Found in Flames (8 page)

Michelle hummed an agreement, paused to lecture one boy for throwing something at his brother, and then said, “I suppose you haven’t had much opportunity to get to know Chad and Russell. They’re good men. Loyal and strong. I hope my boys grow up to be like that.”

“I’m sure they’ll grow up well,”
Joella
said honestly. “They’ve got amazing role models.”

Michelle grinned. “Flatterer.” She paused for a moment, seeming to just watch her sons as they rolled, laughing, into a bush. “If you don’t mind me asking,” she finally hedged, “are you going to stick around … after the witch is defeated?”

Joella’s
eyes widened at the question. “I—” Her answer wasn’t as certain as it should have been. She knew the answer, after all… Didn’t she? Swallowing, she finally said, “I can’t. I’m….” Human. Different. Weaker. “I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I’d just slow you all down.”
Where is this coming from?
It was true, certainly, but was that really the reason why? Did she
want
to stick around?

“In my opinion,” Michelle began quietly, “you’re good for Alpha. Most of us have always been uncomfortable approaching him. It was one thing to see Justin, our Beta, approach him and talk openly with him, but to see an outsider do it—a human, no less—was really something. And he’s….” There was a pause, and finally she smiled like she was telling a joke. “He’s human with you.”

Oh, he’s far more than that.
But she kind of recognized Michelle’s point. She’d witnessed interactions between Luka and the others, if only sporadically. And his earlier military analogy was strangely accurate. Except for the way he was with her, at least now. But would that change if she stayed?
Does it even matter?

Lew was a hard man to talk to. Not because he was rude, but because he was shy.
Joella
had tried having a conversation with him and discovered, after several painful minutes, that she wasn’t going to get much out of it. Which, she supposed, also indicated he wouldn’t be particularly good for the job, either. Still, at least she’d managed to get a couple of whole sentences from him.

After that she’d hunted down Max, and once the awkwardness of debating whether or not she needed to introduce herself was over that conversation wasn’t too bad. He’d even hugged her. But from what she’d gleaned from Luka the very fact that he put off his Alpha’s crusade in favor of staying with his healing mate, while emotionally logical, meant he wasn’t cut out for Beta. He had, however, said some good things about Chad and Russell. She was coming to think the choice would ultimately be between the two she couldn’t talk to.

Still, her obligatory rounds done, and after another short visit to Emily,
Joella
found herself returning to Luka’s den. Or cave or whatever it was. Her pile of clothes was off to the side, exactly where she’d left it, and Luka’s extra clothes were a couple of feet closer to the outer edge.
I wonder if this is the werewolf equivalent of sharing a closet….
Really, there were still so many things she wanted to know about werewolves. She just didn’t know how to ask. Or even if she should bother. Would she even need the knowledge in a week?

Her heart slowed in her chest.

A week. Realistically Luka’s pursuit of Char would either end or take him out of the area in just a few more days. Once Char was no longer haunting the area where she lived, whether he was dead or had simply escaped, she would have no excuse to avoid going home. Back to her lonely apartment. Back to her perverted, adulterous boss. Back to the life she’d been resenting for longer than she cared to think about—a life devoid of Luka.

That was the kicker. In way too short a period of time she’d become incredibly attached to the 6’4”, perfectly sculpted, powerful man who’d rescued her. The
only
man who’d ever really made her feel beautiful, desirable. Feminine. And it wasn’t just the loss of that uncharacteristic, but amazing, feeling that she knew she’d miss. It wasn’t even the mind-blowing sex. It was him. That warm, strong presence. The almost inexplicable completeness that overtook her when she was next to him.

“Are you going to stick around?”

Michelle’s question echoed again in her mind and
Joella
sat with her back against the wall opposite the clothes. Her heart was doing odd things in her chest all of a sudden.

Yes, she realized, she wanted to stick around. Despite the irrationality of it, there was something about this lifestyle she was glimpsing that appealed to her. And she certainly enjoyed the freedom from her job and her mundane life, but it was more than that. She wanted to stay with Luka. She wanted to pursue these new, budding friendships with Emily and Michelle. But she couldn’t. Wanting to didn’t change that and she knew it, but she didn’t like it.

