Mated By Fate by Christa Wick

Chapter Nine

Lana woketo cupboard doors being slammed. Recognizing the sounds of a furious woman, she grimaced. Her grandmother had been like that, on a daily basis, with no good reason or any of the kindness that naturally flowed from Esme.

Feeling Denver's wolf and its restlessness, Lana dressed quickly, washed her face in the guest bathroom and headed down the hall hoping the man would behave better with an audience.

"Just shut up!" The rattle of fine china punctuated Esme's command. "You don't know the first thing about latents!"

Rounding the corner, Lana heard Denver's hard drawl. Given the flush to his face, she understood why his superior senses hadn't already responded to her presence. He was just as emotionally invested in making his point to the witch as she was in making her point to him. Either that, or the big jerk wanted Lana to hear the argument.

"Look, she proved yesterday that she can direct magic. I'll give her that," he conceded. "But it's still bullshit to think that if we can't get our own females pregnant, it's going to magically work with a human just because she's a—"

Finally noticing Lana, his words froze in air that had become downright chilly with Esme's displeasure. His mouth flattened to a terse smile before he spoke again. "Morning, Miss Howard. Sleep okay?"

Her mouth twitched, still uncertain if he was playing a game by not acknowledging her presence earlier.

"It would be a better morning if people weren't discussing my fertility."

She cast a forgiving glance in Esme's direction before turning to an unfamiliar male sitting next to Denver. The stranger wore a short-sleeved T-shirt that revealed an assortment of tattoos, their images distorting as he wrapped both hands around a steaming coffee mug and brought it to his lips. He didn't look "as old as Moses," as Esme had described the clan's male healer. And his musculature certainly indicated he was a shifter. But he also had allowed her presence to go unnoted during the argument.

"Why can't I feel you?" Lana asked the man. "Are you a healer? You don't look like one!"

He laughed, the curls to his dark hair bouncing.

"This is Cade." Wiping her hands on a dish towel, Esme grabbed a cup and started to fill it with coffee. "He traveled here from another clan to collect some herbs and crystals for their witch and healer. I've been working on new charms to see if our teams can better avoid detection away from our lands. He's testing one now. As long as he decides not to intentionally push his wolf at someone who can feel it, he's only detectible to other shifters and the witch who made his charm."

The cup she handed to Lana came with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry if I woke you. Cade should have been here and gone by the time you got up and you wouldn't have yet another new face to deal with so early in the morning."

Cade cleared his throat. "C'mon Em, you know there's not a woman alive who has a problem dealing with my face."

Lana smiled, not only because Cade was likely right but because she had detected more than a flicker of irritation from Denver when the other shifter had called Esme "Em." Lana recognized a proprietary male when she saw one. And Denver definitely thought of the witch as his.

Laughing, Esme snapped her dish towel at Cade. "Don't let Seth see you flirting with her. I don't have time to heal anyone today."

"Don't worry." He threw a wink at Esme before taking another sip of coffee. "I save all my flirting for you, beautiful."

Denver's arm twitched, the bicep tensing and refusing to relax. "Don't you have a meeting this morning?"

"Yeah." Cade hid a smirk behind his coffee mug. "Important alpha meeting with your boss. Guess you weren't invited."

Lana noticed the subtle flaring of Denver's nostrils, the rest of his face impassive as stone. Setting his mug down, his gaze cut directly to Cade and he smiled. "You should start loading up your truck, then."

Cade rose and retrieved a denim jacket from the coat rack by the door. He shrugged it on, opened the door and stared at Esme for a second. "I could use a hand, beautiful."

Before Esme could answer, Denver was up and to the door, shooing Cade onto the porch. "I got all the help you need."

Joining them at the door, Esme reached for a sweater.

"It's my cellar."

Denver's hand closed over hers. The terse smile resurfaced on his face. "No need for you to get dirty. I know every damn bottle and bag of bones down there."

Esme snatched her hand back, shook her sweater out and started to put it on.

"You can't go down there." Denver took a step back, his big frame blocking the doorway as Cade leaned against the porch rail and grinned. "Someone has to watch Lana and Seth doesn't want me alone with his latent. Keeps thinking I have a thing for big girls."

