Page 124 of What a Wolf's Heart Decides

The witch shrugged. “The humans occasionally get something right.”

Haley leaned against Bard’s chest. “Huh. Disney movies.”

“Is this some kind of trick?” Bard asked. His voice was hard and wary, with a veneer of anger over everything.

Haley put a hand on his forearm. He had every right to hate Sabine, but it wasn’t worth picking a fight with her. She’d shown what she could do.

The witch gave him a considering look. “It’s no trick, wolf.”

Bard was silent, but some of the tension left the arm he’d wrapped around her waist.

Sabine went on. “True love is completely selfless. It’s also incredibly rare. Most people can’t love that deeply, as it requires loving another more than oneself.”

Bard’s heart pounded hard against Haley’s back.

“She loves you selflessly, you see, so she was able to use her Gift to reverse the damage done by the charm.”

Haley stiffened. “I don’t have a Gift.”

“Oh?” Sabine turned the considering look on her. “Is that what they told you?”

“I . . .” Haley swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Bard tightened his embrace, his palm warm on her upper arm. “No one told me. I just never manifested one.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Yours is a subtle sort.”

Haley didn’t dare to breathe. She found herself leaning forward, desperate for Sabine to continue.

“It’s the ability to enhance others’ magic,” Sabine said. “Among my people, such witches are called Augmentors.” She made a dismissive motion. “They are not highly prized, as they’re almost entirely defenseless on their own. However, they make good servants.” Her tone grew wistful. “In the old days, we made them thralls.”

Bard’s chest rumbled against Haley’s back as he growled. “We don’t enslave our people. Or make them servants. Only the witches treat their own like second-class citizens.”

Sabine raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Remind me again how your kind regards latent wolves.” She snapped her fingers. “Ah, never mind, I suddenly recall spending twenty years disguised as one.”

“So you could feed,” Bard snarled. “Your kind are no better than vampires, sucking the misery out of people.”

“You bargained with me willingly, wolf.”

“You glossed over the consequences, witch.”

“Guys?” Haley turned in Bard’s embrace, angling her body sideways so she could see both of them. “I know you two have a history, but could we talk about my newly discovered Gift? Also, half the windows are missing and it’s freezing in here.”

Bard gave her his full attention, his expression shifting from enraged to loving in a blink. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You’re right.”

“A good way to start a marriage,” Sabine said, her voice wry.

But Haley only half heard her. That word . . . marriage. She stared up at Bard, who stared back with raw hope in his eyes.

Both eyes. If her love restored that part of him, it must have restored—

“Everything,” he said softly.

Joy burst like a firework in her chest. Still, questions nagged at her. She looked at Sabine. “How could I be an Augmentor? There is no such Gift among werewolves.”

Sabine shrugged. “Perhaps not. Perhaps I’m wrong. However, I question whether your people would notice such a talent. After all, it doesn’t involve running very fast.” She said the last with a raised eyebrow and a shrewd smile.

She had a point. Wolves were concerned with speed and strength. With superior hearing and supernatural eyesight. They shunned Gifts like Telepathy and only tolerated Healing because it made bodies better for fighting.

Sabine’s quiet voice intruded into her thoughts. “Most people only see what they want to see, even when the truth is right in front of them. Think, child. Has no one ever seemed faster or stronger around you?”

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