A Wolf Scorned by Taylor Spratt

Amira

The smell of fresh-brewed coffee floated on the air. The breakfast table was filled with a plethora of delights, all courtesy of master chef Miles. There were blueberry pancakes stacked so high they blocked my view of Syrus who sat across from me. Miles, Callum, Syrus and I all sat at the breakfast table together with the lovely spread in between us.

Callum grabbed a fistfull of bacon from the bacon pile and dropped them on his plate. Meanwhile, Miles cut a neat square out of a massive omelet he’d made and gently placed it on his plate.

“You’d better eat up, Amira,” Syrus's voice was muffled by the giant ball of food in his mouth. “Callum’s got one hell of an obstacle course planned out for you. I didn’t wanna scare you but he’d been setting it up all day yesterday.”

“An obstacle course?” I turned to face Callum before putting a fork full of eggs in my mouth.

“That’s right.” Callum wiped the syrup from his lip with a napkin and dropped it beside his plate.

“Today, you’ll be pole-vaulting over a tub of African screamer roaches, a pool of wet-backed nightmare frogs, and a vat of vampire eels.”

I dropped my fork. “African ‘what’ roaches?”

“Screamer roaches, they’re noisy little creatures and they fly too,” Miles informed me as he merrily scooped a large piece of pancake into his mouth.

I hated roaches. They made my skin scrawl.

“And this is going to make me stronger how again?” I asked.

“Just trust the process. Have we ever steered you wrong?” Callum took a sip of his orange juice before placing the glass on the table.

“Well…” Before I could answer his question, the door to the kitchen blew open and Derrick flew inside the kitchen, the speed of his stride indicating that something was wrong.

“Alpha Callum, I apologize for interrupting your breakfast, but I have urgent news from our mole in Ragnaron’s pack.”

“What is the matter?” Callum rose to attention like the dutiful Alpha he was, and everyone else stopped eating to listen. Derrick knelt at Callum’s feet and told him the news.

“Our mole says that it seems like Ragnaron is planning to capture Amira.”

“How?” Callum asked.

“We don't know yet. All we know is that he's about to make his move.”

“Why would Ragnaron want to kidnap me?” I asked.

“He must plan to stop you from breaking the curse on the rest of the pack,” Callum looked over at Syrus and Syrus nodded.

“That settles it then. It's time for us to go to our vacation home.” Syrus cleared the plates from the table and dropped them all in the sink so hard I suspected a few of them had broken. Unconcerned by the plates Syrus brushed off his hands and instructed me to pack my bags.

Vacation home...

Nothing in the world could ignite more feelings of excitement than the word ‘vacation’. The word conjured images of white sand beaches, fancy hotels, and ski resorts. I’d heard that Alpha Logan went to places like this when he went on trips outside the hole. All my life I dreamed of the day I'd got to go on a vacation. Was that day finally here?!

“We're going on vacation?” I tugged at Miles’s sleeve and he laughed.

“There's no such luck, Amira. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's just a smaller cabin in another batch of woods in the next state over. We’ll be there in hiding for a little while to keep you safe. But you're still going to have to train.”

In one fell swoop all of my dreams were dashed. I slumped over in my chair, miserably watching Miles and Callum packing up kitchen supplies.

Forget this, if we were going to a vacation home, I would find some way to have some fun. Just you watch me.

* * *

After a two-hour drivethrough the mountains we arrived at a tiny cabin nestled away in the thick trees. The scent of pine tickled my nose far more strongly than it had back in Blood moon shifter territory.

This area was far less developed. That was evident by the fact that I hadn't seen a house or even another car for most of the drive over here.

Miles opened the cabin door and a cloud of dust escaped room. Miles coughed and I sneezed uncontrollably.

“Man. Has it been that long since we came here?” Miles’s words were peppered by the sound of his coughing.

“Almost two years to the day.” Callum carried a heavy bag under both his arms. Braving the dust, he entered the rustic cabin.

The old floorboards squeaked under my boots as I covered my nose, following Callum inside.

The floor plan was pretty basic, with everything a person needed and no more. In one corner there was a tiny kitchen nook equipped with a small stove and fridge. Two couches sat parallel to one another with a cute little coffee table sitting in the middle.

The floors and windows were covered in a thick layer of dust that made the room look an artificial ashy gray.

Mile’s came up to my side carrying a large suitcase. He jerked his head down the hall that led to a few closed doors. “There’s four rooms here, Amira. One for each of us. So, you don’t have to worry about sharing. At least not unless you want to.”

He shot me a wink and a smile.

“Oh, please, as if she would choose to spend the night with anyone but me,” Syrus butted in, squeezing himself between Miles and I to kiss my hand flamboyantly. “A woman can't help but adore her own Alpha, you know.”

