Shifter Magick (24 page)

Maddox looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. She was everything he was taught to hate but every part of her called to something deep within him.

As the tears slid down her delicate cheeks, his heart ripped into pieces. “Kera.” He whispered.

She shook her head as if his voice made it worse.

“
You told me earlier that I wasn’t allowed to respond to you when you told me that you were falling.” He took a chance, hop
e
ful that he understoo
d what she needed to hear, Madd
ox continued. “I’m falling for you Kera. I couldn’t imagine any normal relationship having any stron
ger connection than you and me.
We can get through this together.
”

Her lips quirked into a small, unsure smile.

He cupped her cheek with a smile of his own, “you are beautiful.”

She leaned into his palm. “
I don’t deserve you
.”

Out of all the honest words to come out of her mouth, the simple unsure statement she made caused his heart to swell. She was perfect for him. Not that his father would ever agree that the next Alpha would be able to make his own decision for who his mate would be. Jason followed the rules.

Look at where that got them. Maddox was without a mother because a normal human couldn’t handle a shifter. Now, he had the chance of a lifetime. Kera was a shifter but she was a Covington. One of ancient blood who directly opposed his family.

She didn’t know any of this. He just started to tell her the wedge between them and she was already unsure of herself. Her mother was beloved but now she regarded the necklace with lies. She tried to show him she didn’t care. She did.
She
loved her mother and Maddox wouldn’t have it any other way.

“What do you want to do next?” He asked.

“I guess it’s about time to open that stupid present.”

With his hand still on her cheek, Maddox leaned into her soft lips. He kissed her gently and let the energy that passed between them seep into his skin. It was remarkable. Her body reacted so perfectly to him. It was very hard to keep things innocent with her. Especially knowing she wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted.

They walked back through the park hand in hand. The sounds of the festival grew louder.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” He could hear her heart rate pick up as they reached his car. “I can open it another time.”

“We can take it back to my shop.” He told her as he picked up the remains of their dinner and packed it in the trunk. “I’ll put on a movie and we can wait until you’re ready.”

She blew out a breath.
“I do have to admit that your shop is turning out to be pretty cool place to hang out.”

Maddox smiled. He had spent a small fortune on the place since she had come into his life. Everything he purchased was in anticipation of them using it together. He recently installed a projector so they could watch movies. Neither of them
has
been to an actual theater in years. He loved the novelty of being able to provide something for her that she truly delighted in.

“You won’t destroy it again this year will you?” Kera rubbed her delicate fingers across the arch of the door.

Maddox shut the trunk. “Humm.” He bit the inside of his lip and drummed his fingers on the roo
f of the car, a habit caused by
excess adrenaline in his system. “I have a choice between getting to know you or lying in grease bending metal?”

“I can bend metal too.” S
he glanced from the trail she was making on the metal and flashed him a smile. Her emerald green eyes caught the moonlight like the cat beneath her skin was making him aware that she was watching him too.

Maddox felt his heart skip a beat. He swallowed and walked over to her. “It’s time to move on from our past Kera. I wouldn’t dream of destroying anything in this fragile new world I’m in. I went from barely living to try
ing to slow down only five weeks
ago. You have turned my world upside down. Let’s just work through the hurtles in front of us today. It’s your birthday and there’s a present from a special person in your life waiting for you.
”

The light caught her eyes again and the reflection was ever more apparent. Every time she thought of her mother, the beast scratched the surface. 

He reached out and caressed her jaw. Energy poured into him. She leaned into him and her heart rate calmed.
“Ready?”

She nodded.

Maddox drove her back to her dorm. The sun was hidden and the darkness was enclosing them inside the car together. He looked over at her as he drove up to the entrance. “Do you want me to come up?”

Kera shook her head as he expected. “I’ll be right back.” She leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek.

Maddox closed his eyes and restrained his wolf’s instinct to possess her. He clinched his teeth. “Don’t forget to limp.” He told her.

Her nose wrinkled like it did when she was annoyed with him. She shut the door and made an impressive show of limping to the door.
When she disappeared inside, Maddox imagined her sticking her tongue out at him and racing to the fourth floor. He laughed to himself.

The sound made him pause. He hadn’t laughed in years before she came into his life. Now, all in a few weeks, he had spoken to his father, fought and hunted his cousin and confronted his fear of being himself around a woman. Kera made living possible. He breathed easier and feared more when she was around.

What would he do if he ever lost her?

Frustrating as it was, he couldn’t find Andrew. His questioning and hunting hadn’t gone unnoticed by his father or by the other leaders of the pack. His father and Uncle Rayland had both tried to call him and speak with him about what position he was in with Kera.

In the human world he was an adult.

In the shifter pack he was only one thing. The Alpha’s son. The heir.

His Uncle Rayland was the second in command. Nick’s father was in some ways stronger than his own. This caused a rift in the pack.
Maddox was beginning to realize the differences between his father and his Uncle. Maybe it was a testament on how different Kera’s mother was to her brother.

Rayland and Luke were always close. It was strange that the same was said for Jason and Laura. Maddox had always had a very
strange perspective on the story they were told when they were younger. It happened first and Uncle Rayland’s house. He used the story to give him and his cousins a lesson on trusting outsiders.

