Present time…
"What was that?" Bjorn asked with a grin when he and Magnus returned to the car. Kat popped up her head, listening to the two shifters that she now knew were close as brothers. Magnus harumphed and instead of answering he spun half around, offering her a piece of pastry.
That's when she noticed.
The front of Magnus's shirt was covered in a coffee-and-milk mix, that turned his khaki shirt an unflattering shade of brown. Frowning, Kat wondered what happened. When her mate and Bjorn – the Bear shifter – had walked into the bakery just a few moments ago, everything seemed just fine. A woman had entered after them, but had excited in a rush just moments after…
Magnus didn't look at his friend as he started to unbutton his shirt – something that definitely got Kat's attention! Oh, mother of everything sexy and mouthwatering! His chest was broad and firm, set in perfect lines that would even make bodybuilders green with envy. As he shrugged it off, his abs contracted and showed off his perfect sixpack. The material got stuck around his impressive biceps and Kat was pretty sure that there was a pool of drool under her right now. As in the only thing that could make that better was if it was covered in chocolate!
And then she could lick it all up…!
He threw the dirty shirt in the back, careful not to hit her, and pulled out a clean T-shirt. Kat was still too incited by the dark sprinkle of chest hairs to notice that Bjorn was pestering her mate about the episode inside the store. She was too busy wondering what it would feel like running her fingers over his hard planes to even---
"Fuck you!" Magnus snapped when Bjorn apparently said something too inappropriate. "No, I didn't! I was…" And Kat all but snorted when she noticed the blush crawling up the wolf's neck. "I was a little intoxicated on Johan's birthday---"
"A little intoxicated?!" Bjorn cut him off in a splutter. Then the huge bear shifter threw his head back and let out a roar of laughter that made the birds flee their homes echoed in the surrounding forest. "Man! You were wasted!"
"I was not," insisted Magnus although there was little to no conviction in his voice. "And that's beside the point! The point is that---"
"Let me guess? You fucked her and then forgot her?" Bjorn asked. Aghast, Kat turned her head to her mate. No way! He wouldn't---!
Would he?
But while she didn't want to think of her mate as "that guy!" she also couldn't help but feel possessive and jealous. Sure, this was something that had happened before they met, but still. Hearing about it made her blood boil. Hell, she was happy he didn't know her name because the only woman he should be panting for was her!
Her being a cat at the moment had nothing to do with it!
Magnus didn't reply but grumbled something about "catching a break once in a while" as he pulled on his T-shirt. Bjorn just laughed, even more, making the whole car shake from his movements.
"Don't sweat it," he said, slapping his alpha's shoulder hard enough to make the big shifter wince from the force of it. "I forget the chicks I fuck all the time too." Then he frowned, suddenly thoughtful. "Makes hooking up with them again a tricky task, but it's manageable."
"For you, perhaps," Magnus sighed and rested his head against the headrest, staring up into the ceiling. "I'm the alpha. I'm supposed to be above all that and set an example."
That's when Kat realized that Bjorn was more than just a friend to her mate. He was his confidant, the one he shared all his troubles with and the one who got to see his weakness. Bjorn might look like the "I don't give a fuck"-type of person, but to Magnus, he was the one he let his guard down around.
And for a shifter that took an enormous amount of trust…
"But you don't have to be perfect to do that," Bjorn pointed out, putting the key in the ignition and starting the engine. "If you try to do everything perfectly, you'll just end up burning yourself out, man." He shrugged, slapping his huge hands on the sternwheel. "And from where I'm standing, you're the best goddamn alpha there's ever been in Main, so stop being so fucking hard on yourself. You're allowed to make mistakes. You live, you learn, and being a good example is showing that you learned from your mistakes. Nobody is expecting you to be perfect."
Kat gaped, almost missing having hands to applaud the man. Hell, apparently the huge bear shifter was a big teddy bear at heart. Because the things he said seemed to be just what Magnus needed to hear. A small smile crept across his lips and a soft chuckle fell from his lips.
"Thanks," he sighed, rubbing the brim of his nose. "At least it's good to know I have one fan in Main."
"I'll give you a T-shirt for half the price," Bjorn scoffed, back to being the tough unapproachable badass, as he pulled the car into reverse and left the coffee house. "Come on! Aren't we supposed to go get this Colten guy?" He grunted and clenched his teeth. "I hate wizards. They're always a pain in the ass."
