Samhain with the Coven

 

No, not the alarm.

River groaned into her pillow, but there was no ignoring the annoying tune blaring from her cell phone, demanding that she awaken. She cut the sound of, thankful when silence fell upon the still-dark room.  

It would be so easy to curl into Alex’s warm body, close her eyes and go back to sleep. It was barely the break of dawn and her mate was so comfy to lie on top of, but she’d promised Helen that she would help with the set up for their Samhain celebrations. It was a Saturday after all, and River didn’t work weekends.

She was happy to do it – any of her sisters would be – but goddess, did they have to start so early.

It was still freakin dark outside.

Another groan and she shuffled toward the edge of her bed, but before she could before she climbed out of it, Alex’s steel band of an arm wrapped around her and dragged her back against him.

“Nope,” he murmured, burying his face in her hair. “Stay here.” A kiss to her neck and he added, “It’s Saturday.”

Flutters went wild in her belly as they did every time she was in his arms. His effect on her hadn’t lessened at all. “It’s Samhain,” she told him.

He slipped his hand inside the bottom of the strappy tank that she slept in and pressed his palm flat against her belly. The need for him was as fierce as it had been when they’d first met. Unrelenting, it beat through her and she would have been happy to spend every second of her life joined to him.

“It’s too early,” he mumbled.

She definitely agreed, but a promise was a promise. “I told Helen I’d be at the house first thing.”

“Ten minutes,” he rumbled. “Give me ten minutes.”

“I dunno,” she teased. “What can you even do in ten minutes.”

He chuckled roughly, his voice still bearing the grit of sleep. “Let me show you.”

She couldn’t resist him at the best of times, and it was even harder when he was all sexy and sleepy, his handsome face smattered with morning scruff, his eyelids heavy and his hair mussed, so when he rolled on top of her, she gave him more than his requested ten minutes.

She couldn’t regret it either, when she climbed out of their bed, happy but late. He watched her retrieve the outfit she’d hung up the night before, watched her pull clothes out of the dresser, and as she passed the bed to leave the room on her way for a shower, he reached out and took her hand.

She was already late. One last kiss with her mate wasn’t going to make any difference, so when he drew her down, she didn’t fight him.

She had to pick up her black jeans, purple sweater and underwear from the floor, and the hanger holding her dress from where it laid over the bed, but nothing was crumpled.

When Alex grabbed her pillow from her side of the bed, she expected him to put it beneath his head. Instead, he closed his eyes, curled his body around it, burying his face in the softness and breathed in, falling back to sleep.

Because it was hers?

He was cuddling it because it smelled like her. How cute was that?

Smothering a sigh, she stared down at him. She should have just asked him for what she wanted. The worst he could do was say no, but she was too cowardly to say it.

Too late now. He was asleep again.

At least she thought he was, but just as she was about to turn away, his eyes opened.

“Why you staring at me, baby?” he asked, deeply.

She smiled, the endearment getting to her every time. “Because you’re cute when you’re sleeping.”

He snorted, and then with a curve to his lips, he added, “I’m cute when I’m awake too.”

“True.”

Biting on her bottom lip, she shuffled from one foot to the other.

Say it, she ordered herself. Just say it.

“What is it?” he asked.

Shaking her head, she replied, “Nothing.” She forced a smile. “I better go.” She blew him a last kiss and then went for her shower, clothes in hand and furious at herself.

Damn it. What was wrong with her?

Why couldn’t she just tell him. She wanted to spend Samhain with him, and he wouldn’t deny her if she asked, but for a reason even she didn’t understand, she hadn’t been able to utter the words to invite him.

This was a big deal for her and her sisters. It was the sabbat that said goodbye to the warmth and light of summer, and welcomed in the long, dark nights of winter.

Samhain was their new year and she wanted to spend it with him, but he hadn’t asked to come with her, and she hadn’t invited him. She didn’t want to spend an important celebration without him.

River was so pissed off at her cowardice that she was in a dark mood when she arrived at their coven house.

She wiped her booted feet on the welcome mat and then called out, “Helen?” as she shut the front door behind her.

“I’m in the living room.”

River peeked her head around the door, and saw that Helen was already at work setting up for their celebrations.

