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“Are you planning to bind our magic like you did to June?” Tris demands again, like a dog with a bone.
A threatening growl comes from Haut. “I will bury you both if you touch even one magical hair on Rowe’s head.”
“Hey, where’s your concern for me?” Tris demands. “You only care about keeping Rowe magical so you can hold her up as a figurehead for the town.”
“That’s it.” Haut stands and steps toward Tris. “Time for you to run.”
Tris gulps and backs away. “You’re not the Alpha of me anymore.”
Haut strips off his shirt. “Keep telling yourself that. One… Two…”
As Haut’s body begins to shimmer, Tris takes off for the stairs at top speed. A moment later, a giant gray wolf bounds after him, letting out a loud howl.
Off toward town, answering howls drift through the open window.
Aspen stare after them. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Haut will just bat him around a little.” Owen brushes back the strands of black hair that fall over his forehead. “Haut knows that if he hurts Tris, he’ll draw Rowe’s wrath.”
“The wrath of the doghouse, just as soon as we build one.” I drag over Haut’s empty plate and gather a sad crumb onto my fingertip. “So, you want to strip our powers because we’re too much for you to handle after only five minutes?”
“It wouldn’t kill you,” Aspen says primly. “That is, unless you’ve been practicing the dark arts.”
That sounds like he considers it as a possibility.
This will never work.
“No one is stripping your powers, Rowe, which is what I was about to explain to Aspen.” Mel glares at the man. “You’ve gotten soft in your lofty Second Circle if you’re ready to throw in the towel after a little ribbing.”
Her arms cross under her breasts, making the ruffle around her neck flounce. “And if this is all it takes for you to pass judgment on a witch’s worth, then you can just get back in your fancy car and return to your old coven, because you’re obviously a bad fit for the needs of this group.”
I lean over to peer out the window and see that Aspen does, in fact, drive a fancy sports car.
I straighten and focus on Aspen. “Let’s make something clear right now. You are not doing us a favor by coming here. You do not have this job in the bag just because the Paranormal Council sent you. Whether you get to stay is still in question.”
I gather the discarded cards in the middle of the table. “Our interview process is unconventional, but we thought it best to throw you into the deep end right away. We are not your conventional witches. This is not your conventional town.”
Owen gives me an approving nod, showing I have his support.
“Many of the witches here were rejected by your fancy covens,” I tell Aspen bluntly. “They are self-taught, they are traumatized, and they have already been put through a trial by fire in the recent battle we faced against the huntsmen. If you can’t think faster and in a dozen directions at once while also showing patience and compassion, then you won’t make it as our teacher.”
“Rowe is very protective of the other witches here. We all are.” Fire simmers to life in Owen’s pupils as his protective werewolf rises to the surface. “Mel’s mothers may think you’re the one best suited for co-teaching our coven, but we’re not so sure.”
“Ulterior motives played heavily into their choice.” I shuffle the cards in my hands. “You being Mel’s unwanted fiancé is not counting in your favor, either, for you being here. If you make her feel uncomfortable, you will be sent packing.”
“Or we’ll simply bury you.” Haut claps Aspen on the shoulder, making him jump in fright. “We like Mel, and her choice of partners is completely up to her.”
“Oh, you guys.” Mel blushes. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“He just threatened to kill me, Melody,” Aspen says stiffly.
“I have an entire graveyard of witches down at the sheriff’s office. You’ll fit right in.” Haut strides into the kitchen fully nude and glorious, making me drool.
The first time I saw him, I knew he was trouble for my hormones, and that hasn’t abated even a little since we formed our mate bond. When I accepted Haut’s wolf, it was supposed to ease the constant burn to mash our bodies together, but it turns out I’m just hot for this man’s bod, even without mystical forces drawing us together.
And who wouldn’t be?
Haut is tall, with that sexy mix of dark, rugged, and groomed that turns heads, and a muscular body that tests the seams of his clothes when he bothers to wear them.
