ROMANCE: Awakened by the Alpha Bear (Werebear Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Alpha Male Bear Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Short Stories)) (22 page)

“Nah, just thought I saw a ghost. You look
like somebody I used to know,” he shook his head as his voice took on a
melancholy tone. “She died a while back. She was a good woman.”

“I’m sorry,” she felt bad for him as he
seemed fond of the person she reminded him of.

“Naw, don’t worry about it. I just hope
they catch the bastards who did it. Those vermin need to pay fer what they did.
They was good people. Ahh, I’m blabbering away, warm yerself good lass and I’ll
git you both some coffee.”

Adrianna had gone white as the blood drained
from her face and numbness settled over her. Could it be that he knew her
parents? She was afraid to ask, but no need, Garret was doing it for her.

“What happened to them, sir?” He’d followed
the old man over to the kitchenette. “And sir, the names Garret.”

“Ah, the names Tomas,” he pulled two mugs
from his little overhead cupboard and poured coffee from a pot. “They’s use to
come up this here mountain all the time. If it weren’t fer them nice couple,
I’d still be living on the streets. They’d done buy this place and tells me to
live as long as I want.”

“How’d they die?”

“I knew they was witches, she’d done told
me so, but I know they was good people,” Tomas, picked up one mug and handed it
to Garret and the other he lifted and moved towards the little living quarters.
“Lassie?”

She was standing with her eyes opened, her
skin as white as chalk, and her face frozen in shock.

“Are you alright?” Garret was beside her in
a second. “What’s the matter?”

Tomas was looking at her strangely and then
he declared, “She’s yer ma ain’t she? She done told me she got a daughter.”
Adrianna could barely shake her head. “That’s where you been, up where it
happened?” She shook her head again. “Come, lass. Drink this. It’ll make you
feel better,” Tomas shoved the mug into her trembling hands.

Chapter
Two

The blue flame rose and the wood crackled,
sending golden sparks shooting upwards like firecrackers. Adrianna placed the
wax ball, about the size of a large grapefruit, carefully on the ground and
picked up the first toothpick. As she sank the wooden toothpick into the wax
ball, she thought of the one who killed her mother. She picked up another and
pushed into the wax, thinking of the one who killed her father. She repeated
the process until all of two dozen toothpicks were sticking halfway out of the
ball. Then carefully, she picked it up, closing her eyes, and tossed it into
the fire.

She imagined gray smoke swirling around
them and all her hatred for her parent’s killers she concentrated into the gray
smoke. “Die, you murderers, die!” She shrieked.

The fire crackled and popped, sending black
smoke up in the air. Maud, the name resonated with her and her hatred for the
leader of the coven grew with each breath that she took. It was now clear to
her that it was jealousy, nothing more, why they killed her parents, stripping
them of their powers before that.

The conversation with Tomas was fresh in
her mind from a week ago. Was it fate that sent Garret into the woods and was
it fate that the rains came that day? Ever since she returned home, she had
been searching for answers, and now, she knew what she needed. She wasn’t a
powerful witch like her mother, but she could cast a spell. She vowed that if
it took her until eternity to exact her revenge she would. This was just a practice
spell, but she put all her energy into it.

She recalled the day at the cabin well.
“Yes, they were my parents,” she’d replied to Tomas’ inquiry.

“My dear lass, I’m sorry. I wish I cud have
done sometin’ fer yer parents,” his eyes moistened at the corners and his
voiced cracked.

Garret sat silently watching her as Tomas
told her that it was another coven that murdered her parents. Every year, the
Royal Coven, which was the superior body governing this charter of Wicca, would
bestow special privileges upon a coven in each region; be it east, west, north,
or south. These privileges include meeting with the Master Wizards and the
highest order of witches to learn some of their secrets. These secrets were
only passed down to covens that kept the Wicca ethics and were highly favoured
by the Royal Coven.