Standing in the middle of the room, Helen wore a skirt in a dark orange shade of sandstone with a black top and ankle boots, an outfit that fit well to her curves while making her golden brown skin shimmer beneath the bright colors.

“Hi, sweetie,” Helen said, pulling an orange cloth from a wooden trunk. “You’re late.”

“I know, sorry.” River wasn’t really sorry – her morning had started off in the best way – but she was polite. “I just have to hang up my dress,” she held up the outfit hidden inside a cover. “And then I’ll be down to help.”

She ran up to her bedroom, hung up her dress in the closet and then returned to the living room where Helen had covered their wiccan altar with the orange cloth, lit the candles and was already adding the mementos of her loved ones who had passed.

A hand drawn picture of Helen’s father and some other items that were personal to her were set on top, and River pulled out the photograph of her own parents from her bag, adding it to the display, before dropping her shoulder bag on the floor by the sofa.

“Okay,” she said to her sister. “Where do you want to start?”

Helen straightened, tucking an errant strand of shiny black hair that had dared to slip loose from her otherwise neat bun.  River wouldn’t be able to reach Helen’s level of immaculate if she lived to be a thousand. Her own blonde hair was braided messily, with many wayward strands.

“So, I’ve lit the firepit outside,” Helen said, “Set up the altar for our dead loved ones, and buried the apples along the driveway for the spirits with no descendants to provide for them, but that’s all I’ve managed to do so far.”

All she’d managed to do? It wasn’t even seven am yet!

“What time did you get up?” River asked. She didn’t know why she was surprised. This was Helen after all, but still, even for her…

“About five,” Helen replied.

“Just as well we have no neighbors nearby,” River said, amused. “They’d be calling the cops on you, if they saw you out there digging in the dark.”

“There’s so much to do,” Helen said, “And we don’t want to spend the whole day setting up.”

“Is it just you and me? Where’s everyone else?”

Helen blinked. “You want the list of every coven members’ daily activities?” That wasn’t sarcasm. She would actually tell River if she wanted to know.

“No, I’m good,” River replied, before she had to spend the next five minutes hearing the itinerary of all her sisters. “I just meant, is there no one else here to help?”

“Oh,” Helen said, “Not until later.” She started setting chairs out around the hearth for the spirits of their ancestors who wished to join the celebrations. “I actually thought Alex would be with you. Is he coming later?”

River kept her expression blank as she set a candle in the window. “I didn’t invite him.”

Helen stopped in the middle of her task and turned to face River. “Why on earth not?”

A good question to which she had no answer. She’d asked herself a thousand times why she hadn’t asked him, and so far, she’d drawn a thousand blanks. River shrugged. “He probably wouldn’t want to come.”

Helen frowned. “But he might.”

Before either of them could say anything more, the front door slammed, drawing their attention, followed swiftly by their sister, Martha stomping into the living room with a face like thunder and her blue eyes flashing anger.

She dropped her satchel to the floor and announced, “I just got fired.”

Shock stilled the room. Martha loved her job at the library. This would be devastating for her.

“What happened?” River asked.

Martha’s voice was sharp when she replied, “They’re replacing some members of the paid staff with volunteers, and I’m one of them.”

“But you’ve been there for years.”

“Not anymore,” she snapped. “Today sucks.”

“All right,” Helen intervened, stepping forward. “Let’s calm down. Today is Samhain. It is not a day that sucks.”  She shook her head, and muttered, “I swear the coven never used to be this dramatic.”

River’s eyebrows lifted. Was she serious?

Martha was the one to say, “You mean in the days when the witches sacrificed their mates for power and got cursed by the gods?” River had to hide a smile at her sister’s attitude. Sassy Martha was funny. “That’s the time you’re talking about?”

Amusement had Helen’s lips curling, even as she ignored the sarcastic question. “How about we go outside and take a walk,” she suggested instead. “Be among nature for a while.”

“It’s cold outside,” Martha told them, sulkily.

Exasperated, Helen responded with, “Wear a coat!”

Martha was actually still wearing hers as she’d been too angry when she’d stormed into the house to think of taking it off. She waited by the door while River and Helen donned theirs.

“Would you like to hear what I believe?” Helen asked Martha, as they made their way down to the creek.

“Sure,” Martha replied. “Why not.”

