Outlaw Valley Wolf (Silver Fox Ranch Book 2) Read online

  “He sensed the gift within you and brought you to us.”

  There was something about the way they were dressed and the paint upon their faces that seemed familiar to Charlotte. It was clear to her then that those women practiced witchcraft. And they believed that Charlotte was one of them.

  Chapter Seven

  Abandoned Mines

  “Charlotte,” Wesley slurred, trying to drag his body from the cave as the wendigos ran off into the forest. Jesse’s mangled body was dragged from the treeline by Itsá. The native man dropped the other shifter beside the fire. “Where did that bastard take her? Who is he?” Wesley demanded, feeling as though he had been trampled on by a herd of wild horses.

  Itsá’s expression darkened by the second. “That was no man, Wesley.”

  Realization hit, and Wesley felt his heart stop. “The Wendigo Spirit.”

  “It has chosen a new body and took Charlotte.” The Apache shaman seemed disturbed by the fact. “I sensed the gift in her, but I never imagined he would be drawn to her.”

  “What the hell are you going on about?” he snarled. What does that thing want with Charlotte?” Wesley shoved his hands into the bag beside the fire and pulled out a spoon. He held the utensil in the fire until it glowed bright and pressed it to the arrow wound in his shoulder. His jaw clenched as the skin sizzled but had to close the wound quickly. The more time he wasted, the more Charlotte’s life was in danger.

  “Your mate has a natural talent for magic.”

  “Bullshit. And Charlotte ain’t my mate; she’s my friend.”

  “Then why does the wolf hunger for her?” Itsá asked with a hint of anger to his voice. The native man was rarely upset by anything. “You do not understand what a treasure it is to have someone love you the way Charlotte does. She came after you knowing her life was in danger and did not hesitate to fight her way to you. If not for the wendigo, she would have made it.”

  Wesley felt the accusation in Itsá’s words like a physical blow to the chest. He dropped the heated spoon to the ground and buttoned the shirt someone had dressed him in. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going after her.” Wesley wobbled slightly, using the wall to catch his balance as he stood up. “Charlotte needs me. It don’t matter what destiny says or how we may or may not feel about each other. I owe it to her. She saved my life twice now.”

  “You are weak, Wesley. If you go after her, then you will only get both of you killed.”

  “Then you will come with me, right?”

  Itsá shook his head. “And leave Jesse? He saved you too.”

  “He’s my best friend. I could never leave him behind.”

  “Well, he cannot fight like this.” The other man pointed to Jesse’s wounds. “The three of us must return to the ranch. Boone should be back from his trip soon. Charlotte Woodberry can handle herself. The Wendigo Spirit took her for a reason.”

  “Which means she’s more valuable to him alive than dead.” Wesley scrubbed a hand over his head and conceded defeat. Every piece of his soul screamed for him to go after Charlotte. The raging storm slowed to a constant trickle, allowing them to pack up the horses and head out without fear of getting too wet. The mountain path was a faster way back. It took less than a two-day ride for them to reach the edge of Silver Fox Ranch.

  Wesley’s horse pulled into the stables just as a wagon rolled in front of the house. Boone jumped from the bench seat and opened the back for his wife to climb out. The smiles fell from their faces as they caught sight of Wesley and Jesse. Boone rushed over and helped Itsá lift Jesse off of his horse. Abigail, however, took Wesley’s hand and pinched the skin of one of his fingers. She saw him flinch and shook her head. “You did some nerve damage, Wesley. You will be lucky if you are able to pull a trigger with that hand again.”

  “It’s worth it if it means I can go after Charlotte sooner rather than later.”

  Her features pinched into an expression of confusion. “What do you mean? Is Charlotte missing?” Abigail pulled Wesley aside as Boone and Itsá worked on Jesse. She walked beside him slowly, making their way to her office.

  “The Wendigo Spirit has been stirring up trouble for the past week or so.”

  “And what does this have to do with Charlotte?”

  Wesley pressed his hand to his chest to calm the ravenous pounding. “He took her.”

