Herbs and Howls and Wedding Vows: Spirit Hollow

By Rexi Lake

Return to Spirit Hollow with a Brand New Story!

In Spirit Hollow, magic is a way of life. For Willow Spritz, it was how she made a living. Running the town's apothecary had never been her plan. With her grandmother and mother both Cupids and teachers, it had been assumed from her earliest days that she would follow in their footsteps. Except that's not how magic works. Instead, Willow had healer magic in her veins. While she could brew the best love potion in town to heal heartache, she couldn't brew up anything to attract love. She could infuse a balm with just the right herbs to relax an anxious suitor, but she couldn't identify soulmates. She loved her job, of course, but she still felt like an endless disappointment to her maternal line of Cupids.

Mason Wolfe has spent his adult life doing everything he can to stay far away from Spirit Hollow. As the oldest son of the Spirit Vale Pack, he's expected to take over for his father. That also means he's expected to take a mate that will be advantageous to the Pack as well. His father has been pushing for him to come home. He can't avoid the responsibilities forever, but perhaps he can avoid the mating.

When Mason runs into Willow before returning to the Pack House, she jokingly tells him he should just find a mate himself and then his father couldn't push that. She didn't expect him to take the idea and propose to her! Faking a relationship to his Pack is one thing, but her family would never believe it. Can they fool everyone around them into believing that their love is real? Or are they just fooling themselves in believing the real feelings are just pretend?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rexi Lake
• Release date: Feb 28, 2025
• ISBN: 9798230232681

Rexi Lake

Rexi Lake has been writing stories in her head for as long as she can remember. Her goal was always to write in the genre she loved - romance. She has always believed in the reality of true love, and that the world could use more happily ever afters. She currently lives in southwest Pennsylvania. When she's not hard at work on the next book, she's busy being an accountant, learning guitar, making jewelry, and chauffeuring her socially active daughter to her various activities.

Book preview

Prologue

I just don’t understand Willow, Jessa Spritz said sadly. She’s never where I expect her to be and she seems to always be dirty.

Oh, Jessa. Don’t worry, my dear. Willow’s path isn’t going to be the same as yours. It doesn’t mean you can’t learn to understand what she enjoys though. Nora Spritz replied to her daughter calmly, but with a conviction that often accompanied her words.

I know that, Mother. I just wish I could spend time with her doing Cupid training. She’s never around enough though. She’s twenty now and she still comes home with mud on her knees and dirt on her face. Shouldn’t she be starting to feel the call a little bit? I did.

You are an exceptional Cupid, my dear. Willow’s powers might not be as strong as yours. She and the other children will all begin to feel their callings but they won’t be able to access anything until their twenty-fifth birthdays. You know this. Some children don’t learn their magic until after it’s unbound. Nora reminded her.

Jessa smiled at that. It was well known that many of the other families were of varied powers. However, the Spritz women had been Cupids for five generations now. Their family was matriarchal and thus any man who married a Spritz had to choose to take on that name himself, or settle for different surnames with his spouse. It was their way.

We’re Spritz women, Mother. Willow should be studying the best ways to recognize mates and how to manage young love. She should be in school for a teaching certificate, not business management.

Jessa, stop. Nora Spritz’s tone was the same one she used on the unruly high schoolers that she corralled each day. As a principal, she was acutely aware of just what went on in her school building and which students were not behaving. Willow will be just fine and so will you. She’s a Spritz, after all. We’re strong women and competent. She will thrive with her degree, no matter what career path she follows.

WILLOW SIGHED SOFTLY and carefully stepped further away from the open window. It was a beautiful late spring day in Maine. The snows were gone for now, though the crisp air still held that freshness that was left behind from the last winter days. The grass and plants were beginning to sprout. Soon buds would appear on the flowers and then they would open up into the bright colors of spring and summer.

Outside was where she felt most comfortable. Amid the plants and the dirt. She knew she was meant to be a Cupid, that had been drilled into her since she was a young girl. But she loved planting her flowers and learning about the different herbal properties of them. She’d excelled in her herbs and natural medicines courses in high school. Even the potions-brewing and poultice-making classes had held her interest. Far more than the tedious explanations about responsibilities in love-matching and mate-identifying lessons that her mother and grandmother had forced on her. 

