The Lycan and His Witch (6 page)

Zora inhaled slowly. “There’s
nothing left to say. I agreed to let you stay here for a couple of
days. You must leave tonight.”

His mouth was firm and in three
strides, Bryce was in front of her. He reached out to grab her and
she shrieked, jumping back. “No!”

He dropped his hands, clenching
them at his sides and grimaced. “Dammit,” he muttered under his
breath, his gaze resting on her mouth.

Zora felt the tension between
them. Bryce wanted to kiss her. “I’m…I’m sorry. I thought I could
help the situation by turning myself into a hideous hag, but
Morganna seems to have taken care of that.” She frowned. “She’s
watching us. I can feel her.”

His mouth curled sardonically,
his eyes still reflecting his anger. “Even when you had a thicker
waist and grey hair, my wolf was drawn to you,” he remarked dryly.
He paused. “I wondered about something last night after you went to
bed. Why would she place a spell that transformed you slowly? Why
not reveal your true self instantly?”

Zora thought about what he said.
“I don’t know. When did you see my appearance first change?”

His expression was pensive. “The
first time was in your vegetable garden. I asked you for the
werewolf cure and you refused.”

She remembered that moment. “I
didn’t refuse,” she said stiffly. “I told you I didn’t have
it.”

“I know that now,” Bryce said
quietly. “It was then when I saw your mouth soften and your hair
hinting its gold.”

“And the next time my appearance
changed?”

His face turned grim. “When you
fed the wolves. I’d never seen anything like it, and I’ve seen a
lot of things in my life.”

She was starting to understand
Morganna’s cunning. “Did you feel anything other than shock?”

“Awe, respect, admiration, and
anger for putting me through hell. I thought those beasts were
going to rip you to shreds.” He froze, and she wondered if he was
beginning to think what she was thinking. “The final change to your
appearance came when you fell from the ladder. I’d gone looking for
you and couldn’t find you anywhere. I was…I was concerned for your
safety…” he said, his voice trailing as realisation fell over his
face. “Damnation,” he said hoarsely.

“It appears every time your
feelings…er…deepened for me and part of my true self was revealed.”
Could she believe what was staring at her in the face?

He held her gaze, taking a step
toward her. Her breath caught as she watched his hand reach out.
Slowly, he took her gloved hand and raised it to his lips. He
kissed it and withdrew. “I will not leave you here alone.”

“We can never touch,” Zora
whispered. “Lycans are passionate beasts who mate with their
one
for life. How can you stay here with me and never be
able to touch my hand or hold me?”

“So, you will choose another for
a mate, and have his children.”

She shook her head sadly. “No. I
won’t do what my mother did, or my grandmother, or any of my
ancestors. The curse ends with me. I am the last of our line, and
if I don’t have any children, Morganna’s curse will die out.”

Bryce frowned. “You will live
here alone, die alone, with no one,” he said quietly.

“Yes.”

* * * *

“Stupid girl!” Morganna spat
angrily as she stared at her crystal ball. “How dare you think you
can outsmart me?”

Furiously, she swung her hand in
the air and the image of Bryce and Zora swirling in the ball
disappeared. “I have watched every single one of my descendants
kill their Lycan mate and you will be no different!”

The rage and hate welling in her
chest almost choked her. Her sister’s and her Lycan lover’s
betrayal still enraged her after all these centuries.

The only thing that made her
want to draw breath every day was watching everyone else’s heart
break as hers had broken.

She raised both of her hands and
cast another spell, her voice quaking with rage.

“A power beneath, a force behind
him, the Lycan falls upon her.”

* * * *

Bryce growled as he watched
Zora’s eyes widen with alarm.

The living room floor was
tilting!

Morganna! She was doing this.
Blasted witch!

The floor rumbled and creaked,
splitting and snapping as it swayed up behind him. He saw Zora
struggling to maintain her balance. The floor jerked up sharply,
and his body was flung towards her. He knew he shouldn’t shift
because his Lycan form was huge and he might touch her. He roared
as he watched her tumble on the floor, her eyes wide with terror as
he fell on top of her.