Esme and Cade reacted at the same time. Out on the porch, the male shifter took a big step forward, a battle growl rumbling in his chest as he reached for the back of Denver's collar. Esme grabbed a heavy wooden cane hanging near the door, her whole face flushing with anger.

"That's it!" She brandished the cane at Denver, the silver knobbed handle bobbing dangerously close to his face and forcing him backward. "You won't insult me or any guest in my home ever again!"

She leaned down, the silver tip of the cane hitting the oak floor with a loud crack. No longer intent on teaching Denver manners, Cade backed off the porch as blue sparks flew from the impact.

The first sign of worry flickered across Denver's face. "Em, don't."

Esme spoke, the foreign-sounding words coming too fast and angry for Lana to make any sense of them despite yesterday's lesson with witch script.

Hands wrapped around the silver knob, Esme drew the end of the cane along the floor in front of the door as she repeated the words. Blue light crackled along her fingers and from the tip of the cane as she etched a dark and smoldering line into the wood.

"Em, you can't keep me out." Denver took a step toward the door, his foot landing half an inch from the line she'd drawn. He doubled over, the wind knocked out of him and his face instantly bloodless.

Reaching across the threshold, Esme shoved hard against his shoulder. He landed on his ass, immediately regained his feet and charged back toward the door. His hands reached inside, his face contorting in pain as he tried to pull himself back into the house. Strands of black broke out along his skin and raced in thin streams up his arms.

"Damn it, Denver." Esme pried at his fingers, her gaze darting to Cade for help. "Make him leave!"

Denver shook his head, his grin pained and determined. "Not happening, babe."

Lana watched, her hand pressed against her mouth to keep from interfering. She didn't think Esme would let it go on much longer, but the black spidery lines had reached Denver's neck and were crawling toward his face. He grimaced, the fangs visible and tinged with his own blood.

"Em, he'll kill himself trying to get back in," Cade warned. "You know that."

"Then take him and go!" Esme's voice was raw, the words splitting open as she spoke. "I won't have him in my house again. It's too much, damn it."

Cade wrapped an arm around Denver's waist, the responding snarl vicious. Denver pushed his right leg forward and hooked the heel of his boot against the doorframe. The leg started to thin but he wouldn't release his grip.

"Don't fucking try," Denver growled at Cade and pulled the rest of his body another inch closer to Esme's barrier.

Sweat poured off both men. Muscles rippled with effort. Fighting both the spell Esme had cast and the muscular shifter behind him, Denver threw his weight forward. Cade wrenched hard left at the same time, letting his feet drop from under him so that his weight and momentum flung both men to the ground.

Esme slammed the door and shot the lock in place. Stumbling to a wastebasket, she leaned over and vomited.

Keeping one eye on Esme, Lana peeked through the lace curtains to watch Cade throw Denver's sagging body into a truck and speed off. "Where will he take him?"

"To my mother for healing." Esme pressed the back of her hand against her mouth and staggered to the kitchen sink. She filled a glass with water, the shake running through her arm so bad half the liquid sloshed out as she brought the glass to her lips.

Lana followed, careful to keep the kitchen island between them. The magic pouring from Esme was as raw and visible as the witch's emotions. The air around her sizzled a pale blue, the static electricity raising the fine hairs on Lana's arms.

"I thought your magic was bound to help the clan. Didn't you just break the rules?"

Bent over the sink, Esme looked over her shoulder. She lifted one dark blonde brow, her face sweating and sick. "Why do you think I puked?"

"Because you love him, obviously," Lana softly answered.

Anguish twisted Esme's expression, but she shook her head, trying to deny any such emotion.

Coming around the island, Lana cupped Esme's elbow and led her over to the living room area and the big couch. Blankets were neatly folded at one end, with a pillow on top—Denver's bedding from the night before.

She scooped them up. "I'll just put these in the linen closet and make us some tea."

A few minutes later when the kettle was on, she brought a cold, damp hand towel folded in a rectangle to where Esme remained frozen on the couch and staring at the front door. Lifting her thick blonde hair, Lana placed the cloth on the back of Esme's neck. Esme looked up, unshed tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Seth will be by soon."

