The sunlight that was able to sneak past the canopy of trees landed right on my face at the perfect angle to wake me up. I crinkled my nose and turned onto my side, curling up into the snoring mountain of warmth beside me.

I could definitely get used to sleeping like this. Alrik was easy to cuddle, the perfect pillow, and very...furry?

My eyes fluttered open, and I couldn't help but blink a few times as I tried to comprehend my position.

I was cuddling with an enormous black wolf.

When realization finally hit me, I let out a shriek and startled the sleeping wolf from his heavy slumber. He was on his feet before I knew it and standing over my body with a paw placed on my chest to hold me down. He growled fiercely, his eyes scanning the woods around us and his ears twitching as if he was listening for any suspicious noises. When he was satisfied with his search of our surroundings, he stepped away and let me sit up.

Although Alrik had shifted into his wolf before, this was the first time I was able to study him closely. His black fur was thick and glossy just like Alrik's hair, and his eyes were a few shades lighter than Alrik's so they almost looked silver instead of a stormy gray.

That was when I noticed the glint in his eyes that made him appear a lot more friendly and playful than Alrik did.

And my thoughts were confirmed when he stepped forward and licked my face, causing me to laugh at the rough, tickly sensation. I grabbed his muzzle between my hands, "Oh my goodness, you are so cute! And here I thought you would have a stick up your ass just like Alrik."

His wolf blinked, seemingly taken aback my words, before he bared his teeth at me and growled in an unthreatening manner. He moved away from me, and I realized what was about to happen and shut my eyes just in time as he shifted back to what I knew was going to be a completely naked Alpha male.

A part of me wanted a little peek, but the rest of me wanted to respect Alrik's privacy just like he did mine when my towel dropped so I waited quietly.

"You can open your eyes now," his gruff morning voice broke the silence.

I cracked an eye open and saw that he already had his pants on and was pulling his shirt over his head, "Your wolf seems so much nicer compared to you. And cuter."

Alrik raised his head and glared at me, "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not cute? If you knew half the things I did and half the things I want to do to you, then cute would be the last word on your mind."

Somehow every conversation we had turned in this direction– there was that much sexual tension between us, and one day I was sure we would rip each other's clothes off and not be able to stop.

I cleared my throat and stood up, "When you said 'things I did' do you mean things you did with other women?"

"You said it. I didn't."

I wasn't jealous. I wasn't jealous at all. This was a century ago. I shouldn't be jealous. It wasn't like I didn't do things with other men.

"That's nice," I shrugged nonchalantly, brushing the dirt off my clothes, "I hope you have experience with tying women up though. This one man I slept with tied me up, and it was quite possibly the best night of my life."

The last part was an embellishment. I didn't even orgasm, but Alrik didn't need to know that. The immature side of me was enjoying the snarl forming on his face.

I picked my bag up and swiveled on my heel to walk away but a warm hand gripped my bicep and yanked me back. My eyes trailed up the tense figure to the face of the furious Alpha.

Oops.

"Do not rile my wolf up like that," he whispered harshly, "I might not mind your past relationships, but my wolf wants the blood of every man who has ever touched your skin."

"Right. Got it," I swallowed, ignoring the heat forming in my abdomen, "No past men."

Alrik stared at me for a few moments, and I was caught off guard when the hand on my arm suddenly wrapped around my throat and pulled my face towards his. He placed a short, bruising kiss on my lips that lasted less than a second.

Then he stormed away, probably to calm his wolf down.

Was it bad that I enjoyed that?

***

Alrik ended up waiting for me a mile from where he had abandoned me. I was panting a little by the time I caught up to him, and he raised an eyebrow at my breathlessness.

"I–I sprinted a little," I wheezed between breaths, "I'm not much of a runner."

He nodded, "We'll work on your stamina when you come to my pack. It wouldn't hurt for you to learn how to defend yourself without magic."

"Speaking of going to your pack," I said, finally catching my breath, "How do we make this work? We already established that neither of us are leaving our respective groups."

He pursed his lips and glanced at the sky for a moment, "Would you be willing to move your Coven? I was thinking of having my Beta search for a bigger place than what you have now near my pack."

It was sweet of him to be thinking about my Coven. I didn't realize how many compromises we would have to be making to even continue whatever we had going on. It was going to be a painstaking process, but if we worked it out, then it would all be worth it in the end.

"That's a possibility," I nodded, "But I have to make sure everyone else is on board with the idea as well. I'm not the only one moving."

"We can discuss it more when we finish this search and go back. I want you to come to my pack so you see what it's like before you make a permanent move and I mark you. I don't know how long my wolf will last without marking you. He doesn't have the same amount of control I have."

