Shifter Magnetism by Stormie Kent Read Free Book Online

taking her to a witch to make it stop.
    His steps faltered, and he clutched her a little tighter.
    Mama Tui leaned on an ornamental cane with African animals carved along the sides. Nic and Mama Tui stared at each other. Her face was serene. She waited.
    “Nic,” Leila whispered.
    He couldn’t claim her yet. She wouldn’t be safe. He was protecting her by bringing her to the healer. Keeping her safe was more important than his immediate desire to possess her. He knew he was doing the right thing, even if he felt as if he was the biggest idiot in three counties.
    He guided her up the steps, then stood before the healer. Mama Tui nodded at him before turning and walking into her home. He followed her to the room they’d been in the night before last. Leila wouldn’t release him, so he stood holding her.
    “Mama Tui, we’ve come to see if you can stop the heat Leila is experiencing.”
    “You don’t want to know what has happened to you both.”
    “Nothing has happened to me, only my mate.” He shuddered. He’d never want a wizard’s powers.
    “Nothing you’ve discovered.”
    The healer took Leila’s roaming hands in hers. The elder closed her eyes and remained that way for a long time. Nic could feel the edges of her power sweeping over Leila. His mate, still as a stone, stared at the other woman.
    The healer stepped back, releasing Leila.
    Sagging against him, his mate let out a relieved sigh before looking up at him. “I don’t feel so hot or needy.”
    He knew it had to be, but he missed her attacking him.
    Mama Tui chuckled. “Don’t look so long in the mouth, wolf. The effect is only temporary.”
    Leila’s head whipped around, and her mouth fell open. “What?”
    “You are both hybrids now. I can’t rid you of your magic. Your magic lies in your spirit. When you exchanged pieces of your spirit, you shared your magic as well.”
    He’d sort that out later. “How long will she feel relief from the heat?”
    “A few hours at most. You two have a decision to make and little time to do it. Will you allow her to suffer, or will you seize your destiny?” Mama Tui smiled. “And now for my fee. You both have been given a blessing. When you find it, come show it to me. You must go. You don’t have much time.”
    He and Leila were both quiet on the way back to the SUV. He drove in silence, mulling over Mama Tui’s words. His stomach roiled at the idea of being part wizard. As the two supernatural groups who spent the most time with humans, shifters and wizards played out much of their history vying for land and power.
    His great-grandparents had passed down stories from shifter-wizard territorial wars that had lasted for centuries in their native Central Mexico. He wondered what his abuelos would have thought of his witchy mate.
    Or of the new and unwanted magic inside him.
    He didn’t feel any different. He had other things to worry about. Maybe a normal routine would help him put the situation in perspective. He could make a stop at the station and fill out his report now that he didn’t have to keep her completely away from other men since the healer had magically altered Leila’s heat cycle.
    He glanced at her outfit and sighed. She’d wanted as little material as possible on her oversensitive flesh. The bright yellow sundress shelved her breasts and then swirled around her body. Once again, the skirt wasn’t very long. This one reached midthigh. Her matching yellow wedge sandals helped define her calves as the skirt flirted with her full thighs. He’d simply have to keep her close to his side.
    “Nic, I don’t think I can suffer through that again.” She paused. “I felt so out of control and so desperate.”
    “Are you prepared for all the changes that come with being the mate of an outcast?”
    “Are you ready to be an outcast?” She turned sideways in her seat to face him.
    “We may need to be without pack for a while, but you’ll have a place to live. My father said when I was a