Xander tugged his arm out of my grip, but nodded. “Tell me.”
“My father wants me to seduce Monique to distract her, then he’s going to pretend to take you both to the veil and lock you out of the realm.”
Xander’s growl was deep and made my magic jump and stir to protect me.
“Get fucked. You’re not doing that, and neither is he!”
I turned to Monique. “We have to pretend we’re going along with him. Because he’s not going to take them out of the realm. He’ll take them to his place, and hide them.”
“Why don’t we just fight?” Kyle said. “Now?”
I shook my head. “We can’t. My father is... exploding with power. He’ll kill us all. Can you not feel it, Monique?”
She frowned and nodded. “I can. It’s dark. Scary.”
“I don’t know what it is, but we can’t fight him right now,” I insisted.
“So, what do we do?” Monique asked.
I could hear my father beginning to say goodbye, so I threw a silver necklace at Xander. It was a charm I’d infused into the piece of jewelry while I was in the bathroom at home. “Wear this. It contains a tracking spell. And we’ll find you.”
The door began to open and I rushed back to the fire. “Please. Trust me.”
Monique and the wolves exchanged glances, then Xander placed the necklace over his head and slipped it beneath his t-shirt.
He didn’t speak, but sat at the table with his hot chocolate, my tracker around his neck.
“So sorry about that,” my father said when he walked back into the room. “My responsibilities rarely cease.”
“It’s fine. Of course,” Monique said, only a slight tremble in her voice making it obvious that she was nervous about whatever might come next.
She hurried to the sink to pick up her own mug.
My father looked at me, then blinked twice. Our sign to begin.
Oh... fuck. Here we go.
I moved to Monique’s side and pulled out the love potion from my pocket. “Here you go, sweetheart,” I whispered, unstoppering the bottle and bringing it up under Monique’s nose before she could respond.
She inhaled quickly, then looked down and gasped when the pink vapors began to rise.
“What the hell are you doing?” Xander said, getting to his feet just as Monique swayed. I swung her up into my arms.
“I’m taking my woman to bed,” I said, with as much arrogance as I could muster. “I’m the heir to the high warlock in this realm and it is my right to claim whichever witch I choose to marry. I choose Monique. So I will bed her and marry her, and you two can leave.”
I turned and looked at my father, “Will you help me with that last part?”
The men were beginning to shift, hair sprouting from their arms and face and their teeth lengthening to alarming proportions.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got them.” My father snapped his fingers. But the wolves didn’t react. My father’s magic did not have the desired effect.
Shit. What was happening there?
“Boys,” I said, sounding bored. “Fighting my father is pointless. He is the most powerful warlock in this realm. Just go with him and head back to your dying pack. They could probably use your help with all those boys running around, mate-less.”
I knew that last was an underhanded comment, but I needed my dad to think I was with him, and I needed them to calm the fuck down. Surely they would know I wouldn’t speak like that to them. Not now that I had given Xander the tracker and made it clear I was with them.
It seemed to work. Xander pulled back, his hands tightening into fists, then the fur receded and his teeth shrunk to normal size. Kyle took longer, so my father walked over and tossed another spell at him.