Free Dana Marie Bell - Heart'sDesire01 by T L Page A

better.”
    “Because the spell is tied to the wolf’s hair, not mine.”
    She beamed at him. “Exactly.”
    “Then shouldn’t we be trying to cure the wolf?”

    “Most of the remedies in that soup work on canines and humans, so we should be all right.” She’d made sure to look up ingredients on the internet before beginning the soup, just in case she acciden-tally did more harm than good.
    “Oh.” He took another sip of tea, much to her delight. “So the chicken soup and tea are the remedies?”
    “And the plant.”
    He eyed the plant on his nightstand. The leaves were beginning to droop. A few had turned brown.
    “Ah.”
    “I’ve taken a clipping. Even if this plant dies it will live on.” She fingered the leaf, offering a silent apology to the little plant. She hadn’t realized how virulent the infection currently being drawn out of Chris was. She’d thought the plant would get a little sick, not start dying a mere four hours after she’d placed it there.
    “You could have left.”
    She turned back to him, making a face at him. “I wouldn’t leave a do … um, cat as sick as you were, let alone a man.”
    He tried to laugh but it turned into a hacking cough.
    Good. She handed him a paper towel. Get it all out. She held out a waste paper basket when he was done. She wasn’t that altruistic. “Try and rest. Hopefully you’ll feel better tonight.” And if he didn’t she’d have to find another plant.
    He settled back down with a sleepy sigh. “Thank you, Alannah.”
    She gave in to the urge to stroke his hair, feeling a stirring around her heart when he smiled sweetly.
    “You’re welcome, Chris.” She picked up the tray and left him to drift into a healing sleep.
    She really hated invading his privacy, but she had to contact his family and let them know what was going on just in case he took a turn for the worst. She took his cell phone from his pants pocket and checked his voicemail. Luckily he had a model she was familiar with, and he hadn’t put in a pass-word.
    The first message she heard had her sighing in relief. “Hey, Christopher, it’s Gareth. Do me a favor and call me back once you get this. Bro, you’re not going to believe what’s been happening around here. Your mate called and told me you were kidnapping her. Wait until Mom hears about this.”
    Lana pressed the button that would allow her to dial the number back.
    “Hello?”
    The deep male voice on the other end of the line matched Gareth’s. “This is Alannah Evans.”
    “The woman Christopher kidnapped? How’s that going, by the way?”
    “Long story. Look—”
    “Have you accepted the mating?”
    She growled. “What did Chris do, call you last night?”
    “Uh…”
    “Because I’m still not convinced of this whole perfect forever mate crap.”
    “Um…”
    Lana began to pace. “He’s a wizard!”
    “Yeah, but—”

    “I’m a witch.” She shook her head. “It just can’t work.”
    “It’s going to have to.”
    She frowned. “What do you mean it’s going to have to?”
    “You answered the call, babe.”
    “Don’t call me babe. And next time I’m letting my metaphysical answering machine get it.”
    He chuckled. “That makes you a member of the Beckett pack, whether you like it or not.”
    “That’s just it! I don’t know if I like it or not!”
    “Does it bother you that he turns furry?” She made a rude noise, and he laughed. “Guess not. Have you two, um, ‘done the deed’ yet?”
    “Ugh.” She could practically hear the quotation marks.
    “Seriously. Did he suck in bed? Is that why you’re thinking of doing a flit?”
    “First he drugged me, then he got sick off some spell that he thinks someone named Cole used on him, and now I’m nursing him while he hacks up snot. Not exactly my idea of romance, let me tell you.” There was no way in hell she was bringing up the workroom incident.
    “Cole hexed him?”
    Uh-oh. The teasing tone was completely gone from the other man’s