Magic and Wolves: Book 1 of West Mountain

Mind, Body, Spirit

Hammer's Rib Tattoo ^^^

Warm sunlight washed over Cecilia's back, she blinked her eyes open and took in the aftermath of last night. She was laying on her stomach, the blankets bunched down on her waist, her arms over her head.

Next to her Hammer was sprawled on his back, snoring lightly. With him like this she was able to get a good look at his tattoos. A pentacle enclosed in a circle was on his left pec, right above his heart. Different runes, like what she had done but different, circled his right bicep. Across his ribs covering a large portion of his right side was an intricate design of 2 Celtic phoenixes holding a Claddagh, a crowned heart.

She marveled at the beautiful piece of work, tracing the lines lightly with a finger. The symbolism really intrigued her, 2 creatures known for power, renewal and rebirth encompassing a Claddagh, an Irish symbol of love, loyalty, and friendship.

"Cecilia" Hammers voice was husky with sleep. His face turned toward her, but his eyes weren't open. She was slightly surprised he was awake after their night together. He approached sex like he approached everything, with a passion and enthusiasm that knew no bounds. He had spent hours discovering and learning her body, determined to know everything he could about what drove her wild with passion.

She had tried to discover as much about his body, but she quickly let go of control and allowed him to carry her over waves upon waves of pleasure.

Cecilia moved quickly and straddled Hammer, shivering at the skin-on-skin contact, her hands settling on his chest. Hammers eyes opened and his hands moved onto her hips.

"Why are you awake, A Chuisle? Did I not use up enough of your energy last night?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, his lips stretching into a lazy grin.

Cecilia stretched her arms above her head, arching her back, feeling her muscles move. Hammers eyes followed the movement of her body with interest.

"It's the full moon Sampson. I can feel it already." Her hands moved down her body, tracing the sides of her ribs, "It's like a pulse in my veins, calling to the wolf in me."

She moved off him, he raised an eyebrow at her.

"If we do anything now Sampson, I don't think I will be able to resist Marking you and completing the Mate Bond." She chuckled lightly, "We may have let ourselves get carried away last night, but I know we are not ready to take that step yet. Plus, if your right about Mages, we don't have that kind of time to complete any kind of ritual."

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Hammer sat up, leaning against the headboard.

Cecilia pulled on a pair of loose running shorts and a sports bra. She pulled her hair up into a high, tight ponytail. After a few more minutes she turned back to him.

"I would be naïve not to be nervous. No one can know the outcomes of events, not even clairvoyants." She sat next to him on the bed, resting her forearms on her knees. "All I can do is follow through with this plan to the best of my abilities."

"I could help you." Hammer was cautious, he had been wary to say anything, but he needed to. He did not want to regret not offering. "I could come with you tonight, I can help. I'm not the best at battle magic but I'm still a strong Mage."

Cecilia looked at him, her expression unreadable. She shook her head slowly.

"No Sampson. We are not fully Mated yet, you will not be allowed at official Pack meetings until we are, that is the just the way. More importantly even if you were allowed, I don't want you there."

Hammer opened his mouth to protest but Cecilia held up a hand, "I will not be able to focus as well if I have to worry about you and your safety, which I will do, no matter how capable you are. I also need to do this alone. This is a challenge I must face by myself."

"If that is what you want A Chuisle." Hammer relented; he had offered there wasn't much he could do if she didn't accept it. "You looked dressed for a workout."

Cecilia stood, stretching her arms above her head. "That is what I'm about to do. Oscar just linked me. Apparently, I need to get my lazy Alpha butt down and into the yard or he will come up here and drag me down, no matter what we may or may not be doing."

Hammer let out a loud belly laugh, "Do you mind if I join you?"

"For training? A you sure you can handle that?"

Standing up he stretched groaning as the muscles in his back moved. "I more meant in the yard. You train your way; I can train my way."

He pulled on his tight briefs and smirked at her.

"And what is your way?"

"A type of guided meditation. Mind, body, spirit A Chuisle. I need to keep them in harmony, or my magic starts to become. Unpredictable."

After Cecilia found him a spare pair of shorts from Oscar's closet, they went out into the yard at the back of the house together. Oscar and Franny were already there, Oscar had a set of boxing pads on his hands and Franny was hitting them.

Cecilia made her way over to them; Hammer went to a separate area of the yard where they would be less of a distraction to him. Cecilia taped up her hands as Franny finished running through a few combinations. Oscar looks over at her raising an eyebrow.

"Lose the pads Oscar, time to put up or shut up."

Oscar smirked, a mischievous glint in his eye. While he taped up his hands, Cecilia looked over at Hammer briefly, he appeared to be working through a series of slow martial arts movements, maybe Tai Chi, but she wasn't sure how it was meditation. Cecilia refocused her attention on to Oscar. They began to spar, fairly evenly matched, Oscar was larger, but Cecilia was faster. Neither got any real, true hits in for the first 20 minutes both blocking very effectively.

Then Cecilia heard Franny mutter off to the side, "Holy Fuck!"

Distracted Cecilia looked over at Franny and Oscar landed a punch to her face. Cecilia spun to the ground caught off guard by the sudden impact. She pushed off the ground and turned to look at the other woman. Following her gaze, Cecilia saw it fixed on Hammer. He was still in the spot he had been before, one leg bent at the knee foot facing forward, the other was stretched behind him, his foot pointed to the side, his arms were in front of his chest pushing outward. Cecilia realized what had caused Franny's sudden declaration. Hammer was glowing, not with a sheen of sweat but actually glowing. A soft white light was coming off his skin and as his hands moved away from his body the glow seemed to get brighter.

"Huh." Oscar muttered, watching next to Cecilia.

"Bit of an understatement Oscar." Cecilia whispered. "I mean, I've heard of Tai Chi before, but I've never seen anyone actually glow. I gotta tell you Oscar, the more I see him do, the more I wonder how much power he truly has."

Oscar hummed in agreement before punching her lightly on the shoulder. Cecilia pulled her eyes away from Hammer and refocused on her own training.