Twelve

“Here are the stones you asked for,” Josh said as Ezra and he entered Adira’s cabin, both carrying an armload of small ordinary stones. “Planning on hurling them at Bane to drive him away?”

A new day dawned and, so far, Bane’s threat was unfulfilled. That didn’t mean it wasn’t imminent, however.

Ezra chuckled as he walked over to her kitchen table, piling the stones on top. “Might not be real effective, but I’m sure it would be fun.”

A cloth covered the table with various oils and gemstones lined along the edges and circled by a trio of tall white candles flickering shadows onto the cabin walls. A mortar sat in the center of the cloth, the pestle ready for action. At the far edge of the table, sage burned in an incense holder. Soft Native American music played in the background, not because she needed it for the spell, but because it helped soothe her nerves, calming her for what she needed to do. If I can focus long enough to pull the shards of my magic back into a steady pulse of power, that is.

She smiled at the men helping her. “I admit, after meeting Bane, that would be the fun idea, but no, these are not for throwing. I’m going to convert them into wards that we can set around the community to warn us if evil crosses over, Bane in particular.”

Josh nodded, adding his stones to the pile. “How do you attune it to the coyotes?”

She grinned as she walked over to her kitchen counter and grabbed the tissue she used to wipe the coyote’s blood from her fingertips after she gouged his arms at Everglades last night. It was the first thing she did when she reached Alanna’s place. “Luckily, that brute last night helped us out with that. His shifter blood will provide me with what I need to set the spell to warn against his pack.”

Ezra stood, his thick body a sure sign of the bear who lived within him, shaking his head, as he placed his hands on his hips. “I wish I were there when they tried their shit,” he said. “I would have been able to give you more blood to use.”

“Agreed,” Josh said. He then looked around the cabin, searching for something. “By the way, where’s Dimitri? I assumed he’d be here.”

“He went to see his sister and Sheriff Einstein about last night,” Adira replied. She shrugged. “Lainie already told us there wasn’t anything that could be done, but he’s determined to at least file a complaint on them. Something about making a paper trail for when there’s something to throw at them.”

“Probably a smart idea,” Josh said. “Anything else you need us to get you?”

She shook her head. “No, this should just about do it. I’ll get these done, and then Dimitri said he’d go with me to place them around Bull Creek.”

“Okay, then.” Josh slapped Ezra on the back. “Come on, Baloo, let’s go prowl the woods and sniff around some. I don’t like how daring these coyotes are getting.”

“Baloo. Hmpf,” Ezra shook his head as he turned toward the front door. “Don’t even think I’m going to call you Bagheera. Now, that was a noble panther. Not some flea-bitten pussycat like you.”

“You wound me,” Josh said with mock seriousness. “To the core, Ezra, you wound me. Not one flea has ever dared bite me.”

“Probably afraid of catching something.” Ezra opened the door, and the two men stepped out into the Florida heat, their bantering shifting into song as they started to sing The Bare Necessities.

Adira chuckled as she shook her head. Never before had she thought it possible that so many different shifters could get along so well without the snobbery and prejudice that sometimes fills self-righteous minds. It was refreshing to her view of things.

Turning back to the table, she stared at the stones the men brought her. It was time to do her part in helping Dimitri protect his family. With a deep breath, she set about the task of creating wards for Bull Creek. Magic, don’t fail me now.

If she were honest with herself, she would admit how nervous she was that she wouldn’t be able to pull off the power needed to create the wards. Ever since Jensen sent her packing, her magic splintered into shards, just like her heart, sparking here and there, sometimes holding it together, other times, she wasn’t even able to draw forth a firecracker burst. It disheartened her to say the least, and when Agatha asked her to come to Bull Creek, Adira almost said no, afraid she would only fail the matriarch of the witches and let everyone in Bull Creek down. Now she feared letting Dimitri down, something that would surely crush her beyond repair. Yet, she had to try, of that she had no doubt. Dimitri needed her, and she would do everything within her power, even if it were slim, to assist him in his endeavor to protect this community. If Agatha held faith in her, then Adira needed to maintain that same faith.

