Chapter 25: Driven

DELILAH

I woke up to my body burning, and not from exhaustion.

The mark on my chest burned and itched. Despite Cole’s warm embrace, it wasn’t enough.

The mark was pulling, pulling. Sweat began to cover my limbs as I shook.

Mate. Bite. Moon.

A haze went over my eyes as I screamed. Something was coming.

The hair on my flesh rose as a darkness began to surround me.

“Delilah.”

Cole’s voice jolted me from my half slumber, making me sit up gasping and holding my chest for breath.

His hand caressed my back soothingly, his thumb running over each small bump of my spine.

My body still shook. I could feel that it was early morning—we had pretty much slept an entire day away, or at least I had.

I doubted Cole had left my side for a moment, and the thought was comforting considering the chill I felt climbing up my arms.

Something was coming—something big.

A knock sounded at the door. Cole jumped up and pulled on a pair of boxers before opening it.

Seth stood there, clean shaven, with his hair pulled back and his arms crossed.

His eyes raked over me in appreciation before his eyes became guarded.

“We have a situation,” he mumbled to Cole.

“The one in her room?” Cole asked, stretching and heading to his dresser as Seth came into the room.

Seth walked over to the bed and set down a small plastic square container—one of my outfits, with the shoes vacuum-sealed in a bag.

Blushing, I quickly took it from him and unzipped the bag to let air in. I could barely remember the last clothes I had worn before all of this had happened.

Whatever it had been, it was nothing but scraps now.

“Yeah, she’s getting a bit more demanding. She, uh…painted a few of our wolves blue,” Seth said, rubbing his neck. “Harmless, really, comes off with some water, but…”

“What do you mean, she painted them blue?” Cole asked, pulling on his shirt. “Like physically went over and—?”

Seth gave him a look, and silence filled the room.

Looking up, I noticed neither had said a word but Cole’s eyes had flicked to me. My eyes narrowed at them both, and I decided to use the only charms I had.

“You boys going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, running my fingers from my neck down my torso, holding the sheet I had loosely around my body.

Seth’s eyes went straight to my fingers on my skin, his tongue flicking out over his lips. “Just a minor pack issue with a guest.”

Cole kept his face straight as he looked over at me, his eyes dark and liquid, like they had been when I’d last woken up.

My core clenched.

“What guest?” I asked innocently, dropping my sheet as I pretended to push back my hair. I stretched slowly, showing off my body.

Seth looked at me with hunger, but Cole seemed to know better as he walked over, plucked my shirt from the bag, and put it over my head.

My arms were stuck in the shirt at my sides.

“You’re awfully nosy this morning,” Cole growled, smirking down at me and tugging on my hair a bit.

Seth grinned at me, knowing what I had been playing at. “Isn’t it the luna’s job to be nosy?”

Cole looked back at his brother, standing up to let me put my shirt on all the way. I snatched up my bra and expertly put it on underneath the shirt.

“It’s the luna’s job to know what’s going on in her pack,” I growled, looking pointedly at Cole.

He rolled his eyes at both of us. “Except you’re still not a wolf. You may be powerful, but you’re not a wolf. Until that’s rectified, you’re a walking target.”

“That’s not true! I—”

“It is, though. You may have years on us, but your kind still dies from the littlest things. The cold, a cut, sickness,” Seth said, settling his eyes on me. “He’s not wrong.”

“Then turn me!” I said, throwing up my hands. “It’s not that freaking hard. All you need to do is bite me,” I growled at them both.

Grabbing my pants and underwear, I crawled out of bed to pull them on.

Unfortunately, my point was sorely lacking as my legs gave out from under me.

Seth grabbed on to my arm, holding me up. I grimaced, yanking my arm away before pulling on my pants angrily.

“We aren’t ready to turn you,” Seth admitted in a soft tone.

“It shouldn’t even be up for discussion,” Cole snarled. “Except for this stupid mark driving us to do it. If I didn’t know how spells worked, I’d ask you to remove it.”

