Page 7 of Moonlit Bonds

Death enters my vision quest, slinking onto the screen before me and painting it in blood.

I see crimson stains on the sleek wolf fur, a dark trail beneath, the blood twisting into a hand and reaching for me. I see drops spreading on the snow, a beautiful contrast of red and white, warm and cold, life and death.

Thenhiseyes fix on me for one disorienting moment, and he’s gone.One moment alive and boisterous and glowing with health and the next…

Kieran is dead at my feet. And all his pack lay slaughtered behind him, their blood converging into a raging river. The tide pulls me under its violent waves.

I am drowning in blood.

His name is on my lips.Kieran.I pump my arms to get to him, fear chasing me like a rabid beast. My heart thrashes in my chest, my breath released only in spurts.This can’t be. I just found you.To have him taken away so suddenly, brutally?—

The scream tearing from me severs the connection, cutting the vision off like I simply pressed a button on a TV, but that won’t stop what I’ve seen from coming to pass. It’s inevitable.

I swipe at my lips, still tasting copper, and extinguish the smoking sage in the abalone shell in front of me. My fingers shake, my arm trembling and the rest of me filled with a distinctive cold chill.

The vision lingers with me like a bad taste in my mouth.

It’s almost time to open the shop, but I’ve made the decision to go to pack lands before I rise from my cross-legged position on the floor. Even if we’d left things unspoken and up in the air, I can’t play this like any other one-night stand. I can’t play games. Not with Kieran’s life.

The vision is clear and if I don’t deliver the warning, then something terrible will happen to him. Can I stop Fate? The question lingers along with the last memories of the river of blood.

“Madeline?” I call toward the storeroom where my sister is supposed to be unpacking our haul from the gemstone and mineral expo.

The sound of her box cutter slicing through the tape is the only indication that she’s back there.

“Madeline?” I find her with her earbuds in, dancing and not paying attention to the world around her.

I ease back, rethinking telling her what I have planned. She’ll only try to stop me or get involved herself, and putting her in danger is unacceptable. My stomach drops, churning at the thought of anything happening to my sister.

The nameless threat…the vision never clearly showed what will happen to the pack. I’m taking a risk on more than one front by going there to speak to Kieran.

And Madeline doesn’t know what happened between him and I, even if she looked at me curiously when I’d been readingour family’s Book of Shadows this morning. More specifically, pouring over the spells for undoing magic.

She will definitely ask me about it sooner rather than later, but I have no words for what happened the other night. And the inevitable conversation feels less important now that I know what’s coming. Kinda.

I have to leave my own thoughts behind and focus on saving Kieran. And avoiding my sister.

Relieved she didn’t hear me, I quietly retreat to the register and scribble a quick note telling her that I’ll be back, but failing to say just where I’m headed. The less she knows about this whole thing, the better for her, and her safety is paramount.

It’s a death sentence for a witch to set foot on, much less walk right onto, pack land and up to their alpha. Kieran is one thing. A whole pack of territorial wolves is another. But there is no other choice.

I have to warn Kieran, and it has to be immediately.

Because if my past failure taught me anything, it’s that when my visions hit, there is little time to stem the tide of their impending destruction.

Kieran

The diner’s door swings open and in walks Seraphina. My fated mate. I instantly stand to attention, my spine snapping straight and every part of me leaning toward her. I can’t take my eyes off of her.

The same magic that bound us last night ignites between us. It’s palpable, powerful. Does everyone in the damn diner feel it, too? My heart thunders as if a pack of wild horses was suddenly set loose.

But instead of the warm smile I want to see, her heart shaped face bears a grimace, her brilliant green eyes shining and never leaving my face.

The air shifts and churns around her and her lips tremble on her approach. She barely makes it to the table before speaking, the words hitting me with the force of their meaning. “Kieran, you’re in great danger.”

“I’m always in danger,” I try to reassure her.

My wolf is happy, urging me to take my mate again.

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