Sorcerous Rogue: Spirit Sorceress: Book 3 Read online

  Sorcerous Rogue

  Spirit Sorceress Series: Book 3

  Author: D. L. Harrison

  Copyright 2017. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.

  Table of Contents:

  Table of Contents:

  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

  Chapter Nineteen

  Epilogue

  Afterword:

  About the Author

  Other books by D. L. Harrison:

  Book Description

  Chapter One

  The eyes of over twenty predators stared at me as I walked into the room with Jared, and sat down for breakfast.

  It was a bit disconcerting, as I felt them judging me, and my suitability for their alpha. Fortunately, only one of those pair of eyes looked as if the owner wanted to tear me apart. Most were neutral, and I had a feeling they weren’t quite sure of me yet, but a werewolf wouldn’t show that in their demeanor, it was a weakness to show doubt. There were a couple of pairs of eyes however, that looked welcoming.

  Bob and Reah actually had faint but encouraging smiles on their faces. What made things awkward, was it was Reah’s father Ted, who looked like he wanted to tear me apart. I knew he hated vampires, a rogue had killed his wife. I couldn’t even imagine what he must feel when his daughter was making nice with one, or that his alpha had claimed one as his mate. Of course, Ted also happened to be the beta, which meant he was high up in the pack hierarchy which made it worse.

  I tried to ignore it as best as I could. Because sticking my head in the sand works so well for me.

  The despair I’d felt on my third day as a vampire, at finding out my destined mate was a werewolf had pretty much flown. The fears I’d held that we wouldn’t be able to connect hadn’t held true, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t as complicated as all hell. I was sure, that if it wasn’t for the spirit magic shield I held at all times, keeping the shifters’ fire and earth magic from seeing my vampire air magic, this wouldn’t work at all.

  I was a spirit sorceress, and a vampire, I was part of a coven who I worked and lived with. My mate was a werewolf, and not just any werewolf, the alpha of the Seattle pack. I’d barely found a balance between the first two, now I had a third even larger complication, and I wasn’t at all sure how to balance my life.

  Jared already wanted me to move in with the pack, which should have thrilled me, and did as far as my heart was concerned.

  The problem was I was a part of three worlds, three worlds that weren’t supposed to mix at all.

  Spirit sorceresses stayed separate, with immediate family. It was to give us perspective, and not be tempted to intervene as people of all kinds lived and learned by living their latest life on the wheel. It wasn’t an easy thing, but we weren’t supposed to be focused on specific lives, our focus was the spirit, and the journey of their soul.

  Vampires stayed with covens and protected them zealously, and werewolves stayed with the pack and did the same. As the Alpha’s mate, I would become part of the pack, as a vampire? All relationships had problems, but mine was extra special that way. Not that I wouldn’t fight, I’d dreamed of finding my mate for over forty years, ever since I was a young spirit sorceress of sixty or so, so I wouldn’t be giving up.

  But things had moved very fast, werewolves were like that, once they recognized their mates they were ready to start a life together. I’d been putting him off so far though, I needed to take a breath, and think things out.

  I needed to figure out how to balance it all, the responsibilities of a spirit sorceress, the friendships, responsibilities, and jobs with my vampire coven, and now where I fit in with a werewolf pack. I wasn’t only just worried about balancing it all, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to, that something would have to give.

  That something would break.

  So far I’d put Jared off on the moving in thing because of that, but I couldn’t help spending the night like I had. Truthfully, I had a very hard time saying no to him about anything, but moving in right away, and him trying to keep me out of danger, were the two things I felt I had to fight. I wouldn’t be coddled or kept.

  As far as Jared and I personally, that was both incredibly easy and hard at the same time. I loved being with him, but his alpha personality both turned me on and pissed me off. Overprotective just didn’t do it justice. I had a similar effect on him as well when his orders bounced off me and I did what I wanted. At least, if the growls were any indication, which I kind of enjoyed truth be told.

  I dug into breakfast, no one had even spoken yet, just a few grunts and nods to their alpha as we’d walked in. I was pretty sure that was normal though, werewolves ate very large meals and were extremely focused at mealtime.

  Ted spoke first right after finishing off his plate.

  “So Miku, will you be joining us through the ally bond on the next full moon?”

  His words hadn’t been polite at all. They were sarcastic, and dismissive as if he already knew the answer.

  I got his point almost right away. Werewolves performed an ally bond to join different species to the pack. I could never truly be one of the pack, just very close to it. As far as I knew from my mother’s teachings, an ally bond was formed on the full moon with a specific ritual, and it would connect me to the packs fire and earth magic, which meant I’d be able to feel the overall health of the pack both physically and emotionally.

  I also had the knowledge from when I read Carly’s soul, the lion shifter was a pack bonded ally for many years now.