Her mind wound back to that morning, when she’d woken up completely nude and tucked beneath a masculine jaw. Wrapped in strong arms and pressed against a warm, solid body, lying on nothing but grass. She was thoroughly surrounded by him and his natural scent and she couldn’t honestly remember when she’d last been so relaxed.

This is a fantasy, Ella. You always knew that.

Her eyes closed and her head fell back against the stone. Yes, she had, but she didn’t have to like it. If she could live in denial for another day or three she gladly would.

Distant howling caught her attention and
Joella
straightened. That was too far away to be coming from one of the pack who’d stayed behind today.
Luka!
Her mind’s eye filling with images of Justin’s burnt corpse,
Joella
sprang to her feet and ran as fast as she dared to the meadow where the pack tended to gather. Sure enough, Michelle and Lew were gathered there with wide eyes.

“What’s going on?” she demanded as soon as she was near enough.

“Alpha’s in trouble,” Lew said quietly, his voice full of fear. He had an arm around Michelle’s shoulders and both pairs of eyes were fixed in the direction the howling was coming from.

Heart immediately leaping into her throat,
Joella
turned her attention in that same direction. The air was full of howling wolves. It was as if the birds and other animals had stilled to listen. At least two distinct sets of howls were echoing now. And, as she watched, the sky began to darken with the first plumes of smoke.

Chapter Eight

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Luka had caught a fresh trail. Just minutes old and heading out of the city. Seemed Char was once again taking a stroll through the brush, likely searching for him. Ordinarily that would have upset him, but this particular time it was going to prove useful. Char had isolated himself, making it that much easier for Luka and his pack to fight.

As soon as he could, Luka shifted back to wolf form. He could make up more ground that way. And make it up he did.

Up a short incline and past some scraggly bushes, and then there he was. The witch he’d been hunting. The witch that had haunted him since he was young. He couldn’t help but wonder if Char actually held any memories from that incident, or if the only thing he inherited from that strange spell was his ancestor’s power. Ultimately it didn’t matter. Either way, the witch was dead.

“So you’ve made it,” Char said, straightening from the dead tree he’d been leaning against. “Good. I was hoping you’d find me.”

Luka bared his teeth at his foe, ears flat on his head, his mouth already watering for the sweet taste of vengeance.

Char rubbed his hands together slowly, thoughtfully, and a dark smirk twisted his mouth. “Snarling at me like that, you remind me of your father,” he said. It was a deliberate statement, meant to assure Luka that he was fully aware of the history between them.

It also succeeded in pushing Luka’s temper over the edge. With a sharp howl, designed to carry on the wind to his pack, he lunged forward. He wouldn’t be satisfied until the bastard’s body was as mutilated and unrecognizable as the bodies of his parents. Or Justin.

Laughing as if he’d already won, Char spun to the side and flicked a wrist in Luka’s direction. The Latin command that followed didn’t matter to Luka. What mattered was the flame that would obey.

It sprang up directly under his belly, forcing Luka to throw himself sloppily sideways to avoid serious injury. A sharp yelp escaped him from the instant pain of the scalding flame and in the back of his mind he wondered if that, too, would scar. He hadn’t truly gotten close enough to risk real injury in decades; not since Char’s previous incarnation. The witch had escaped, obviously, but they’d left their marks on each other. Unfortunately, with the passing of that descendant, Char’s wound disappeared as well. His new body’s face was unmarred, as if the battle in Luka’s memory had never happened at all.

And that just pissed him off.

“Your reflexes have improved,
Craige
,” Char taunted, sweeping his arm outward. The fire followed the motion without the need for a verbal command. Cutting Luka off from the city, as if he would have bothered to flee in that direction. Or flee at all. “But I’m afraid our little feud is getting old.”