Her mother was the leader of the Blessings
Unity Coven and was respected by everyone she met. She lived by a set of rules
and ethics and was revered by the members of her coven and peer alike. There
was a rival coven which always liked to pick fights and try to upstage
Blessings Unity. Maud was its leader and not a nice woman. Her craft extended
to the deepest black arts, and it was rumored that she sacrificed babies to
ally herself with Lucifer.

 “How’d you know all this?” she’d asked,
fighting back the tears. Her voice sounded like she’d swallowed a frog.

“I knows everything. I move around a lot
and hear things, plus she mentioned that she knew somethin’ was up,” Tomas told
her. “But lass, I cen see it in yer eyes, you gotta be careful about going
after these people.”

“It’s Adrianna, my name’s Adrianna,” she
whispered hoarsely, blinking to stop her eyes from stinging.

“That sher is a purdy name, just like you,”
his wrinkled face broke into a sunny smile, showing his crooked, but fairly
white teeth.

She was brought back to the present as the
fire died down. The idea of actually casting a death spell scared her. She
wasn’t a practicing witch. What if it backfired? What if she cast it on the
wrong person? Then, she remembered Garret. He’d stayed by her side the entire
time Tomas recounted details about her parents.

After leaving the cabin and returning home,
she’d found out that The Ultimate Castaways Coven was the rival coven Tomas
told her about. She found out that this coven was led by Maud, a very powerful
witch.

They’d stayed at the cabin that night, and
he was there to hold her as the tears rocked her body from deep within her
core. She’d cried on his shoulder, and when she was tired of crying, she had
turned her face up to him and started kissing him. She had no idea why she did
that, it’s not like she had any feelings for him. She just needed comfort, and
he felt comforting.

Tomas was in the other room as they’d
insisted he sleep on the bed, given that he was elderly. She was huddled by the
fire as Garret added more wood. While she stared at the flames, she imagined
the knife that pierced her parent’s hearts and captured their souls. She’d
heard of it before but had never seen one. It was a knife with special markings
specifically used to kill witches. The witch’s powers had to be stripped first
to render them helpless and then the knife was used to pierce their heart.
While all this happens, someone with higher power needs to recite a spell and a
drop of the victim’s blood must be collected in a small vial to be used to help
capture the soul.

“You can let it out, you know,” his smooth,
deep voice calmed her nerves a bit, too calming.

She found her shoulders slumping and the
tear she had been holding back starting to surface. Garret moved closer and
wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively. She felt safe, and she had
leaned her head on his hard shoulder and let it out. Her cries could be heard
in in the small cabin.

After some time and the sobs became a
hiccup or two, she turned her head and kissed his neck. He looked surprised but
she reached up and kissed his lips, softy at first, and when he didn’t pull
away, she kissed him again, deeply with every pent up emotion she’d held in for
the past year. The kiss was sweet and she felt small volts of electric current
run through her as their tongues met. Then, he pulled away.

“No, I like you too much to take advantage
of you,” he whispered hoarsely, brushing his thumb across her lips.

“I need you, Garret,” she’d whispered back,
kissing him again, but he held her shoulders firmly and steadied her.

“I know, but tonight you’re vulnerable and
I don’t want you to regret it tomorrow,” his voice was still hoarse and his
hazel eyes looked like the flames in the fireplace. She felt rejected and tried
to turn away but he pulled her into his arms and cradled her. “But we can
cuddle, if that’s okay with you.”

At first, she stiffened in defiance. He’d
just rejected her and now he wanted to cuddle, but his arms were so powerful
and protective, she liked the feel of them. She sat between his legs and rested
her head on his shoulder like before while both his arms encircled her like a
cocoon. There, she fell into a restful sleep, only to awaken in the wee hours
of the morning.

“Morning,” she heard his voice say, but his
eyes were still closed. She had no idea he was awake.