She took a deep breath and began. This would take a couple of hours and drain her of most of her energy, but it would be worth it, as long as the wards functioned as they should. They had to work. Too many depended on the wards. On her. Dimitri depended on her. She closed her eyes and called on the power within, using it to reach out to the natural energy of the forest, the nearby streams, the very earth around her, drawing it into herself, adding it to her power, and pushing it into the stones, each and every one of them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three hours passed before Adira could sit in her rocking chair on her front porch, a cup of hot orange spice tea between her hands as she stared out into the afternoon sun. Exhaustion pulled at her, her energy depleted from the spell she cast over the stones. She would recover, but it took time. She’d need her power back when she set the stones, tuning them to the area where she placed them. Later tonight. Not now. Now, she just needed to sit.

“Now that looks cozy,” Alanna said as she turned off the main road and started walking down Adira’s drive. “I wish I had time to just laze around.”

Adira was too tired to laugh at her friend. Instead, she just shook her head. “I wish I was just being lazy.” She gestured back inside the cabin. “There’s about a hundred stones we can place around Bull Creek to help warn us if Bane or his men come sniffing around.”

“Oh, so a busy lady, huh?” Alanna stepped up the first two steps to the porch and then slid herself onto the railing, gripping it with her hands. “Not a fun way to spend the morning. I thought for sure you’d be doing a certain resident panther.”

Adira grinned, not embarrassed at all. “That was last night.”

“Nice,” Alanna giggled. “I’m sure you were already tired then, before the spell. I’m sure Dimitri appreciates your hard work, though.”

Adira cocked her head to the side a bit, looking at her friend, curious, but worried she might be crossing a line. Still, she was curious enough to ask. “So far, I’ve met panther shifters, a bear, and I know you’re a wolf. Are there other shifters here? Other wolves?”

Alanna shook her head. “I’m the only wolf in Bull Creek. There’s an assortment of others here, even a couple of vampires at the edges of the community. It’s a hodgepodge little family.”

“Don’t wolves stay in packs, though? Hell, I thought most shifters stayed in packs.”

Alanna nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. “They do for the most part, but what do you do when your pack no longer seems like a family to you?” She gestured to the area around her, indicating all of Bull Creek. “Everyone here is here because they feel like they have nowhere else to go for one reason or another. They’ve wound up here, and this is their home, their pack if you will. Dimitri is Alpha. He takes care of everyone, protecting us all. We’re his family, and he’s our leader. The great thing about Bull Creek is that it’s truly a community of diversity. That’s also what scares some people, like Bane and his coyotes. They don’t like change or shifters coming together, crossing packs and intermingling. They want pure bloodlines. Separation. Segregation, even.” She shrugged. “It’s a constant battle, but one we’re not walking away from.”

“What drew Dimitri here?” He didn’t act like a man who was missing family or an outcast. He seemed quite content in his role as Alpha of Bull Creek.

“For that story, you would need to ask him. Bull Creek is full of tales, but not full of gossip. I won’t be the first. What I told you about Eve was more than I normally share.” Then she grinned at her friend. “You’re here. Something drove you to our little community. You wouldn’t want me to share that story with everyone, right?”

Adira sipped her tea. Alanna was right. She didn’t want her story to get out. She took a deep breath, reconsidering. Yet, did it really matter? “While it’s true I needed to get away from Jensen and that Dimitri needs my skill to help protect Bull Creek, it wouldn’t surprise me if matchmaking wasn’t Agatha’s real goal in sending me here.”

“Well, every Alpha needs a strong woman at his side. I think Agatha’s choice was pretty on target. And it seemed to work.”

Adira felt the flush of heat warm her cheeks at her friend’s words. “It definitely has its perks, that’s for sure.” She felt the passion between her legs stir, as she thought of Dimitri’s naked body pressed against hers, his cock buried deep between her legs. Perk wasn’t a strong enough word.

She found herself looking toward the road, wishing Dimitri would return from the sheriff’s office already. She could use his body to help regain her strength. Of course, he’d probably deplete her energy a little more first… She couldn’t hide the grin that sent shivers down to her pussy, clenching her legs together. Damn, Dimitri, where are you?