LITMIR.BIZ

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and lifted her hands, palms up. She raised them above her head, her eyes closing, her lips moving. He knew she chanted but he couldn’t make out the words. As she stood there, with her hands raised, energy from the ground crawled up her legs, her torso, her chest. It swirled around her like a snake, finally sliding into her cupped hands. She closed her hands into tight fists, raised them higher and screamed something he didn’t understand. The wind whipped up and she flung her arms down. Lightning shot from her palms and raced around the entire area of her house in one big circle, dissipating when it reached her again.

      Tully didn’t know what she’d done exactly or why, but he knew it had drained her. She rested against the porch rail for a long moment, her breath rapid. Then she slowly made her way up the stairs, picking up her bag and backpack. She opened her front door and before closing it, he heard her say, “Hey, baby. I’m home.”

      He didn’t know why his eyes narrowed or why he wanted to go down there and demand to know who the hell was living in her house with her, but he wouldn’t worry about why. He was more worried about what she was up to. If there was one thing he took seriously, it was protecting his town and his people. That’s all he ever cared about.

      Deciding to come back later after some hunting, Tully slipped off the boulder and headed on home. He was halfway there when his cell phone rang.

      “Yep?”

      “Boy.”

      He smiled. “Hey, Uncle Bub.” Bubba Ray Smith of the Smithtown Pack in Tennessee. He loved his uncle—although they were actually cousins—and always would. “What’s going on?”

      When his uncle didn’t answer him right away, Tully stopped walking. “What is it?”

      “I got a call from your Uncle Darryl…Buck’s heading to Smithville.”

      Tully’s jaw tightened and his fangs eased out of his gums.

      “All right,” he said carefully. “I’ll take care of it.”

      “You need me, you call. But don’t do anything until you know you have to.”

      “You mean until you can argue I had a right to the rest of the family.”

      “Say what you want, Tully Ray, but this is how things are done. And the bottom line, Buck Smith is blood…and your daddy.”

      “No, Uncle Bub. The last thing that man is, is my daddy.”

      He disconnected the call and waited a moment before he speed dialed another number. When he heard the grumbling voice say, “It’s Bear,” Tully closed his eyes and answered, “Buck Smith’s heading this way. Make sure everybody’s ready.”

      Chapter Two

      Up half the night worrying about his father, Tully finally decided to deal with the one thing he could actually manage at the moment…Jamie.

      Okay. Maybe he couldn’t manage her, but she was definitely capable of keeping him distracted from what Buck Smith may be up to, and why he was coming back to the one town he’d been told never to return to. Although Tully didn’t know any man alive who didn’t have issues with his father, he knew his went deeper than most. After all these years the man still brought out Tully’s rage and fear. Rage because the bastard plucked his last nerve and fear because Tully worried he’d one day have to kill his own blood. It was the last thing he ever wanted to do, but there was something in Buck that never stopped. He pushed and he pushed. And unless something had changed about his father, Tully doubted any of that would be different.

      But he’d done what he could. Bear and his deputies were notified. Tully had given his daddy a heads-up so he could find the best way to tell Tully’s momma, and the entire town was ready in case any attacks came. Other than sit around and uselessly worry, there was nothing more he could do.

      Knowing that, he decided to track down Jamie. He found her, too. Having breakfast at the Smithville Diner. Considering the resort had a full breakfast menu, she’d be able to get her morning meal there for free. But he’d bet money she’d had another fight with her cousin. Rumor was the coven had stopped her over on Cardinal to talk after the Elder meeting. No one was sure what was said, but Jamie had left on her own.

      If her own coven couldn’t get through to her, then Tully had no idea what the rest of them thought he could do. She was definitely a woman who didn’t let anyone get too close to her. Of course, the entire coven had been like that when they’d first arrived. Even Emma. But eventually, they’d begun finding their way, their own friends. Not Jamie, though. It was strange, too, because she was so friendly. She smiled, she chatted, but the walls were definitely there. She didn’t want anyone getting too close to her and they all knew it.

      So, doing something he’d never done before in the ten months she’d been here, Tully sat down at the table with Jamie. She glanced up from the book she was reading, blinked at him, and went back to reading. He had to fight hard not to smile. What could he say? He admired her restraint to not even try and figure out why he was sitting down with her.

      “Mornin’, Miss Jamie.”

      “Hey.”

      “How are you doing?”

      Her eyes lifted from the book and focused on him. After a moment, she pushed the book away and relaxed back in her chair. “I’m doing fine. Would you like to join me for breakfast?”

      “Why, that is mighty kind of you. I think I’ll do just that.” He motioned to the waitress and she came over. “Your morning special, darlin’. Easy on the grits, though.”

      “Coffee?”

      “Please. And juice.”

      She smiled. “You’ve got it, Tully.”

      The waitress walked off and Tully focused back on Jamie. She was still watching him, smirking.

      Resting his arms on the table, he asked, “So what are you reading? Fiction or nonfiction?”

      “Non. History.”

      “About?”

      Her smirk turned into a grin. “The Donner Party.”

      “Those are the people who…”

      “Ate each other. Yeah.”

      “That’s what you read while you’re about to have breakfast?”

      She shrugged. “I used to look at crime scene photos over a pastrami on rye at the diners back home. Doesn’t bother me.”

      “All right then.”

      The waitress returned and placed a mug next to Tully and poured him a cup of coffee before leaving the carafe.

      “What else do you do when you’re not working?” he asked politely.

      “Watch TV.”

      Tully sipped his coffee after blowing on it. “I don’t even have a TV. Don’t see the purpose.” He placed his coffee down and for the first time since he’d met her, he saw a look of confusion and horror on her face.

      “What’s wrong?”

      “You don’t have a TV? How do you live without a TV?”

      How do I live? “Easily. It’s never been a necessity to me.”

      Jamie shook her head, her face conveying her disgust at his sentiment without her saying a word.

      Tully laughed. “Of all the things that go on in this town, that’s the one that bothers you?”

      “Yeah. Yeah, it does. That’s crazy talk.”

      The waitress placed a plate of food down in front of Jamie. She immediately reached for the hot sauce and completely saturated her fried eggs with it.

      “You know, I can’t help but notice you could be having this same breakfast at your hotel.”

      “Yeah,

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