“Morning,” she said, looking away, her face
turning bright red as she remembered her actions the night before. She tried to
get up, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Not yet, I like the feel of you in my
arms,” there was something she couldn’t quite figure in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice.

“For what?” his eyes opened and he looked
at her with his brows raised.

“You know,” she looked down at her hands.
“Thank you for stopping me.”

“Rain check,” he leaned into her ear and
whispered. Her heart skipped a few beats as his lips brushed her ear.

Another frog got her throat, “What do you
mean?”

He didn’t answer, just released her and
stood, stretching his muscles and patting his tummy. “Hungry.”

“Mornin’,” Tomas’ voice rang through the
room. “Let me git some coffee on. I got bread and roasted rabbit.”

They’d enjoyed the roasted meat with bread
which was a little stale and some strong coffee. After that, she and Garret
made their way down the hill and was back in town by mid-morning. Surprisingly,
her ankle felt much better and she was able to walk by herself. They parted
ways at the bus stop. He’d told her to keep the jacket and only return it if
she wanted to see him again. He gave her a number to call when she was ready to
return it. If he didn’t hear from her within a month, then he’d knew she was
not interested in getting to know him.

As the fire died, she thought of him and
the moment their lips met. It wasn’t what she’d expected. All she wanted was a
kiss to make her forget the pain. It worked, but too well. She’d never imagined
that she’d ever feel so alive from a kiss. Could she forget the kiss and
Garret, or was it worth giving a try?

Chapter
Three

How could she fight a witch as powerful as
Maud without sacrificing her soul to the devil? Were there white spells she
could use to fight this? Adrianna knew that fighting Maud and her coven could
not be done naturally because they were protected by powerful spells. “Unless”,
a thought was forming in her mind, a dangerous one at that, but she allowed it
to take form. What if she joined their coven? She knew she could pass the test.
She could learn their secrets and use it to destroy them.

Pulling out a sheet of parchment, her
mother always insisted on using it for letters, she wrote out an application.
She knew exactly what to write as she’d read many letters coming to her mother
asking to join Blessing Unity. She addressed it to the Higher Witch of the third
order Maud, after which she signed her Wicca name,
Serenity
.

Many people choose different names when
they become witches for different reasons. Some are seeking new identities
while others want to separate themselves from the outside world. Her mother had
chosen her name for her and told her to only use it if she decided to become a
practicing witch. Now was as good a time as any to start practicing her craft. 
The only question was, should she mail it or deliver it in person?

She opted for the former and headed to the
post office which was a few blocks from home. Her home was on the edge of
Barclay, close to the mountains, little town of its own called Mercy. It was a
pretty place with cottages and bungalows, no high rise buildings and noisy
roadways, unlike the rest of Barclay.

Barclay was well hidden away from the rest
of the world. While she was at university and fellow students inquired where
she was from, they’d say they’d never heard of Barclay before. Some even
thought she was making up the place so as not to tell them where she was really
from. Sometimes, she felt like she lived in a fairy-tale because of this
unknown town and hidden city that was more beautiful than anything in the
outside world.

There were flowering trees lining every
street, and every home had a herb and flower garden. There were sundials and
wind chimes everywhere. To outsiders, it may have seemed eerie, but to those
living there, it was home. It was indeed a city with its own versions of high
rise buildings, police station, schools, restaurants, and everything in
between.

She mailed the letter and was returning on
her walk home when she heard her name. The voice halted her and her heart
started racing. He was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, looking like
something out of a sports magazine.

“Garret,” she breathed his name as he
approached. Their eyes met and held for a few seconds.

“Hi,” he smiled. She noticed how his eyes
crinkled at the corners when he smiled and his Adam’s apple moved a little,
like he was laughing inside. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been great,” she said. “You wanna
have coffee with me?” she blurted out before she lost her nerve. “At home, my
home?”

“Sure,” he replied with a grin.