“I believe that it isn’t coincidence that your job has come to an end on the same day as Samhain,” Helen told her. “It’s a time for a new beginnings so what better time to start out on a new adventure than now?”

“But I like my job,” Martha said.

“I know,” Helen replied, then in a soft voice, she continued, “But you have been there a long time, and you have grown into a routine that rarely alters. Maybe it’s time it did.”

“She means you’re stuck in a rut,” River explained, with slightly less tact, but who had time for subtlety when you had a stubborn sister.

“Thank you,” Martha said with a glower. “Did I ask for a translator?”

Whoof. Getting fired made her snappy, but when River pointed that out to her, it earned her an even fiercer glare.

It was as if Martha was pretending River hadn’t spoken when she said to Helen, “It’s not a rut when you like it.”

Helen reached over to squeeze Martha’s hand comfortingly. “I understand that you enjoyed your work, but maybe you should take this drastic change as a chance to alter the pathway of your life.”

“Meaning? Get a different kind of job?”

“Yes, but also…” Helen climbed over a fallen tree log, blocking their path. River and Martha followed right behind her. “When River found Alex, you said you planned to go out more, and then you didn’t act upon those plans. Maybe a different career will draw you out more.”

Martha’s jaw tightened, and it was in a  tight voice, Martha said, “I like being at home.”

“Really?” Helen asked. “All the time?”

“It’s not all the time!”

“Um…” River interjected here. “It kind of is.” Tentatively, she added, “Remember Valentine’s Day.”

“What about it?” Martha asked, a sharp edge to her tone.

“You said you were going out with April so that Alex and I could have a romantic dinner at home, and then you crashed it.”

“I didn’t feel like going out.”

“Did you feel like watching me and Alex all over each other all night because that can’t have been fun for anyone but us.”

Martha pulled a face. “Okay, fair point. That was one of the grosser nights of my life. I admit, I regretted being home to see that.”

River laughed. “It was a good night for me, even with you around.”

“I know,” Martha grumbled. “I heard how happy you were.”

“Your own fault.” River had no sympathy for her. She should have known what would happen. “You should have made yourself scarce like you said you would.”

Helen shook her head, sympathetically. “Oh, Martha, if that wasn’t enough to make you change your social life then this has to be.”

Heaving a heavy sigh, Martha said, “Fine, okay. I’ll take what you’re saying under advisement, but let’s not belabor the point all day. I have savings. I have time to think about what I want to do. I don’t need to rush into anything.”

With a roll of her eyes, Helen said, “As if money is a concern for any of us. The coven is wealthy. If you never want to work again, you have that option.”

“And what would I do?” Martha wrinkled her nose. “Stay at home all day? No thank you.”

Helen shrugged. “Like I said. It’s an option, but at the very least, it gives you time to think about how you would truly like to spend your days. What would make you happy.”

Martha sighed again. “I don’t know what that is.” Before Helen could say anything else, she quickly added, “But I’ll think about it.”

 

They were on their way home when the subject of Alex rose again. Martha asked what time he would be arriving.

River didn’t want to answer. She didn’t want to get into a whole discussion about it. What happened between her and Alex was for them only but try telling that to nosey sisters. They never let her get away with anything. “I don’t think he’s coming.”

Frowning, Martha asked, “Why not?”

Helen replied before she could. “Because she didn’t ask him to.”

Her lips parted in surprise. “But we’ve been talking about it for days. Why wouldn’t you invite him?”

She didn’t know why. “I just didn’t, okay?”

“River!”

“What?” Jeez, why did sisters have to be so interfering?

Martha’s face was furrowed in confusion. “Why didn’t you invite him?”

“I know why,” Helen said, and she looked way to smug about it.

“You do not, River replied.

“I do.”

“Are you going to be trying to fix all of us today?” River said, exasperated. You’re not queen of the world, you know.”

Helen laughed loudly, the walk in the chilled air making her bright and exuberant. “Thank you for telling me,” she replied. “I wasn’t certain.” Another small laughed, and she asked, “Would you like to know why you didn’t invite him?”

“If you want to tell me, there’s not much I can do about it.”

“That means yes,” Martha explained.

“Are you translating now?” River grumbled. How the tables had turned. Martha just grinned at her.