Laura was portrayed as being a selfish sorceress who crippled her family while trying to defeat his father.  He asked his father about it and Jason had refused to tell him the story saying that Laura was a friend and he nobody knows what is truly in someone’s heart. Not even with the ability that he and his father had.

Now Maddox wished he would have listened earlier. His father was trying to teach him to be weary of what people said. He may have an ability to seek out the truth, but if he relied only on his ability he was going to be lead astray.

That happened with Nick. His cousin was as close as any brother could be. He truly trusted Nick to be the person he expected him to be. Not a murderer. If it had been an accident, Nick should have been torn up about harming an innocent girl.

He hadn’t missed a beat. Denied it to this day.

The door opened beside him.

“What’s happened?” Kera took a deep breath.

Maddox took his hands off of his now bent steering wheel. “Nothing.” He said solemnly. “I was thinking.”

“Can’t leave you alone for a minute and that brain starts working.” She said lightly as she tossed a yellow paisley wrapped box onto the back seat.

“
Then it’s best you stay over tonight.” He murmured.

“
Okay
.” She said quickly.

Maddox winced at the hopefulness in her voice. He started his engine and pulled out of the parking lot. Kera hummed at Blues
T
raveler tune that made him smile again knowing she enjoyed his choice of music.
“So what movie do you want to watch?”

Kera sat up in her seat. “Oh good question.” She mused. “My Clinical Professor mentioned a reference to the Avatar and it sounded really interesting.”

“Avatar.”
He stole a glance at her hopeful face. “Trust me, it can be done.”

“Is there anyt
hing technology can’t do now?” S
he tried to smile when she spoke, but her eyes flashed again.

“Kera,” he reached over and squeezed her knee. “You will get used to it. Just because we’re different doesn’t mean we need to seclude ourselves.”

“Like I did with my CD’s.”

“I would trade my projector with a VHS and nineteen inch black and white TV if that made you happy.”

“I’d rather you bring your guitar and a tent and we run away to the mountains.”

He looked over at her. “Why?”

She turned to him slowly, her lower lip caught between her teeth. “I’m afraid.”
She whispered. “None of this makes since and I don’t believe you’ll always be able to overlook what my mother did
to your dad.”

He flinched at her honesty. It irritated him. “If you had all of the answers would you change your mind? Assume the worst and let’s just say that my father never accepted you. It doesn’t seem like you
r
father is too comfortable with me in your life either Kera. Making sense doesn’t determine what we decide. If you continue to look at our relationship based on what someone did years ago, we will never have any real foundation.”

She sighed. “You’re right. There is no guarantee.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“I hear you loud and clear Maddox. I could be the wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“Do you know something I don’t?”

“No.” she growled. “I just think you have been searching and coming up empty. Andrew could be right under our noses.”

Maddox felt his heart spike. The beast inside him flexed and shifted. He clinched his jaw. “I’m damn good at what I do Kera.” He growled in an inhuman voice. “He doesn’t have a chance if he comes within one hundred yards of you.”

“Why would he have left?”

“He wouldn’t be able to stand against me if he knew I believed you.” Maddox told her. “He must have realized that after he called me and told me what he did.”

“Yeah.” She whispered dryly. “It still makes me wonder how he is able to deceive you. I would never come on to him.”

Maddox turned onto the last road before his shop. He was still unsure about what Kera was suggesting. It wasn’t possible to fool his ability for as long as she was proposing Andrew had. It would have to either take great intelligence or
perhaps a spell to achieve such a task. But to think she had intent
ionally kissed Andrew upset him.
He already knew that to be false because of the ancient words he had used to pull the
story from her, but w
hy would Andrew wait until now to show his true colors?

“You do believe me right?”

Maddox pulled up to his shop and pressed the button for the garage door to open. While he waited
he turned to Kera and watched her try and read what his answer would be. He didn’t want to answer her while she was sitting there out of his reach. Her flight response for everything difficult made him want to hold her as he spoke. So he waited until he pulled the car into the shop and shut the door after them even though the exhaust filled the air.

Kera shifted in her seat. Her hands were clinched together and her lips pressed into a thin line. He could see the reflection in her eyes but it was hiding the insecurity she had in their relationship.

This is the exact reason he reminded himself they had to take things slowly. He got out of the car and rushed to her side before she had a chance to get out. He had the door open and his hand out to her before she had her seatbelt off. He listened to her heart rate skyrocket as she took his hand, then calm down as the energy began to seep into his skin. “This is what I know about you Kera.” He started as he pulled her into his arms. He couldn’t help but run one hand under the back hem of her shirt and rest it on the soft skin of her lower back, the other he cupped the back of her neck.
“You secluded yourself from everyone five years ago. Your father doesn’t even know who you are. For some strange reason you feel something for me and that causes you to start opening up about everything that hasn’t made since for the last five years. I don’t have all of the answers and I defiantly made some wrong assumptions about you in the beginning that I am not proud of. Now that I am starting to see you for who you really
are I regret every accusation I’ve thought and said. You are beautiful on the outside and the inside. Can you forgive me for the beginning and let me make it up to you?”

She rested her forehead against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He felt her shoulders move as she breathed in deeply. “
Will you forgive me for uncovering the painful parts of your past? All I’ve done is dig into your accident, aggravate your family and cause you counts sleepless nights with my drama. It has to weigh on you to be the solid one in this relationship. You can’t want to keep on like this.”