She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but he
had said ‘rain check’. She was taking a chance on a guy she’d met once, but she
could not get the kiss out of her mind, nor could she ignore the feeling she
had about him. She felt safe in his arms, so much so that she’d slept the
entire night curled up in his embrace. That must mean something.

“I have a meditation class you can join for
free,” he said, evening his steps with hers along the pavement.

“I know how to meditate,” she replied.

“It’s more like a chakra healing class,
really. Now, you seem out of balance because of the death of your parents.”

She stopped and looked at him with a frown,
“What are you saying?”

“Right now, your anger is fuelling whatever
you are doing. But if you use rational thought to focus, you will get more
results.”

He was right; however, she wasn’t sure about
a chakra healing class. “I have things covered,” she replied cheerily.

She didn’t tell him she was joining the
coven that was responsible for her parent’s murders. She had a feeling he would
not agree. Something about him told her he preferred forgiveness over revenge.
She decided to wait and see.

She stopped when they reached a nice little
cottage painted pink and blue, with various flowers of different colors
flanking it on both sides. There was a large witch’s compass made of brass in
the center of the garden with poles of hanging chimes. Every few seconds, the
chimes would make beautiful sounds like music which was quite soothing.

Inside was just as dainty and colourful as
the outside, with multicolored cushions on a small sofa, a couple of bean bags,
and a rocking chair that belonged to her great paternal grandmother.  She
invited him to sit while she put the coffee on. Adrianna had never brought home
a guy like this before. At twenty two years old, she’d only ever been with one
guy and that was in college.

This felt different. She’d dated Matt for a
month before they even kissed and then another two months before she gave in to
sex. That was a disaster. What she felt with Matt was nowhere near what she’d
felt in the short time she’d spent with Garret.

For the past week, he frequently entered
her mind and she found herself going back, always, to the kiss. She finished
making the coffee, poured two cups, and brought out some muffins she’d made
that morning.

“That smells good,” Garret inhaled the
coffee as he took the mug and picked up a muffin.

Adrianna curled her toes as she sat beside
him on the sofa. It was a habit of hers when she was nervous. She watched him
sip the coffee and bite into the muffin hungrily. It was late morning, close to
lunch, so he must have been hungry, she thought.
Why did I invite him here?

“Are you going to take up where your
parent’s left off?” he was asking, placing his cup on the center table. The
question came out of the blue, and she had no idea what he was talking about.

“Huh?”

“Are you going to recover the coven?”

“I never thought of that,” she replied in
an enlightened tone.

“I didn’t know your parents, but from what
I learned, it was special to her since it was originally organized by her
grandmother,” he explained.

She was surprised he knew this. “How did
you know?”

“I asked around. I was upset by the way
they…passed…and was concerned as to how you are handling it,” he turned to face
her, took her cup, and placed it on the table. Then, he took both her hands. “I
know we don’t know each other well, but I would like to help you heal.”

“Heal?” she stood and pulled away from his
grasp. “My parents were murdered and nothing has been done about it and you
want me to heal?”

“Okay, what do you want to do?” his
question took her by surprise once more. He seemed to be full of those.

“I want those who murdered my mom and dad
to pay. That’s what I want. After that, I’ll join your healing chakra class and
do anything you say.”

Garret stood facing her, “You know that
whatever you give to the universe you will get it back a hundred times, don’t
you?”

“What do you mean by that?” she knew what
karma was, but why was he telling her that?

“Those people who killed your parents, must
answer to the universe,” he calmly stated. She knew he was right, and she
didn’t expect him to understand, but she also didn’t need a lecture from him
either.

“I can’t let this go, Garret. I just
can’t,” shook her head as she spoke.

“Okay, then. We’ll do this together. Let’s
find out who did this and why,” he said.

Another surprise. Why was he offering to
help her? “Why are you helping me?” She voiced her concern.

“Because I like you too much to let you do
it on your own. And I think I can be the voice of reason, if needed.”

