Pack magic, p.1
Pack Magic, page 1
PACK MAGIC
A Shades of Night Sequel
J.E. Taylor
Pack Magic © 2022 J.E. Taylor
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Cover Art by Book Cover Artistry by Heather Hamilton-Senter
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
PACK MAGIC
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
About J.E. Taylor
PACK MAGIC
She’s a hybrid alpha scorned by her pack, until he arrives.
Daughter of a tribrid and a flame-touched alpha werewolf, Erica Young’s course in life should be set. Except no one wants a phoenix-werewolf with a taste for blood to be their alpha.
When the head of the werewolf council shows up with a possible candidate to take her place in the pack, sparks fly.
Logan Blaez, the prodigal son of the council head, is willing to challenge Erica for the role of alpha, even if that means a fight to the death. Until he lays eyes on her.
Now he wants to claim Erica as his mate and rule as her alpha.
Too bad Erica isn’t willing to submit, or give up her birthright.
Chapter 1
I STOOD IN FRONT of the Allegany pack council as they reviewed my father’s last wishes. His handwritten directive declared me the new alpha of the pack, but from the looks sliding my way, it wasn’t as simple as it should have been.
Before my dad was handed the alpha position by his father, there hadn’t even been a council to discuss who the next alpha should or shouldn’t be.
I glanced at Phillip. His perpetually tan profile was set with a frown. He’d been a staple in our household since before I was born. At first, he was my babysitter, then he became my friend and advisor. And when my parents died, he consoled me, promising me that everything would work out. But even his dark eyes were shaded and his jaw tight as the council took longer than necessary.
I nearly laughed aloud. The council that was debating my station in the pack had been created by my father years ago when he worked for the Monster Defense Agency. He wanted those in the pack to be able to conduct pack business without him present, only reaching out when they needed a critical decision. He thought it prudent to have boots on the ground here in Allegany instead of managing the pack from the city. In creating the board, he also gave them the right to endorse an alpha in his absence, which they had readily done a couple of times in previous years.
“Well?” I prodded. The silence and scowls were getting to me.
The head of the council, Alec Johnson, who had been one of my childhood friends, winced as our eyes met. He looked away quickly, and I knew the decision that they were making would put me at odds with the pack. If I chose, I could compel them to agree, but I wanted them to come to the right conclusion themselves.
He picked up the paper and waited until the council took their seats before his gaze moved to mine. “Erica.” He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “We, um.” He glanced around at the council and received nods. “We cannot accept this letter.” He put my father’s letter on the table before him and pushed it to the outer edge.
I blinked. “Why not? He was your alpha.” I clenched my hands, forcing the heat back. If I burst out in flame, it would highlight just how different I was.
“Because you are not a purebred wolf.”
“Excuse me?” I challenged.
He glanced around at the council for what looked like support, and he got it with smiles of encouragement. “You’re more than a werewolf.” He met my gaze and if I hadn’t known him all my life, I would swear his voice carried disdain, as if I were a freak that wouldn’t be tolerated. “You will have to fight for the alpha position.” He shifted his weight and glanced at the table. “And if you use any of your, um, unique powers, you will be rejected by the pack, even if you win.”
I was one of the best fighters in the pack, but that was with all my assets. I didn’t know whether I could suppress my other powers. They were all intertwined. But I had no choice. If I failed, at least I could lick my wounds and respect whoever kicked my ass. “Fine. Who am I fighting for the position?”
He met my gaze and bit his lip. “This is a fight to the death.”
I blinked and stepped back, fisting my hands tighter so they didn’t ignite. I swallowed hard and nodded my understanding. I wasn’t prepared to kill for the position. Especially considering my father had drilled taking care of the pack into my head since day one. I glanced at Phillip. He looked just as pissed as I was. He hadn’t expected this either.
“This is not what your alpha wanted,” he said from the side of the room.
“We’ve contacted the werewolf council and they’re going to be here tomorrow to oversee the transfer of power. They have a candidate who is a purebred who wants the position. And he is willing to fight you for it.” Alec inclined his head toward me.
Both aggravation and relief swept through me. I didn’t have to fight one of our own to the death. After some thinking time, I would probably have stepped aside for one of our own just because they were an Allegany pack member.
But an outsider, I would fight and kill without a problem.
“You’d rather have an outsider as alpha than one of your own?” My gaze scanned over the council, and what I saw made my vision turn red. I didn’t need a verbal affirmation. I clenched my teeth together and glared at the council. “I would have never pegged you, of all people, to be racist.” I marched to the table, swiped my father’s letter off the wood, turned, and stormed out before I burned the entire building down with my mounting fury.