He grimaced, bracing his hands
on the floor beside her to keep from crushing her. He glanced
around himself and saw he wasn’t exposed to her skin.

“Are you hurt?” he asked
hoarsely. Her curves beneath his body started heat in his
loins.

“No,” she whispered.

Grim-faced, he dropped his gaze
to her moist lips. An uncontrollable need to kiss her overwhelmed
him and he rose abruptly, reaching down for her gloved hand to help
her up.

“It’s useless,” Zora said.
“Morganna will stop at nothing to bring us together.” She drew a
horrified gaze around her destroyed living room.

Clenching his fists to his
sides, he threw his head back and howled long and loud, struggling
to keep his rage in check.

“Where are you, Demon Witch?” he
roared to the rafters. “Show yourself to me! I challenge you to
face me!”

* * * *

Zora screamed. Was he crazy
trying to summon Morganna? “No! Stop it!” She ran to him and placed
her hand on his clothed chest

He glanced at her hand, his
nostrils flaring as he inhaled sharply. He stiffened, staring deep
into her eyes. She knew she’d calmed his rage, but something more
significant began emanating from his muscular frame. Desire.

Sharply, she withdrew and
stepped away from him. Before she could say a word, a feeling of
cold dread filled her as she caught sight of a mist beginning to
form behind him.

Bryce must have seen the terror
on her face because he spun around, his hand on her hip to keep her
safely behind him.

“Morganna,” he growled as the
mist slowly took the shape of a woman.

Zora gasped as she peaked from
behind his shoulder. Morganna was as beautiful as she was powerful.
She wore a long black gown with black lace trim and her raven hair,
piled high, was falling in ripples down her back. Her skin was the
colour of snow, her eyes like ice. Zora shivered.

Bryce growled and shifted into
his Lycan form, advancing menacingly.

Morganna laughed. “Do you really
think your beast will vanquish me? You are a gnat, Lycan.
A
gnat!
” She raised her hand and Zora inhaled sharply.

“No! Bryce, stand back! She’s
going to cast a spell,” Zora screamed, darting in front of him.
“Please, don’t harm him. He’s done nothing to you.”

Bryce growled ferociously from
behind her, but Zora ignored him.

Morganna lowered her hand. “He
must die. His will is strong and he won’t touch you, so I must kill
him. No Lycan mate of my ancestors will survive. They all deserve
to die, and you will live a life with a broken heart as I did.”

“Morganna, this has to end,
please. I know you were devastated when Larissa and Darmus fell in
love, but that was seven centuries ago. Bryce doesn’t deserve to
die for what Darmus did.”

“If I, the most powerful witch,
cannot have her true love, then why should all the other witches
with their measly, paltry spells and puny enchantments be happy and
have their own true love? I…can move…the earth!” she yelled. She
paused, gasping for breath. “I could have given him the world, and
he chose
her
! The sister everyone preferred, even my own
parents.”

Zora’s fear rose as she watched
Morganna raise her hand again. She shrieked when she saw Bryce’s
Lycan form vault over her head and land before her, blocking her
from Morganna’s view.

“If you want me, here I am,
demon witch, just stay the hell away from Zora,” he growled.

Morganna laughed, her hand still
raised. “Well, isn’t this sweet? The protective Lycan is trying to
save his damsel in distress.”

“If it’s my life you want, so be
it if it means she’ll come to no harm.”

Morganna paused, her eyes
narrowing. “You would die for her, Lycan?”

“Yes.”

Zora gasped. She had to do
something. She couldn’t let him do this.

“No!” she yelled, raising her
hand and casting the spell on him she used the first night to
sedate him. He howled and immediately reverted back to his naked
human form, sinking to his knees. He turned his head to hers and
grimaced. Her heart broke at the look of anguish on his face.

“Don’t be a fool! Release me.
Now, dammit!” he ordered.

“No. I won’t let you do this.
I…I love you,” she whispered.

His expression lifted briefly
and then darkened with a mixture of fear and agony. “I…love…you,
too,” he said hoarsely.

She watched him swallow
convulsively.