They were walking up the driveway to their house, and Helen said, “You didn’t invite him because of what happened when he learned you were a witch.”

River’s heart sank to her stomach. Alex loved her, but learning she was immortal, and a witch had been a lot for him, and he hadn’t handled it very well. He hadn’t wanted to see her at first, but he’d missed her, and had come back, declaring his feelings for her, and from then on, they’d been happy together. But if she was honest, she would admit that her time without him had left scars on her soul. It was her biggest fear, and it grew deeper and more feral with every day that passed, because she loved more, every single one of those days.

“That was a mistake,” River replied. “He regrets it.” And he did. She knew he hated how he’d reacted.

Helen was all sympathy when she said, “That doesn’t deny the fact that it did happen. He hurt you, you were in pain, we all bore witness to it, and you may not realize but I think there’s a part of you that is so terrified of that happening again, even though intellectually you know it won’t, that you’re too scared to ask him to be a part of what sent him running from you the first time.”

River didn’t know what to say to that. Was that why she hadn’t been able to ask him? Was that fear still in her?

“You should call him,” Martha said. “Ask him to come. You know he will.”

“But he might not want to.”

Martha rolled her eyes. “He’d walk through fire if you asked him to. He’ll definitely come tonight.”

“I know he will,” she said. “But he might not want to.” What if he saw what they did and who they were, and he didn’t like it? He was her mate, and if she ever saw him look at her in disapproval or fear; well she couldn’t survive it again.

“I just want to point out,” Martha said, “Not once since he moved in, have I seen him shy away from anything wiccan, and we don’t exactly shelter him from it.” They walked through the front door, and as they walked back into the living room, Martha said, “Just call him.”

“Next time,” River said. “I’ll ask him next time, but it’s too short notice now.”

“Will you?” Martha asked, shaking her head, “Because these sabbats are important and you are a witch! Are you just never going to share that with him for an eternity?”

“I think there’s a part of you that’s hoping he’ll magically show up tonight,” Helen said, “And that’s not fair on him. If you want him here, you have to tell him, otherwise you’re setting him up to fail.”

“I wouldn’t be mad at him, though,” she replied. She wouldn’t blame him for not coming. She would be sad about it though.

“You’re going to do what you’re going to do,” Martha said, “But remember, we care about him too. He’s a part of this family, and we want to spend Samhain with him too. You brought him into our family. You shouldn’t then cut him out of the important parts of it.”

 

River was not being very helpful today. It was lucky Martha had come home when she did, and as she was climbing the stairs to her bedroom, Eva had arrived.

Now, she was sitting in the middle of her double bed, her cell phone in hand, ready to call Alex.

Her heart was thudding heavily as she pressed the call button. It rang twice before he answered.

“Hey, baby. Missing me?”

Just his voice brought a smile to her face, even as the nerves fluttered wildly in her belly. “It’s only been two hours,” she pointed out, but he wasn’t wrong. She did miss him.

“Long enough,” he murmured.

An image of him as she’d left him flashed into her mind. “Are you even out of bed yet?” It was just after nine am.

“Would you be jealous if I said no?” His voice was tinged with humor. “Admit it, you’re imagining me naked right now.”

“Oh, baby,” she said, teasing him back. “You know I always am.”

Alex chuckled. “Damn it, I wish you were here right now.”

“That’s actually why I’m calling.”

He must have heard the nerves in the tremor of her voice, because his own turned serious. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” She didn’t answer right away, and the silence stretched between them. “River, whatever is it? Tell me.”

The words came out in a rush. “Will you come over and celebrate Samhain with us?”

A pause and then he replied, “Er…yes.” There was a little more silence then Alex asked, “Anything else?”

“No.”

“Seriously? That’s all you wanted to say?”

“Yes. Why?”

“River!” Why was everyone saying her name in that tone of voice? “What the hell was the buildup for? You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were about to dump me over the phone or something.”

She snorted. As if that would ever happen.

“What time do you want me there, baby?”

“Any time you like, but April will be the last to arrive at five so sometime before that would be good.”

“Okay,” Alex said, simply. “I’ll be around this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

“Anything else you want to say?” he asked. What was he waiting to hear? There was an expectancy on his end, but she didn’t know what for.