"Are your wolves like your alter egos? They're everything that you're not?"

"It's sort of like that. Their personalities are meant to balance our personalities. If you're a more playful human, then your wolf is supposed to be more serious. The Moon Goddess creates us so that there is a perfect bond and partnership between man and wolf."

"That's why your wolf seems much more approachable."

"Who says I'm not approachable?" Alrik asked, although he already knew the answer to that.

I gave Alrik a deadpan look, "You stare at people like they're the dirt beneath your shoes. You scare them shitless."

"That would explain the seagull ruining my shirt," he mused.

I chuckled and picked up my pace, "Come on, we need to hurry before the rest of birds decide to show you how shitless they are too."

***

It took us a good two hours before we were able to arrive at what we hoped was our destination.

"So this is it?" Alrik asked as we stared at the homey little cottage in front of us.

I walked down the little gravel pathway to the door cautiously, "Let's hope there are no other houses on this island."

Just as I raised my fist to knock, the door swung open abruptly.

And I found myself eye to eye with a barrel of a gun.

This was not how I expected things to go.

Behind the gun, there was a tall woman, who looked like she was in her sixties, giving me a murderous look. At first glance, I knew she was Uncle Amos' mother because they shared the same facial features. She was practically the older, female version of him.

"Who are you?" She barked, pressing the gun into my skin.

Except she didn't sound as nice as he did.

Alrik reached forward and plucked the gun out of her hands, throwing it aside like it was a stick. Her aggressive stare withered away when she realized she was defenseless.

"Who are you?" She asked, much more calmly.

I managed to give her a small, professional smile, "Your son, Amos, was my mentor. He told me to find you when we needed to destroy the Book of Demonic Magic."

Her eyebrows rose just an inch before she nodded in understanding, "So you're the Beaumont girl. Amos mentioned you several times in his letters."

"He wrote to you?" I asked, surprised that Uncle Amos had actually been in contact with his mother.

She shook her head, "Not very often. The letters stopped coming after he realized I wasn't going to respond."

"Oh," I started awkwardly, clearing my throat, "Well, my name is Jaslynn and this is Alpha Alrik, and we have a few questions about the book's location if you don't mind. It's for the safety of the world."

Her eyes darted back and forth between Alrik and me before her face broke into a soft, harmless smile, "Then, do come in. I'll try to help you to the best of my abilities. And please call me Grandma Ester."

Grandma?

As she stepped aside to let us into her cottage, I shared a brief look with Alrik, who did not look comfortable in the slightest.

This woman gave me the creeps.

She looked innocent and harmless, but there was a dark glint in her eyes that I had seen many times in the eyes of my enemies.

Grandma Ester spelled trouble, and perhaps even danger, if we didn't keep our guards up.

Jaslynn stayed close to my side as we followed Ester to the small living room at the back of the cottage. The decorations and furniture reminded me of my own grandmother's house, but the reminder didn't give me any comfort.

It was starting to feel more and more like a trap of some sort.

My wolf was anxious to break out and start fighting the woman even if we didn't have any reason to. His primal instincts were to kill and escape and not look back– which was a plan I would normally follow but couldn't in this case.

Perhaps she would turn out to be a normal, creepy old lady that kids saw in parks, and she would give us the information we needed without putting up a fight.

"Have a seat," she chirped, gesturing to the couch, "I'll be right back with some tea and snacks."

Once she was out of sight, Jaslynn leaned closer to me, "Don't you think it's weird she didn't even ask for evidence that Uncle Amos knew me? With the information she has, you would think she'd be more closed off around us."

I nodded in agreement, "It is weird. Watch her every movement for anything suspicious. Who knows what she actually has planned?"

The woman returned carrying a tray with tea and cookies. I narrowed my eyes as she set the tray on the coffee table unsteadily, causing one of the cups to wobble and spill some of the hot liquid on Jaslynn's pants.

Jaslynn got up immediately, and Ester gasped dramatically, "Oh dear, let me take you to the bathroom."

"No, it's alright. I can find it myself," Jaslynn said calmly, "Where is it?"

"Third door down the hallway."

Jaslynn nodded and gave me a meaningful glance that told me to be careful before disappearing into the dark hallway.

"Well Alpha Alrik," Ester drawled, "Would you like some tea or cookies?"

I shook my head, "No."

She probably poisoned them both.

"I insist. You must have not had any homecooked food in a while," she said, picking up a teacup carefully with two hands and handing it to me.

"No–"

Her face hardened, and I knew this was her breaking point. She dropped the teacup on the white carpet, creating a large brown stain as the pieces of fine china shattered, and whipped her wand out of her pocket.

"Obstupefacio!"