“Please, save yourself. Release
me.”

Her eyes burned with tears and
she shook her head. Inhaling slowly, she looked at Morganna and
faced her bravely.

“If someone is going to die,
it’s going to be me. Take me, and spare him.”

Morganna visibly stiffened, her
hand slowly dropping. “What did you say?”

“No!” Bryce growled from the
floor.

“I said,
take me
!” she
said, her voice growing stronger. “If you’re so mad with vengeance
and want to take an innocent life just to make yourself feel
better, then take mine. I have nothing to lose because if you kill
him, you might as well kill me, too.”

Morganna raised her head to the
rafters and screamed with rage.

Zora was stunned. She didn’t
know what made Morganna—

What the hell?
Zora
stumbled back and nearly fell over Bryce. As she watched in horror,
Morganna’s body shimmered and flaked away into tiny bursts of
flame. She felt Bryce’s hand slip beneath her dress and hold onto
her leg to stop her from stumbling, but she didn’t pay attention to
him as Morganna screams faded away.

Then she just vanished, leaving
behind a film of dust falling to the floor. Stunned, Zora felt her
legs give way and she collapsed on her knees next to Bryce.

“Release me, dammit!”

Still dazed, she whispered the
spell to release him. Her hand dropped onto his bare chest, the
warmth and strength beneath her palm sending alarming signals to
her brain, but she kept staring at the spot where Morganna had
disappeared.

She shrieked when he moved like
lightening, kneeling in front of her and grabbing her by the
shoulders. He dragged her into his arms, his mouth crashing over
hers.

She completely forgot about
Morganna as he ran his mouth hungrily over hers. A part of her
brain asked her how was this happening? How was he still alive?
Another part didn’t care because she was melting.

She moaned beneath his mouth,
her hands running over his strong shoulders to clasp him at the
back of his head. She held on tightly and opened her mouth under
the passionate onslaught of his kiss.

He groaned as their tongues
meshed and mingled with passionate need, his hands drawing her
closer, crushing her breasts against him to his chest.

Zora was soaring too high and
too fast for conscious thought. All she could do was feel, and
right now, she wanted him.

Suddenly, Bryce dragged his
mouth away from hers. He cursed roughly under his breath and pulled
away completely.

Confused, she stared up at him
as he gave her his hand and helped her rise. This time she had a
very good look at his naked form and blushed at the extent of his
desire for her.

Grim-faced, he grabbed the throw
rug and wrapped it around his middle.

She stared up at him,
bewildered, and wondered what the hell had just happened.

Chapter Nine

Zora hadn’t figured it out,
Bryce thought grimly as he stared at her lovely face. “
Only the
purest of love can break the curse
,” he said. “That’s the cure
from your spell book. Your willingness to give your life for me set
us free. A pure and willing self-sacrifice broke the spell. I
realised that the curse was lifted the moment I grabbed your leg to
stop you from stumbling.”

She lifted her brows in
surprise. “You…you touched my leg not knowing the curse was
lifted?”

His face was grim. “Yes.”

“You could have died,” she cried
out.

“I didn’t.”

She drew in a shaky breath and
stared at the spot where Morganna had disappeared. “Where did she
go?”

He shook his head. “I don’t
know. Maybe you killed her, or just vanquished her, sending her
somewhere where she can never harm you or your family again.”

“I don’t have family.”

“You may, if you marry.”

“If…I…marry? I…don’t
understand.”

Bryce would rather die than hurt
her, but he couldn’t face watching her die of old age while he
remained young and eternal.

“Zora, I am an immortal,” he
began. “And you will grow old and die. I cannot bear to lose you
and live an eternity without you.”

“We could embrace the time we
have,” she said quietly, but he could tell she was holding back her
tears. “I don’t want you to leave.”

His gut clenched. “I have to
find the cure for my curse. I do not want to live as an immortal
anymore. Eternal life comes with a price I’ve paid too many times
already.”

“Bryce, you can’t mean
this—”

“I don’t want to watch you die!”
he roared, his eyes burning with the uncharacteristic threat of
tears. Dammit! He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried.