Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
‘The sort that aids a werewolf in fighting the pull of the moon, but higher strength than that of typical potions.’
‘Ah.’ Full moons called to werewolves; called to them to shift, run, mate. Some would spend time as a wolf. Some would spend the night fucking. Some would do a little of both.
The problem? It was very easy for werewolves to change into their In-between forms on full moons. Potions could help them fight it so they could instead enjoy the evening.
While all werewolves were susceptible to its pull, it was far worse for Ripper. At the age of eleven, he’d done as Michael had – he’d turned Rabid and fled to Bloodhill. He’d also done what Michael hadn’t done.
He’d come back.
Mere days after his fifteenth birthday, he’d stumbled into town while in a Rabid state. Members of his clan had captured him and – with the help of magick – snapped him out of it. No one had expected him to be himself again, though.
Anyone who spent four years or more like that were ‘lost’. They breathed, they ate, they slept. But they were an echo of the person they’d once been.
Not Ripper.
Although he’d come back from that Rabid state, he wasn’t the same. He’d always been lethal and rough around the edges. But never so stoic and serious; never humming with the uncivilized air he now had.
Emberlyn pushed off the doorjamb. ‘What did Millicent insist on in return?’
‘My blood to use in her spells.’
Made sense. The blood of an Alpha werewolf, particularly one from Lupin’s line, would be potent.
‘She told me that if anything ever happened to her I should go to you; that you could recreate the elixir. She said the ritual can be found in her book of shadows.’
Huh. Millicent hadn’t mentioned any of this to Emberlyn. ‘I’m fine with making the elixir available for you. But I don’t want your blood in return. Just the same five-dollar fee as that of a standard-strength elixir.’ It wouldn’t require additional ingredients, just stronger magick. ‘That work for you?’
He eyed her intently for several moments. ‘It works.’
‘Do you have an elixir for tonight?’ There’d be a full moon later.
He gave a curt nod. ‘I have one left.’
‘Come to me some time before the next full moon and I’ll make you more.’ Emberlyn expected him to leave then. He didn’t. He lingered. And something in his expression told her . . . ‘You have a question.’
‘More of a proposal, really.’ He swiped his tongue over his front teeth. ‘We don’t know each other well and we’ve never been anything close to friends, but I don’t see why we can’t be allies.’
Surprise fluttered in her chest. ‘You don’t need me as an ally. Politically speaking, I don’t bring a lot to the table.’ She wouldn’t have thought that he’d want to associate with any witch beyond a buyer-customer thing in any case.
‘But we both have the same enemies right now, don’t we?’
True. ‘You want us to present a united front?’
‘There’s strength in numbers.’
Indeed, but it would place her under his protection. And while Alpha werewolves were no doubt a delight in bed, they could be troublesome creatures. Nosy. Meddlesome. Prone to swooping in and taking control.
Emberlyn was a person who moved to the beat of their own drum. She didn’t like people trying to coddle her, tread over her independence or interfere with her choices.
But then, she couldn’t picture Ripper caring much about what she was doing or fussing over her safety. And she could do with some good connections right now. It might help keep the coven and Carver off her back. She could deal with them, she just didn’t want to have to.
Ripper, well, he was the ultimate protector and defender. Dangerous. Loyal. Dependable. That made him a very good deterrent.
Also, she respected him, because it took some strength for a person who’d been through what he’d endured to stand in front of her now – whole and healthy.
Emberlyn nodded. ‘I’ll agree to it.’
‘Allies, then?’ He held out his hand.
She looked down at his open calloused palm, surprised. Werewolves didn’t accept or initiate touch easily. You had to wait for them to invite it.
She placed her hand in his, choosing to ignore the zap of static that shot up her arm. ‘Allies.’
His eyes darkened in a way that told her he’d felt that zap as well. ‘Good.’ He slowly released her hand. ‘I know you probably have to head to work but, as the boundaries of our territory now touch, we should settle a few things.’
Her palm tingling from the skin-to-skin contact, she almost rubbed it against her thigh. ‘Such as?’
‘I took a walk along the territorial line. It cuts through one of your grandmother’s gardens. Some weird cluster of plants.’
‘Oh, her Poison Patch.’ Emberlyn hadn’t realized that it didn’t fall within the line.