Chapter 4
MONIQUE
At the sight of the two wolf shifters changing back to human, fear ripped through me with the force of a winter storm. Fear, and something I couldn’t discern. It was hot and prickly, and made me feel weak.
I fought back against the softer feelings because I didn’t want the wolves to know I was affected by them in any way. I pushed my magic out around my body, protecting myself in case they attacked, though it didn’t look like they had attack in mind.
On their knees, naked, they stared at me like I was the sun and the moon, and everything in between. My heart fluttered madly under their intense regard.
The bigger one groaned like he was in pain and lowered his head to stare at the dirt floor.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
He shook his head, his shaggy dark hair mussing a little with the action, and growled like he couldn’t speak. The second, slightly smaller one, just continued to stare at me.
Maybe they couldn’t speak? I knew nothing about wolf shifters except the fact that they were hated by my coven. The creatures were considered less than human, less than the blessed animals we protected and served. The coven leaders had always said shifters were an abomination of nature.
I wasn’t sure why the coven felt that way. We protected animals and had no animosity toward humans. And yet, these halflings who encompassed both human and wolf in their bodies seemed to attract an unnecessary level of hatred.
“Stand up,” I said, uncomfortable as they continued to kneel there in front of me without speaking. I stepped back and held my magic close, watching in case they charged. “What are you doing on your knees?”
Were they under some sort of compulsion?
I waited, my gaze skating over the two of them. I couldn’t stop myself from staring at them, even though I did try to avert my gaze.
They were so beautiful. With their muscled shoulders. Their huge beefy arms. Their impressive cocks hanging between their thighs in a way that made all my female bits tingle in a completely unfamiliar way.
The smaller one finally dragged himself to his feet. His nakedness became overwhelming. This one was simply too beautiful. Despite being the smaller of the two, he was still over six feet tall. His blond hair winked in the moonlight, tempting me to reach out and run my fingers through the locks.
Unable to bear his nakedness a moment longer, I lifted my hand and flicked a spell at him, conjuring up a pair of jeans and a black sweater. It was cold out here. And the jeans and sweater were thick enough to hide all the muscles and nudity.
He stared down at his clothes, then gave me a crooked smile that melted my heart. “Thank you. That’s an impressive skill you have there.”
My knees wobbled at the sound of his voice. “Youcantalk.”
“Of course we can fucking talk,” the bigger one said, springing to his feet in one smooth action.
He was even bigger than I’d thought. I had to crane my neck to look up at his ruggedly handsome face.
“What do you take us for?” he added. “Animals?”
He said it in an insulting way, and I had the feeling he was fighting some kind of deep emotion and trying to hide that with annoyance. Or maybe I was reading too much into it, and he was simply annoyed with me. But why?
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I think you need to check your attitude,” I said coolly. “You are trespassers on this property, and you will be going up before the high warlock soon enough. He is unlikely to tolerate that kind of tone from either of you.”
The still-naked shifter took a step toward me, a threatening growl rolling through the air. My gaze, despite my resolve not to, swung down to his stomach, where his abs unerringly drew my attention, before dropping lower.
I swallowed hard. He was fitter, and bigger, and even more gorgeous than the other guy.
And his cock wasn’t harmless and flaccid anymore.
Fuck!
“Control yourself,” I snapped, flinging a spell at him. My magic wrapped him in a pair of skin-tight black leather pants but left his torso bare.
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
I tried again, whipping my hands through the air, desperate to cover that broad expanse of hot, muscled chest.