Page 91 of Craved By a Wolf

The brunet’s touch was light on Kin’s chest, but the force of it was enough to have him almost falling into a stack of copper cauldrons. He fought for balance as the male casually walked past him and breathed a sigh of relief when the bastard disappeared into the crowd.

Kin frowned and huffed again.

His breath fogged in the air.

He shuddered and rubbed his arms. He never wanted to see that man again, that was for sure.

Kin pushed the shop door open, his gaze seeking Abigail, a need to make sure she was all right flooding him. She looked up from a book she had open on the counter.

“Kin!” Her bright smile hit him hard and he was glad she was fine.

“Lovely customers you have, little witch.” He stepped deeper into the shop. “Never met a witch who could chill the air with a look like that.”

Her delicate features grew guarded. “Don’t mess with that one.”

A chill skated down his spine. It wasn’t often Abigail issued warnings. In fact, he swore it was the first time he had seen her looking and sounding so serious. How dangerous was the male he had almost sent crashing through the door? How badly would things have gone for him if that had happened?

He looked over his shoulder at the door.

“Leave it,” she said, drawing his focus back to her. She smiled again, but it wobbled a little and fell from her lips. “Seriously, Kin. Don’t.”

For a moment, he thought she wanted to protect him, and he was going to tell her he wasn’t the sort to provoke a powerful witch, which given his current situation would have been a lie.

But she silenced him by gazing out of the window and whispering, “He has enough problems.”

Kin looked there too and then back at her, not missing the soft look in her eyes before she plastered another breezy smile on her face. Abigail felt protective of the man he had almost mown down, which was interesting given the fact that he had seemed more than capable of taking care of himself and any threat to his well-being.

He wanted to probe more about the male, but added it to the list of things to do once he had found Hella and set things straight with her.

“I need a token. Good for… maybe a dozen trips.” He didn’t hide how badly he needed it when she shot him a curious look, let her see how torn up he was by what had happened and how afraid he was too. “I found the witch who cursed me and went to make her lift it, and my wee witch… Hella… she found me there. The hackit bint Godiva cast a spell on me to make me do her bidding and now… my mate… she thinks I betrayed her and she’s madder than hell at me and I need to talk to her… but she’s a witch. I’m getting the feeling she’ll be teleporting my arse back home every time I try to make her see she’s wrong about me… at least the first few times.”

Hopefully, if he kept showing up on her doorstep, he would eventually wear her down enough that she would give him a chance to explain things.

And confess some things too.

Like the fact he was madly in love with her.

And that she was his fated one.

Gods, the way she had looked at him still cut him to his soul, had him bleeding inside and losing hope. He wasn’t sure he could make her believe him, but he had to try. She could use her teleportation trick on him as many times as she wanted—she wasn’t going to get rid of him that easily.

Even if he had to move to her fae town so his home was there and she couldn’t teleport him far away from her, slowing him down, he would keep trying until she finally listened to him.

“Here.” Abigail dumped a cardboard box on the counter and the wooden tokens it contained rattled. “You might need the whole lot if you’ve upset a witch who can use teleportation spells.”

Kin glared at her, but grabbed a handful, enough for at least two dozen teleports. He removed one and shoved the rest in the pocket of his black jeans. “Put it on my tab.”

“Good luck!” Abigail called as he raced out of the door, heading for the nearest portal, and he frowned as she muttered, “You’re so going to need it.”

He was well aware of that.

Kin hit the point where the portal was and palmed his token as he ran through the necessary words, faster than usual, and tacked on his destination. The second he touched down in the Geneva fae town, he was sprinting towards Hella’s house, weaving through the promenade crowd.

He ran through what he was going to say as the flagstones gave way to cobbles and he left the townhouses and elegantly dressed immortals behind. He was sure she was going to teleport him the moment she saw him, but he would use the time to instruct Gregor to have the car ready and be prepared to drive him back to Fort William.

For at least the next few days.

If he couldn’t make Hella see sense by then, he would temporarily relocate to this town as a last resort. He hated the thought of leaving his pack undefended and without their alpha, but Gregor would take care of them in his stead while he smoothed things over with his witch. Gregor would understand, and he was sure his pack would too. He was sure they all wanted to see him happy.