“Nope.”

“Okay.” He sounded confused.

“Okay.”

“See you soon, baby.”

River ended the call with a grimace. Well, it had been awkward, but she guessed it could have gone worse. He hadn’t said no. He was coming. That was a win. But he hadn’t seen the rituals yet.

She traipsed downstairs on heavy feet.

“Is he coming?” Martha asked.

“He’s coming.”

“That’s great,” she said, with a smile. “Told you there was nothing to worry about.” She wasn’t worried. She was wary. There was a difference. “Come help me,” Martha added. “I’m painting the name stones and they’re not very neat.” She held up a stone with a black smear. “Can you tell this says Beth.”

River took the seat across from her. “No,” she replied. “But I’m no better at this than you are.”

“Take it slowly,” Martha laughed. “We can make this job last all day.”

“I’m going to need alcohol,” River groaned.

Victoria was passing at just the right time. “Did someone say alcohol?” She planted a bottle of wine in between them. “I’m your savior, I know.”

“Do we just swig it from the bottle?” River asked, unscrewing the top.

“If you want glasses, River, you only have to ask.”

“Glasses, please.”

Two wine glasses joined the bottle, and after blowing them a kiss, Victoria sauntered away, her leather encased hips swaying.

“She’s right. She’s my hero.” River filled their glasses with the pink wine, which was Martha’s favorite.

They worked together, drinking and laughing, but River was waiting for Alex to arrive. She wouldn’t feel calm about his reaction to everything until he was there.

 

Alex was standing outside the door, waiting for River or one of her sisters to answer, when a cat came and weaved its way around his ankles.

He crouched down and scratched the small, black animal’s chin.

He knew they had a cat, but he’d seen it, and that little creature was grey. So, who was this?

The door swung open, just as he scooped up the cat, and River’s sister, Jennifer stood across from him.

“You came.” She stepped back. “Come in. River’s in your room.” He liked the way she said your room, as if it belonged to both him and River. “Who have you brought with you?” She gestured to the cat in his arms.

“Oh, he was on your doorstep. Figured he was yours.”

“No,” Jennifer replied, taking the small, black feline from him. “He just came to bless the house.”

Alex might have responded, but she walked away with the cat at the same time River appeared at the top of the stairs and emptied his mind of everything but her.

River was always the most beautiful thing in the world, but as she stood up there, a small smile on her face, peering down at him, his heart physically stopped at the mesmerizing vision she was.

Her hair fell in beautiful blonde waves down her back and over her shoulders, and she was wearing a dress with a flaring purple skirt on the bottom and a fitted black top with sleeves that covered part of her arms but with a neckline that bared the curve of her shoulders.

She descended the stairs, moving toward him in strappy shoes as he waited, stunned out of all thought and all action. He was helpless to do anything but watch her approach. He’d never been religious, and until he’d stood in the physical presence of a goddess, he hadn’t given much thought to their existence, but as River came to him, he was thanking every deity in existence for making her his.

He would never feel anything other than gratitude that this female was his mate. That this woman was meant for him.

If he hadn’t had faith in miracles before, she turned him into the most devout believer. River was his miracle. There was no other explanation for such perfection in his world.

She stopped in front of him, and even with her wearing heels, he was taller than her.

“You look beautiful.” It was the understatement of a lifetime, but he didn’t have the words to do her justice.

“Thank you,” she replied, and then added, “You look perfect.”

That was relief. It was his first wiccan celebration. He hadn’t a clue how he was supposed to dress. When she’d first asked him, he’d hoped they didn’t expect him to don wizard robes or something like that, but then he remembered who his mate was and knew that wouldn’t be the type of Halloween they would celebrate. He’d kept it simple with black jeans and a black shirt.

“Can we talk,” he asked. He didn’t like the way her face paled at his somber question, and he lifted his hand to cup her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb until it flushed with color.

That was better.

“Of course,” she replied. “We can go up to our room.”

Our room. He loved hearing it.

He took her hand, holding onto her as they climbed the stairs. He wanted to speak to her, but while they were up there…he was definitely getting his mouth on her in some way.

 

Oh, gods. Oh, gods. Oh, gods.

He was going to run again. He was going to flee.

