A Mate for the Sheriff (Shifter-Match.com Book 4) Page 8

  “Make mine the same,” he said. “Extra sauce on the side for dipping the gyro in.” Letting her have her hand back, he slipped his arm around her waist while they walked toward the truck. The diner was close to the coven’s shop, so they’d park at the diner, walk to the shop, and not give the witches any more heads-up than necessary.

  After she made her call, she put her phone onto his dash. He felt his heart clenching in happiness when she reached out and grabbed his hand. He loved that, how she was constantly reaching out to touch him. “I’m nervous,” she admitted. He knew she was. His wolf was howling with scenting the fear on her, but she had to know he would always protect her. “I’m worried for us. But at least the bitches won’t be able to use their power while we’re there if I don’t allow it, so that’s good, right?”

  Squeezing her fingers, he kept his attention on the road before them even though he wanted to pull over and haul her into his lap to keep her safe. “They can’t hurt us, and they won’t try until they know what they’re dealing with. I’m the big unknown in the whole equation. But you need to remain calm not to out yourself until we want to prove our point.”

  “I’m calm as long as you’re at my side.” He loved that she put so much faith in their bond. “You are my rock, Novak. You always will be. I don’t want you to out yourself, either, but I have a feeling it’s the only thing that will keep them in line.”

  “We may not need to out me. I can bring the dire up to the surface, enough for them to know I’m dangerous and push all the brute power an alpha possesses at them, too. It should be enough to let them know I won’t be fucked with. I won’t start the war, but I’ll fucking well end it.” Bathing in their blood under the moon, preferably.

  “It seriously turns me on to hear you growling and knowing just how well protected I am by you. Tonight, when we’re home, do you think you can do that growling thing again?” She was teasing him and he knew it, but he also knew she was telling the truth about loving his wolf and his growl.

  “In whatever form you prefer,” he told her. She usually liked him to do the growl while in his human form. Apparently, when he did it as the dire he was a little more intimidating. He kept telling her it was the primitive side of her brain telling her to run for the hills.

  “In your human form and naked, both of us very naked.” She teased him again, squeezing his hand. “I’m getting to know your wolf slowly. I know that he would never hurt me.”

  “The fact you barely stop from bolting out of the room whenever I growl in my dire form is a big clue.” He said it with amusement because it was a reaction she couldn’t control. Novak did not blame her in the least. There were few who could stand up to a full-grown dire, let alone an alpha. Most pissed their pants.

  “I know, but I’m working on it. I know that you would never hurt me, in either form. It’s just me trying to get control of that most basic flight-versus-fight response that still has me trembling when you’re in your other form. I really hope that soon I’ll be fully over it so that if we ever do have children, and they are like you, they’ll never smell fear on me when they shift.”

  “It’s different with children. Besides, they’re more like puppies with too-large feet for the first while until they grow into themselves. More goofy and amusing than terrifying. Dire wolves only focus in the more dangerous nature that is their other half when they hit puberty. All those hormones wreak havoc.” Pulling into the diner’s back lot, Novak found them a spot and parked the SUV. After helping her down, he led her to the back entrance and held the door for her to enter first.

  “Well, I look forward to whatever the fates bring us,” she told him after kissing his cheek and heading into the diner with him close on her heels. Once they were seated, their food was brought out. Right away she started to eat, everything.

  He watched her in amusement for a moment, then got into his own meal when she gave him a warning look. Novak chuckled quietly before his first bite. Dinner didn’t take that long, and he was paying well before he knew Jessica was ready to leave. But they had a plan and needed to deal with the coven sooner rather than later to ensure they both had a long, happy life together.

  Jessica stood when he offered her his hand. “Thank you.” She moved so that she was closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her and she looped her arm around his waist. He could smell her worry again, but soon she would see that he had it all in hand and would keep her safe.

  “Deep, slow breaths, sweetheart. We’re going straight to the shop, walking in like we own the place, and being blunt with everyone there. No mentioning what type of shifter I am at any time, and we keep any other aces under the radar, too. We only show what we absolutely must to ensure they know who you are, know you are mine, and that doing anything against you will be handled by shifter law.” He’d told her the same thing several times, but it bore repeating. When Jessica got nervous she tended to forget even her own name. While it was cute in certain situations, it could get both their gooses cooked in front of the coven.

  “Okay. It’s just so hard. Revealing myself after all this time. I mean I have a small feeling that Alaska might have a suspicion of what I am, but I’ve mostly avoided her because of that fear. I think she would be on our side simply because of her mate being friends with you. We have a lot of friends and that’s good.” Jessica spoke very quietly as they walked. “I’ve hidden for so long, I’m just freaking at knowing that I’m willingly giving them the knowledge that could get me killed.”

  “You’re mated now. That alone makes this an entirely new ballgame. One that they won’t like but know better than to fuck around with. Most shifters, especially when shifted into their animal form, have protection against the witches. This gives us the higher ground we need to be standing on heading into this. They’ll know that one call would be all it would take to have the entire coven removed from the area, with a permanent no-return stamped on their asses.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Jessica smiled when she looked up at him. “Soon, soon we will be home and in a nice hot bath. We’ll be able to just forget about life for a little while.” That was what he was looking forward to as well, a hot bath and the relaxation he got from simply being close to her. “You know,” she continued after a moment, “I’m thinking we should only admit to me being the null, but not dreamwalking. We don’t want to give them double reason to want me dead, right?”

