Zeke had been standing, and dread coiled in my stomach. The snow from my vision came rushing back to me. But it wasn’t a full moon. Zeke was still a man. This was just a cold April. Nothing to get excited about.

  Lillian lowered her hood and lifted the laurel chain of moonstones from her head. She placed it around my head, adjusting the larger stone in the center so it rested in the middle of my forehead. “Blessed be, High Priestess.”

  I turned to face my coven, but no one moved. Nothing did.

  “Finally.” There was a slow clap behind me. “I thought that ceremony would never end.”

  A woman in a dark, royal-blue robe stepped into the dancing light of the fire. She pushed her hood back, revealing long red hair and light, almost silver eyes. “Hello, Ruby. It’s nice to see you again.”

  I blinked as the memory sparked to life. This was the same woman who had taken my hand and walked me into Spring Pond. She hadn’t aged a day in over twenty years. How was that possible?

  “You’re Sienna,” I said.

  She nodded. “You remember me.”

  I scanned the concentric circles, but all the witches and werewolves were frozen in time. My heart raced as I opened and closed my hands, trying to get the blood flowing. “What have you done to my coven?”

  “Oh, they’re fine. Just a blur spell.” She came closer. “You’re the one I need.”

  I arched a brow. “For what?”

  Her lips curved. “Immortality comes at a very high price.”

  That’s why she looked the same. I shook my head slowly. “I don’t do dark magic.”

  “Oh please, I don’t need your help.” Her smile widened. “I need your blood.”

  I took a step back. “I won’t give it willingly.”

  “Funny.” She smirked. “Your werewolf said the same thing.”

  Zeke. My heart pounded. “Where is he?”

  “Come. I’ll take you to him.”

  Two more robed women stepped out of the shadows. I lifted my hands, ready to whisper a blowback spell.

  “Or I could have them kill him right now.” Sienna chuckled. “Your choice.”

  I dropped my hands. “Don’t hurt him, or I’ll make you sorry you were ever born.”

  She shook her head and walked over to Lillian. “I think the only one sorry I was born is this one.” She looked over at me again. “We’ll need to bind your hands and gag you. If you want to see your wolf alive again, I suggest you comply.”

  The robed women rushed forward. One tied my hands behind my back, and the other put a ball of fabric into my mouth, securing it with a silk strip she tied at the back of my head.

  For a second, panic and defeat threatened to drown me. My vision was coming true. I’d die tonight. And I didn’t know what they planned for Zeke, but it couldn’t be good. It was ironic that he’d been so concerned they were going to capture me to lure him in, but it turned out to be the other way around…

  My gaze flicked over to Sienna as determination blotted out the fear. If she took Zeke to leverage my compliance, she must be wary of what I could do. She’d seen my mother’s Elemental powers firsthand. But she didn’t know I couldn’t tap into them.

  No, not couldn’t. More like I hadn’t figured it out yet, but I was highly motivated at the moment. If I wanted to live and protect the man I loved, I’d find a way.

  My heart stuttered. I did love him.

  His belief and faith in me were unwavering, and seeing him become the Alpha, hearing his primal call to the heavens and the way his eyes had glowed with power proved his love and loyalty to his pack. I’d never met anyone like him before.

  Now I had to survive long enough to say the words out loud to him. I’d danced around them the past couple of weeks, but I hadn’t looked him in the eyes and just told him how I felt. But he needed to know. He was the first person I wanted to see when I woke up and the last one I wanted to see when I closed my eyes.

  Finally, Sienna came back over and lifted her hands. She uttered words I didn’t recognize, and instantly the scenery around us changed. The movement had been so sudden and immediate that my stomach lurched. I bent over to puke. Thankfully, someone untied the gag before I choked on my dinner. I coughed, retching again.

  Sienna chuckled. “I should’ve warned you that the teleportation spell can be unsettling.”

  I glared at her. “Where is Zeke?”

  She pointed to the rise in front of us. “Just over the hill.”

  Snow blanketed us in silence until the single howl of a wolf cut through the night. Impossible. There was no moon in the sky.

  I gasped, snapping my head toward Sienna. “What have you done?”

  She tipped her head back, laughing. When she looked at me again, there was a flicker of unnatural darkness in her silver eyes. She stuffed the gag back into my mouth. “I have done what is necessary. With the sacrifice of an Elemental and an Alpha, my immortality spell will be complete.”

  My eyes widened as I struggled to break free of her grasp.

  “It’s nothing personal.” She shook her head slowly. “Lillian and the Coven of Light started this war. I’m just finishing it.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Zeke

  Wyatt came with me, but I was the only one able to track this strange scent. As we got closer to the parked cars, there was a new one.

  Wyatt looked over at me. “Do you smell that?”