She slumped her shoulders and sat back on
the sofa. Garret sat beside her and asked about her parents. She filled in what
Tomas had left out at the cabin, except for Maud and the fact that she applied
to join the coven of murderers.

“So Garret, other than chakra healing, what
do
you do?” she changed the subject.

“I’m a practising warlock,” he stated.
“What about you?”

“I don’t know. I spent four years at
university studying psychology, but what good is that here in Barclay? When we
hurt, we see a witch.”

“Why did you go to university? Wouldn’t it
have been wiser to follow in your parent’s footsteps?” his eyes studied her.

“I wanted to explore the outside world. It
was my intention to spend a few years away, to figure out what it is I really
wanted. My dad did it before he married my mom,” she paused and bit her lower
lip. “But with what happened, I had to return. If I hadn’t left…,” she ran a
hand through her golden hair, got up and walked to a window overlooking the
east garden.

Garret came up behind her, “You can’t blame
yourself for something as terrible as that.”

He was so close that she could feel his
heat. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest as she felt him enclose her in his
embrace, like in the cabin in the mountains. She leaned back against him and
closed her eyes. He was a safety blanket, the thought occurred to her. That’s
how he felt. He made her feel that she was safe and that nothing could harm
her. He had this aura that was vital, powerful, sexual, and strong all wrapped
up in one.

She turned and looked into his hazel eyes
which seemed to be alit.  Their eyes locked for a long minute or two before
they both closed the gap at the same time and their lips met, tentatively at
first, and then in an crushing kiss.

Her mind was telling her that it was
happening too fast, but they’d been to first base on the first day they met.
The thought came to her that it was fate that brought him to her in her
loneliest hour. Her hands came up and wrapped around his neck as she pressed
herself into him. The pulse at her neck was beating out of control.

Garret pulled away and looked deeply into
her eyes with his smouldering ones. “I think…,” he began, but Adrianna pulled
his head back down to hers and sealed his lips in another searing kiss. She was
not backing off this time.

She stopped the kiss after some time to
clarify her actions, “I’m not vulnerable. I really like you.” She took his hand
and placed it on her heavily beating heart. “See that?”

She didn’t let go off his hand, just led
him towards the bedroom where she peeled off her dress and watched him pulled
off his shirt, revealing his sumptuous abdomen. She helped him unbuckle his
jeans and gulped as she saw how defined his V-line was. For a moment, she
closed her eyes to steady her pulse, but they wouldn’t obey.

Garret was lifting her beneath the knees
and walking towards the bed. Her skin was flushed all over in anticipation and
she knew he saw how pink she’d turned. She felt extremely hot as if she was in
the middle of summer instead of spring.

He laid her on the bed and started kissing
her neck. His lips on her bare skin sent sparks of current through her. He took
her nipples, one by one, savoring each one between his hot lips. She breathed
heavily, wanting to feel him explore her more. His scorching tongue licked the
hardened buttons of her nipples until they tightened painfully.

“Garret, I want you, please,” she begged,
feeling herself get wetter and wetter.

She opened her legs and reached for him. He
lowered himself between her thighs and guided himself gently into her. He let
out a low incoherent murmur as all of him sank into her.

He slowly started moving his hips and
Adrianna moved hers to match his. They worked their rhythm in a timely manner,
him gliding in and out of her, and she rising to meet each thrust of his hips.

Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead
and chest as his muscles moved gracefully with the cadence of their coitus. She
placed her hand on his tight butt to urge his movements, while their tongues
dance together, heightening the pleasure between them.

She was first to feel her limbs get weak
and then the explosive sensation in the pit of her belly, before she tightened
around him and throbbed her hot fluid onto his shaft. No longer had she arched
her back and gripped his shoulder, then she felt his back stiffen and his arms
tremble. Then, he thrust into her deeply and groaned, before his arms gave way,
and he rolled to the side cradling her in his arms.