  “That’s one of those aces, sweetheart. We may need you to go stomping through their dreams at some point.” Squeezing her in closer to his side, he pressed a kiss to her temple. He slowed their pace once they were only one storefront from the magic shop.

  “Should I release the hold I have on my null ability, or should I keep suppressing it?” He knew the toll it took on her to suppress it when she was near magic, the exhaustion and pain that would bring her. “I’ll follow your lead.”

  “Keep it under wraps for now. But the first aggressive move from them and you let it loose full force. No mercy.” He gave her a nod. “One more deep breath.” Then it was into the lion’s den for them.

  Chapter Ten

  Jessica pulled open the door to the magic shop, a place she avoided at all costs, and stepped in as if she owned the place. She could only feel that level of invincibility because she knew that Novak was right behind her. He had her back, now and for all time. He would always ensure that she was kept safe, and that was just another thing she loved about him.

  His hand rested against her spine, adding to her overall confidence and sense of reassurance. The heat from his body warmed her when he stepped closer.

  “Sheriff, this is a surprise,” a woman said. She moved around the display and paused, her gaze running over Jessica slowly with a mildly perplexed look. Jess figured the woman was trying to place her. “What brings you into our little shop?”

  “Wanted to talk with the coven, or whomever might be here when you close up for the night. We’ll wait until you finish with your customers. Some things, after all
, shouldn’t be spoken around the uninitiated,” Novak said. He adjusted his stance to press his side to hers, providing a solid column to focus on instead of the fear threatening to rise from where she was barely holding it at bay.

  She felt a calm descend upon her the moment that he touched her. She nodded and once more centered herself. “I believe we need to talk to your bosses that are in the back of the shop.” She could feel their power, but with Novak so close to her she was able to keep herself in check and wasn’t leaking to reach out to null their abilities.

  The witch’s expression turned into a frown. “They’re in the middle of a meeting, but I can let them know you’re here. I’m not sure if they’ll have time to see you. They are all rather busy after all.” She paused, likely expecting them to say they’d come another day, but neither she nor Novak even twitched. With a sigh, she spun on her heel and moved deeper into the shop before disappearing from sight.

  “They’ll want to know how you knew they were back there,” he said under his breath.

  “I saw them moving and parting the curtain. If they want to keep themselves hidden, they need to do a little better than standing behind a beaded curtain and watching people.”

  Rubbing his hand up and down her back, Novak looked around. There were still a couple people browsing, but for the most part the shop had emptied out as they’d hoped it would. “Hopefully they don’t all bolt out the back door before we can have our chat,” he muttered.

  “I seriously doubt they will. They’ll be too curious and won’t think of the fact that it was their nosiness that might have actually caused their downfall. No, they are far too superior for that, trust me. So yeah, be ready for them to try to probe you to figure out what you know without them having to say a word.”

  “Which we both know won’t work.” Sliding his arm around her waist, Novak pressed a kiss to her temple. “I have to ask you something important. Mainly because it’s right in my line of sight. What the ever-loving hell is eye of newt and what is it used for?”

  That had her giggling. She rubbed her cheek to his and shrugged. “Eye of newt isn’t real. It’s out for those that want to pretend to be witches and act like they know what they’re doing and think they can use it to cause either impotency or growth in certain areas. It doesn’t work that way. Although you would never need to worry about that. Ever.”

  His chuckle had her toes curling. “Glad to hear you won’t be bringing any of that home. Not sure why, but just seeing the label creeps me out.”

  The witch returned with a strained smile. “They’ll be happy to see you both once we close up for the night. If you’ll excuse me, I need to tend to the last customers.”

  Jessica nodded and she moved with Novak toward the bench seats along the back of the shop. She kept as close to him as she possibly could. Her nerves were fraying even more and she took in deep breaths. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder after he shifted his weapon on his belt. “I love being around you. You calm me and center me more than anything I could ever possibly tell you, but you know that.”

  “You do realize you do the same for me, too, yes? You are what smooths out the ragged edges of who I am.”

  She was rubbing her hand up and down his forearm, simply relaxing as they sat there and chatted. It had been years since she’d been in a magic shop, and even though she was a null, she could still feel and appreciate the magic that was in the building itself.

  She was laughing softly at a naughty joke Novak had told her when the front door was closed the final time. The instant the dead bolt was thrown, the beaded curtain began to rustle. The witches filed into the main shop. A few were straining to see around the others in front, with curious expressions. The ones in front wore poker faces.

  Jessica rose to her feet with Novak and smiled at the women before them. There was a time when men were part of the most powerful of the magic users as well, but for some reason in Shifter Falls there weren’t a lot of powerful male witches.

  “Hello, ladies,” Jessica said, bowing her head respectfully.