He wasn’t wrong—spells had to run their course once they were in action.

Who knew how long one of them would last before they bit me, or I begged to be bit?

Just the mention of children last night had made part of me want to plead with him to make me one of them.

“ALPHAS!” A shriek came from outside the door Seth had closed on his way in.

Before either of them could react, I ran out, still barefoot, but they were right behind me.

Without even making it all the way down the hallway, I saw a female covered in pink, sobbing.

Now when I say “covered,” I mean every last bit of her was pink—from head to toe. Her hair even had pink sparkles in it, like glittering Play-Doh.

The pink female ran straight into my arms, sobbing. My hands immediately lifted to touch her hair in comfort.

As my fingers stroked, I felt the sticky mess beginning to climb up my body and sink into my skin.

Magic.

I heard a growl as one of the boys pulled me away, the other pinning the pink woman against a wall.

“Don’t touch the luna without consent,” Cole growled, grabbing her by the throat.

He didn’t even notice that the pink had begun to trail up his arm as well.

That’s when I finally began to recognize the pink, shaking mess of a woman.

It was Jewel.

I giggled at Cole, making him look over at me in fury. One of the many runes on my body flared up as the pink began to engulf him.

Then it spread to Seth’s chest. He pulled me back to look at me, confused. The baffled look on their faces only made me laugh harder as the pink began to spread and spread over their skin.

“Fucking witch!” Cole howled, making my laughter die off. His anger wasn’t directed at me, instead he was headed toward where my room was located.

The pink stain on my own skin cracked and fell away, making me lift a brow as Cole stormed off.

Seth was still desperately trying to get the pink off, but every spot he touched only served to spread it further on his body.

Jewel just continued to sob into her hands. I sighed, walking over and rubbing her back once more.

“Don’t worry, dear, it’s an easy fix,” I murmured, drawing a rune on her back. “Just go take a shower and I promise everything will be better.”

She looked at me with a broken face, her lips trembling. Even her tears were pink. “Are you sure?”

“I promise. I’ll deal with this. Go shower, dear,” I said reassuringly, running a last hand through her hair before following after Cole.

He was pounding on my bedroom door, a tray of food left scattered outside in the hallway.

“Open the fucking door! You can’t do stuff like this as a guest. Do you hear me?” he snarled. The pink now clashed with a neon purple as his fist pounded the door.

“Then let me see my sister!” the voice growled from the other side—one I didn’t recognize.

~Sister~ was a relative term witches used for one another.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. I needed food. “Cole, let me handle the witch.”

“The hell you will! I have a bone to pick with—”

“Cole, our pack needs assistance,” Seth growled, coming up beside me, covered in pink.

I did my best not to laugh and keep a straight face, but it was very difficult. The pink sparkles in Seth’s hair glittered as in Cole’s stubble flashed majestically against the neon purple on his face.

“I can handle this,” I agreed quietly, folding my hands in front of me and looking at them in earnest.

Cole looked at me for a few moments staring before he let out a breath. “How can we know she won’t do you harm?”

“Without a blood feud, I doubt she has any reason to harm me,” I replied calmly. “Otherwise, she could have done a lot more than just paint people. It’s an amateur spell at best.”

With a small smile on my lips, I leaned over and drew a rune on Seth’s shoulder. Instantly the pink “paint” became more solid, and less like a living, spreading thing.

It began to crack on his body as if he had been lying out to dry, flaking off into the ground.

“You two, go shower. Take shifts if you want. One of you can stand outside the door. I’m going to talk to her though,” I said, walking forward.

Cole grabbed my arm as I reached the door. I turned and drew the same rune on him, and the pink began to fade from his skin as well once it was completed.

He stared down at me, his lips pursed and body tense. “Remember your promise.”

I rolled my eyes with a giant sigh. “I remember. Nothing reckless.”

Though he never defined what that meant.

“I mean it,” Cole gruffed out, letting go of my arm and looking away. He crossed his arms, sending a snow shower of pink and purple to the floor.

I stifled a giggle before entering the room.