Free Secret Cravings by Kris Cook Page A

singeing their fur. They ran down the hallway and out the open door.
    Gran’s really a witch.
    Mr. Keekoti stood up, dusting himself off. “Can you help them?”
    “I think so.” Gran turned back to her. “Angel, are you okay?”
    Kate nodded, and pulled the sheet up over her to cover herself.
    “Jack and I are going to put on a pot of coffee. You get dressed. Then you can tell me everything that’s happened.”
    “Okay, Gran.”

Chapter 9

    Kate’s shoulders sagged from guilt. She’d unwittingly spelled Troy and Rance.
    “So this is what you added?” Gran handed her a bottle.
    Kate read the label. “Yes. This is it. Yaccum. Just like the recipe said.”
    Her grandmother took the bottle and put it back in the lower cabinet. “Not exactly.” Gran pulled out another bottle from the special spices and handed it to her.
    “Yiccitun.” Kate took the card and flipped it over to the spell side.

    For Truth, a tsp. of yiccitun saying “Omna ecco ortameeka” 3Xs

    She screwed everything up by putting yaccum instead of yiccitun in the cookies.
    She might as well have drugged them. What was she thinking? They were under a spell. Damn it.
    “Kate, it’s an honest mistake.”
    “But what have I done to Troy and Rance?”
    “Yaccum is a very powerful ingredient, much more than yiccitun. A tiny pinch of yaccum is what most spells call for. You used a teaspoon of it.”
    “What does it do, Gran?”
    “Many things, but it mainly increases sexual drive.”
    “It definitely did that.” She blushed, realizing what she’d admitted to.
    “Of course there must be real desire for the other person in the enchanted for it to work. The problem is that Troy and Rance are shifters. Spells on their kind are always tricky, and never predictable.” Gran tapped the table. “You said Troy’s first shift lasted longer than Rance’s?”
    “Yes.”
    “He must’ve been more open. That makes sense, given Rance’s temperament. I also think that Troy wasn’t wanting to harm you when he was lost to his wolf form. I think he wanted to protect you from the others. Same with Rance, I’m sure.”
    “Can you fix what I’ve done and return them to normal?”
    “Yes, angel. We need to fix a couple of juicy steaks for the boys. Together we can get them back good as new.”
    “Not as good as new, Gran.” Jack Keekoti frowned. “They’ve imprinted on Kate and claimed her as their mate.”
    She remembered both Troy and Rance saying she was theirs and no one else’s. She’d caused a total disaster.
    Gran sipped her coffee. “What’s wrong with that? Mate sharing is a common practice in the tribe.”
    “You have been a friend to us, but you don’t know all our ways. A Loneekawa brave mates for life. Now, my lineage ends with my boys. They’ve broken tribal law and will have to be punished by our council.”
    “You won’t kill them?” Kate pulled her hands up to her mouth.
    “No, but they will no longer be a part of our tribe and will be ordered to never shift again. They’re smart boys. They won’t be foolish to use their powers after this.”
    “It’s not their fault. It’s mine.” She sobbed, knowing that she’d ruined everything. “Please, you have to convince the council of that.”
    Gran stood up and pounded on the table. “Jack Keekoti, you old fool. The only reason for that silly law is because of the misplaced belief that mating inside the tribe allows for offspring, and in particular, shifter offspring. Right?”
    “That’s true.”
    “Well, I’ve got a surprise for you, Jack, and the other tribal leaders. On my way back home, I checked my crystal to check on my granddaughter.”
    “And what did you see?”
    “She’s pregnant with twin shifters.”

    * * * *

    The truth about Gran being a witch Kate couldn’t deny any longer. How could she not have known?
    Her eyes were swollen from crying. She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid. Her idiocy of making magic cookies had ended in her pregnancy