  They all bowed their heads to her as well in reply. Their gazes, however, never left Novak and she got it. Keep the most powerful one in sight at all times. Little did they know the mistake that they made. “We want you to call off your search for the fabled null. You are causing a lot of unrest and issues, and it’s making our jobs on the police force harder. Please.” Okay, so maybe she should have let Novak take the lead, but she felt the power rising in one of the women and it was pissing her off.

  One sniffed and shot her a derisive look. “You are human. You have no right to come to the coven and ask such a thing. This null can’t harm someone that holds no power, but it can cause us great harm. We realize this may test our relationship with law enforcement and are willing to risk it. Leaving a null alive is unacceptable to us. This individual will be found by us, or we will call in reinforcements from other covens to assist in ferreting out the coward who should just step forward and accept their fate. If only his or her parents had done what was right under the laws of the covens when the power manifested, we would not be in this position now.”

  A low growl came from Novak. The witches were on guard in an instant, clearly sensing his inner beast straining at the reins he held tightly.

  “What exactly are you?” one of the women asked Novak.

  “He’s my mate. That’s all you need to know.” Jessica wanted to growl, too, mostly because the woman was looking at her mate as if he was hers, and it pissed her off. “Again, we would like to ensure that you pull off from this hunt for the null. It’s a witch hunt and, after Salem, one would think that was the last thing any witch would want to have going on. We don’t want to pull too much attention to our world and you damn well know it.”

  “The humans think it’s amusing to see us out and about. They think it’s all part of the show and will continue to think that. Not that it’s any business of yours anyway. You are not one of us, which means we won’t be discussing this further with you as it’s coven business. Darcy will see you out and please don’t return here. Sheriff, I apologize in advance for any problems this hunt for the null may create for you or your deputies. But as it is coven business, covered under coven law, the human world’s laws hold no sway over us in the matter. We will alert you to anything should it be necessary for you to protect a human. Otherwise I would perhaps warn your deputies to avoid us when we are out tending to our business. Good night.”

  Novak’s fingers tightened on her hip. Jess was pretty sure he was going to say something, so she was surprised when he kept his lips sealed. He was letting her deal with this her way, whatever that might be.

  Jessica smiled sweetly at the bitch in question and shook her head. “One thing that never failed to surprise me about you self-entitled bitches is how you turn your nose up at everyone and everything that isn’t magic.” She then let the power that she held so tightly inside of her out and looked at the women. “I suggest you rethink your search for the null, because you really, really don’t want to fuck with me, and I can promise you that you don’t want my mate to come at you either. He will eat you all alive and you will never be missed. Being imbued with power is one thing.” She pulled back her abilities. “But what you are doing is something else. You need to learn that power does not equal being right on everything.”

  “The null!”

  The cry took up with others in the back, whereas up front the older witches were glaring at Jess. “We thank you for revealing yourself to us. We were truly worried we’d have to hunt you down. And hand delivered by the sheriff, no less, handy that.”

  Novak was preternaturally still at her side. A quick glance showed his eyes held the barest icy shimmer, forewarning her the dire wolf was barely being held in check now. His control was impressive, given the dire’s natural distrust for witches. After all, witches had been the ones to see the dires pushed to the edge of extinction. “She is a shifter’s mate and therefore no longer und
er coven law but under shifter law. And by that law if you so much as sneer at her again, I’ll tear out your heart to feed it to the one on your left before I finish off those here. One will remain alive, barely. But only long enough to tell the others of what awaits them should they try to come for my woman.” Novak’s voice held an anger that sent a shiver down Jessica’s spine and had her grateful he was on her side.

  Jessica nodded and looked back at the witches. “I am not easy to kill. And I’ve lived here for a while, peacefully, and none of you have ever once realized I was right here. As for Novak, I strongly suggest you listen to him, because he’s far more dangerous than you could ever realize. Do you understand me? You really don’t want him pissed off at all of you.”

  The younger witches were decidedly nervous-looking, while the older ones were maintaining their disinterested masks. They appeared strained but weren’t revealing any other signs of concern. “You believe what you will, null. But we will find you alone and we will handle this as it should have been when your powers came to be. And if we fail, the Grand Coven’s hunter guild will not. While you might be able to disable us, they will never be turned from the task once they have been set to it. Think about that, and soon you will realize that our way is better than what will lay at their hands.”

  Turning his head to look down into her eyes, Novak slid his tongue over his teeth. “I’m thinking killing them all is the only way to shut her up.”

  “Before you think to call in the hunters, you should realize something.” She walked away from Novak this time and approached the leader of the witches. “Think on this. I go by Morris because I’ve never wanted my family to be involved, but they know who I truly am. My family descends from Hecate. She was the first. The hunters are made up of my cousins and my brothers. My father runs it. Do you honestly think I would be this old and alive without some serious help? Yes, I’m far from home, and it is to keep them safe, but let me assure you that they will side with me over you. There is nothing you can do at this moment and, if I am not mistaken, you are the ones that started this whole hunt and it’s one that wasn’t sanctioned by the Grand Coven. Oh, by the way, when you call them, please tell my grandmother hello?”