No! She chastised herself. Where was her faith in her mate? They belonged to each other. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Even so, her heart was a drumbeat in her ears when the door to their bedroom shut, sealing them in there alone. Her hand slipped from his.

“So, angel,” he said, leaning against the door, his eyes dark and serious. “What was with the last-minute invite?”

Her eyes were wide with fake innocence. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve had this night planned for— Well, I guess you’ve always known what you’d be doing. Why did you wait until today to invite me?”

Shuffling on her feet, she folded her arms over her chest. “Does it matter?”

“It does to me.”

She drew in a shuddery breath, and then meeting his gaze, she confessed, “I was scared to ask you.”

He nodded somberly. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she replied in a whisper.

“You do.” But she didn’t want to say. She didn’t have to, because he cursed violently, and then said, “Hell, I do too.”

She was helpless in the face of such honesty and all she could do was stare up into his eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he told her bluntly. The clarity in his statement made it impossible to believe otherwise, but she had to ask…

“What if you get scared by what you see here?”

He was shaking his head before she’d even finished talking. “That’s not going to happen.”

“You don’t know that.” She wanted to believe that he understood what they were, but she just wasn’t sure.

“I do,” he argued. Pushing away from the door, he crossed the floor to stand before her, and cupping her face in his hands, he said, “Vampires could come knocking on our day, you could summon demons, hell, you could bring forth lucifer himself, and I would be at your side through all of it. I lived without you once, and I barely survived it. I won’t again.”

“What if—”

“No,” he interrupted with a stern shake of his head. “No what if. You’re mine. I’m yours. Nothing is changing that. You and me, we’re forever. It’s that simple and it’s that true.”

He cut off any other objections she could have come up with by planting his mouth on hers, and just like that she was lost to the pleasure of his lips. She had to trust that he knew his own feelings. And she had to have faith.

She was his. He was hers. There was nothing else that needed to be said on the subject.

He pulled back from her, leaving her addled brain rushing to catch up with her body.

“Now, I need to ask you something.”

She blinked. Ask her something. What? He needed something. Right, brain. Come on. He needed to ask her something.

“What do you need to ask?” Calm down, body!

“I’ve been to this house a lot for family events, but not many of them were for things like this. Witch things.” True. He’d come for family dinners, but no rituals. “Is that only because you were worried about my reaction, or did I cause so much damage when I walked away that you don’t want me here? Or your sisters don’t want me here?”

River was horrified. That he could think that was even a possibility. No. No. A thousand times no. She wanted him to be a part of every aspect of her life.

“Of course that’s not why,” she rushed to tell him. “I’ve wanted you here from day one, but you’ve adjusted to so much to be with me, that it didn’t seem fair to ask you for more, and as for my sisters; they’ve nagged me at every sabbat, every celebration, every ritual that you weren’t here. They consider you a part of this family and it’s pissed them off that I didn’t invite you before.”

He absorbed her words then nodded slowly. “Good,” he replied, and a smug smile spread across his face. “My girls have got my back. Never any doubt.”

River laughed. “You never had any reason to.”

“Neither did you.” Serious again. “If there’s one thing you can believe in, it’s that I love you and I always will.

“I love you too.”

“And always will?”

Smiling, she repeated, “Always will.” She stood up on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “I guess we better head back down?”

Wrapping his arms around her, he hauled her up against him, and she enjoyed the feel of his hard body against her soft curves. “We will soon,” he said, “But first, I have some plans.”

She squealed as he scooped her up off the floor and dropped her on the bed. There was no grace to it, but he was laughing as she gripped the mattress in an attempt to not bounce off the mattress, and then he was coming down on top of her.

Well, she supposed there was no rush to get downstairs. Halloween lasted all night.

 

Alex was sated, he was content, and he was fighting the urge to spank his girl on her perfect ass as she sashayed in front of him.

The only reason he didn’t give into it was because every time they turned a corner, one of her sisters were there. It helped a man hold onto his control.

“You want a drink?” she asked, as they got downstairs.

“Sure.”

She led him into the kitchen where Martha was sitting at the table, the black cat who had arrived with him, perched on her lap while she scratched his ears. April was sitting across from her. That was both of his roommates here, or as he was beginning to think of them, his two annoying little sisters.

