Chase put on his underwear and sat on the edge of the bed. How long did it take to make a cucumber and avocado sandwich? Maybe she had a garden out back, and she had to pick the vegetables first.

No, he’d been around back, and this building didn’t have a courtyard like so many other French Quarter structures did. The only thing behind Rain’s bakery was a dumpster that desperately needed emptying, based on the faint rotting smell creeping into his senses. Something wasn’t right.

As he reached for his pants, she stepped through the doorway, grinning and holding a cookie in her hand.

“I was starting to worry about you, cher. Did you bake that from scratch?”

Her grin widened, and she shuffled toward him, offering him the treat.

He took it and held it up to his nose for a sniff. Chocolate chip. “What happened to the sandwich? I don’t think a cookie is going to hold me ‘til morning.”

She sighed and tilted her head.

He started to ask if she’d put a spell on it but thought better of it. That would’ve been a dick move, especially since they’d just declared their love for each other.

Lifting the cookie to his lips, he took a bite, and she watched him intently as he chewed and swallowed. He looked at her, and she nodded, encouraging him to finish. She was normally more talkative, but if she wanted him to eat the whole damn cookie, he’d eat it for her.

Finishing the last bite, he licked his fingers for emphasis. “Delicious as expected, though I was planning on having you for dessert.”

She giggled.

“How about that sandwich? I need some sustenance for all the things I have planned for you tonight.”

She turned on her heel and darted out the door.

What kind of game was the woman playing? He stood and peeked out the door, but she’d disappeared around a corner. As he stepped into the hall, a wave of fatigue crashed into him, spreading from his core to his limbs. His mouth went dry, and his head spun as his muscles contracted with searing pain. “What the hell?”

He stumbled down the hall into the kitchen, and his heart plummeted to his feet when he found Rain lying on the floor.

“Rain!” He rushed to her side, and dropping to his knees, he put a hand on her chest. It rose and fell steadily with her breaths, but his own breathing became labored and raspy. Rolling her onto her back, he patted her cheek gently. “Rain? Cher, are you okay?” She’s lying on the cold kitchen floor. Of course she’s not okay, asshole.

Her skin was clammy to the touch, and her eyelids fluttered as if she were trying to open them.

“Rain?”

She sucked in a sharp breath and opened her eyes. Blinking wildly, she darted her gaze about the room and locked eyes with him. “Chase? Is it really you?” She lifted her hand, slapping him across the face before letting her arm flop to the floor.

A stinging sensation spread from his cheek to his jaw, and he rubbed his face. “It’s me. Ow.”

“Sorry. I thought you weren’t real.” She tried to sit up, but her elbows buckled beneath her.

He caught her and scooped her into his arms. Had she always been this heavy? “What’s going on? What happened?” He tried to stand, but his knees gave out before he could right himself. Setting Rain on the floor, he sat back on his heels. “What was in that cookie?”

She rubbed her temples. “What cookie?”

“The one you gave me. Wait…why did you think I wasn’t real?” His head pounded, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stave off the nausea that threatened to give that cookie a reappearance.

“I didn’t give you a cookie.” She moved to all fours, rocking slightly before steadying herself.

He scrunched his brow, shaking his head to clear the confusion clouding his mind. Shifting his weight to his feet, he tried to rise, but his knees wobbled. He put a hand on the floor. Why did he feel so weak? “Did you put a spell on me?” The moment the words left his lips, he regretted them.

Rain narrowed her eyes and peered at him through a curtain of her hair. “Seriously? You’re really asking me that?”

Clutching a counter for support, he rose to his feet. “I’m sorry. I know you can’t cast spells.”

“It’s not that you know I can’t, Chase. It’s that you thought I would.” She stood and stumbled before catching herself on the wall.

“I don’t think that, and I’m sorry I said it. Please explain what’s going on. You came into the room and gave me a cookie. Then you ran out, and I found you unconscious on the floor. And I feel…” Ice flushed his veins. “I can’t feel my wolf.” He grabbed at his chest as if he could physically grab hold of the missing piece of his being. What the hell was happening to him?

