Talons

Chapter 113: The Enchanting

Colton’s POV

The car is barely in park when I jump out and sprint toward the bar. I push open the door, and the fear I was feeling completely melted into anger.

My mate, my fated partner, my luna was allowing a f*cking warlock to rub his body all over hers.

I didn’t even try to stop Orlin when he fought for control, and the resulting growl that escaped my lips shook the entire room. My mate turns to face me, and I can see the terror in her eyes, which is good because she should be afraid. 

“Mine!” My voice comes out raspy and rough because my wolf is at the surface while my consciousness is somewhere in the middle.

Rhea starts to retreat, and to me, it's an indication that she knows she’s done something wrong. I leap forward, wanting to get to her, but the man who had his hands all over her blocks my path. 

I don’t give a f*ck what kind of supernatural being he is, warlock, vampire, werewolf, hell even a troll. I’ve fought all kinds of men, and unless he can get off a spell, he’s no match for me.

I punch the warlock in the jaw, hearing a satisfying crack as I hinder his ability to chant. I know that mental spells aren’t as strong as the ones spoken aloud, but I don’t plan to give him that opportunity either.

I grab his collar and keep pounding my fist against his face until his body goes limp, and then I turn my gaze back to my mate.

I take two steps before Holly intercepts me, she is covered in sweat, but I’m too worked up to ask why, and assume it’s a manifestation of her fear.

I violently shove her out of my way, and Rhea begins to shake in terror, but she should have considered the consequences before I caught her. 

“B, run!” Holly shouts, and I feel her jump on my back as my beta female holds a rear door open for her cousin.

A loud roar escapes my lips, and while I hear my cousin calling out to me, I can’t hear what she is saying at all. As far as cliches go, all I’m seeing is red, and I want nothing more than to catch my mate right now.

I shake off Holly, darting for the exit Rhea took, and Mandy tries to block my path, but with a nonverbal command, she is forced to move out of my way. I will address her betrayal after I remind Rhea who her mate is.

I can hear Carter's voice now, but whatever he is saying escapes me as I push through the door and my eyes narrow in on my mate's departing figure.

Rhea's POV

Colton has always frightened me, terrified me even, but right now, what I'm feeling is beyond anything I've ever experienced. He looks like a demon, and I know that if I don't get away, he is going to kill me.

Hearing Holly tell me to run was all I needed to snap my body out of its petrified state, and when I saw Mandy holding the back door open for me, I knew it was serious. 

My cousin may not be under a blood oath, however as a beta female, it's against her nature to go against her alpha. For her to be taking this risk right now means that she’s worried about my safety.

For as much as I dislike it, I am Colton's fated mate, which makes me her future luna, who she will also swear to protect and obey.

Her bond with Colton may be significant, but it does not surpass the bond she and I share through both blood and through the years that we spent leaning on one another for emotional support.

Unsure of my surroundings, I quickly glance around and head for the tree line. If I can make it before Colton can catch me, I may be able to shift and escape him.

"Don't shift," Sylvia says, and I'm surprised that she hasn't gone dormant yet. I can feel her anxiety, and something tells me that we are living one of her nightmares. "He will mount us if we do."

Horror consumes me as I realize what I've just done. I ran from an alpha male with a claim toward me, and my only hope now is that I can get away before he violates me.

My vision goes blurry as tears bud in my eyes, and despite how fast I am, my body starts slowing as my mind struggles to come up with a plan. 

If I fight back, my parents will die, and since she went against her alpha to help me, Mandy will also be put in danger.

The thing with the mate bond is that it does not always intercede in fits of anger. A fated partner who kills his or her mate always looks for someone else to blame before being overcome with grief, madness, and eventually death.

It's said to be a judgement passed from the lady on the moon, and right about now, I really hate her for putting me in this position; that is if she’s even real.

Adrian's POV

I saw a woman who appeared to glow in the dim bar lights and once I smelled her, I had to have her. I immediately chanted a spell on the room, making everyone except the women she is with ignore her. 

I then turn my attention toward the woman, but there is no result. I find myself tilting my head at the unknown woman; this has never happened to me before.

I am a hybrid between an incubus and a witch. My mother was a powerful coven leader, who was seduced by my father, who was ready to have an heir.

I was born with both the ability to seduce with my aura, and the ability to use magic, which I can only imagine is rare, since I haven’t met any others like me.

That is saying a lot because I was also granted the gift of a long life, and while I don't know if I will be immortal like my father, it's been one-hundred-and-twenty-five-years and I haven't aged since my twenties.

No matter how many spells I cast toward her, the woman didn't look my way once, so I turned my magic onto her friend, who immediately suggested for them to play darts.

As they play, I continue to throw magic at the woman I want, but she is still oblivious to my presence. I'm curious as to what she is, because it's definitely more than a pretty she-wolf, I can smell it on her.

After enchanting the phone they kept taking pictures with, the two other women stepped aside, giving me room to do my incubus thing. 

If the woman is wearing a warding charm, magic won’t work on her, but the abilities I inherited from my father aren’t based in witchcraft, thus they aren’t affected by charms.

“Excuse me? Would you mind if I join you? All the other boards are taken.” The woman scans my body before handing me the cup of darts, and all the while I'm chanting a spell in my mind, but she isn't moved at all. We take turns trying to hit the board when I see another opportunity. "Your release is wrong." I say, then I show her my perfect aim after enchanting a dart to never miss.

I can tell she is weary, but the woman eventually allows me to position her arm correctly, and using my incubus nature, I try to smother her in my arousal.

Somehow, she’s unaffected and I'm left scratching my head. I can smell her, she isn't marked, nor is she a succubus, so she must be something that isn’t recorded in supernatural records, a new species even.

“You don't belong here B; and before you ask, that isn’t a threat.” I had only just introduced myself to the woman, but I already know that she is special, and I feel the need to warn her.

It's been so easy to get women into my bed that it's become boring to me. The only reason I continue to do it is because I'm driven by my s****l desire, which if unchecked can lead me down a very dark path.

I start throwing the darts again, thinking of another spell I can try when I hear B’s melodious voice again.

"I get it, you come here often." I hadn't even realized I was showing off for the woman until she mocked me.

It's been so long since a woman has genuinely made me laugh that I find myself drawn to her, much the way she should be drawn to me. Whatever this woman is, I want her for myself.

I'm not a wolf, but I can put a mark on her with magic, and I'm seriously considering making her mine forever, but she stiffened in discomfort when I got close again, so I drew back, not wanting to have to resort to violence if she flees.

“Sorry, I just thought of another technique that might be simpler for you.” I position her arm while mulling over spells that would help me lay claim to her.

Finding one, I release my entire aura, laying my scent heavily over her in preparation for the spell I will cast. I plan to bind our souls, which is similar to a mate bond, but I will still have to work to make her mine.

Just as I start chanting, I'm interrupted by a sinister growl that almost makes me flee. 

I had been covering the woman in my scent without regard to those around me because I've spelled them to ignore us, but the man who just entered isn't under my enthrall.

Men and incubi don’t get along. Simply put, we are a threat to them, and supernatural alpha males are by far the worst to get on the bad side of. 

I completely forget about the gorgeous enigma of a woman as I start to chant, but the male must have been trained to fight against warlocks, because he immediately breaks my jaw.

I allow myself to be beaten, committing the males face to memory because he will lead me to the woman I want.

"My mate!" The man snarls, and I swear I feel like my heart broke into pieces. 

Still, I won't give up. B isn't ordinary, and despite what the man pummeling me has said, I could see the fear in her eyes when she looked at him.

"For now," I force my shattered jaw to let out before I'm rendered unconscious.