Sometimes, being a Spritz woman was exhausting. If only she had been born a male. Her brother never had to sit and listen to the matchmaking stories of her great-great-aunt, Melodine, who had famously (or infamously?) paired Bonnie Elizabeth Parker with the man who was so head over heels for her he would do anything, Clyde Chestnut Barrow. Willow still wasn’t sure if that was something to brag about. The robberies and murders committed by the two were well-known. Musicals, songs, books, and all manner of entertainment and media had been produced about them. But what really made Willow upset about the situation was that Bonnie Parker had been married to Roy Thornton. Even though everything pointed to the marriage being over, things might have been very different if Melodine hadn’t stepped into things on a visit to Texas in 1930. 

Actually, her visit had begun in 1929 as an escape from the harsh Maine winters and with a desire to enjoy a balmy Christmas. Her grandmother was very adamant that Cupids were called to wherever they were needed and when. Not that Willow had any experience with that, of course. 

Stepping off the little path that wound it’s way through the woods behind the property, she made her way to the small clearing where she knew she would find Helena Goodwin. Like Willow’s family, the Goodwins had generations of witches and demons whose magic tended to stay specific to their bloodline. Helena was a powerful Healer. Her older brother was also a Healer, but he’d pursued his medical degree and served as the town’s pediatric physician. Helena, however, had chosen to follow the path of an herbalist. She owned the small apothecary shop in town and when it wasn’t open, she was often in the woods or in her garden, gathering supplies. 

It was Helena who had taught Willow about the differences between a tincture of Valerian root to help aid in sleeplessness and a simple dandelion salve that could also help with insomnia. Understanding that the various products of Mother Nature could be used to heal a cut was simple science to Willow. But beyond that, she was now learning how a little magic imbued in a lotion or a poultice could heal a broken heart or calm an anxious mind. Willow helped to gather the various ingredients stocked at the apothecary. After her courses at the local community college, she worked in the store as well. For now it was just at the counter, but she hoped to get more experience with mixing the orders soon too.

Chapter 1

Willow smiled as she finished ringing up Selena Cole’s monthly order of witch’s brew tea. Over the past three years since she had taken over managing Spirit Hollow Apothecary, Willow had gradually introduced several new lines of items for the townspeople. In addition to carrying the usual herbs, balms, tinctures, and made-to-order items, they now carried teas, lotions, bath salts, and other premade goods that were for general ailments rather than specific ones. 

Selena, like many of the other witches in town, had a deep love of teas and while many people frequented the coffee shop down the street for their coffees and pastries, the apothecary was where they shopped for the leaves to brew their teas at home. When Willow had suggested the additional items to Helena, the older witch had smiled and told Willow that if her magic felt compelled to offer something new, she should follow that call.

At twenty-five, when Willow’s powers had been unbound, she’d found out quick that her magic was not that of a Cupid. Her mother and grandmother had smiled tightly, but she could see the disappointment in their eyes. Her mother in particular had always had a difficult time understanding Willow, but now they were practically strangers. Her father and brother had stepped in when her mother had stepped back. Gerald Spritz was a gifted teacher, but his magic was minor, having a small ability to sense strong emotions. It was helpful when the students he taught were feeling overwhelmed by something, and for Willow it meant she had someone to give her a hug when her emotions grew too large.

Kaden, her brother, had the coolest magic she’d seen. As a Flame demon, he had the ability to call forth fire and to recall it. Lighting candles for her birthday cake had been plenty impressive to a seventeen-year-old when he’d first mastered his magic. Now he served on the fire department, as well as being an EMT. And while he was gifted her mother’s smiles and praise, Willow worked in her gardens, still getting dirty, and in the small but sunny apothecary.

The little bell on the front door rang out as another customer entered. Having that alert allowed Willow the freedom to be in the backroom when the shop was empty and emerge only when a customer needed her. Putting aside the small bottle of rose oil that she had been about to uncap, she grabbed her journal and went to the front counter. 

Welcome to the Apothecary, what ails you today? she asked, smoothing open the small book to the next page. It was in her journal that she kept all the orders for her customers, as well as the specific recipes she used for each of them. 

She looked up, and up some more, until her eyes met those of Mason Wolfe. Her jaw went slack in surprise, her lips parting on a soft breath of air. 

Hello, Willow, he greeted, smiling down at her from the towering six foot seven inch height that he’d achieved before graduating high school. 

Mason, she returned, her lips quirking into a wry smile. I didn’t know you were coming back into town.

He shrugged and picked up one of the bagged tea leaf blends sitting on the counter. He turned it over and read the back before settling it back down. Still got dirt on your face, munchkin, he told her. 

She groaned. Will you please stop calling me that? It’s been a dozen years or more and I’m not the shortest person you know any longer.

