Day Two. Morning.

DELILAH

We arrived back at the auto shop at sundown. Cole ended up carrying me for part of the way.

Somewhere on our journey, between the cold and the walk, I grew tired and lost the trail.

After stumbling several times, I had to call it quits, and when Cole picked me up, I didn’t resist.

I was starting to understand these woods, though the exhaustion was now etched into my face and feet.

Cole placed me in a car and turned on the heat; I fell asleep on the drive, and before I knew it, Seth was shaking me awake gently.

“Hey, you’re here. Are you hungry?”

I rubbed my eyes, slowly getting out of the car. “No, just tired. I need to rest.”

Immediately, Cole was by my side, placing a hand on my back and guiding me inside.

The look on Seth’s face was a bit annoyed—I wasn’t sure how they picked their women, but it certainly looked as if sharing was not something they did.

No surprise there, and they both seemed to want me.

How did they stake claim though?

In the end, it wouldn’t matter. One or both of them would have a mate in two days before the sun set.

Plus, I didn’t play with their kind. I knew better. They were possessive creatures and messing with an alpha was not an option.

Letting yourself get involved with one was the equivalent of becoming their little plaything until they were done. They were too dominant to ever let one of their playthings refuse them.

If anything, they would turn them into prey.

Some women may not mind that, but I was not an object to be had.

Nor would I condone being someone’s little submissive fuck toy. Being ravished by a man and being an object were two very different things.

Only one was voluntary. At least that’s how I felt. But then, I was naturally a leader as well.

My mind was too foggy to think of the implications as Cole ushered me inside.

There were several of the pack members in the house as Cole guided me down the hallway, but I didn’t really take any notice.

The only thing I paid attention to was the bedroom door opening, Cole leading me to a soft bed, and then waking up to the sun on my face with my teeth feeling fuzzy.

I felt like I had been hit by a train. Yesterday had been so busy, and today would be much of the same.

Closing my eyes, I enjoyed the feeling of the sun on my skin for a few more moments before I took a deep breath and sat up.

My bag was sitting on top of a small dresser, and my two smaller suitcases sat at the foot of it. I dug into those first.

Usually, I liked to wake up and meditate as the sun rose the rest of the way, or sometimes I’d wake up and enjoy a cup of coffee.

Today, like so many other days when I had spare time, I pulled out the supplies for the same spell I had fudged yesterday back in the hotel, before I’d met with Jewel.

I poured out salt in a circle big enough for myself and my supplies, leaving part of it open.

I cracked the window and lit incense, lit my pillar candles, and used my rose water to bathe my forehead.

Then I stepped into and closed my circle.

The herbs, chalice, and athame were all ready for me.

Feeling the energy swirl around me, I said the words that needed to be said.

Taking several breaths, I focused on grinding up the herbs as I chanted, then placed them in the wine.

With a quick movement, I slit my hand near the other cut from yesterday and raised it to let my blood drip into the chalice.

But before I could complete my task, the door burst open, blowing out my candles.

The drops of blood fell uselessly to the floor as I looked up, startled.

Seth stood in the doorway, his chest heaving and nostrils flared as he attempted to look for the threat.

“I smelled blood,” he said, growling and still looking around for a threat.

I sighed, covering my wound with a nearby cloth I had set there for afterward.

“I’m a witch, it’s an occupational hazard. Do you wolves always burst into other people’s rooms unannounced? I could have been naked,” I scolded.

Seth cocked a brow at me. “Nakedness doesn’t bother us,” he said, taking another step into my room and looking around at my spell work.

He seemed overly curious about what I was doing, making me feel as if my space had been even more intruded.

I was also a bit embarrassed—not that he would be able to recognize the spell.

At least not yet.

Standing up, I stepped out of my circle, the casting already broken as I went to the dresser next to him to tend to my wound with the first aid kit in my big bag.

Seeing me try to unzip the bag, Seth quickly went to work. He got out the items I needed, then insisted I give him my hand.

Hesitating, I took off the cloth and handed it to him then flinched as he sucked in a breath between his teeth.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

I curled my fingers up, blushing and looking away from him. Touching him like this made me tingle, and the horrified look on his face made me defensive.

“I put on a poultice every night, it’s fine.”

I had marks all over my hand, some fresh, some healing, and many, many light white scars.

“Can’t you just, like…heal them?” he asked.

I frowned as he cleaned and bandaged the cut. “I could; it takes a bit of effort but I could have my hand good as new, that’s true.”

“Why don’t you?” Seth asked softly, letting go of my hand.

Tossing back my hair, I looked up at him, my gaze hard and firm. “Because I choose not to,” I said, leaving it at that.

