Page 4 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

“Hey,” I said, happy to smile genuinely at a customer for the first time all night. “I’ll grab you that drink.”

“Isn’t he dreamy,” Jaxon said in my ear as I mixed a cocktail. He pulled back to bat his dark lashes at me.

“Paws off,” I snapped, my lips quirking up.

He deadpanned. “It gets more hilarious every time you say it,” he said dryly. Jaxon was a wolf shifter, as were nearly all the other shifters in Crescent Haven.

“What did I say about hanging out behind the bar, mutt?” Stacia yelled. “Are you blind or are you stupid? We’re at capacity. Help out or get out.”

Jaxon’s mouth twitched. “Wretched old bitch,” he muttered under his breath. He stared at Stacia blankly until she huffed loudly and bustled away. “Please tell me we’re still leaving this full moon, girl. I need out of this place, yesterday.”

He followed me as I brought the glass of swirling red to Tanner, dodging drunken patrons and weaving through the crowd. I held up a finger to Jaxon, signaling for him to have patience. Unlikely.

I set the glass down in front of Tanner as he swallowed and stared from me to Jaxon, his face falling.

“There’s peach in it,” I said with a smile, and he perked right back up again. “And some other stuff.” I waved my hand. “You’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will,” Tanner murmured. I started to turn back to Jaxon, who was tapping his foot like a toddler, but Tanner’s voice stopped me. “I brought you something.”

“Put it in tonight’s gift pile,” Jaxon said under his breath, and I kicked back into his shin. “Hey!”

Tanner didn’t appear to have noticed his first remark, only meeting Jaxon’s hiss of pain with fleeting confusion before his eyes were locked on mine again.

He pulled out a sparkling aquamarine necklace from a box, the jewel in a pearl shape on a silver chain.

“It reminded me of your eyes,” he said, his cheeks flushing red again—the color of his drink, which was entirely intentional.

I sighed. That necklace probably cost a tenth of his earnings today. “I can’t accept that,” I said gently.

“Please,” he said quickly. “I’ve already bought it. It would go to waste on someone else’s neck.”

Well, I couldn’t argue with that sound logic.

“Thank you, Tanner. This is really kind of you.” It was foolish of him. I was only ever going to break his heart. He shouldn’t have been spending that kind of money on women he barely knew. That wasn’t how you survived in this world.

He handed me the box, the necklace tucked neatly inside on some cloth. I accepted it with a parting smile, and I knew this was where our story needed to end. If I gave him any more of me, he might go over the edge. His sweetness would turn into obsession and then into possessiveness and rage. I’d seen it happen over and over again.

The pit in my heart widened, and I quickly turned and walked away with Jaxon at my heel.

“Yes, this full moon. We’re getting out of here.”

Jaxon grinned, and for a moment, I saw my own pain reflected in his eyes. The guilt of leaving his family behind in search of a new one—one where he felt like he belonged. I barely heard him say he was going to go find some members of his pack. I was too lost in my own thoughts.

I didn’t belong in Crescent Haven. That much I knew. But there was this nagging voice, the one that sounded like my sister, who whispered the cruelest words of all.

You don’t belong anywhere. And you know it. Run from the truth, but it will always catch up to you. The emptiness will always be there, and it’s growing.

A strange feeling crawled down my spine, a sensation that I hadn’t felt in years. As if I was being watched.

I glanced around. Of course, I was being watched. By many people, their desire thick and rich in the air.

No. This was a different kind of watching. Almost like fear, but not quite—more like recognition and something else, something that mirrored the exhilaration I felt gazing into the horizon. It was like a promise—a vow of something more. A thrill that didn’t belong in this village.

When a couple of patrons called me over, I was slow to move at first, my fake smile finally breaking through my stupor.

“Hi, gentlemen,” I said, trying my best not to be too obvious when I scanned up and down their lavish attire.

They were both attractive, perhaps a decade older than me. Sleek black shoes, impeccable formal jackets, pants, and button-down shirts in a style I recognized immediately. What were mortals from Aristelle doing here? They certainly weren’t merchants; I hadn’t seen them at the market, and they were wearing far more than merchant wealth. Maybe they were con artists. But there was an air about them that made me think otherwise—like they’d seen so much more of the world than I had, and it made them drip with quiet confidence.

---