  I nodded, scanning the area. It wasn’t an animal, but it wasn’t quite human, either. The snow was falling harder now, shortening the visibility of an already dark, moonless night. Werewolves had better vision than humans, but in the dark, we had to lean into our senses of smell and hearing.

  Wyatt grabbed my arm. “Wait. I think I recognize—”

  He collapsed in a heap on the ground. Fuck. I knelt and rolled him over. His pulse was strong and even. The sugary sweet smell was coming off Wyatt now.

  And then I knew what it was. Magic. And someone had just cast a sleeping spell on Wyatt the way Ruby had done to Kiefer when he caught us together after a few too many beers. I straightened up slowly, listening for any footsteps while I struggled to see in the darkness. There was another witch out here, and she wasn’t from the Coven of Light.

  I took cover behind my truck, sniffing the air. The scent of magic was fading, and the other scent grew stronger. Wyatt had recognized it. I sucked in another breath, hoping to do the same. It wasn’t a werewolf, but there was a touch of wolf blended with a man’s scent.

  And then I knew. The man Mathias had bitten, the werewolf hunter, was stalking me. He was still human. He hadn’t shifted during his first full moon yet, and I needed to finish him before he did.

  But the hunter was human. He couldn’t have been the one who had cast the sleep spell. Normally, I’d keep pursuing them. I was faster and physically stronger than either a human or a witch. I could take them on my own. But I was the Alpha now, and my second-in-command was unconscious on the ground. I needed backup.

  Something stung the back of my shoulder. I reached up to smack the bug and found…a dart. Fuck. I narrowed my eyes, forcing my legs to move back toward the circle. My vision started to tunnel. The flames from the fire pit looked miles away. I’d never make it. I struggled to keep my eyes open. I had to warn my pack and protect my mate.

  But my body wouldn’t respond. My legs buckled, and I stumbled, falling to my knees. I buried my hands in the snow, dragging myself forward.

  Behind me, a man whispered. “How is he still awake?”

  Another person stepped out of the shadows. That was who the sweet smell was coming from…

  I rolled over and stared up at a face, not understanding what I was seeing.

  It was a man. A…werewolf with magic. A witch hadn’t cast a sleep spell on Wyatt. It was this werewolf.

  And then the world went dark.

  I awoke to the wet popping of my ankles breaking and reforming. I opened my mouth to scream, but my vocal cords shredded, reshaping until my groans became a wolf’s whimpers. What the hell was happening to me? There was no full moon tonight.

  The more I panicked, the worse the pain became. Shifting was excruciating, nothing smooth or magical like in the movies. It was bones snapping, skin stretching, and the ripping and tearing of tendons and ligaments. I’d learned early on that surrendering to the natural process made it faster, but there was nothing natural about this particular shift. It felt like I was being swallowed by the wolf, forced to take animal form. Like my humanity was being devoured.

  When the transformation was complete, the wolf growled at the robed women circling us. Witches. But this wasn’t Ruby’s coven. The wolf lurched toward the man in front of us. I recognized his scent again—the bitten werewolf hunter. But a chain stopped my wolf short. The massive animal struggled, but there was no breaking free of the collar around our neck and the chains keeping us on top of a huge, flat rock.

  Two identical men stood beside the hunter. Their scents made it clear they were werewolves, but they weren’t affected by whatever had brought on my shift. They crossed their arms in unison, and the one on the right said, “This will be over soon.”

  They had to be the witch blood wolves, Sienna’s sons. One of them must’ve cast the sleep spell on Wyatt.

  The wolf swung his head toward the circle of women in robes. The witches chanted over and over, “The blood of fate. The call of destiny.” The sound swelled with the scent I now recognized as magic. I encouraged the wolf to stay focused on the human hunter. He was the weakest here.

  Whenever I shifted, the wolf took the lead and the man became background noise for the animal. I could influence and encourage his behavior, but I didn’t have full control. The wolf trusted his instincts more than he obeyed my suggestions.

  And his hackles rose as the scent of out mate neared.

  They had Ruby. Fuck. The vision was coming true, and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. I had to shift back. It was possible. I’d forced a shift to my human form the night my brother had drowned in the pond. But when I tried it now, there was some kind of barrier I couldn’t breach. Magic. Dammit.

  Ruby stumbled into the circle. She was still in her robe, but her hands were tied behind her back and her mouth was gagged. We struggled against the bonds, growling and snapping at the humans until we panted with the effort.

  The witch behind Ruby had long, wavy, auburn hair, and her silver eyes shone in the dim firelight of the torches her followers held. She placed Ruby in front of the table and looked at the werewolves standing beside the hunter. “Shawn, Samuel, come hold her. That gag stays in her mouth.”