Actually, munchkin, I think you might be, at least of the adults. He grinned. But you do still have dirt on your face. He quirked a brow at her and reached across the counter to wipe his thumb across her cheek.

She laughed and shook her head, moving out of his reach. I was working on mixing up the latest batch of aromatherapy candles for next month’s Winter Wonders sale.

It’s not even Halloween yet, Will. Why are you having a winter sale in November?

She closed her journal and came around the counter. You know good and well that we have to be ready for Christmas by November first. It’s how shops work. With the online business I have to be ready for those orders to ship out and get to my customers before December and Christmas hit.

Mason stepped toward her and pulled her into a big hug. His towering frame and overwhelmingly large muscles made her shorter and curvy self feel very small in comparison. But that was Mason. Her best friend and avid partner in crime from the time they had met in elementary school. 

She’d been the smallest first grader and for some reason, a number of the older boys had thought it would be amusing to tease the little girl she’d been. Mason had stepped into the space between her and the others. Already about a foot taller than her, he’d faced the other boys and told them they needed to back off or he’d bite them and turn them into wolves himself.

Magical children and shifter children hadn’t intermingled much back then. None of them knew that getting bit by a werewolf, especially a nine-year-old one, was not going to push them through a change. But the threat worked well enough and the other boys had scattered. That day, Willow had gained a best friend and a protector. At the time, she hadn’t understood much about the Alpha-to-be’s nature, he’d simply been the boy who made the mean ones go away.

By the time she reached high school, his over-protectiveness had become overbearing. They’d fought more often than not, but in the end he was the one who would show up with her favorite blueberry ice cream and listen to her cry about each breakup. He had somehow managed to outdo her brother on the fiercely protective scale, which still managed to piss her brother off. But with Kaden being eight years older, he’d had much less time for his younger sister. Especially as he went into adulthood as she was still navigating puberty. Mason was only three years older. He’d been around a lot more and in the small town of Spirit Hollow, that meant everyone knew Willow was under his protection.

So, what are you doing here? she asked, pulling back from the warmth of him.

Dad called me back, Mason answered, heaving a sigh that spoke volumes.

Oh. Her brow scrunched up as she frowned, but then she caught the look in his eyes. Ooooh, she drew the word out.

I think he means it this time, Will. I’m not sure how to avoid it. He rubbed a hand over his face, his fingers pulling at scruff that covered his cheeks and chin. It was obvious that he hadn’t shaved in at least a few days. Although, she recalled that as a wolf, he often had that constant five o’clock shadow going on. 

What did he say? She asked, leaning back against the counter that she now stood in front of.

He’s calling a Moon Dance. He claims it’s for the benefit of all unmated wolves, but I know it’s because of me. He’s been pushing for me to return for months. I don’t know why it’s become urgent, but he’s not giving it up this time. 

Willow’s eyes widened in shock. A Moon Dance was a sacred tradition in the wolf shifter world. Mason had looped her in about it years before when the last one was called. He’d been just shy of twenty-five at the time and he’d left town rather than attending it. Other than a handful of visits over the last seven years, he’d stayed away. Willow wasn’t even sure what exactly he’d been doing during that time. 

What are you going to do? Did you find a mate since your last visit? she asked.

He shook his head, a grim look sliding over his features. No. I wasn’t exactly in a place to do much socializing. Plus, I’m pretty sure I don’t have one.

Willow sighed. If she was a Cupid, she’d be able to tell him if his mate was nearby or not. But that wasn’t her magic. Maybe you could talk to my mom? she suggested. Or grandmother?

Mason shook his head. You know they don’t ever answer questions outright. If I have a mate somewhere, they’ll simply tell me to wait and she’ll show up when the time is right or when I need her most or something like that.

She nodded. He was right. Although her mother and grandmother were Cupids, the way they assisted couples was not straightforward at all. She chuckled, thinking to herself before she spoke aloud. Too bad you didn’t think to bring someone with you from outside. You could have pretended to have a mate and they’d have left you alone.

Chapter 2

Mason blinked in surprise . Was Willow actually suggesting that he deceive his parents? His pack? He couldn’t do that. Could he? 

What about you? he asked. The wolf inside him agreed with the direction his thoughts were moving. 

What about me what? She had turned slightly and was straightening some of the small bottles on a shelf nearby.

What if you pretended to be my mate? he clarified. She was truly the only person he would want to spend that kind of time with. The more he considered the idea, the better it began to sound.