Luka snarled and flexed his muscles, willing his body into another shift. Four legs were good for speed and a wolf’s form was good for fighting other animals, but he needed a different kind of leverage here. His muscles stretched and his body went numb, as it always did in a shift. He came off his front legs and his forepaws lengthened until they were reminiscent of human hands. His fur shortened, becoming coarser and therefore thicker. His claws doubled in length and his snout receded by half. This was a werewolf’s fighting form.

“What a treat,” Char said, his smirk never wavering. “I don’t think I saw this form in our last fight.”

With an angry roar, Luka raced forward, claws braced. Char would surely fire back, but if he managed to lop the bastard’s head off he didn’t care about another scar. Because the witch was right. It was time to end their feud once and for all.

Char held his ground as Luka ran at him.

Luka threw his arm forward, the full strength of his lupine form behind the swing, aimed straight for Char’s throat. But it was too good to be true. Char’s body burst into white-hot blue and orange flame, shooting out at him viciously. He howled in pain as his fur burned, his body flung backwards. It took precious seconds for him to regain any real focus. Even longer to work up the strength of will to force his muscles to move despite the raging inferno dancing over his flesh. If he didn’t get the flame out before his flesh began to boil it would scar, and since his entire body was covered in the scorching fire it would scar horribly. At best.

He caught his claws on a rock, another kind of pain stinging through the heat for a moment when one of them snapped against the stone, but it was enough to pull himself out of his free-fall. He crashed hard on the ground and swallowed another pitiful howl of pain as he shoved himself into a roll. The heat was kicking up, he was running out of time. He remembered what it felt like just to have a single arm engulfed in these flames. He remembered thinking it would have been less painful to swan dive into the sun.

So he didn’t really know how to categorize this pain.

More howling drew his attention as he rolled to a stop and moments later he realized the burning, searing heat on his body had lowered. Someone had heard his call, then. And drawn Char’s attention. Fortunately, to maintain such a soul-burning flame, even a witch as powerful as Char needed focus.

Luka rolled his neck and flexed his clawed hands. The digit with the broken claw hurt like a bitch, but he could handle that. It would heal after a couple of days. He still had nine good claws to dig into Char’s skin with. Not to mention a healthy set of fangs.

****

Pulling his body back together from the flickering circle of fire he’d generated, Char smirked at the sight of Luka
Craige’s
rolling, burning body. Finally, after generations of looking over his shoulder, he would be free from the vengeful canine. He just needed to burn a little hotter first.

“Incinerate,” he murmured in Latin as the magic built up in his chest. He would undoubtedly be exhausted after this, but he could rest on the plane. The flames surrounding
Craige
blurred from blue-orange to blue-green at his command. In moments the boiling would start.

But something caught his attention. Howling. More of
Craige’s
pack were coming. That would be a problem if
Craige
himself wasn’t dead by then. Only, as soon as he’d registered the sound he realized his necessary focus had cost him an important observation. Something was coming at him from behind.

Char spun, already grasping hold of a strain of the fire in order to catch the wolf with it, but he’d underestimated the wolf’s speed. Even though he’d dodged, he hadn’t dodged fast enough to avoid both sets of claws. The light-furred wolf tore into his shoulder with its momentum and the pain of the wound snuffed out all but the thin perimeter of flame as he landed hard on one knee.
Damn mutt.
Clamping one hand over his wounded shoulder, Char glared at the wolf as it caught itself in the dirt. He’d never seen this one before. It looked younger, and female. He’d been clipped by a bitch who likely didn’t actually know how to fight.

Instead of charging again, however, she snarled threateningly at him and took up a position between him and her Alpha. Playing defense while
Craige
gathered himself. It was almost cute.

“Guess it’s time to make another example,” Char ground out, pushing back to his feet. He’d throw a white-hot fireball straight through the female’s chest as soon as she lunged again. There’d be less left of her than what had been left of the Beta he’d caught recently.

The howling had gotten closer and Char realized she was stalling. Not just for
Craige
, but for the pack. He was going to have to force her to make a move. But that would be easy enough, especially if her goal really was to protect her precious Alpha. Gaze switching to
Craige
, who had since found his feet again, Char grinned. Smoke was quite literally still wafting off the lupine form. And where there was smoke…. “Spark,” he called, the spoken command doubling the strength of the spell.

