Could this day get any worse? Some angry witch put a spell on her and now a werewolf is claiming she’s his mate. Geneva Black doesn’t need more complications. Okay, so the man is sexy and those kisses leave her wanting more.

The danger surrounding his mate raises his hackles, but Evan Connors would never walk away from his mate. The spell on her keeps them in close proximity and ensures she stays within reach. He craves her sweet body, but protecting his mate comes first.

The witch doesn’t stop when her first spell is thwarted. If Evan and Geneva hope to claim a life together, they’ll have to discover who the witch is and stop her or lose everything.

Warning: This novel was previously published under the name Close Contact. It has been heavily revised and rewritten. This book contains sexy times between a werewolf and his latent witch as well as some violence, but you can count on a happy ever after.

At least that part was over.

Geneva Black slammed the door of her silver Taurus and stalked across the parking lot to the large building that housed the Dallas branch of the Protectorate. The reflective surface of the building gleamed in the bright midday sun. She rolled her shoulders. Her muscles remained tight after the conversation with that snotty witch from the Council of witches. Damn, they all irritated her. Dealing with those snobby women gave her a headache every damn time. That better-than-thou attitude set her blood boiling.

Shivers ran up and down her spine and goosebumps formed on her arms. Okay, that wasn’t natural. The air was warm, even in early October. She stopped and clenched her hands at her side. Tremors rippled over her for a few more minutes.

Fucking hell, someone was using magic. Either very close by or against her. No formal training needed to sense it at all. The latent magic within her made it easier to tell that some kind of hex or ward had been cast, but this was so obvious a full human would have noticed it. This wasn’t a mistake. She was the only damn person in the parking lot. So someone probably set it on her.

She pulled out her phone and swiped through her contacts. Sonya. She stabbed at the name and the tone buzzed. Hopefully, she would answer and was in the office today.

“Hey, Geneva, is something wrong?” Sonya asked. “Not very many call me just to say hi.”

“Hi, Sonya, I kind of wish this was a social call. I’m outside the building right now and I just felt a spell wash over me.” Geneva clicked the lock on her car again to make sure it was secure.

“Any idea why?” Sonya’s voice sharpened.

“No, and you know it’s not the first time. I deal with witches and wizards all the time. Today, it was a particularly annoying woman from the witch council who considers me lower than slugs. I don’t think she’d be so obvious to put a spell on me not even an hour after I left her.” Geneva walked toward the doors.

“You’re probably right, but intelligence work is never perfectly safe. And witches can behave stupidly if their emotions are involved,” Sonya offered. “Come see me as soon as you’re through security. We need to see what this spell will do while it’s still fresh. We don’t want something popping up later.”

“All right, I’ll be up there soon. I don’t feel anything yet, which is good.” Geneva smiled.

“It is, but it doesn’t mean the spell’s benign. It just means that you haven’t felt the problems yet,” Sonya cautioned.

“I know. Just trying to look on the bright side. Even if this is just to annoy me, it will pop up sometime, probably when I least expect it.” Geneva rolled her shoulders. Whoever did this to her would be found. Eventually. Things like this always took time.

She pushed open the door and walked into the large lobby area. Her heels clicked on the white and silver tile. She had to get to Sonya. Who knew when the spell would activate. It was better to work on it before it was fully triggered. She headed straight for the u-shaped, white, and black reception desk and the electronic door beyond the scanner. The group of men striding toward it only registered as a possible impediment.

A tingle raced over her skin and shivers chased up her spine. She caught her breath. What the hell? She froze. Son of a bitch, better wait for the burn of magic to subside.

The hot sensation increased and then slowly faded. Geneva lowered her head and looked around the room. What had caused that to happen?

Something about the spell had changed. She took a deep breath. Aside from the prickling heat, no other symptoms had popped up. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the lobby. Jake lead three men toward the door to the secure areas. Two of the men she’d met before. Mark and Joe, their last names eluded her right now.

They were members of one of the region’s werewolf packs. The two men had been her contacts when she was looking for information about three young weres a few months ago. The other man, he hadn’t ever crossed her path before. She’d have remembered him.

He was gorgeous. His deep brown skin drew her eyes. The almost irresistible urge to walk up and touch him rippled through her. His straight black hair had been cut in a short businessman haircut. Somehow, the conservative look didn’t seem quite so strict or stuffy on him. Maybe it was something in his brown eyes or the sharp lines of his face, but a wild air hung around him.

She shook her head. Drooling over the gorgeous man would wait. She had problems to take care of that ranked higher than admiring him. The tingles had faded, but it was even more important to get to Sonya now. The spell had gone from dormant to active. The who part would have to wait until after they determined if the effects were lethal.

Geneva hurried forward. She managed to get to the scanner before the small group with Jake. Jamie, an energetic blonde with perfect makeup and a cold caffeinated drink in front of her, sat behind the desk. Geneva pulled her ID out of the pocket on her gold-trimmed black skirt and handed it to the cheerful woman.

