Penance (Dark Alpha #5) (2 page)

“Take me now,” she breathed, straining against him.

“First, I want your promise,” he said, even as he ground against her and made her whimper. “You’ll help me with the family, you’ll do the spell, and you’ll speak nothing of this to Arianna. Ever.”

Circe’s panting slowed a bit, and she lifted her head to look at him. “Spell?”

Jak dipped his head to peer into her eyes. “The spell we discussed before? I do
you,
then you do the spell? And not a word to Arianna.”

Circe frowned and stopped grinding against him. “Please tell me you don’t mean that dreadful spell where you end up dead on my floor. Because you’re far too delicious to waste with something like that.” She seemed to be scanning his face and the air all around him. Her frown grew deeper.

“I’m sure you can find another wolf to threaten into your bed.” Jak gritted his teeth, but all this talk of him dying was having a serious negative effect on the state of his cock. He started moving it against her sex again.

Circe dropped her head back to the desk and moaned. She was silent a moment, clearly enjoying the contact between her legs. But then she groaned in a way that sounded more like frustration than pleasure. Jak startled when she seemed to slip her hands free of his hold without any difficulty whatsoever. Then he jumped when she slammed both fists against the desk, one on either side of her body.

He stepped back and frowned, not sure what was happening.

Circe sat up, looking grumpy. She glared at Jak as she straightened her dress. “Why did you have to…” She waved at him. “…tell me all that?”

“Tell you what?” He thought it was clear he was here for the spell. But apparently not, judging by the look on her face. Was it more complicated than he thought? Maybe there was something to the spell that made her hesitate to go through with it.

Instead of answering him, she made a harrumphing sound and eased down from the desk. She tugged her dress into place then crossed her arms. “You’re willing to die for this girl.”

It wasn’t exactly a question, but he said, “Yes,” without hesitation. He was still confused. “What’s the problem? You get what you want first. All I’m asking is that you don’t tell her that we…” He gestured to the desk. “That there was a certain exchange involved. Is that so much to ask?” There had to be more to this.

Circe let out an elaborate sigh then leaned back against her desk. “I’m sure you think all witches are heartless and evil.”

He knew better than to say anything, opting for a small shrug.

She waved at him again, gesturing at something around his head. “Your aura is screaming your love for this girl. You’re willing to die for her, for magic’s sake. I may want your hot shifter body, little wolf, but even
I
know better than to risk the karma of messing with a love bond that strong.”

“I… don’t understand.” Jak clenched his fists. “Will you do the spell or not?”

She sighed again. The lust in her eyes had cooled ten degrees. “Why not just give her to the family? They’ve wanted nothing more than to have her back all along. Or, hell, run away with her! Are you so territorial that you’d rather die than have another wolf’s magic in her blood?” She wrinkled up her nose at this, like he had suddenly turned into a distasteful beast that might soil the carpet.

Jak just shook his head, mystified. Did he really need to explain his reasoning to this witch? “Why do you care?”

“Performing dark arts is a tricky business,” she sniffed. “And a deadly one. Why are you so eager to die, little wolf?”

“I don’t
want
to die.” He ran a hand through his hair and stepped back farther. This witch was confounding him. “I’d like nothing more than to run away with her. But as long as she’s tied to her mate, she’ll never have the things she deserves.”

Circe shrugged. “She could still have pups. What does it matter if they’re not yours? So to speak.”

Jak growled and took two menacing steps toward her. He stopped before reaching her when her look changed from annoyed to glacier cold. She could kill him if she wished. And now that she wasn’t, for some reason, clawing at him for sex, she just might do it out of frustration.

He dialed back his own frustration and said softly, “I would happily run away and spend all my days loving her. I would like nothing more than to make a family with her. But in the end, it would all be for selfishness. Because Mace wouldn’t stop hunting her. And one day, he would find her—then he would claim not only her, but her pups too. Our babies…” Jak swallowed down the thickness in his throat then looked away to hide the water glassing his eyes. “He would have every right in pack law to claim them all. I would die before I let that happen, but I might not be able to stop it. Arianna would always live in fear of that.” He took a breath and looked back to Circe, whose face had opened in surprise. “This way I can ensure that it never comes down to that. No matter how much I want her for myself, the most important thing is to simply get her free from him.”

Circe pressed her lips together, but Jak could tell something had changed. There was a look on her face, a concerned look, that made the sharpness of her features soften.

She nodded slowly. “You may not think much of witches, little wolf, but even we are not so heartless as to stand in the way of something so…
noble.”

He raised his eyebrows. “That sounds suspiciously like a compliment.”

She scowled at him. “Something you will not speak of again and will take to your grave.”

He smirked. “Of course.” But the smile was fleeting. “Will you do the spell, Circe?”

Her scowl darkened. “Yes. But it’s not something we can do in my office. And you’ll need to be in wolf form at the end. I prefer not to dispose of human bodies.”

Jak swallowed, the reality of that sinking in. “Understood.” Then he blew out a sigh of relief and gestured to the desk. “I’m still not sure why we’re not…”

“Having amazing sex on my desk?” She smirked and eyed his body. “Make no mistake, little wolf, it would have been one of the best experiences of your life.”

He cocked his head to the side. “It seems I’ll never know.”

She let out a wistful sigh. “It would have been delicious. But you were much more fun to bed when you weren’t quite so nobly rescuing the woman you love.”

He frowned. He had no idea such things
mattered
to witches.

She folded her arms. “Hecca would say I’m foolishly romantic. I think she’s just had one too many dark-art spells worm their way into her heart. But regardless… I’ll help you for the same reason I agreed to help Arianna’s family from the beginning. Because I don’t like to see a woman held captive and turned into a slave of the worst sort.”