  The problem was twofold. One, in order to do the bond, I’d have to drop my spirit magic shield, which would set off all their instincts to tear my heart out, and it would set off my instincts and make me want to strike out defensively. It could be resisted of course, none of us were unthinking animals, but it wouldn’t be easy, as trust and acceptance were both required to form the bond.

  Even the resisted desire for violence might be enough to forestall a bond.

  The second problem was that I had both air and spirit magic in me already, I had no idea if I could accept a bond with earth magic in it or not. Theoretically I supposed it was possible, after all witches had access to all four elements, but I doubted any pack had ever tried to ally with a vampire before.

  If we couldn’t form that bond, it would be a huge problem, and it would greatly hamper my acceptance to the pack. Mate of the alpha or not. Of course, with the bond I would be trusted, and all those neutral eyes would become as welcoming as Bob’s and Reah’s. Although, even with the bond I didn’t hold out much hope of Ted getting over his problem with me.

  I spoke quickly, as I felt the rumbling start of a growl from my overprotective soulmate.

  “That sounds like a great idea actually, when’s the next full moon?”

  Witches and shifters always knew when the next full moon was, vampires didn’t give a crap about lunar cycles particularly, so I truly didn’t kn
ow when the next one was.

  Ted looked like he wanted to hurl, and I suppressed a smug smile.

  I really didn’t want to make the hostility between us worse, nothing good could come of that. On the other hand, there was nothing I could do to change his mind, he was too steeped in his prejudice to see through what I was, to who I was.

  Bob said, “Ten days from now little vampire, a week from Monday.”

  I couldn’t help the smile at my nickname, but refrained from calling him dog breath, I wasn’t sure how the rest of the pack would take that yet. I really liked Bob, which was one of the good things, since he was the head protector and enforcer of the pack, and was usually always with Jared. Ted was supposed to be around Jared all the time too, but that didn’t happen when I was around.

  Reah looked reproachfully at her father, and then said to me stubbornly, “I’d be delighted to perform the ritual.”

  I felt a small surge of relief, though I wasn’t nearly as confident as to the outcome as I pretended to be.

  Reah was the pack’s mystic, which was like a witch except they could only access two of the four elements, fire and earth. Those two elements were also intrinsic to a shifter’s nature, and the nature of the pack. Due to her mother’s death, she was mostly an untrained one, and I hadn’t even been positive she knew the ritual, but the confident look on her face removed my doubts there.

  Jared said, “Let’s run, we’re going to be late as it is.”

  It was almost six-thirty, and we needed to be at Legends at eight. Jared and his team continued to fix the damage from the fire the rogues had set, and I had to be there of course, to represent the coven and owner. I was also a bit nervous as I got up and followed them out, and watched twenty-eight men and women start to strip and change.

  My change didn’t require the removal of clothes, and I just shifted to a five tailed fox in a short moment. I felt a lot of eyes on me, and realized outside of Jared, Bob, Reah, and one other, the rest of the pack had never seen this form before. No doubt the four extra tails were a curiosity at least.

  Jared took off toward the forest, and I followed, with the rest of the pack on our heels. It was a bit nerve wracking at first, but Ted avoided me, I could feel his spirit no matter the form, and he was in the back.

  It wasn’t long before I relaxed a bit, and just enjoyed the feel of the earth beneath my paws, the myriad scents of the forest, and the simple spirits of the trees. It was something I had in common with werewolves, they loved the outdoors, and a good morning run.

  I could definitely get used to that.

  Chapter Two

  I didn’t feel at all embarrassed this time when Jared gave me a thorough kiss at Legends before they went to work. Truthfully, I kind of forgot the others were even there by the end of the kiss. I resisted the temptation to stay out there and watch, werewolf men were all rather built, and Jared was certainly no exception with a strong jaw, the build of a linebacker, blonde hair, and blue eyes.

  He dwarfed me, which I imagine didn’t help the impression he had of my abilities. I was a spirit sorceress though, and I wouldn’t play helpless female to his alpha wolf.

  I shook my head, and went back to the office, if I wasn’t careful I’d lose myself in him. I already didn’t like the idea of not going home with him again tonight, but I had plans with Lisa, and I refused to give up that friendship or flake out on my coven. Lisa was my first, and best friend.

  The day was kind of quiet, and it may have been a miracle, but there were no emergencies on that day. It was the first construction day of the week where I didn’t have to run off because of coven rogues, or werewolf trouble. Maybe even rogues and idiots took it easy on Fridays?

  I kept myself busy however, with finishing the novel, doing research into investing since I still had thirty-five million dollars merely sitting in accounts bearing a ridiculously low interest rate. Maybe I should just find a very successful financial advisor, and read their soul. I suppose I kind of had already, of the two rogue vampires who’d been investing money for hundreds of years. I just hadn’t focused on those memories. Truthfully though, I imagined a lot of what they did had been shady if not outright illegal, and I wanted to avoid that.