Join the club, Kat thought with a scoff and rolled her eyes. Just thinking about the witch that so kindly cursed her for absolutely no reason made Kat want to dig her claws into something. But since she didn't want to risk losing her car privileges – and she liked very much being in the backseat with her mate and his partner – she let out a low hiss of frustration instead.
"What was it they said about black cats and witches?" Bjorn mused, a ghost of a smile on his lips. Magnus shook his head and turned to her instead.
"You ok, love?" he asked, caressing her head in a gentle stroke. One Kat instantly leaned into the touch and purred. What? She was a cat and cats purred when there was something they liked.
"I need to find you a name," Magnus murmured mostly to himself as he continued to stroke his new pet. He didn't understand it, but he actually liked having the cat close by. Hell, even his wolf was enjoying the contact which was very un-wolf-like of his inner animal. Cats and dogs might get along, but that wasn't the case with most animals and any were-species. Actual animals tented to avoid his kin with the caution of anyone that was up against apex predator…
"Please don't be one of those people who treat their pets as if they're a person?" Bjorn grumbled, sounding almost disgusted at the interaction between the alpha and the cat. And for some reason that rubbed Magnus the wrong way, although, for the life of him, he couldn't say why.
"What's wrong with that?" he snapped instead, slumping back in his seat and glaring at Bjorn. And as if the cat understood that his friend had just insulted her, she gave him the most indignant look on her furry face, as if daring him to repeat himself.
Bjorn glanced between them, horrified, and then shook his head.
"A pink shirt it is then," Bjorn mumbled under his breath and Magnus flipped his friend off, knowing he was indicating that he was gay.
"Stop by the mini-mart," he ordered instead, rather than get into a pointless discussion with his friend. "I need to pick up a few things for her."
With that, another one of Bjorn's roar-like laughter filled the car.
"Don't forget a collar! The cat has you whipped, alpha," he laughed furiously, as he cast a glance at the cat on the back seat. "What do you think, furball? Will sparkly pink match the alpha's eyes, or do you think the brown and pink will clash?"
Kat wasn't amused, imagining her mate with a pink, sparkly color. She really wasn't… But the smile that kept wanting to split her face in half just wouldn't be denied and before Kat knew it, she was laughing her ass off. The sound came out as small chuffs followed by a soft purr. She liked the big, burly shifter. Yeah, he was a bit rough around the edges, but deep down he was a good guy.
Very, very deep down…
"You have issues, man," her mate harumphed and like a toddler crossed his arms over his impressive chest. Hell, the car wasn't by any means a small one, but the two huge burly shifters inside, made the space seem cramped.
"Hey, at least I'm not talking to actual animals," Bjorn retorted, with a grin.
"You can't even remember where you put your dick, and you want to come on to me for talking to my cat?" Magnus shot back--- and it was on!
"At least I know what hole to put it in, cat lady!"
"Sure! With the aid of glasses and a blue pill, old man!"
Bjorn had opened his mouth to reply, but he was abruptly cut off as the radio crackled to life and a deep voice called for "the alpha".
Something needed their attention…
*
"What the hell happened here?" Bjorn asked nobody in particular, his nose scrunching and while his senses weren't as sensitive as his wolf brother, the acrid stench of a decomposing body could even make a human gag.
They'd been called out to the edge of the forest where some hunters had reported a mysterious smell. The sheriff's department had been informed and a search of the area had been conducted. It hadn't taken them long to come across the reported stench and even less time to find the source.
A dead body deep between the trees…
"You're here," Sheriff Aksel Lowry said, walking over to greet his two shifter packmates. Bjorn nodded his head in greetings, but just to be an ass, he folded his huge arms over his chest, towering over the wolf shifters present. He knew and liked the Beta of their pack and with him being one of Magnus's many cousins, meaning that they grew up playing together. But only Magnus would ever have Bjorn's undying loyalty. And while the beta had an important job in the human community, Bjorn would never show him more than the absolute necessary courtesy…
Magnus didn't have that problem. He trusted his cousin to take care of things in the pack while he and Bjorn were out hunting runaways and he respected Lowry's position in the human society as an authority figure. Aksel wasn't going to challenge him for the title of alpha for the very simple reason that he didn't want it. Hell, it had taken Magnus some time to convince him to become Beta, since everybody had been sure that Bjorn would be his second in command. But not only was Bjorn actually an alpha in his own right, but a Beta was also the type of person in the pack that kept it all together.