I didn’t like being questioned about personal things.

I couldn’t tell him why—there was a very deep and important reason I did this spell so often.

Why I continued to cut myself every day, when fixing it would take me maybe two minutes.

Why I punished myself, over and over again, with the reminder that I couldn’t do this spell.

It wasn’t something I’d tell a client.

“You’re a very odd human,” Seth said.

I glared at him, crossing my arms. “I’m a witch. We live longer. I may seem human, but I’m closer to magic than any hedge witch. So please don’t continue to offend me by comparing me to humans.”

I was aware I was poking a bear, but he was pissing me off.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely, looking at me. “I’m out of my element with a witch in our home. We’ve worked with your kind before but never this closely.”

“Well, you’re asking for a very intimate spell,” I muttered, going to clean up my mess.

“Why does it have to be so intimate, though?” Seth asked, coming up behind me.

I could feel his heat. It was almost like I could sense—

Before I knew it, I was bracing myself on my hands as I felt Seth’s hard length press against my backside, his hands on my hips as my eyes flew open.

My lips parted, and a small noise left my throat in surprise. I was frozen, unsure of how to handle this situation.

“See, I woke up with this raging hard-on, thinking of all the things you and my brother might have done yesterday.

“My wolf wants to fuck you—like he fucked you. But we both know he hasn’t, since that’s the rule, right?” Seth growled, his fingers digging into my ass.

I licked my lips, trying not to make any sound of arousal—this was somehow incredibly hot and I could feel the desire already building up between my thighs.

I couldn’t deny that I was attracted to them.

And they were wolves. Wolves had very, very good noses.

I was certain they could smell my arousal for them both.

I wasn’t prepared for this, I hadn’t expected it from Seth, the brother that was seemingly…less aggressive than Cole.

I had misjudged him. Greatly.

This made it seem like Cole had been on his best behavior yesterday.

I could see him in my mind—eyeing me like I was prey all through the woods, stalking me.

He hadn’t done anything untoward though, nothing like this.

“Yes, that’s the rule. We didn’t do anything,” I said, trying to keep my voice even.

“There’s no rule about making you cum though, is there?”

“Wh-wh—” I could barely get a word out before his hand trailed up my leg to snake under my shorts over my panties.

His finger pressed against my clit, making my knees shake and a moan leave my mouth as I saw stars.

How long had it been since I had been touched like this?

“Look at you, already wet. I can feel it through your panties. You want us. You want us so bad it aches, don’t you?” Seth asked, roughly rubbing me in small circles.

I moaned, my legs shaking as my hands held fast onto the ground.

I hadn’t done anything this sexual in... God I couldn’t even count on how long.

~This is a job. Look at it as a job, Dee.~

~No matter how sexy they are.~

He was right. I did want them, but this was business.

Somewhere out there, these two had mates. And in order for this spell to work, they needed to be sexually frustrated.

The more lust and energy I put into the spell would fuel it, so the overwhelming urge to join would drive them to meet with their true mate.

“I—I—” The words stuttered out as his warm finger rubbed my sensitive clit again, in slow, slow rotations.

“You... what?” he purred, pausing his movements.

I whimpered, my legs shaking as he withheld his touch, instinctively grinding my hips. “I—I... I do,” I admitted.

“You do what?” he asked patiently, pulling aside my underwear.

My knees shook with anticipation, my core moist.

I knew what he wanted me to say, but the embarrassment was too much.

Biting my lip, I tried not to make a noise, mulling over if I should say something or not.

I took a deep breath and tried to move, but Seth held fast to my hip.

Then he moved his arm, pulling me flush against him. His hand crept to my breast, making me cry out.

“Uh-uh, not so fast, pet. Tell me what it is that you want to do,” he asked, taking my earlobe in his teeth and giving it a small tug.

I felt my knees shake, his fingers rubbing my outer folds, feeling my need, spreading them with his fingertips.

“I—I... want... you... both. Sexually,” I ground out, feeling helpless. I was at his mercy, and completely and utterly in need of the release I knew he could give.

“Ah see, that wasn’t so hard, pet,” Seth said.

He ran a finger up my wet lips, applying pressure to my sensitive nub. “But I think if we’re going to be frustrated, I think it’s only fair that you are too.”

~What!?~

I wanted to sob as he pulled away, my legs still shaking as I sunk to the ground.

He left my room without another word.

I refused to beg. I ran a hand through my hair, looking at the mess around me, my thighs pressing together.

I could take care of my frustration myself, but any relief I could give would be shy in comparison, and only leave me more needy.

This spell would certainly be powerful, especially if they both teased me.

But that fact aside, this was turning out to be the shittiest assignment of all time.