  I also tried to figure out exactly what to do, I had obligations to the coven, and I didn’t think Ceara would be thrilled if I left it. Truthfully, I didn’t truly want to leave it either.

  In a very real way, the coven had claims on me. Not just ones of friendship, though that was a part of it as well. I decided that I’d have to talk to Ceara, and maybe get her advice. I needed to find a way to meet my obligations and keep my friendships there, while at the same time being with my mate, and spending time with the pack to meet those commitments as well.

  It made my head hurt just thinking about it.

  Perhaps I just needed to put a more positive spin on it. As a rule, vampires and shifters never allied, yet through me they would come as close to that as possible, I just wondered if that would appeal to either side, given the egos and prejudices involved.

  Of course, it could go the other way, and I could become a point of contention.

  In short, I was kind of a mess, but a happy one as well, it was far from all bad.

  Jared walked into the office at the end of the day.

  Jared said, “We’re done for the week, when will I see you again?”

  I looked at him, and realized his wolf was restless. His wolf wasn’t really a separate part of him, it was more his wolfish instincts, but he was fighting those with his human ones.

  “In our dreams tonight, but probably not physically until Sunday? I need to work out with the coven how this is going to work. Can I come by the pack then?”

  He frowned at my question, “You can come by whenever you want. I don’t like being apart from you.”

  I couldn’t help the smile, apparently in his mind I already lived there.

  “I promise I won’t take long to figure things out, my hesitation isn’t about us, it’s everything else.”

  He studied me for a moment, like a predator staring down its prey.

  Maybe that should have bothered me, but I kind of liked it.

  He nodded, “I understand the complications.”

  The implication there was that he would be dragging me home with him if not for that. As usual, that kind of alpha male bullshit turned me on, and annoyed me, but before I could say anything about it he moved forward and kissed me, thoroughly and possessively.

  His eyes were softer and much more intimate after we broke it. Honestly, I couldn’t even remember what he’d done that had annoyed me.

  “I’ll see you soon, try not to get into trouble.”

  I tried to feel offended by that, but couldn’t manage. Even Ceara, who ruled not only my coven but all vampire kind, called me magnet sometimes. At first, it was just short for rogue magnet, but it wasn’t long before it just became short for trouble magnet.

  I smirked in a way I knew would drive him crazy, “I’ll do my best,” I said in dubious promise.

  He shook his head and growled about females, and then kissed me one more time before we said our goodbyes. It was probably wrong of me, but I loved making him growl like that. Werewolves didn’t really do that all the time, I just had the special talent of bringing it out in them.

  I locked up the sports bar and set the alarm, and then headed home to the coven. Home for now anyway…

  It did feel like home, when I opened the door to the high rise condo building. All the souls inside felt familiar, even Ethel’s being there felt right, despite us not getting along at all. I nodded at the security guys behind the desk, and then headed up to my condo quickly. I jumped in the shower, and changed into a comfortable pair of shorts, and a loose t-shirt before I headed down to the second floor.

  I could feel Lisa down there already, and she was sitting with Matt, Tammy, Cheryl, and Kelly.

  Tammy was the odd one out in that group, the rest being part of coven security, while she
was a bartender and had been my trainer. She was also dating Matt, which was really why she’d crossed that barrier in the coven and made nice with the security types.

  It wasn’t that the rest of the coven really feared or disliked security, it was just they were not only charged with protecting the coven, they were also the internal police force of sorts. That led to cliques of separation, just like IA didn’t really mix with other cops. It was hard to be friends with someone that may one day have to investigate you, or vice versa.

  Regardless, Matt had saved her life, and apparently that was enough to knock down the wall, at least between them.

  Eustice sat next to Ethel across the room, and I had a feeling our tentative friendship had run its course. He really hated werewolves, as much as Ted hated vampires. I hoped that wouldn’t affect our working relationship too much, because technically I reported to him with both my bartender position, and my job as liaison with the pack in regard to construction jobs.

  I was a little disappointed to feel Daniel sitting over there with Eustice and Ethel as well, but I couldn’t blame him for his defection. I knew he’d had a thing for me, and although not angry about it, he’d kept his distance since he’d learned I was with Jared. Since Jared’s scent was indelibly attached to mine now, it was impossible to hide, even had I wanted to, which I didn’t.

  I gathered a tray of food, there was a lot of variety available, and I picked a salad and a side of fruit. I liked meat just fine, loved it really, but I’d had enough today already between eating breakfast and lunch with the pack.

  I smiled as I sat down, “Hey.”

  Cheryl said with mock confusion, “You look familiar, do I know you?”

  Cheryl was definitely the troublemaker in the group, but she meant well. She had blue-black hair, green eyes, and like most vampires was very attractive. It was shallow perhaps, but it was just the unvarnished truth that vampires chose their turns based on looks most of the time.

  Lisa snorted, “She was just gone one night,” she turned to me, “So how did you escape.”