Rain squinted, studying him. “Oh, goddess, no. Not you too.”

“Me too what?”

With her back against the wall, she covered her face with her hands and slid to the floor. “I need to lie down.”

Panic raced through his veins like a freight train. Reaching beneath her arms, he lifted her to his chest and carried her to the bedroom. His dizziness had subsided, leaving behind nothing but weakness in his muscles to indicate anything had happened to him. Weakness…and the absence of his wolf.

He laid her on the bed and sat beside her. “I know you don’t feel well, cher, but I need you to tell me what happened. To you and to me.”

She inhaled deeply, fluttering her eyes open to meet his gaze. “It was Isaac.”

“Isaac? I thought he was dead.”

“So did I, but he was standing in the kitchen with his tulpa when I got there.”

“What the hell is a tulpa?”

“The shadow you’ve been seeing. It’s not a demon. Isaac created it with his mind.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead, trying to make sense of her words. He knew it wasn’t a demon because he’d seen it in the daylight. Aside from the first time he’d encountered it in the swamp, it had only appeared when Rain was near. The damn thing hadn’t been targeting him, it had been after his woman.

His spine went rigid, his muscles contracting as he fisted the sheet. How could he have been so stupid? “This tulpa…how did Isaac create it with his mind? Is it some kind of spell? A hologram? What is it?” He shook his head. “That’s not important. What happened to you? Are you sick? What can I do?”

“The tulpa used my energy to shape-shift, like it did to my landlord, but I’ll regain my strength.” She inhaled a shaky breath. “My guess is that it made you think you saw me, so you would think that I…” She lowered her gaze to her stomach.

He clutched her hand. “That you what, Rain? Please tell me what’s going on.”

“Did you eat the cookie?”

“Yeah.”

Tears gathered on her lower lids. “Isaac sent the tulpa, disguised as me, to give you a binding spell.”

“A binding spell?”

She blinked up at him, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “He bound your power. Your wolf. You’re like me now.”

“No.” He wouldn’t believe it. Shaking his head, he stood and paced the small bedroom. His wolf was half of his soul. Without it, he wasn’t himself. He was…nothing.

“Yes, Chase. I can see it in your aura. Or rather…I can’t see it. Your aura looks mundane, so your power must be bound.”

He jabbed his fingers into his hair, pulling it at the roots. “I can’t shift? I’ve lost my strength?”

She nodded.

“I’m useless.” He threw his hands into the air. This couldn’t be happening.

“No. You’re still you, like I’m still me. Your power is there, in your blood.”

He stopped and leaned his head against the wall. Leave it to a witch to use someone he loved against him. “How did he find us? How did he know?”

“The witch from the morgue had the gift of sight. He…” She blew out a hard breath. “He killed her and used her gift to find me. To find us.”

“Her missing eye.” His muscles tensed, a sharp pain shooting through his jaw as he ground his teeth. The bastard would not get away with this. “How can I break the spell? What if I finished the job and killed him myself?”

She pushed into a sitting position and leaned her back against the wall. “Binding spells aren’t tied to the caster. They get inside you, stay with you until they’re broken.”

“What about the coven? Or Snow? Can’t someone write an unbinding spell?”

A pained expression flashed across her features before morphing into sadness. “Unbinding spells are a bitch.” She let out a dry laugh. “High-level witches have to write them, and they require months of preparation and ingredients that aren’t easy to come by.”

He sank onto the bed.

Rain scooted toward him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Snow doesn’t have that kind of power. Anyway, if they were easy, don’t you think I’d have found a way to break my curse by now?”

So…what? He was stuck this way? Was the universe playing some kind of cruel joke on him? Leading him to his fate-bound. Making her a witch of all creatures, and then waiting until he let his guard down to send in another witch to steal his wolf? “How’d he get in? You said no one could break the circle of protection.”