They were trying to take away my birthright because I was not a normal werewolf. My brother wasn’t afflicted with the same curse I had, either. For some reason, my mother had conceived me at the height of her powers and in doing so, transferred her gifts to me. Witch. Phoenix. Vampire. And all the powers that were inherent magic of each species. And with my father in the mix, add in an alpha werewolf, and there I was: a supernatural trifecta with all the attributes mashed together in one body. Although, I wasn’t as massive as my father had been in wolf form, nor was I painted in gold-tipped fur like he was. No, my fur was far freakier.
When I shifted into werewolf form, my fur was actual flame.
Phillip fell into step next to me. His slim form kept pace.
The sun was at the angle that all we received were reflections from the storefronts, and my red hair blew in the breeze like flaming tendrils reaching back toward the town hall and the farce of a council. But I could feel the hesitation of the pack, their worry and their unsureness. It upset me even more, and I shut down that connection before I blew a gasket.
“Calm down,” he said softly.
Why didn’t men ever learn?
Telling a woman to calm down was like pushing the nuclear launch button. My anger skyrocketed. Phillip, telling me to calm down, was just as effective as trying to douse my fire with gasoline.
Although he had known me all my life, I doubted that he truly understood me.
“They don’t want me to lead, even with my father’s blessing.” I waved the handwritten note my father had scribed before he succumbed to death, naming me as the next alpha of the Allegany pack.
Phillip snatched the paper out of my hand a moment before my palms ignited. And then he leveled me a look meant to scold.
I ignored him, shaking the fire from my hand. “Racist shits.” I spat out the bitter words. Even if I wasn’t this freak of nature, I doubted they would allow a witch-wolf hybrid to lead the pack. “This is such bullshit!”
“I don’t disagree,” he said in that voice of his that normally settled calm over me, but it did nothing to quell the storm brewing.
“I don’t know that I can kill anyone,” I admitted as we walked up the driveway to the house that once belonged to my grandfather.
Phillip’s lip tilted up on one side. “Ah, but I can. I swore to your mother that I would protect you.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “No. They’d kill you in a second.” Phillip wasn’t officially a part of the pack. He was the resident tattoo artist who also happened to be a soul eater. But the pack wasn’t privy to what he was, just that he was other, and he helped my parents take down the Monster Defense Agency. My folks loved him like a brother and because of that, the pack overlooked his otherness. He’d never used his powers for gain, at least not in this millennium, but if he interceded in a fight for alpha, the pack would attack as one.
“If you are in danger, I will not hesitate.” He glanced at me as he held the front door open. “You are the last phoenix.”
His voice held reverence and it made me uncomfortable. But it was the truth. If I died, my species would die with me.
Chapter 2
TOMORROW. HOW THE HELL could I just lounge around until tomorrow?
I paced the floor like a caged lion looking for a way out, unable to sit still and concentrate on anything.
“Stop wearing out the floor,” Phillip said from his station on the couch. He had taken the remote from me after my tenth time just scrolling from station to station. He finally turned the tube off and tossed the remote on the table in disgust. “Your father should have expected this.” He ran his hands through his hair and stood up. “Come,” he ordered and headed toward the back of the house.
Phillip normally didn’t order me around, but his tone didn’t leave any leeway. I followed him to the workout room, where mats lined the floor and punching bags hung from the far wall, along with a weight set and a heavy-duty bar that we used for chin-ups and inversion exercises. My brother’s abs were cut like diamonds because of that thing.
“You need to train.” Phillip turned toward me, peeling his shirt off.
If he hadn’t been thousands of years old, I might have appreciated his ripped chest. And even though he was wiry, and as old as dirt, he still looked like a healthy mid-twenties, early thirties at best. He waved me in with just his fingers. It was an action that annoyed the hell out of me because it screamed of cockiness.
But I’d learned over the years that Phillip had every right to be cocky. He knew dozens of self-defense arts and was a hell of a fighter. I’d even seen him best my father in human form before. Yet, he never bested my mother. She was fierce in the ring. Give her a bo, and she could annihilate anyone, even without any magic left in the well.
Too bad I wouldn’t be able to use weapons like that to take down the alpha wanna-be. I was almost as proficient as my mom had been. Almost. My chest squeezed. I fiercely missed that woman. It had been almost ten years to the day that cancer had taken her down. A fricken’ human disease took out one of the icons of my world. My father hadn’t been the same after her death. It was as if his light had gone out with her. But he hung on long enough to teach me all the necessary rules of running the pack, letting me attend some of the council meetings, despite their grumblings about it. I learned a great deal of the ins and outs of running this well-oiled machine, from the finances to the leadership skills needed. I was more than ready, and then they threw this damn curveball.
