Solstice Craving

Solstice Craving
Silvia Violet
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2011 Silvia Violet

Jackson was the last of his brothers to arrive at the family farm. As he sat down at the breakfast bar and grabbed a cup of coffee, his father pulled a pan of biscuits out of the oven and placed them on the counter.

"I've found a spell we can use," his father said as Jackson and his two brothers began filling their plates with biscuits, bacon, and eggs.

Jackson froze, a biscuit halfway to his mouth. It was just like his father to drop such important information without warning.

His father smiled at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "Unfortunately, there's a catch."

"What?" Jackson's older brother, Malcolm, asked, not bothering to finish chewing first.

"It's a sexual spell that rekindles love between the two participants."

Jackson's excitement wavered. His mother had passed away three years ago, and no one could imagine his father loving another the way he had his wife. Malcolm never went out with the same woman more than twice, and Caden had just ended a relationship with a total bitch he never should have given the time of day. Jackson was no closer to finding his true love than the rest of them. "Can anyone in the pack perform the spell?"

His father frowned. "No, it must be done by the pack leader or his immediate kin."

Malcolm's lips curled in a wicked smile. "Cara Setley is back in town. I heard she's got a job at the Hedford Inn."

Jackson forced himself to unclench his fists. Hitting his brother would not be a good idea.

Cara had been Jackson's girlfriend for two years. He'd been on the verge of telling her the family secret and proposing when she'd told him she'd found a job in Charleston. She was finishing up her degree in baking and pastry arts at the local community college. The job she'd landed would provide excellent experience, doing baking for an exclusive bed and breakfast in Charleston's historic district.

Cara had asked Jackson to consider moving with her. From her perspective, his accounting degree and his two years of job experience with a large firm made him a great candidate for landing a job in a new city. But what she didn't know was that he couldn't leave his pack.

Like their fully animal relatives, werewolves need the support of others of their kind. Another wolf might have petitioned the Charleston pack for membership, but since Jackson's father was pack leader, Jackson had far too many responsibilities to consider leaving. Cara offered to look harder for a local job, but Jackson didn't want her to settle for less than the best.

He'd been a hot-headed idiot at the time, his body running on the raging hormones of a werewolf coming into his full powers. Instead of talking to her about how important the opportunity in Charleston was for her, he'd cheated on her and let her catch him. Fool that he was, he thought he was doing her a favor, encouraging her to do what was right for her career in the only way he could.

"Cara hasn't spoken to me since she left town three years ago. Considering how I treated her, I don't think she'll want to talk to me now."

Caden frowned. "But you did love her."

Jackson looked at his younger brother. "Yes."

"Do you love her now?"

Jackson drew in a long slow breath. "Yes."

"Then find out if she still loves you." His father's tone held the mark of authority. Normally Jackson wouldn't dare question his father about pack business, but if anyone thought Cara was going to perform a sexual ritual with Jackson, they were insane.

"This isn't going to work."

Rather than the explosion Jackson expected, his father sighed and sat down on one of the bar stools. "If we don't find a way to protect ourselves soon, Hanley's pack will gain control of us one by one until we're all slaves to his whim."

Already some of the weaker members of their pack had succumbed to the lure of Hanley's magic, allowing themselves to be used to perform criminal acts for the rogue wolf. The bastard and his pack of ex-criminals, all of whom he and his lieutenants had infected themselves, had been preying on small, weak packs in the Appalachian region for over a year.

This was the first time they'd taken on a well-organized pack with more than ten members. When wolves were born or created, they gained certain magical powers, but the strength of these powers varied widely. Hanley was an extremely gifted magic worker. Jackson, his father and brothers, and other strong workers in their pack had tried numerous protection and strengthening spells, but none were strong enough to block him.

Jackson sighed. "Why do you believe this spell will work?"

"Rather than simply adding strength to each pack member's shields, this spell uses the energy of birth and renewal available on the Winter Solstice. If one who has denied love agrees to surrender herself and allow the Lord and Lady to fill her with the energy of love, a burst of magic is sent forth. The magic will cover each pack member with a force field of their own, similar to that which closes around us when we cast a sacred circle. The shield should last until Ostara, the spring equinox. Hopefully by then Hanley will have moved on."

"The Solstice is in three days."

His father nodded. "So it is."

"Even if Cara will agree to see me, she's not going to accept what I am and agree to do the ritual in three days' time."

Malcolm clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You definitely have your work cut out for you."