  Abigail gasped. “No. That...that cannot be. Was the Wendigo Spirit at the ranch?”

  He shook his head and tried to shove down the guilt that threatened to steal his voice. “I broke her heart, Doc. She did nothing but love me, and I hurt her. It don’t make much sense now, but I left the ranch to find that cabin ya’ll found up at the quarry.”

  “What were you hoping to find?”

  “A way to end it all, I guess,” he admitted. “I look at Sam every day and I see the pain he goes through. I don’t ever want to end up like that. I figured if I could take power into my own hands and hunt that thing down, kill it, and stop this war before it started that—”

  “That you could stop yourself from loving Charlotte?” Abigail’s brazen behavior still shocked Wesley from time to time. She did not shy away from the truth, and he respected that.

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “And Charlotte went after you when she found out you left.”

  All he could do was nod his head again. “The Wendigo Spirit has a new face. He has Charlotte, and none of us are strong enough to go after her at the moment. It’s all my fault.”

  “Yes, it is,” Abigail snapped. “I’m sure you had your reasons but if anything happens to Charlotte, that blame falls to your shoulders.”

  “Yes, ma’am. It does.”

  ~*~

  The witches watched her closely.

  Their leader stood before Charlotte and raised her hand. “Let me show you.”

  Charlotte knew she had no choice. Her heartbeat thrummed wildly in her chest as she walked towards the other woman and lifted her hand. A small palm pressed against hers, and Charlotte shivered as a burst of energy flowed through her. Her senses amplified, and suddenly sounds had color and smells were stronger.

  She glanced into the shimmering pool. She still looked like herself, but she did not feel like the woman she had been a moment ago. Icy hues of blue speckled in the other woman’s pale eyes. “Your name is...Kaia…”

  “And you are Charlotte.”

  Charlotte snatched her hand away. Her brow furrowed as she glanced at the other women in the room. She did not fear them, but she feared what they were capable of. Charlotte craned her neck and looked at the others. “Who are they?”

  “Sani, Denahi, and Ila. We are of different tribes and different blood, but we are sisters.”

  “Because of the gift.”

  “Precisely,” Kaia answered. She took Charlotte’s hand and led her to the glittering pool. “Your kind were hunted down, slaughtered because the world of man did not understand what beauty they were destroying. Your ancestors fled, moving to different ends of the Earth until you came here. One of the last…”

  Charlotte was surrounded by the native women. Their thin, elegant fingers pulled away the layers of her tattered clothing. Her cheeks flushed violently as she stood before them, bared to their gazes. Kaia stepped down and helped Charlotte into the waters. The others poured fragrant oils into the water as it slowly warmed. Light chanting echoed through the small chamber. Kaia dipped her hand into a bowl of paint and drew symbols on Charlotte’s arms and chest. She held her breath as magic swirled all around.

  Some sort of burning herbs filled the area with smoke, and she inhaled deeply.

  Charlotte’s vision shifted, allowing her to see ripples of light and color around the women as they worked. Hues of violet, crimson, and black danced around her. “What are you doing to me?” she whispered. Writhing figures of pure energy circled the pool as the chanting grew stronger. Charlotte quaked violently. Her muscles contracted over and over until Kaia forced her beneath the surface of the w
aters. She panicked, but her body refused to obey her mind.

  A swell of power roiled towards a sky streaked with amber clouds.

  Wesley called her name, but Sam stood before him with a sword of flame clutched in his hand. The red-eyed wolf shifter was pulled halfway into his wolf form, black veins covering his body. Charlotte came to stand beside Sam and placed her hand upon his shoulder. He handed her the sword. Charlotte tilted her head back and screamed towards the heavens as the power continued to build. The windows of the ranch house shattered.

  Her eyes opened, and she looked up at the sky.

  Millions of stars appeared and night eclipsed day.

  The sun and the moon had shifted into a red glow as blood began to rain from the sky.

  “Charlotte!” Wesley roared.

  She smiled as she drove the sword through his belly. His eyes were darkened with betrayal, and Charlotte pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I love you.”