“Earth to Erica.” Phillip snapped his fingers in front of my face.
I batted his hand away. “I’m here.”
“You weren’t just a moment ago.” He squared his feet and glared at me.
The intensity in his eyes made me wary. Phillip was not going to go easy on me today. I adjusted my stance and brought my hands up in loose fists like I had been taught.
Instead of circling around in a civilized sparring contest, Phillip launched at me with a growl.
Shock had me parrying and slipping my foot out to trip him, but he moved too fast, using my inertia against me. I found myself on my back on the mat, with his hand around my throat and a look of frustration that matched the fire burning inside me.
He released me and stood. “That was sloppy as hell. You need to be faster and more focused than that. He isn’t going to just dance around with you like this is a boxing match. You need to pull that alpha card and be aggressive.”
I climbed to my feet, took a breath, and recentered. Movement near the door pulled my gaze away from Phillip. My brother, William, leaned against the doorjamb with his arms crossed. He reminded me so much of our father that it always momentarily tightened my chest. The only difference was William had the same green eyes that I had, which didn’t match either of our parents.
His face was twisted into a scowl, which wasn’t his normal fun-loving smile, and the fire in his eyes made me pause and turn his way, giving Phillip my back. I took a step toward him and was yanked backward onto the mat so hard that it knocked my breath from my chest.
“Never turn your back on your opponent!” Phillip snarled in my face.
He was being unreasonably aggressive today. I waved at the doorway.
“Distractions are deadly.”
Phillip still gripped a handful of the front of my shirt, and his answer just served to annoy me.
“What if I were to fight instead of you?” William approached the center of the mat. “Mom and Dad wouldn’t want you at risk.”
I knocked Phillip’s hand away and climbed to my feet. “No. Just no. You aren’t fighting for my position.” I wiped off my backside and gave Phillip a wary side eye. I didn’t want to be pounded into the mat again.
“But Erica—”
I cut my brother off. “No. Mom and Dad would be pissed if I knowingly put you in a position of danger. And this isn’t just a sparring match. It’s a fight to the death.” I shook my head. “I’m not doing it.” I glared at him. “It’s my battle.”
“But—”
“No. Now if you want to help me, join Phillip here in my training session. If I can defend during a multi-attack event without leveraging anything but my alpha skills, I’ll be golden.”
“This isn’t a sparring lesson.” Phillip leveled the kind of glare that made me uncomfortable. “It’s a lesson in survival.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking both of you to give me your best.”
William kicked off his shoes, peeled off his shirt, and joined Phillip. And they both pulled out their best.
Needless to say, I went to bed bruised and battered and my ego knocked down a few pegs. Although Phillip wasn’t a werewolf, he was certainly a hellish adversary. I wouldn’t want to cross the man.
And William held his own.
A knock on my door interrupted my wound licking, and I sighed. “Come in.”
William opened the door and slid inside, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. The black eye that I had given him was nearly gone. He looked at his hands and chewed on his bottom lip like our father used to when he knew we wouldn’t like what was going to follow.
“Reconsider my offer.” His eyes lifted to meet mine.
“You’re all I have, Will.” I slowly shook my head. “This is my battle to win or lose. I can’t let you fight in my place. It isn’t right.”
“None of this is right,” he snapped. “At least if I go up against this outsider, you won’t be in jeopardy.”
“William.” I used his full name instead of the nickname he preferred. “I appreciate you trying to save me from a beating, but the answer is no. I love you too much to put you in the line of fire.”
“But, Sissy,” he started, using his favorite term of endearment. Erica had been too hard for him to say when he was little, but he hooked himself on sister, modifying it to suit his needs, and it stuck.
I held my hand up, stopping him. “No. Now let me get some sleep so I can heal these bruises.” I waved at the near dozen bruises riddling my arms and legs from our sparring matches. “And you don’t have to come and watch if you don’t want to.”
His lips curved into a whisp of a smile. “I wouldn’t miss being there to support you, Sissy.” He gave me a hug and left the room.
Sleep was hard-won tonight, but once it slipped in, it held on tight.
Chapter 3
MY ALARM WENT OFF, and I slammed my palm on the snooze button, turning over in bed to shade my eyes from the morning light. When it went off a second time, I rolled to hit that coveted snooze button, and paused at the numbers blinking on the display.
It was already after nine. The time the battle for alpha began a half an hour ago. I jumped out of bed and nearly flew to my bathroom, but I paused at the note hanging on the door in Phillip’s beautiful handwriting.
“Don’t panic. You aren’t late. The council sent notification that the fight wouldn’t start until ten. Traffic. Go figure. I’ll see you there.” And he had the audacity to put a smiley face under his text, like it would make me feel better.