Her fingers paused and her body stilled. She turned her head and looked up at him from over her shoulder. No one would believe that, Mason, she answered softly. The hint of sadness in her tone gave him pause, but he pushed that aside for the moment. He would figure out what made her sad and fix it for her, like he’d done as a kid too.

Why not? He moved around her so they were once again facing each other. We were almost inseparable as kids. Everyone already knows that you’re under my protection and therefore the pack’s. You’ve been accepted by the pack as an almost member for so long already, this would seem almost perfect to them.

Except for two things. She held up a finger. One, I’m not a wolf. Two, what’s going to happen when you leave again and don’t take your mate with you? She held up a second finger as she spoke and then raised one brow at him as she finished.

Well, one, being a wolf is not a prerequisite to being a mate. You already know that. And two, I’m not leaving again, Willow. He wrapped his hand around hers, pushing those fingers down but keeping hold of her. I’m back for good this time, he added, raising a brow and throwing a smirk at her.

She blinked at him rapidly. I’m sorry, you might need to repeat that last bit again, she returned, her tone short and terse. 

He grinned, his expression melting away from cocky but still full of confidence. Surprise?

She arched a brow and shook her head. Pulling her hand from his grasp, she shoved at his bicep. Jerk. Why didn’t you tell me you were moving back? She scowled at him, though he could see it wasn’t true anger.

He winced, although her small hands couldn’t actually hurt him that easily. It was the brief flash of hurt in her eyes that made him feel guilty about the subterfuge. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely certain that I was going to until last week. The last job I was doing ended and since I was heading back this way already, I decided to just hold off on taking anything else. The closer I got to town, the more I felt my wolf settle. It used to be restless being here, but now I’m not sure it wants the nomad lifestyle anymore.

Was this a shifter-type job or a human one? she asked, her head tilting slightly as she looked at him.

Shifter, he answered. Although he couldn’t tell her everything, because she wasn’t Pack, he could at least tell her that much. 

Well, if you’re planning to stick around for awhile, we definitely can’t pretend to be together, she told him. Your parents would be planning a ceremony before the end of the week and my mother and grandmother would see right through us both. You can’t fool Cupids when it comes to anything love-related.

He winced again. Okay, maybe we don’t say we’re mated. What if we say we’re trying it out? It was a stretch, but not much. His parents would probably be delighted to have Willow join their Pack. All the time they’d spent together as kids, Willow had become as welcome at his home as he was. She’d been hiding out from her mom and grandmother, but that had turned into another girl for his mother to spoil and a playmate for his sister as well. 

They’d never believe it, Mason, Willow argued. She turned away from him, moving to another area of the store to do some non-existent straightening.

Please, Will. He followed behind her, pushing out his lower lip and pouting at her with blatant exaggeration.

She looked over her shoulder at him, catching sight of his expression and laughed. But she shook her head, not convinced. What would we even say? That suddenly your wolf wanted me that way? Don’t you guys scent your mates or something equally obvious?

Mason sighed. It’s not always that instant. Sometimes it takes being hit with our mate’s magic or experiencing it in some way. Maybe you could whip up a love potion for me? he suggested. She’d used to talk about that when they were teenagers. Because of her family history, she’d been bombarded with requests for those when she was in high school. She’d always laughed it off and told them no, but when she sat with him, she would talk about the possibilities. Her thoughts usually went toward practicality. If she knew who was meant to be together, she could do something. Like maybe a spell which was intended to remove obstacles, like fear of a broken heart. 

Love potions weren’t really for true love. It was more of an enchantment or charm that eventually wore off.

She shook her head. You know I can’t do that. Ethically, it’s wrong. I’d be removing your will and basically coercing you into a relationship that way. She sighed. And when it wore off, then what?

What if we pretend that I stopped by for one of your healing drinks and that was how your magic awakened my wolf? He pushed. His wolf was listening intently to the conversation, his ears perked up and there was an interest that Mason felt he should acknowledge, but his focus on Willow was more important.

And what happens when we break up later? she asked, moving again. 

Couldn’t we cross that bridge when we get to it? he asked. Following her around the small shop was entirely unnecessary given it’s size, but he kept up with her anyway. The more he thought about the idea, the more he was certain it was the perfect solution to his problem. And he wasn’t above begging. Not with Willow. She was the person he trusted most in the world. Especially when it came to she-wolves hunting for a mate and status. Those bitches could be scary when they wanted something. Well, perhaps not all of them, but a good number had been dropping hints and making advances toward him for a number of years. He was tired of playing the games and dodging the traps. 

Willow sighed. "A week, Mason. And we don’t say there’s actually a mating. We