Trent: Her Warlock Protector Book 7 Read Online Free Page B

“I want back on the front lines. Anyone can collect a new Wiccan.”
    “No, they can’t. It takes a special type within the Magus Corps to do this job. You have it wrong. The older ones of us almost always work collecting the new witches. It’s the first few decades you train in combat and fight the Knights head on so you’ll be ready for this work.”
    Trent sighed and felt the wolf pacing just beneath his skin. He agreed with the restlessness.  
    “If it’s so important then why didn’t I get sent until after I messed up?”
    His assignment in Washington had gone rogue.
    “Because I think you’re ready. To save the next generation of Wiccans is the highest calling we have and it does take the most finesse and skill because the Knights will stop at nothing to kill and torture them first. Don’t forget that. Just because you haven’t seen them yet, doesn’t mean they don’t already have plans in place.”
    “I know,” he said, starting to pace behind the couch. “It’s like you quote verbatim from the rule book.”
    “And who do you think wrote it, lad?” Logan prodded. “You aren’t getting reassigned, and, yes, until you actually complete something again and succeed the rest of the Corps isn’t sure about your place anymore.”
    Trent choked. He stopped pacing so quickly he almost dropped the phone. Fumbling with it, he brought it closer to his ear.  
    “What?”
    “I believe in you. I fought for this assignment to be given to you. I’m only saying that you don’t have many other champions. Save Elaine and prove your worth, Lieutenant Williamson, or I might not be able to help you anymore.”
    “Logan…General MacCulloch wait–”
    There was a click on the other end that left Trent cut off and keenly aware of how alone he actually was. Sighing, he shoved his phone in his pocket and was about to hurry to his room to go back over his dossier on Elaine when he heard it, a shuffling in the copse of trees by his house. Looking up, Trent caught a now-familiar set of doe eyes go wide before him.
    Elaine was out there, naked except for some shrub she held over her breasts. Her hair was flowing free, thick with knots and brambles. Unbidden, Trent opened up his nostrils and noticed the change in Elaine’s scent, something wild and musky clung to her, deep and dark. The wolf form he often took was howling deep in his bones.
    She was like him .
    Before he could move, she bolted into the forest.

CHAPTER FOUR

    “I WASN’T EXPECTING you today, sweetheart, but I really appreciate it,” Elaine’s father said, standing up to hug her.  
    Efrim Blackhawk wasn’t too tall, maybe a couple inches taller than her, but he was where she’d inherited her athletic build and, of course, the olive-skin and dark hair. Now nearing sixty, her father’s hair was slate grey and pulled back in two long braids. Wizened eyes regarded her and she wished he didn’t always seem like a puppy, too eager for any treat she’d bestow on him. It was too much pressure for her.
    Chewing the usual tumult back, she faked a practiced smile for her father.
    “Well you wanted to know if I could help out with the Moundville Native American Festival, and I knew you were short-handed. I wanted it to be a surprise for you.”
    Her father smiled and kissed her cheek.  
    “It is. It’s a great surprise. I wasn’t sure you’d want to do it, even if we’re pretty strapped.”
    “What happened?” she asked, falling into an easy rhythm with him as they settled at the kitchen table. She automatically dipped into the ginger snaps he kept in a jar there. They’d been a favorite of her grandmother’s and then a necessary staple even in the years after her death. “Usually everyone wants to help out.”
    “Mary broke her ankle last weekend, and she does the final booth and vendor arrangements. If you could help with the final set up details and calls.”
    “And?” she said, knowing it was never just that.
    “Well, Mary also runs