“Remember what I told you about my landlord being drained by the shadow? I think it did that to gain the ability to take on her form. When it came into the bakery disguised as Ingrid, it took one of the enchanted totems. Breaking it broke the circle. The magic was tied to the lock, so we didn’t notice the spell had stopped working.”

“How did it know what to take?”

“I think Isaac can see through the tulpa’s eyes. It’s a projection of his mind, so wherever the tulpa goes, his vision goes. Isaac would have recognized the spell; it’s basic witchcraft. He planned this. Knew you were here.”

“And he’s coming after me in order to hurt you.”

She nodded and pressed her lips to his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. He’s here for revenge. He’ll go after you and Snow first—the people I love—to make me suffer. Then he’ll kill me. The spell I cast on him is tied to me. With me dead, it will be lifted, and his power will return.”

“We can’t let that happen.” No way in hell would he let anything happen to his fate-bound. “But I can’t fight him like this. I’m weak.”

“So is he. Chase, he’s in bad shape. His arm is injured, and he looked like death. He must have drained another witch to get the power to create the binding spell he gave you. With his blood working against him, he doesn’t retain power long. He’ll need to recover before he strikes again. If we could figure out where he’s hiding, we could catch him off-guard. Capture him and force him to remove the spell.”

“He’s in the swamp.” He moved to face her and took her hands in his. “You said his arm was injured?”

“Yes, his wrist was wrapped in blood-soaked moss.”

His heart raced. “A snake didn’t bite me when I was hunting. I was following the shadow when I slipped into the water. I turned around and bit whatever had hold of my leg. It had to be Isaac. He was draining me.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s why he bound your power. He knew you were too strong for a fair fight.”

“And if he knows anything about werewolf politics, he also knows I’ll lose my rank in the pack if anyone finds out I’ve lost my wolf.” Not that rank mattered to him; his position was temporary anyway. But if the guy was out to hurt Rain by hurting the ones she loved…

“But you haven’t lost your wolf. He’s in you…bound in your blood.”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Only shifting wolves can hold rank.” How long would Isaac try to stretch this out? Would he try to tear Chase’s life apart before moving on to Snow’s, saving Rain for last so he could watch her suffer?

“Then we’ll fix this without telling the pack. Isaac isn’t a threat to them. He’s after me and the people I love, and he’s probably at his weakest right now. Let me get dressed, and I’ll call Snow.” She slid off the bed, but as soon as she stood, her knees buckled.

Chase caught her by the waist and guided her to the bed. “You’re not going anywhere in your condition. I’ll get James and Luke to go with me. Snow and another wolf will stay here with you in case he comes back.”

“But if you can’t shift…”

He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the pack. I’m not going to turn my back on them now, but I have to figure out how we can get past the tulpa.” He turned his jeans right side out and shoved in his legs. “We’ve tried to fight it before. It can touch us, but when we try to attack, it’s as if the damn thing doesn’t exist.”

“That’s because it doesn’t. If you can convince your mind that it’s not real, its blows will pass through you too. As long as it doesn’t get ahold of a weapon.” She rubbed her throat. “That knife was real enough.”

He paused, and another flash of anger surged through him. “It had a knife against your throat?” And he’d been lounging in her bed, oblivious to the danger lurking a few feet away. Asshole. Fumbling with the button, he cursed at his jeans and yanked up the zipper.

“Don’t you think I would have called for help if I’d been able?”

“This guy is dead. I’m going to take care of you, cher.”

Rain lay on the pillow, her lids fluttering shut as he spoke, and his heart ached for her. Even with his wolf bound, the overwhelming urge to protect his mate-to-be tore through him. He would do anything to keep her safe. “Before you fall asleep, is there a way to kill the tulpa?”

She shook her head. “Isaac would have to imagine it dead.”

“If Isaac is dead himself?”

A tiny smile curved her lips. “Bye bye, tulpa.”