****

Joella
climbed up the rock in time to see a slender, light-furred wolf tackle a tall, burning form that she instinctively knew to be Luka to the ground. The wolf rolled him, covering as much of his body with her own as she could and helping to smother the flame. Even so, the sight of Luka on fire threw
Joella’s
heart into her throat. And apparently out her mouth, because without thought she screamed his name, barely keeping from launching herself off the rock and into the center of the flame. “Luka!”

Across from the rolling wolves, Char’s head snapped up at her. She could barely see his expression through the plumes of smoke, but she just knew he was grinning. The arrogant, murdering, son of a bitch.

More howling drew her attention and two more wolves leapt through the circle of flame. They were larger and had darker fur than the other, though neither quite as dark as Luka’s. And both ran straight for Char, snarling viciously.
Joella
was sure they were Chad and Russell. When Char’s focus turned to them she returned hers to Luka and finally registered the oddity of the sight before her.

He was kneeling now, no longer burning, and though his body was human-shaped it was still covered in fur. Well, severely singed fur. His face wasn’t quite proportioned right for a human’s or a wolf’s, he still had a tail, and those were definitely long claws coming off his hands. For a moment she hesitated at the sight. No one would for an instant mistake a being like that for anything less than deadly. Deadly or not, though, that was Luka. And she trusted Luka completely.

Forcing herself into motion after another glance toward Char to confirm that he was busy with the others,
Joella
jumped down from the rock. She was immediately bombarded by the heat of the fire that surrounded them, but she ignored it. She had to get to Luka.

Luka’s head snapped up when she landed and he pushed himself to his feet as she sprinted toward him.

One of the battling wolves yelped, the sound full of pain.

The fire circle flared higher, hotter.

The hairs on the back of
Joella’s
neck stood up in split second warning and she stumbled, her ankle giving out on her in her haste to escape whatever was coming. She crashed hard on her side, her elbow screaming as it dragged in the rough dirt. Heat seared over her in a flash of orange. She looked up, expecting to see a wave of fire descending on her. She wasn’t prepared to find herself being shoved forcefully backward by the same almost-blonde wolf that had helped Luka.

The world went sideways for a moment as
Joella
rolled, her vision a blur of orange flame and dark gray smoke. A piercing shriek of agony cut through her, but it wasn’t hers. Immediately following the shriek was an angry howl and a chorus of yelping and growling. She couldn’t distinguish the direction of the noises until she’d finally stopped rolling.

“Well, that’s a start,” Char’s slightly strained voice declared. His voice somehow carried to her ears over the din of the wolves’ pain and
Joella
finally managed to shake the dizziness enough to lift her head.

And the first thing she saw was a smoldering pile of embers beneath a black plume of smoke just feet away.

That was where she’d fallen.

That should have been her.

****

Luka roared with fury as another member of his family was consumed with flame. Because he’d chosen to fight in his lupine form and because he was still weakened from Char’s series of attacks he was too slow. Too slow to tackle
Joella
out of the way of Char’s fireball. Too slow to keep Vanna from sacrificing her life in his vendetta. Now he’d lost both Justin and Vanna to this incarnation.

He’d be damned if Char took anyone else from him.

Turning his rage on the witch, who’d slipped from Chad’s and Russell’s reach during the chaos, Luka leapt forward.

Char’s eyes snapped to his and he took a step back, lifting his unwounded arm to defend himself. But Chad tackled him from the side, latching firmly onto his arm and pulling, his fangs shredding Char’s flesh. Char cried out and the fire behind him flickered, on the verge of self-extinguishing.

Chad released the witch moments before Luka finally sank his claws into the bastard’s chest.

The fire snuffed out, thick smoke rolling around and slowly wafting up on the breeze.

Char made a gurgled sound and dragged his eyes up to Luka’s as a trail of blood slipped out the corner of his mouth. “C-
congratu
-
lations
,” he choked.

Luka snarled in response and wrapped his free hand around the witch’s throat.