“You don’t say. And just where is my Alpha?” I looked about the cabin, pretending to search for someone while Syrus pursed his lips, adorably unamused by the slight.

“Nope.” I shrugged. “I don’t see him anywhere. Guess that means I have no Alpha.”

“Now, I really will have to punish you for that one, Amira.”

“I’ve heard you say that a thousand times and not once have you actually done anything. I’m starting to think your all bark and no bite, Syrus.”

“Oh really? And would you prefer if I bend you over my knee and spanked your bottom until you cried?”

My heart jumped and a wave of desire ran through me just then. I was stunned, not knowing what to say. So I said the first dumb shit that came to mind.

“Not if I spank you first!”

Miles nearly bowled over laughing and Syrus's brow raised with interest.

“Are you challenging your Alpha?” Syrus narrowed the distance between us and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Very well then. Your challenge has been accepted. We will see who wins this little spanking fight of ours.”

His voice went an octave lower than normal and his eyes burned with something I didn’t recognize. I thought we were just kidding around, but right now he seemed serious as a heart attack.

"Nobody’s spanking anyone today. Amira and I need to train and you two...” Callum jerked a finger at Miles and Syrus. “… need to clean up this mess while we’re out.”

Syrus looked like someone just stepped in his dinner.

“Way to ruin the party as always, Callum.” Syrus released me and mumbled to himself as he went outside to get more bags from the car.

“Come on, let’s get going. We couldn’t bring the obstacle course so, hand-to-hand combat training will have to do for today.” Callum bent down to pull two pairs of red boxing gloves from his suitcase and zipped it back up.

“Come on, we just got here. Can’t we go exploring first?” I fluttered my lashes and puckered my lips cutely. What I got in return was a stare so icy cold it froze my blood solid. As strikingly beautiful as Callum was, right now he managed to make himself look truly terrifying.

“So, I guess we’ll be training now.”

He nodded, rising to his full height and handing me my boxing gloves.

With a groan I followed him outside and into the trees.

We’d gone about half a mile into the forest and found a flat place to train without too much overgrowth. Callum and I went at it for hours, boxing our hearts out. Or at least I was, he looked cool as a cucumber the entire time, barely breaking a sweat while I worked myself to the bone, desperate to land a single punch.

But he was so damn fast, every punch I threw his way, he dodged with expert stealth, moving like the wind itself. His punches were just as swift. And with every blow I took, I felt my wolf howl and my witch's power swell.

My muscles ached and my arms were tired. But I never stopped fighting, never stopped trying to put Callum on his ass.

Images of Miles's mom played in my mind like a picture book. If I could just find a way to get stronger, I could destroy this curse once and for all. Then Miles's mother could live. Then, Kalisia and Mandi could be freed, too.

I lunged backward and fell to a squatting position just in time to miss Callum’s flying kick attack. The rain came down, first as a drizzle, then as a storm.

But I didn’t care. I wiped the water from my face and launched my knee for Callum’s stomach. Finally, my attack landed and he flew back, rolling over the forest floor.

Taking advantage of his disorientation, I sprinted for him. But he quickly jumped to his feet.

“Not quick enough, Amira.” He tackled me to the ground and my back hit the grass. Next thing I knew Callum was on top of me, pinning me to the ground.

The rain water drenched his beautiful white hair and streamed down his cheeks. He brought his face up close to mine, his chest rising and falling at a fast rate.

“I. Win. Again,” he said between breaths.

I didn’t even care that I’d lost. There was something about having this gorgeous, ridiculously ripped man on top of me. There was nothing sexual about what he was doing, so why was I so turned on?

The rain washed over us both, Callum blocking most of it from falling on me. The roar of the rain seemed to quiet, though it now fell harder than ever. The depths of Callum’s eyes pulled me, embracing me, entrancing me and refusing to let me go.

He didn't say a word, all he did was watch me, but was that desire in his eyes?

His body grew more rigid atop mine and he slowly lowered his head toward mine. Our lips were inches from touching when, out of nowhere. I...I...I…..

*Achoooooo!*

I sneezed right in Callum’s face and shame stabbed at me as I watched the stunned look on his face.

Goddess Selene, please take me now.

I hadn’t noticed it before but a frosty sensation penetrated my flesh and through to my bones with a vengeance.

Callum wiped his face and his expression morphed into something unreadable.

“Amira. Are you alright?” He placed his hand over my head. “God, you're burning up!”

I gave out a series of coughs that sliced through my lungs with such a force they burned like hell.

The world around me slowly blackened. Callum yelled, though I could barely hear him. His lips moved so fast he had to have been speaking a hundred words a minute so why couldn't I hear him?

“A-mi. Stay- wake!” That was all I heard before everything went black and I sank away to a place between this word and the next.