Wolf Spell: Shifters Bewitched #1 by Tasha Black (bearly read books .txt) 📗

the rest of my own life without recognizing that the weird coincidence of my fall was anything more than that.

If Eve hadn’t come to me…

“Don’t dillydally girls,” the headmistress said as she marched past us again. “Finish up and get back to class.”

“Yes, headmistress,” the others said in unison. I joined in just late enough to make all of us sound ridiculous.

Her eyes rested on mine for a moment and there was something there - sympathy, fear? - some flash of emotion before the gates crashed down and she gave me that professional half-smile before continuing to the double doors that led out of the library.

19

Bella

Anya handed me a mop and I began swirling it over the muddy paw prints on the marble floor. They were huge - much bigger than any dog.

It made me think of Luke in his wolf form, so massive, with those glowing eyes - both terrifying and beautiful. His fur had been warm and smooth with muscles sliding underneath - all that power under my hand.

“So what’s he like?” Anya asked quietly.

I looked up to see the others had stopped what they were doing to hear.

I shrugged, feeling my cheeks get hot. It was hard to talk about him without thinking about the bond and the cravings it inspired.

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” Lark teased.

“We didn’t even kiss,” I heard myself admitting.

“What?” Nina asked, clutching the book she had just picked up.

“I’m, um, I’m going to say no,” I told them. “To him, I mean. After the third night, I get to choose. And I choose to stay here.”

The other three exchanged looks.

“What?” I asked.

“Look, I honestly don’t know how you made it this far,” Lark said. “But no one makes it all three nights. It’s, like, not physically possible.”

I thought about the magic of the mate bond again. Was it really that strong?

“Well, it’s going to be possible for me,” I said, turning back to my work. “I have a life here, I have a brother. I can’t just disappear into the woods.”

“Where’s your brother, Bella?” Anya asked. I could have kissed her for helping me change the subject.

“He’s back in Philly,” I said.

“My sister is in Boston, at BU,” Nina said. “She’s the only one in the family who knows I’m here instead of Cornell.”

“Is she jealous?” I asked.

“Not even close,” Nina said, laughing. “She’s a cellist, obsessed with music. Her first question after I told her about this was about whether I could use magic to help with her music.”

“Can you?” I asked, thinking about the power in the song we had just shared.

She shook her head.

“I don’t think so. But honestly, I think she may have a little magic in her, too. When she plays, it’s… transporting.”

“Like what just happened in the circle,” I said.

“I saw my grandmother,” Anya said. “It was incredible. I miss her so much.”

“I saw my dog from when I was little,” Nina said fondly. “Mr. Tinks, when he was a puppy and I was only four. I miss him so much.”

“I saw my parents, together,” Lark said, her eyes brimming with tears again.

“Lark lost her mom last year,” Anya explained.

“I’m so sorry,” I told her sincerely.

“What did you see, Bella?” Lark asked.

I bit my lip.

“You don’t have to say,” Anya told me quickly.

“I was baking cookies with my brother,” I said, the memory rich in my mind again. “And then we were dancing.”

Anya’s brow furrowed.

Their memories all involved loss. And so did mine, they just didn’t know it.

“My brother was in a car accident,” I said. “He can’t walk anymore.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nina said.

“Part of the reason I want to stay at the school is to learn healing magic,” I admitted. “Maybe I could help him. Do you guys know anything about that kind of magic?”

“I don’t, but Nina’s already read half the books in the library,” Anya said, turning to her.

“Definitely not half,” Nina said. “That would take lifetimes. And no, I really don’t know anything about healing.”

“I don’t either,” Lark said. “That’s upper-level magic. But I’m sure someone at the school can point you in the right direction. If there’s ever been a book written about it, it has to be here.”

“This place is incredible,” I said.

The floor was clean again. No one would ever know there had been paw prints at all.

“I’ll put that away,” Lark said, grabbing the bucket and mop from me. “I have to grab the duster anyway.”

“Thanks,” I told her.

Nina and Anya were still picking up books and trying to put them away in proper order.

I decided to help them and grabbed a book myself. It was small and leather-bound with a drawing carved into the front cover.

Holding it seemed to make my hands tingle. I looked down at the cover and found the carving was of a raven. It appeared to be lifting itself from the ground, wings caught mid-flutter, claws akimbo in a swirl of what was probably meant to be wind.

It reminded me of the graffiti I’d seen in my cubby, and the painting on the fountain by the entrance. I hadn’t connected the two before, since the art style was so different. I assumed it was just random graffiti, like the tags I saw all over the place back in Philly. But after seeing the book, I was starting to wonder if there wasn’t more to it.

“What’s this one?” I asked, showing it to Nina.

“Oh, that one’s about the Raven King,” she said, taking it from me to re-shelf. “Do you know about him?”

“No,” I said. “Does it have anything to do with the raven someone painted on the fountain?”

“The Raven King was from the days of old magic,” Nina said. “They say he was more powerful than any of the human witches. His magic was from the original source. Some say he was the original source.”

“What do you mean the original source?” I asked.

“Well, it’s going to sound silly,” she warned me. “But the fae have original magic.”

“Fae like… fairies?” I