Page 13 of Pledge Of A Bobcat

“Great, then that only leaves the soil and the feather.”

“Exactly.”

We climbed into my truck, and I drove us to Alma’s cabin. The whole way there all I could think about was the pull my bobcat felt toward Rachel. It wasn’t just physical. There was something deeper to it, something that made him never want to leave her side.

Even though I knew it wasn’t smart because of the Xander situation—I realized I was beginning to feel the same about her.

Did she feel it too? The pull between us?

I knew she wasn’t a shifter, but she had to feel something.

When we turned down Alma’s driveway, relief washed over me. It felt good to have one more thing checked off Maribel’s list. I hadn’t realized it until now, but it felt as though there was an hourglass suspended above my head, like I was racing to gather all the things before Xander and Lucius’s spirit somehow figured out what I was doing.

A sharp, unsettling feeling twisted through me—this had to be the last item Rachel came with me to collect.

The thought hit me with a bone deep level of certainty. It wasn’t safe for her to be with me when I gathered the other two.

Hell, it wasn’t safe for her to be with me right now.

This needed to be a quick stop, then I needed to take her home.

My bobcat fought against the idea, not wanting our time together to end, but I ignored him, knowing it was for the best.

When Alma’s cabin and Waylen and Lyra’s camper came into view, the tension that had built in my shoulders eased. Alma sat on the porch, waiting for our arrival, and Lyra was busy in one of the garden beds.

“This place is amazing,” Rachel said. “I’ve heard Aunt Maribel mention Alma and her herb gardens before, but I never thought the place looked like this.”

I glanced around, soaking in the scenery. When Waylen moved his camper here so he and Lyra could live together, but still be close to her grandmother, they’d invited all of us Misfits out for a bonfire to celebrate. I had understood then Waylen’s pull to the land he’d kept talking about.

This place was beautiful.

It was what I wanted for myself—a space in the woods. I hated living in the apartment complex, but it was a place to rest my head and call home for now.

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” I said, shifting into park and cutting the engine on my truck.

“Hey,” Lyra greeted us as we climbed out. “You must be Maribel’s niece. I’m Lyra. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I am. Rachel. It’s nice to meet you, too,” Rachel said with a smile. Her attention drifted to Alma on the porch. “Both of you. I love your garden.”

“Thank you.” Alma stood and made her way down the steps to where we were. “It’s been a labor of love.”

“Let me run inside and grab your sage. I cut it when you texted,” Lyra said, before jogging up the porch steps and disappearing inside the cabin.

As we waited for Lyra to return, I noticed Alma eyeing Rachel and me with her usual sharp gaze. Her lips curved into a knowing smile as she folded her arms across her chest.

“You know,” Alma said, her voice carrying that familiar, no-nonsense tone she always seemed to have. “There’s more to working with sage than tossing it into something. Intention matters. You have to be clear about what you’re asking of it.”

“What do you mean?” Rachel asked.

Alma’s lips quirked into a small grin. “Sage is a powerful cleanser, but it only works as well as the intention behind its use. The stronger the intention, the stronger the cleanse.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” Rachel said.

Alma waved her words away. “I’m sure it’s nothing Maribel hasn’t already told you.”

“We don’t talk a lot about herbs. Mainly intuition and how to listen to the wind—which I haven’t been able to do yet, no matter how hard I try.” Rachel exhaled a slow, frustrated breath.

“Your gift will surface, you just have to be open to it,” Alma said, her eyes twinkling with a mix of wisdom and mischief. “Don’t be afraid of it, and don’t be afraid of the things you’re not ready to admit yet either. The heart doesn’t lie.”

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