The house was decked out with candles, flowers, lights and pumpkins. Not just pumpkins. There were creepy-assed carved turnips. He picked one up.

“What the hell is this?” he asked. “You couldn’t find enough pumpkins?”

April laughed. “No. They’re meant to be turnips. They’re supposed to look like protective spirits to keep us safe on this night of chaos.”

“Right. Of course.” He set it back down. They would scare away any ghouls at the door.

“There’s beer in the fridge,” River told him, as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Thanks.” He gave a soft pat to her butt, because he couldn’t resist any longer, and she shook her head at him, but she had a pretty smile on her face as he left her to open the fridge.

It was full to bursting, beer taking up the top shelf, and they had loads of his favorite.

“Hey, who drinks this?” he asked, shutting the door and opening the can.

“You do,” River said.

Obviously. “Yeah, but who here?” They must have it in the fridge for a reason.

“We get it in for you,” Martha told him. “Helen added it to the online order. Check the cupboards. There’s loads of stuff for you.”

They did that for him? They actually got food in that he liked. That easily, he felt accepted. River’s sisters were unlike any people he’d ever known. River loved him and that was all it took for them to take him in as family.

Before he could lose his shit and sap out about it, Beth leaned into the kitchen, and announced, “We’re about to start the ritual.” She tossed a box of matches at Alex and he caught it with his free hand. “Will you light the candle in the living room window?”

“Sure,” he replied, following Beth. “What’s it for?”

“It helps guide the spirits home.”

“You ever seen a ghost?” he asked.

Beth threw him a smile. “Just wait.”

Man, that sounded ominous.

River met him in the hallway, as Beth left them alone. “You might want to put a coat on,” she said. “It’s cold outside tonight.”

“So, we’re not going to be dancing naked in the garden? This wiccan ritual sounds like it’s going to be a disappointment.”

She snorted. “You wish! I’m not getting my nips out in this cold weather.”

He barked out a laugh. “Good idea. Keep that naked body for my eyes only.”

She blew a kiss up at him. “Always.”

The sisters of The Shadow Coven were gathered in the garden, standing in a circle. A firepit burned in the center.

“What do I do?” Alex asked his mate.

She brushed his hair back and replied, “You’re not wiccan. You can just take a seat and watch. Or if you’d rather go inside—”

“I’ll stay out here with you,” he told her. “I’ve got my beer. I’m happy.”

She went to join her sisters, and he pressed a kiss to her hand before she could go. “I love you.” Three simple words and they couldn’t convey all he felt.

Her smile was bright. “I love you too.”

Taking a breath, she joined the circle, while Alex took a seat on one of the padded garden chairs. He locked his eyes on River and waited for them to start.

It wasn’t nearly as weird as he’d expected it to be. Well, at first it wasn’t. There was a black cord, and they moved around in a circle, each with a broom, sweeping around. There were candles and incense, smoke drifting around them. The coven spoke in unison, not a chant, but words that sounded almost like a poem, and he hadn’t known what to expect but he found the ritual beautiful to watch.

He couldn’t take his eyes off River. She was striking; the way she moved, the air around her. His stunning witch. She looked at peace and at the same time invigorated as she moved with her sisters. She was all he could see, and even with the other girls around her, she stood out. A wildling. A pagan. A miracle.

Alex knew magic existed, had seen it for himself. Hell, his immortal mate had ensured he would live as long as she did, which potentially could be forever, but it still shocked him when he witnessed something mystical, so at first, when he saw the shapes behind River, he thought it was a trick of light. He should have known better.

It was when the shape became clearer, barely more than a shadow, but so obviously the outline of two humans at River’s back that he realized what he was looking at was real. His mate’s eyes were closed, a small smile curling her luscious lips, and he was on his feet before he had conscious thought, drawn toward her. She was a siren that called to him, and he gave in contentedly.

Touching her hip, he alerted her to his presence, and she leaned instinctively into him, her back against his front. There was a bracing chill around her, and it was more than just the sharpness that came with October weather. It was a strangely comforting bite that enveloped them.

The shadows weren’t just around River. The whole circle of the coven was surrounded by a second circle of these cold shapes.

“Our loved ones,” River whispered to him. “Our people who are no longer with us.”

