Page 13 of Magic's Rise

I cross my arms in front of my chest. “No adventure. We are done with adventure.”

“Invite him in,” Haut calls from the kitchen. “If he means any harm, we’ll just kill him and bury him out back.”

Horrified, I turn toward him. “No graveyards in grandma’s garden!”

“Now that we agree on.” Levi fixes his eyes on Owen’s shoulder to show he’s not questioning Owen’s dominance. “If it’s okay with you?”

“Fine.” Owen moves aside but keeps a watchful eye on Levi as the other man opens the screen door and comes inside.

Tris’s arm tightens around me, pulling me a few steps back. “And the graveyard is down at the sheriff station, by the way.”

Levi pauses to give him a wary stare. “Noted.”

“My grave is there,” I add helpfully, earning me a dubious frown.

Not wanting the stranger at our backs, Owen gestures for him to walk ahead of us. “The kitchen is through that archway. Why don’t you join us for breakfast?”

“I won’t say no when I smell…” His nose twitches as he sniffs the air. “Waffles? With pure maple syrup?”

Curious about Levi now that he’s in our house, I wiggle free of Tris’s hold and skirt past Owen to skid up next to Levi. “How did you do it?”

Bemused, he glances down at me. “Do what?”

“Learn to control your curse.” I circle to his other side, the words tumbling out of my mouth faster than my brain can process. “Did you inject yourself with witch’s blood or something?”

“Inject myself with what now?” Amusement flickers across Levi’s face. “No, nothing like that.”

Reaching under his shirt collar, he pulls out a necklace with an ugly wolf head pendant dangling at its center. “This little thing right here helps me.”

“An amulet?” The urge to grab for it nearly overwhelms me, so I tuck my hands behind my back. “Where did you get it? Was it a witch you know?”

He shakes his head. “It’s been passed down through my family for generations. Somehow, it gives us the ability to embrace our wolf without the darkness, so even during the full moon, we don’t turn into mindless murder machines.”

“Wait.” Owen hurries forward to join us. “You were born a werewolf?”

Levi nods. “Most in my pack were, though we get the occasional member who started as something else.”

“Wait.” Owen waves his hand for Levi to slow down. “You live in a pack of werewolves?”

“I do.” Levi hesitates when we reach the kitchen, his attention fixed on Ambros. “You live with a vampire.”

Bristling at his tone, I step between him and my fanged lover. “If you have a problem with that, you know where the door is.”

“And you can keep going right out of town.” Haut crosses his arms over his chest. “We have several vampiric residents.”

“Apologies.” Levi nods to Ambros. “We don’t have vampires where I come from, so you took me by surprise.”

“That seems to be going around.” Ambros sets adds an extra place setting. “Take a seat.”

“And tell us where you come from.” Owen nudges me to the farthest chair from Levi, which puts me directly across from the man.

Eager for story time, I lean my elbows on the table.

“Silver Hollow— Thank you.” Levi takes the platter of waffles Ambros passes him, adding one to his plate. “Silver Hollow is a sanctuary town, just like Hartford Cove, except that it’s not wolf shifter exclusive.”

I clear my throat and point to the vampire among us.

“Yes, well…” Levi accepts the bacon Ambros offers. “Our last accounts said this place was wolf shifters only.”

---