Jamie nodded and Geneva stepped through the scanner. The door buzzed and she pushed it open. The group behind her would take a little longer. Those three men would have to be registered as guests.

She paced down the hallway, rushing for the elevator. Sonya would be waiting and hopefully, they could do something about this. Pain sliced through her abdomen and head. She stumbled to the side, leaning weakly against the wall as she drew in gulping breaths. The agony increased. She pressed her hand to her stomach as her eyes slammed shut. The muscles in her abdomen tightened.

Fuck, she had to get to Sonya. She straightened but immediately fell back against the wall. Her stomach clenched and another shot of pain lanced behind her eyes. Even breathing hurt. Oh, fuck. Moving sent a wall of sensation slamming over her. As soon as she caught her breath, she’d try again. She couldn’t stay here.

“What’s wrong, Geneva?” Carol Wilson’s soft voice filtered through the haze of pain. A hand rested on Geneva’s shoulder.

“Don’t know.” Geneva gritted through clenched teeth. She hadn’t ever felt pain like this before.

“Let’s get you to the medics.” Carol’s arm curved around Geneva’s shoulder and the woman urged her down the hallway.

Geneva couldn’t find the breath to agree or argue. Pain slashed through her and a scream locked in her throat. Each step increased the radiating sensation. Why? What had caused this pain? Could this be the spell? Pain rippled through her abdomen. Damn, had her appendix burst? Was the pain real and merely coincidentally occurring at the same time as the spell?

“Geneva! What happened?” The masculine exclamation came from the hallway behind them.

Hard-soled shoes clapped against the tile floor. As the group approached, the pain vanished, leaving only tense muscles and lingering unease. Crap. Pain didn’t suddenly disappear.

She straightened slowly and drew in a deep breath. Fucking hell, this was magic, not some sudden illness. The pain had been so sharp that appendicitis or a gall bladder attack had been her first guess, not the damn spell.

This was so much more than annoying. Now, they had to discover what the spell did, what triggered it, and which asshole witch or wizard put it on her. Whoever put this on her wanted her to know they were pissed.

“Thanks for your help, Carol. I called Sonya earlier and this looks like something she should handle.” Geneva took a few steps on her own toward the elevator.

If she was lucky, she could make it to the woman’s office before another bolt of pain hit. Damn, this wasn’t good. Hopefully, the spell could be removed and they could find whoever did it quickly. Even if they got the first one-off, there was no guarantee that another one wouldn’t be put in place. Why did they put it on her? She shook her head. It didn’t matter. The bastard had to be stopped.

“You mean that the pain… Well, fuck.” Carol raised her brows, but the people wearing visitor’s tags stopped nearby.

“Yeah, I need her help.” Geneva nodded. If she knew what set off that spell, it would help. Avoiding a repeat of that pain ranked high on her to-do list.

“Hold on. We’ll share an elevator with you.” Jake smiled as he stepped up beside her. “That way you won’t be alone if it happens again before you get to Sonya.”

Geneva nodded taking slow, even breaths to calm her still-racing heart. If only company would help with her churning mind. The questions circled. Tension rose through her and her muscles tightened with every step. Who would put a spell on her and why?

This wasn’t just annoyance, mere irritation. But, damn it, why? She hadn’t made anyone furious in months. This had to be about something more than a disagreement. Some witch had used a lot of power on this. That wasn’t even taking into account the risk of censure the person was chancing.

If the Witch’s Council found out about this, the witch or wizard could lose their power. Maybe not permanently, but other witches’ had their power taken for a year or more for spells much more innocuous than this. It was probably a woman who set the spell. She dealt with them more than wizards. On the other hand, they couldn’t limit the suspect pool yet.

Her muscles tightened as the elevator rose slowly to the sixth floor. When would the spell switch on again? Her nerves stretched with each moment.

Only one thing tore a little of her interest away. Every time the muscled male standing just behind her moved, her attention locked on it. If only he was standing in front of her. A good look at his butt would be distracting. Not that she’d do anything about it. She had enough to worry about right now, but if she had the opportunity, she wouldn’t mind seeing more of that delicious body.

Stepping out of the elevator, she walked in front of them but turned onto a connecting hallway. Their footsteps faded as they continued straight, probably to Steven’s office. Geneva paced down the hallway to Sonya’s office.

Only steps later, pain slashed through her gut. She stumbled and crumpled to her knees. Her arms pressed against her stomach as the pain grew. Fuck, she had to get to Sonya’s door. She couldn’t stay out in the hallway and no one was around to help.

Pushing herself to her feet, she hobbled down the hallway. Each step of the short distance to the door to Sonya’s office jolted through her and agony spiked a little higher. She closed her eyes and breathed for a moment. Just get into the room and Sonya will help with the pain. Geneva clawed at the doorknob. It twisted and finally, the door opened. She fell into Sonya’s office.