“Who are yours?” he asked, speaking so close to her ear that her hair brushed his lips.

“My parents. Mom and Dad.”

As he held onto his mate, her body pressed against his, and an aura of acceptance weaved around him, washed through him. The pure sense that this was where he was supposed to be beat through him.

Sweeping her golden sunshine hair back, he hid his face in her neck, and just clung to his mate as the feeling of home seeped into him. River was his home.

 

The ritual was completed by them throwing stones into the fire pit, where they would collect them tomorrow. River passed Alex his name stone with the explanation that they would collect them in the morning, and divine their future for the coming year from the state of the stone. He threw it to the flames along with the coven.

After the ritual there was a sense of calm, as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Each of them thinking of the spirits who had visited them.

It was always like this at the end of the Samhain ritual. A stillness fell over them, but it never lasted long.

“What happens now?” Alex asked as the sisters started to wander back into the house.

“Now, we eat,” River told him. “We have to ground ourselves after a ritual and we do it with food.”

The long table in the dining room was set for fifteen, and River noticed Alex looking at it curiously.

“The empty place is for spirits to join us, the same as the chairs around the hearth.”

“You know, an hour ago that might have sounded strange to me, but now…I see them.”

“Are you okay with that?” Even for a witch, seeing spirits could be disconcerting, and Alex was not a witch.

“Yeah,” Alex replied. “I told you. I’m more than okay with anything as long as I have you.”

It was hard to believe that she deserved the gift of his easy acceptance, and she lifted his hand, kissing his fingers, thankful for him.

The meal started out quietly, everyone still under the influence of the ritual, but as they went on, the food disappeared, and they got louder, more jovial. Alex was as relaxed as River had ever seen him. Leaning back in his chair, his arm over the back of hers as he played the ends of her long hair between the fingers of one hand, while eating off his plate with the other, he laughed at something April said.

This was how it was supposed to be. Their mates an integral part of their coven, and it reinforced for River what they had suffered at the hands of their ancestors’ desire for power. They’d sacrificed their mates all those years ago, and because of it, The Shadow Coven had suffered. Not so much River, because she was still young, but Helen and Victoria; had they lost out on centuries of being with their mates, if they ever found them.

She prayed to all their gods and goddesses that her sisters would find their other halves. She wanted them all to have what she did.

“We’re going to leave the clean up until tomorrow, right?” April asked.

River laughed. “You’re only saying that because you’re at work tomorrow.”

“Well, true, but also because I’m calling it a night, and going to bed.” She rose from her chair, saying her goodnights as she went, and not long after April headed upstairs, others started to follow.

 

Alex went straight to their bedroom, while River stopped by the bathroom to wash her makeup off and brush her teeth.

She kept a stash of toiletries and clothes at the house because she spent so much time there. Back in the bedroom, Alex was already naked and in bed. Pjs weren’t much of an issue for him. He never wore them anyway.

“Will you undo my zipper?” She crouched by the bed so he could reach.

“You ask me for the best favors, baby.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her spine as it was revealed by the parting zipper, and when she undressed, she could feel his gaze on her in an almost tactile caress.

She was naked and about to pull on her shorts and tank to sleep in, but in a rush of movement, Alex grabbed her and dragged her onto the bed.

“Hey,” she exclaimed, as he laughingly came down on top of her. “I wasn’t finished getting changed.”

“I like you as you are.”

“Naked?” Hardly a surprise.

He grinned and swept his gaze over her body appreciatively. “It’s my favorite of all your outfits.”

“I’ll bet!” She rolled her eyes.

“I’m a simple guy. I like simple pleasures.”

“You like naked ladies.”

Squeezing her hips, he travelled his hands up her body. “I like naked you.”

“Keep flirting with me like that, and you’ll get lucky.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.” He stroked her hair from her face, his touch making her belly flip wildly, and his smiling expression grew serious. “I’m really glad that you asked me to come today. I like being a part of this.”

“I’m glad too. Thank you for being here with me tonight.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me, baby. You’re my happy place. With you is where I always want to be.”

“You’re my happy too.”

“Speaking of happy…” He kissed her until her head was swimming. “Since this is the Wiccan new year, I say we start it off right.”

And then his mouth was back on hers, his hands wandering.

He really was her happy.