  Through the puddles of blackening blood, hundreds of eyes peered out of a swirling portal. Charlotte kicked Wesley off of her blade and looked to where the others waited. The Wendigo Spirit stood at the center. Boone and Sam stood to his right as Abigail and Mary Ann stood at his left. The ground was littered with the bodies of those who had defied him.

  The realm had fallen through the cracks.

  Creatures of nightmares crawled up from the ground as the world burned asunder. Humans ran screaming while others were torn to pieces.

  Kaia’s hands left Charlotte, and she shot up out of the water. Gone were the spirits and the other witches. Charlotte floated upon the surface, gasping for air as the vision receded into the darkest corners of her memory. “No...no...I do not want that.”

  “It is your destiny, sister.”

  “I love Wesley. I could never hurt him.”

  “It was your love that set him free in the end,” Kaia explained. The native woman stepped out of the pool, and Charlotte followed. She was handed new clothes that she did not recognize. “Ethan will meet you for supper when you are ready. Rest for now.”

  Kaia disappeared, and Charlotte dropped the bundle of fabric to the ground. She brushed her hands along the walls, searching for a way out. There had to be something. Her fingers touched a strange symbol behind one of the crystal shards, and it burned her. Charlotte was trapped. Whatever spells were at work in her prison were strong.

  She dressed quickly. The dark blue corset gave her support, but the rest of the garments were loose and made of some sort of exotic fabric she did not recognize. It was soft to the touch and moved gracefully. Charlotte stepped into a pair of slippers and continued her fruitless search as uncertainty weighed heavily in her heart.

  An unseen door opened, and the man—Ethan, she supposed—approached her.

  “You look beautiful, Charlotte.”

  “Thank you.”

  He manifested a table and two chairs out of thin air. She chewed the inside of her cheek and tried to keep her wits about her. Ethan gestured for her to sit, and she obeyed without question, not wanting to anger the stranger. “What is it you want with me?”

  “I am sure you are aware of the war coming to these lands. It would please me greatly if you were by my side.” There was something lecherous in his smile.

  Chapter Eight

  Three weeks later…

  Wolf Valley

  The sunlight bathed the town in a warm glow as it peeked out from behind the mountains in the distance. A soft flutter of snow drifted towards the ground as Wesley James tied his horse to the hitching post outside of the saloon. Nearly fifteen people had gone missing in the days that had passed, and he was no closer to finding Charlotte. Folks of all shapes, sizes, and colors moseyed from one place to the next, but an eerie silence had fallen over Wolf Valley. Wesley lowered his hat and walked towards the swinging doors of the saloon.

  A sharp whistle came from over his shoulder, and Wesley glanced back to see Boone and Beth heading over. He felt bad for leaving the others out of his search, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. While everyone had been busy fixing up Jesse, Wesley snuck out in the middle of the night as he had the day he went looking for the Wendigo Spirit.

  Sunlight winked off a sheriff’s badge that was pinned just above the breast of Boone’s coat. Wesley eyed the new adornment that his friend sported. “Never took you for the lawman type, Boone. What made you sign up for that job?”

  “Somebody had to do it, Wesley. The last sheriff was taken, and none of those drunken fools he made deputy were willin’ to step up to take over. Mayor Weston asked me to stand in until he could find a replacement,” Boone explained.

  “And what about you, Beth?”

  She shrugged. “I had nothing better to do.”

  “I won’t be in town for long; I’m just following some leads.”

  Wesley turned around and was instantly pulled into a brotherly hug by his old friend. “I can’t go with you when you leave town. Heck, not many of us can, but promise me you will take Beth with you when you head out. I mean it, Wesley.”

  “If I agree, are you gonna let me go?” Wesley scoffed.

  Boone released him, and Beth offered to buy Wesley a drink while the new town sheriff got back to work. He was surprised that she did not mind walking into the saloon. Most women cared more about their reputation, but Beth seemed to be an exception to the rule. “I talked to a lady down at the brothel. Her name was Ariel. Said she spoke with Charlotte quite a lot about you,” Beth revealed. “Charlotte was going to give up everything to go to the ranch.”

