Page 24 of Bewitching the Wolf

That encounter was so hot it nearly burnt a hole in the gusset of my panties.

Truth is, last night Jax was so… so possessive and… physical. He’s barely ever touched me before. On the few occasions in the past when I’ve dared give him a quick hug, he’s always frozen, like he honestly didn’t know what to do. I wondered if he was ashamed of his scars, or perhaps he was too damaged by being programmed for so long.

But now…

The touch of his hands, those sensual lips so close to mine, those eyes promising dirty, dark pleasures.

Despite my throbbing head, my body responds to the memory by lighting up like a thousand lumen lamps.

I turn the throttle and speed up, feeling the tunnel breeze blowing my ears against my skull, but still my internal turmoil continues.

He deserved to get his face slapped, what he said was gross.

Yeah, and you loved it.

Truth is, I’d been dreaming of the moment when Jax would drop his façade and show me his true feelings.

So how can I be angry that he did?

Because he’s a werewolf, dummy, that’s why.

But goddess, his body felt so right, pressed between my legs. A place no guy has ever got close to before.

And there was more than that.

His cock.

I may be a virgin, but I know about male and female anatomy from my anatomy books.

And Jax’s cock was huge and rock-hard, right against my pussy. With nothing but his zipper and a scrap of silky panties stopping us from… what?

Oh, goddess, help me.

If we hadn’t been in public, I might have handed over my virginity on a platter, just like Leonora gave hers to Agdar in the legend we pretend was never told. Except the whispers are still out there, even though no vixen shifter will speak it out loud.

The story goes that a wolf mage wooed and mated with a vixen shifter soon after the apocalypse, and it was this bond that first activated the wixen gene in our species. Leonora was a beautiful vixen shifter. Agdar was a handsome wolf mage. They were supposedly thrown together in a cage during the incarceration of monsters when the Labyrinth was formed. But they escaped, and birthed a youngling. For a period of maybe a century after, it is believed that wixens were quite prolific in the Labyrinth, and worked with wolves on deciphering the runes. But after the rebellion, wolves and wixens fell out, blaming each other for the rebellion’s failure. The Silver Book of Runes went to wolves, the Red Book to wixens. A third book, the Golden Book, has never been found.

It is said that the Golden Book holds the ultimate magic that will free all monsters from the Labyrinth. That it ties together the runes in the Silver and Red books. But it has been lost for a century. Maybe it doesn’t exist, maybe it’s been destroyed. No-one knows.

Whatever the truth, we cannot glean enough magic from the Red Book to increase our wixen powers beyond mixing health tonics and elixirs. And sure, folks swear by their rejuvenating powers (except ungrateful Jax, of course), so I guess I should be grateful I can even do that. My products are sought after on all ten levels of the Labyrinth. I’ve worked out ways to treat the skin and scales of just about every monster that dwells here. From this, along with my work at Digger’s, I earn a good enough income. One day I hope to own an apothecary, just like Aunt Felicia’s.

I think about my business to cheer myself up. I’m usually a very upbeat, optimistic kind of girl, so I refuse to let myself dwell on last night’s episode.

I imagine how I will deck out my apothecary and what colors I’ll paint it, and before I know it, I’m in my aunt’s street. As I draw my scooter to a halt outside her purple front door, I notice a jeep parked outside. It’s the sheriff’s jeep.

My stomach clenches.

Why would Otis be here? Surely, he’s not telling my aunt about the dancing debacle last night? She’d not be happy that I did a wixen mating dance in a nightclub – and worse, I rode on the back of a centaur!

I try to dismiss the thought. Otis would never tell tales like that, I know he wouldn’t. He’s too much of a gentleman.

I’m just about to go inside when I do a double take. There’s another vehicle parked just in front of the jeep.

The signage on the side panel is a ring of fire. Where have I seen that before? Oh, of course, on Jax’s arm, the tattoo he got to hide one of his many scars. The same ring of fire. That’s peculiar. Then I freeze. In the center is a wolf’s head, its mouth open wide, its fangs bared.

My blood runs cold.

There’s a wolf vehicle parked outside Aunt Felicia’s place.