Lana nodded. She expected as much. Between Seth and Denver, she'd seen enough to know that male shifters were protective as hell, but also on the possessive side. She could practically hear "MINE" blaring in Denver's head while Cade had flirted with Esme. That was without Esme having any "latent" effect that Denver was tuned into or them being "mates," as Seth claimed he and Lana were.

Esme removed the cloth from her neck and pressed it to her forehead. "I'll remove the spell. Seth can just break Denver's fingers or something the next time he gets out of line."

Lana reached up, her hand fiddling with the top button on her blouse. "He wouldn't really do something like that, would he?"

"Probably not, and it wouldn't deter that stubborn idiot anyway." Esme grimaced. "The only thing I can think of is having Camille stay here."

"Denver listens to your mother?" Lana kept worrying the button, another solution forming in her mind.

"Hah!" A genuine smile split across Esme's face, light springing back into her eyes. "No, but he's as quiet as a statue when she's around. It's almost worth putting up with her."

Dropping her hand to her lap, Lana traced the pleated line running up one leg of her slacks. "There's another option…what you said before about cloaking me from the Hunters and Seth."

Esme said nothing at first, then a long sigh escaped her. "Seth will think you're rejecting him."

"No." Lana pinched the pleat, sharpening its edge. "He'll realize this is just a bunch of biological nonsense and that he's not truly attracted to me."

Lana didn't expect the scowl that whipped across Esme's face. The witch rubbed her hand from one cheek to the other like an eraser along a blackboard, her expression detached by the time she completed the motion.

"Nonsense or not about his feelings, if I put a cloaking charm on you, it only works one way." The kettle started whistling and Esme stood. She walked into the kitchen and turned the burner off. "Because he won't stand for wearing one himself while he's around you. So you'll still sense him and know when he's near. He'll still be able to push his wolf at you, and he will do so relentlessly. The only real relief will be that his scent, while unique, won't affect you more than any other shifter's would."

She started to pour water into the teacups Lana had set out earlier. Her hand shook, hot water splashing along the tea service. Placing the kettle back on the burner, she braced her palms against the counter.

"The feeling you get when he pushes his wolf at you..." She wiped a dish towel across the spilled water then tossed it in the sink. "Well, that won't fade. You might be able to hide it long enough that he stops trying, but he's the second most stubborn wolf that I know."

Pulling her feet onto the chair, Lana tucked her legs under her. Her elbow on the armrest, she propped her chin up and watched Esme finish making the tea.

"If latents were a myth before yesterday, how do you know this?" Lana asked.

There was a long pause, as if the answer was either a secret too big to divulge—or an outright lie.

"You've got a lot more reading to do if that's what you want, but it's there in the journal, with a lot more in the artifact waiting to be transcribed," Esme answered, returning to the couch with the cups and tea service on a tray, her gaze everywhere but on Lana's face.

Without saying anything, Lana added cream and sugar to her tea then concentrated on blowing at the steam rising up from the pale brown liquid. Inside, she was anything but placid. Thoughts swirled inside her head. If she could learn to work the charms herself, maybe she could go back to her old life without endangering the humans around her.

"You need the clan to sustain the charms," Esme said, as if reading Lana's mind. "Well, at least, as far as we know, there are very few witches who can draw enough ambient magic from nature when they are away from the wolves. The charms last a little longer on the wolves, too. As long as he doesn't stay over more than one night, Cade can return home with the same protection he had on his trip here. Otherwise, he'll need my mother or me to replenish the charm's magic."

Putting her cup down, Esme leaned forward to stare intently into Lana's eyes.

"If you leave, Seth will try to follow you. He'll go alone off clan lands. He'll stay gone longer than the charms I make can protect him. He will expose himself to capture and risk the entire clan's safety in doing so."

Lana closed her eyes, tried to picture a future in which Seth didn't take one sniff, find her normal and walk away. She couldn't.

"So I won't leave," she said, still hiding behind closed lids. "At least, I won't leave if I'm allowed to stay. But he won't sense me as he does now. All this 'mate' nonsense will end."

She opened her eyes to find the witch studying her with open curiosity.

Giving a little nod, Esme signaled her readiness. "Let's do this now, before he shows up."