Page 12 of Pledge Of A Bobcat

“She seems like a sweet woman.”

“She is, but don’t let her fool you,” I said, locking eyes with him. “She can handle her own, too.”

“I have no doubt.” He grinned. “I can feel her wisdom—her power. My bobcat can, too.”

“So that’s what you are. I was wondering.”

“Yeah.” He smoothed a hand along the back of his neck. “Does that scare you? Me being a bobcat shifter?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all. Aunt Maribel’s a raccoon shifter, so I’m pretty used to the idea of shifters by now. Honestly, I think it’s fascinating, not frightening. It makes me wish I had something like that in me,” I admitted. “But I don’t have anything like that. I can’t even speak to spirits or hear the wind whisper like Aunt Maribel. Whatever gift I’m supposed to have hasn’t surfaced yet, and I’m starting to wonder if it ever will. For now, I’m a wannabe shaman trying to keep up.” I shrugged.

“I’m sure it will,” he said, and for whatever reason, he seemed to believe what he said even though he barely knew me. “It looks like the rain is letting up.”

“It does. We should get going.”

He shifted into drive, and we crept back onto the road.

The rest of the drive to the store was quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was the kind of silence that felt soothing. I felt acutely aware of Ellis’s presence beside me as a feeling ofgratitude and something else I couldn’t name swelled within my chest.

A spark had been lit inside me, one that warmed me from the inside out.

6

ELLIS

We were on a roll. We’d already picked up the pink Himalayan salt from the grocery store earlier, along with two glass jars for collecting the water and soil Maribel needed. One of them was already filled with water from Crescent Creek.

“I should bring Serenity here,” Rachel said as we walked back to my truck. “I’d almost forgotten about this spot until last night, when I was trying to think of the perfect place to get water Aunt Maribel would approve of.”

“Really? I used to come here to fish all the time,” I said, risking a glance at her.

This woman’s beauty captivated me.

“Why did you stop?” she asked, meeting my stare.

I shrugged. “Work, I guess. Being an adult. It doesn’t feel like there’s time for much fun anymore, you know? There’s always some sort of adulting to do.”

“Aunt Maribel would scold you for that answer. She doesn’t believe we should stop having fun just because we’re adults now.”

“I like her sentiment,” I said with a chuckle while we started walking back to my truck.

“I’m serious.” She glanced at me while we walked, her brows lifted. “She regularly dresses up to head into town to buy a cupcake from Sugar Sweets Bakery, stick a candle in it, and eat it with a smile like it’s her birthday when it’s not. When people ask what she’s celebrating she tells them life.”

“I knew I liked her,” I said, grinning. “But now I really like her. She knows how to appreciate life.”

“That she does.” Rachel nodded. “So, sage is next on the list. We need it to be fresh cut. There’s an elderly woman I know my aunt has gotten herbs from before that might have some. It’s a bit of a drive from here, but I know it will be the quality Aunt Maribel wants.”

“Alma?”

She blinked. “Yeah. Do you know her?”

“I do, actually. Her granddaughter is part of my crew. She mated with one of our members, Waylen,” I said. “I can send her a quick text to see if Lyra could cut some for us and have it waiting.”

“Perfect.”

I pulled out my cell and shot Lyra a text. She responded before we reached my truck.

“She said that wouldn’t be a problem and to head on over,” I said, reading the text.

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