Chapter 10: The River of Love

DELILAH

Seth and I walked for a good two hours before he came up behind me, stopping me in my tracks and wrapping his arms around my waist in the middle of a small clearing.

“Hello again, my sweet little witch.”

I kept calm, his mouth near my ear making goosebumps crawl up my skin.

“Seth,” I said evenly. “I am not yours. We are here to find the one that is yours.”

“Oh, but you could be, couldn’t you? Isn’t that something that you failed to mention?” He purred, running his lips down my neck.

They were hot against my cool flesh, making me bite my lip in response.

“That is not possible,” I replied stiffly, attempting to wiggle out of his arms. But he held fast, biting my neck slightly, making me freeze in place.

If his teeth pierced me, a wolf bite could do one of several things. It depended on intent and genealogy.

Some wolves had special traits, many of which belonged to the stronger members of a pack.

Sometimes these traits were deadly, sometimes euphoric...their intent alone could make desire coil in your belly, marking you as a mated pair even if you weren’t meant for one another, before they turned you into one of them.

That is, if you survived. Marking someone without being sure they were your mate, only to find out that your true mate was someone else...

It was said to be one of the most painful experiences, one that most wolves avoided except for the sake of procreation.

“Sometimes, alphas that didn’t roam multiple packs, seek help through a witch, or get lucky enough to find their mate might join with a younger, weaker female in their older years, just to get a few pups.”

Regardless of his true intent, the threat was there—I was to submit. I knew enough about wolves to know that this was more of a threat than an actual love nip.

Seth was the dangerous one.

“Witches can mate with wolves. I’ve seen it. It’s rare, but we both know it’s possible so don’t lie to me,” he growled, thrusting his hips firmly against mine.

“You could be mine, you could be my brother’s. We never share, and yet we both have this strange attraction toward you.

“It’s more intense than I’ve ever felt—so either you’re spelling us, or maybe you’re one of ours. I think you’re mine.”

He thrust his hips against me again, tugging on my earlobe.

I shuddered slightly; I couldn’t help it. They were right, the attraction was there and I didn’t even need a spell.

After this morning, that idea had quickly flown out of my mind.

I had considered casting before we went into the woods as a group, thinking some of their sexual energy and the tension between one another would fuel us to our destination, but...

Any more would break them, or me.

It was all too apparent that both of them were already aggressively wanting to claim me for themselves so the other brother couldn’t touch me.

Except they had already agreed, or maybe they had promised their pack to resolve it by finding mates, since they’d requested their pack be present.

Regardless of the “ifs” “hows” or “whys,” I was not his. Or Cole’s.

“I am neither of your mates,” I said stubbornly. “The chances of that are slim to none, and if you’re stupid enough to think you’re spelled, well, maybe you are. Regardless, your mate is out there, and I am not her.”

“Perhaps both of you are still tense about finding a mate,” I continued, “and the thought of not being able to have sex is making it difficult.”

“Or it could be that I’m exotic compared to the same females you two have bedded in your pack. None of that is my concern,” I stated plainly, and in an almost monotone voice.

Seth paused, pulling his mouth off my ear but holding on to me still.

“You say that as if you know for a fact you’re not our mates, but you don’t smell claimed. Even humans that find their mate have a unique smell. I would assume it’s the same for witches.”

~I could lie…~

~I could lie, and he’d never know.~

I sighed knowing I couldn’t, and that he wouldn’t let it go until I told him the truth.

“Sometimes…for a rare few witches brave enough to use it—since soul bonding is a serious commitment that some witches will even give up practicing magic for—it doesn’t work.”

Seth let go of me and spun me around, his face already contorting in anger.

“Doesn’t work!? You witches tell everyone that it’s a sure thing. Every time. That’s why we resorted to this!”

I looked at him with an honest face, my eyebrows raised in innocence.

“It usually is, but there are rare occasions where something goes wrong with the spell. Sometimes your partner isn’t born yet, especially for witches because we live longer than humans.

“Sometimes,” I added, “it’s because they’ve died already, or sometimes it’s because they exist on a different plane and refuse to come.”

“Fae? Are you saying you tried this, and you think your true love is a fucking freak Fae!?” He growled deep in his throat.

~Huh?~

I’d expected him to be upset over the fact he might not find his mate. When did this become about me?

I blinked at him several times, trying to process his words. “I—I don’t know. Wherever he is I hope he’ll appear, but—”

Seth grabbed my hand and held it up—the scars were still visible, as well as the fresher cuts that left my hand partially always inflamed.

“I’m not stupid, they sent us the spell ingredients, remember? We studied them like the back of our hand to make sure we had every last bit and plenty of them just in case we had to try to have another witch come out.

“Why are you casting it so much? Why are you hurting yourself over it!?”

I snatched my hand back and held it to my chest, glaring at him.

“Because I can never take my mother’s place without one. Her power is fading as the west coast’s Grand Witch.

“The only person who can take her place is a witch of equal or stronger power and I’m not the strongest. Not yet. It’s my duty to her.”

“Duty to her?” he asked, pausing before dropping his hands. “What about a duty to yourself? If it was really for her, why would you not just heal the cuts?”

I shook my head, sighing.

“That’s none of your business. I am here to find your mate and the mate of your brother. I am not it, so please remove that delusion. As for the spelling, there’s no spell on you two. We’re attracted to—”

~Don’t say “one another.” He’ll take it wrong.~

“There is an attraction you both share toward me and I’m certain it would have happened sooner with another woman if you two ventured out more often other than that one time that caused a fight.”

I ducked out of his hands and kept walking. “Now, let us continue. We’re burning daylight.”

Seth didn’t say anything else as we continued—in fact, he was quiet for the next few hours.

Once we reached the stream, I felt another pull, back toward the same area as before.

Only this time it was upstream from where we had driven in, somewhere between the pack shop and their home where this river flowed behind deep in the woods, down mysterious bends.

It was time to use some magic.

But I needed the other brother.