His eyebrows hiked up. He did remember her saying that before, but now that he had a moment to think about it, he could see that Circe had been trying, in her own way, to free Arianna all along.

Just like him.

He tipped his head to her. “You and I might have more in common than I ever suspected, little witch.” He gave her a small smile and stepped forward, close enough to touch her, but he didn’t. “Thank you.” Her eyes widened as he gently pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. When he pulled back, that pinkish tone was coloring her face again. He surprised even himself with how genuine his smile was.

She shook her head, as if the whole thing was hopelessly foolish, then reached for her phone lying on the desk. “It’s a damn shame to have to do this spell, little wolf. A damn shame.” Then she tapped something up on the phone and spoke into it. “Have they arrived yet?” She paused to listen. “No. I’ll meet them in the reception area when they get here. I’ll be out in just a moment.” She hung up the phone.

Jak’s pulse quickened. “The family?”

She nodded. “They’ll be here soon. But we can’t do this at Morgan Media.”

He nodded, ready to get down to business. “Understood. But first I need to talk to them. I need to make sure they can take care of Arianna after I’m gone.”

Circe nodded, biting her lip. “Arianna’s a lucky girl to have so many people love her so thoroughly.” She gestured to the door. “It seems fitting that you should all meet before she loses one of you.”

Jak didn’t think he would ever feel actual gratitude toward a witch, but there was no denying the warmth in his gut with those words. He nodded, then strode toward the door of her office. The warm feeling lasted exactly three seconds—until he opened the door to a different and decidedly more furious witch. Hecca’s green-eyed glare was like a physical force. Jak stumbled back across the threshold, nearly bumping into Circe.

Hecca quickly turned her fury on her sister. “Circe, why is our receptionist on the lookout for a pack of wolves coming to meet you?” She gave Jak a disgusted look. “And what is
he
doing here again? I thought we were done with this business.”

Circe breezed past Jak, hooking her arm through his along the way. She fluttered her fingers at Hecca. “Nothing for you to be concerned about, sister dear.”

Hecca was hot on their heels.

Circe sauntered toward the front, towing Jak with her.

“The fact that you
don’t
find this concerning,” Hecca hissed, “is
exactly
why I’m concerned.”

Circe whirled on her sister, and the humor was gone from her face. “I’m having a little
fun,
Hecca. Be a dear and don’t ruin it.”

Hecca wrinkled her nose up in disgust. “With
all
of them? For the love of magic, Circe, you’re taking this obsession of yours with these…
dogs…
a little too far.”

Jak let out a low growl, playing along and bolstering Circe’s cover. Slipping out for a wolfy orgy wasn’t exactly an unbelievable lunchtime activity for Circe, if he had to take a guess.

Hecca narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t growl at me, wolf. Not in my own coven. Not unless you want to end up as ash.”

Circe tugged him closer, protectively. “Get your own playthings, Hecca.” She said it loud enough for the entire office to hear. They certainly had everyone’s attention.

Jak tried not to flinch as Circe ran her hand up his arm, squeezing his muscles lasciviously as she went. Hecca’s disgust turned to loathing, but before she could start spitting spells at them, Circe turned them away and sauntered toward the front of the office again. Jak peeked back, but Hecca wasn’t following after them anymore. Circe cuddled up to his side as close as she could get, her hand still roaming and getting a good feel.

Jak dipped his head to hers and said softly, “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

Circe smirked just before they reached the frosted-glass doors of the office. “Whipping Hecca into a froth is one of life’s small, sublime pleasures.”

Jak chuckled they stepped across the threshold into the reception area. Soon he would meet Arianna’s family… and, if all went according to plan, his fate as well.

Arianna paced the small confines of Sarra’s living room, from the weathered leather couch spilling out stuffing to the shelves filled with art books at the end near the studio. She’d had three cups of tea already, and she and Sarra had lapsed into a heavy silence. They were waiting for Jak to return from whatever “errand” he had to run, but Arianna couldn’t help feeling something had gone wrong. Every moment he wasn’t calling inched up her back like a glacier of dread.

While Arianna paced, Sarra calmly read the newspaper.

Arianna glanced at Sarra’s phone. It had been an hour since Jak called. “Something has happened,” she said without slowing in her pacing.

Sarra didn’t look up from her paper. “Nothing has happened.”

Arianna didn’t have a phone—Jak had given her one, but Mace had taken it—or she would have called Jak already. What errand could he possibly have to do that was more important than getting out of Seattle? Or reuniting with her family, now that she knew they were looking for her? At least, she thought they were looking for her—Jak hadn’t been sure. Maybe that was the errand? Was he finding out if it was true? And even if it was, he said it wasn’t safe to go there… that it was the first place Mace would look for her. Which was no doubt true. Something about the phone call Jak had to make sent him off on this mysterious errand… was he going after her family to keep them safe?

Her nerves were stretched so tight, she was about ready to snatch up Sarra’s phone and call Jak herself. It called to her from the spot where it sat on the rickety kitchenette table next to Sarra’s tea mug.

“What did Jak say about this
errand
he’s running?” Arianna asked for the third time.

Sarra sighed but still didn’t look up from her paper. “Just that it would take an hour and he would call when he was done.”

“It’s been an hour.”

“It’s been thirty-four minutes.” Her voice was tight. Arianna couldn’t tell if she knew more than she was saying or if she was just getting annoyed with Arianna. Which she could understand: Jak was Sarra’s ex, and here she was, having to babysit his new lover. Arianna bit her lip as she paced. She hated to make it worse for Sarra, but worry about Jak and what he was up to was making her wolf stomp and snort. She was about to crawl out of her skin with it.