“What’s that bird holding?”
Before Jamie could answer, she ducked as Rico released a thick book right onto Tully’s head.
“Ow! That damn bird!”
She cringed even as she tried not to laugh. “I’m sorry.” Rico really hated him, and Jamie had no idea why.
Rubbing where the book had hit him with one hand, Tully reached for the tome with the other. Jamie glanced at the book, saw the title and, feeling a sudden surge of energy, made a made grab for it. Tully caught hold of her, his arm tight around her waist, and held the book out of her reach with that long arm.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, eyeing her close.
“Nothing. Just give me the book.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m telling you to give me the book.”
Not surprisingly, he didn’t. He had to be the most contrary canine she’d ever dealt with. He did not take orders well. Instead he flipped the book over and looked at the cover.
“Sex Magick,” he read out loud. “Now, beautiful,” and she didn’t have to look at him to know the trifling bastard was grinning from ear to ear, “you know I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help you out. As many times as necessary.”
Belong to the Night
SHELLY LAURENSTON
CYNTHIA EDEN
SHERRILL QUINN
KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
CONTENTS
THE WOLF, THE WITCH, AND HER LACK OF WARDROBE
by Shelly Laurenston
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
IN THE DARK
by Cynthia Eden
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
CITY OF THE DEAD
by Sherrill Quinn
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
The Wolf, the Witch, and Her Lack of Wardrobe
SHELLY LAURENSTON
Prologue
From the day the first one stumbled into the middle of town, beaten, tortured, and branded, witches had been a part of Smithville County. The first one had escaped her captors, religious fanatics determined to find out the names of the females in her coven. The elders of that town sent their strongest men to find her, tracking her right into Smithville. They found her, too…and the seven hundred pound tiger cautiously sniffing her. They’d started to back away, praying the beast wouldn’t notice them. He didn’t, since he was too focused on the pretty little thing passed out in the middle of the street. But the pride of lions noticed the men. So did the clan of hyenas. And then there were the wolves…
None of them liking strangers in their territory. Liking full-humans even less.
Although that witch was the first, she would not be the last that came to Smithville. When each coven grew too old or too weak to continue protecting the town from the evil outside its borders, another stepped in to take the old coven’s place. Most came willingly, the powers they worshipped giving them the map to a place where they could feel free and protected. They’d show up one day, confused and lost, wondering how they got there and sensing that they’d never want to leave. They never did either. Most never bothered to try.
Each coven was unique, their particular strengths needed at that particular point in time. But they were also very similar. Good, simple women who wanted a safe place to worship their gods and raise their children. They’d chant happily in the early evenings and dance naked under the full moon.
It was all simple, beautiful, and very “We are one world, love everyone, save Mother Earth.” And for nearly four hundred years, none of that had changed.
Until now. Until the day the Coven of the Darkest Night came into town and changed absolutely everything.
Chapter One
If there was one thing Tully Smith, Alpha Male of the Smithville County Smith Pack and mayor of Smithville Township, could say about Jamie Meacham, it was that he loved the way she made an entrance.
To think he used to find these elder meetings pretty dang boring. Mostly because there was a lot of talk, a lot of complaining, and lots of less-than-subtle threatening, but there was never any action. And then, ten months ago, a new coven had taken over from the old. The Coven of the Darkest Night was what they called themselves. All of them from up north or, as his stepbrother Kyle Treharne called it, “Yankee territory.”
Jamie—dressed in her well-worn jeans, ten-year-old T-shirt, and five-year-old running shoes—came into the room the same way every time, slamming the double doors for the junior high’s music room open and striding in. She seemed to stride everywhere. She was tall for a full-human. About five-eleven or so. But perfectly built with a strong body, a tight and exquisitely proportioned ass, and breasts that were definitely more than a handful, even for him. Even with all that to keep him entertained, he couldn’t look away from those eyes. If he didn’t know for a fact she was full-human, he’d swear she was one of them. It wouldn’t matter what breed either. It was her eyes. She had the eyes of a predator and, he’d bet, the soul of one, too.
“Afternoon, everyone,” she said cheerily, her grin wide. “How is everyone this beautiful day?”
Tully had to duck his head, rubbing his nose to stop the laughter. He could hear his stepdaddy, Jack Treharne, growling across from him, annoyed by Jamie’s obnoxiously perky cheeriness.
Behind Jamie came the rest of her coven. As a functioning unit, they weren’t half bad, although there seemed to be more infighting among five full-human females than there was among the nearly fifty-five members of the local Martoni Hyena Clan. But each