Bjorn wasn't that person…
"What's that smell?" Magnus grimaced, watching as the deputies – the ones that weren't throwing their guts up somewhere in the bushes – taped off the area with yellow caution tape. Sure he recognized the smell of a dead body as well as anyone, but in addition to the dead body, there was a scent in the air that smelled like burned hair, vomit, and something else that he couldn't put his finger on. But it reminded him of sewage and old rotting wood…
"I think you should come to take a closer look," the beta said, gesturing for them to follow him. And while he was almost as tall and broad as the alpha, he looked pale and sick at the moment and barely able to keep upright. Sharing worried glances Bjorn and Magnus followed him deeper into the trees.
"What the fuck?" exclaimed Bjorn and leaned closer, although he instantly regretted it, when he saw the body. And while Magnus shared his friend's reaction, he suddenly understood the poor humans in the bushes.
The body looked like someone had dipped his body in acid, as huge red blisters covered every inch of him. His hair was all gone, the top of his head a blistering mass of third-degree burns. But not only that. The abdomen had also been opened – the cut so clean, it looked like a surgical instrument had been used – and then some wild animal had feasted on his bowls and organs, as they lay scattered all over the ground.
It was bad!
"It looks like a ritual killing," Magnus said thoughtfully, and just as his partner his mind instantly went through a list of potential magical or supernatural creatures that could have done this.
Because this wasn't anything like he'd ever see before…
Magnus moved around the body in a circle, trying to get a better read on what the hell had been going on. There didn't seem to be any reason or method to any of the madness that had been going on. The various instruments of torture – fire, knives and disembowelment – not to mention the way the body was spread out, each limb pointing north, south, east and west, indicated a summoning spell, but Magnus had never seen anything like this. Normally when there was a summoning, there usually was for money, fertility or--- money! But none of those had this level of destruction about them.
Not to mention senseless violence…
"Magnus!" Bjorn called out and he lifted his head to find his friend a little further away, standing on a big bolder. Gesturing for them to join him, Magnus climbed up to look down at the victim--- and instantly saw what his brother had…
"Is that a---," Lawry gaped in disbelief. "A pentagram?"
It looked like it, but Magnus shook his head. It was a circle with some sort of cross on top of it with the body in the center – just like summoning would require. But something about this – or whatever had been summoned – had killed everything within the circle, even the birds had dropped dead from the skies and insects crawling the earth were all dead. Every single straw of grass, bush or tree around looked like they'd been dead for years. And while wild animals were common in this area, none of them had even come anywhere near the dead body, keeping themselves as far away from this place as possible.
Magnus had never seen anything like it…
"It looks like some sort of witchcraft, but I've never seen anything like it," the alpha confessed, his stomach turning cold the long he kept looking at the scene. "I have to call the MBI, but for now, try and keep the ritual sacrifice out of any reports."
"Will do, alpha," Lawry nodded, looking every bit as sick as Magnus felt. Hell, even Bjorn looked uncomfortable, and Magnus had always had the impression that nothing ever got to the big bear.
Guess you really never should say never…
"What kind of creature would do this?" the sheriff said low, mostly to himself, but glanced up at the two rangers.
"A vile one," Magnus replied, hating the way the hair on the back of his neck stood to attention.
"You think it's a witch, don't you?" Bjorn asked, as they marched back to the car. The ME had arrived and like most of them, had needed a dive into the bushes before he could start working. Not that Magnus envies the man his job at the moment. You couldn't even pay him enough to go anywhere close to the body…
"I do," Magnus admitted and while he hadn't said as much with his beta present, he shared everything with Bjorn. "But what I don't know is what kind of magic that was."
"Looked like a summoning spell," Bjorn replied, knowing that the alpha must have thought that as well.
"Bur for what?" Magnus clipped frustrated; not with the bear but with the situation as a whole. "I've never seen anything like it, and you and I both know we've seen shit!"
"True," Bjorn had to admit and while he kept a lid on his own frustrations – and the uncomftrable feeling that was creeping down his spine – he glanced one last time at the ritual sight.
Whatever magic this was, it was pure evil.
And very, very old…