  “I know.”

  “You did?”

  He nodded slowly. “I told her not to.” Wesley steeled himself against the judgment he had come to expect, but none came. Beth simply raised her hand and ordered them a round of whiskey. Wesley took a sip of his drink before speaking. “I wasn’t a bounty hunter like Boone used to be, but I think I’m close to finding Charlotte. The wendigo seem to go underground at night, using tunnels to move around. I figure if I can find the entrance, then I can go looking.”

  Beth nodded her head and drained her glass dry. She signaled the server for another drink as Wesley swirled the liquor around in his glass. Beth cleared her throat and pulled a map out of her pocket. “You aren’t the only one that’s been doing some searching. I’m supposed to meet with the lawyers next month about my grandmother’s will, but I looked through her things and found out that my uncles were all miners.” She laid the map out on the table. “They worked in the mines near the quarry where Charlotte was taken. All of you were hunkered down near the entrance of their nest, and you did not even know it.”

  Wesley stared at the map in awe. “How do you know that?”

  Beth slid her finger along one of the mine shafts. “According to this map, this tunnel was never finished before the collapse that closed off the southern tunnels. I’d wager somebody finished it and connected it to the ones that did not cave in.”

  “Is there a second way in?”

  Voices broke through their discussion before Beth could answer. Wesley felt a drunken man bump into him, causing him to spill his drink. He stood up swiftly, and his chair fell over. “Watch where you’re walking, partner.”

  “Easy, Wesley,” Beth warned. “It isn’t worth it.”

  Pain exploded across Wesley’s cheek as the burly man landed a punch.

  He shook his head to clear the stars that dance behind his eyes and shoved the other man until he fell against the wall. The sound of a bottle breaking caught his attention, and Wesley ducked before it came slashing towards his face. Beth jumped up onto the table and used it to launch herself at one of the biggest men in the brawl. She held her own against two of the men that were twice her size as Wesley took care of the other five.

  A knife flashed in the skinshifter’s peripheral vision. He jumped back but felt something sharp stick him in the side. Beth grabbed the whiskey bottle from the table and broke it over one of the men's heads before pulling the knife out
of Wesley’s side. She spun and sent the knife hurling through the air. Wesley bashed his elbow into his opponent’s face before turning around and kicking another man in the sternum. The knife Beth threw impaled another man in the thigh, and Wesley chuckled. Beth was an amazing fighter.

  Gunshots rang out, and people scattered.

  Wesley slid across the bar and landed on the other side. Beth dove for cover beside him, pressing her back against the wall. He flipped open the holster at his hip and spun his revolver with a stiff hand. Abigail had been right when she told him about the damage he had done to his nerves. Beth must have seen his hands shaking, for she snatched the gun up and loaded the weapon for him. Wesley nodded his thanks and took aim over the top of the bar.

  “We’ll have to make a run for the back door.”

  “I’ll grab the map and meet you at the corral,” she snickered. “This is fun, ain’t it?”

  ~*~

  Charlotte rolled across the floor to avoid the blast of magic that came hurtling towards her, cursing as the pain in her body caused muscles to ache. Kaia’s arms came around her, and Charlotte reared back and bashed her head into the other woman’s skull. When she was released, Charlotte kicked Kaia back and forced the other woman against the wall. She slammed her fists into Kaia’s middle as she fought for her life. The portal would close soon. She had to move quickly. Kaia groaned with each punch but thrust her knee into Charlotte’s belly.

  She stumbled back with a shout.

  Charlotte spit blood onto the floor as searing pain rendered her unable to move. Kaia recovered quickly and used one of the spell books to knock Charlotte to her knees. Her ears began to ring as blood poured from between her lips. She dug her fingers into the dirt and pulled out a rock, using it to beat Kaia over and over until she went limp. Another blast of magic came, but from one of the other witches. Charlotte hit the other wall hard, but she braced her feet against the crystal surface and used it as leverage. She cast a spell of her own and bounced off the wall, hitting Kaia in the throat with her fist.