Page 9 of Moonlit Bonds

“No, Seraphina.” Kieran reaches out and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. The gesture is soothing, arousing, and confusing at the same time. “Once I finish up here with my duties, I’ll meet you at your place where we can talk. Okay?” He seems like he’s taking my warning seriously, but is he?

My attention fractures between fear for him and fear for me, knowing who is inside the diner.

“Okay. I think it could be good to get some things off of our chests,” I force myself to say.

Not just about the vision but about last night, and what it means. What I want it to mean.

He leans forward and gives a nice growl I feel down to my bones. My toes curl in my sneakers. “That wasn’t what I had in mind, but there are a few things that we can take off, yes.”

“This is serious, Kieran.” He needs to pay attention.

“So am I. I will listen to what you have to say and take it very seriously. Alpha’s word.” He holds up a Boy Scout signal. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun, too.”

Part of me wants to take him up on more fun instantly. The other part fears for him, and screams so loudly in warning it’s impossible to ignore. “Fine, later. But we have to look into this immediately.”

“As you wish,” he replies with a wink. “I’ll be all yours tonight. Now, let me walk you to your car.”

We turn to leave, him taking my elbow to guide me back toward my car, when again we’re interrupted, this time by an older woman wearing a pink bathrobe.

“Kieran,” she calls out to him, lifting a pink fuzzy arm to get his attention. “Kieran!”

“Be right there, Auntie,” he calls back.

I feel the woman’s gaze on me. “It’s okay. My car is just on the other side of those trees there. I’ll see you in a bit.” I walk off, and shift to look back and see him still staring at me. His gaze feels possessive and suggestive of all tonight might bring, which comforts me a bit.

If he isn’t afraid of my vision, maybe it will turn out okay this time. And maybe we can enjoy each other until we figure this fated mates thing out.

Yeah, and lying to yourself serves its purpose, too.

I head back to my car, and almost unleash a wave of magic when the woman Kieran had dismissed earlier pops up with her clipboard still in hand. She seems so calm and serene, friendly even, her pretty face split in a grin. “I see you are about to leave. I’m Gloria. I didn’t mean to be rude earlier.”

“No worries. I was just delivering a message.” My hands grip the door handle behind me, my back plastered against the sun warmed metal.

“A message, right.” Gloria studies me and I get the feeling she’s trying to assess me as a competitor or as prey. Both of those are bad options for me. She lowers her clipboard. “I just have one question. What is your relationship to the Alpha?”

Surprise fills my system. Not the question I thought she’d ask but one I should have prepared for regardless. I’d let myself get too distracted to worry about my surroundings.

Gloria moves closer to me and goosebumps ripple up and down my arms. I feel her hate pulsating beneath her serene facade. A sudden burst of anger emanates from her like a scorching heat,and her smile shifts into a sneer the longer she stares at me, waiting for an answer.

“What is my relationship with Kieran?” I repeat.

“A bit dense, I see. You’re having some trouble keeping up. Do I have to ask you again?”

If I use magic here on pack land, there is no way Kieran will be able to defend my actions to the wolf council. We’d be sunk before we started.

The she-wolf circles me like I’m her dinner and she’s starving to death. She’s got me trapped between her body and the car and unless I suddenly find a way to go through metal, I’m screwed.

“If anyone will be with the Alpha,” she says in my silence, “it will be one of his kind, not a second-rate witch like you. Do you understand, sweetie?” Jealousy rests in Gloria’s gaze, contorting her face in pure anger.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Will she accept the way I play dumb? Sweat breaks out on my limbs and lower back.

“Don’t play dumb with me, witch.” Okay, apparently not. “I smell the magic on you. I smellhimon you.” With that, she lunges at me.

Gravel crunches beneath my feet as I swerve and twist away at the last second. Gloria slams into the car and I tear off a pieceof her shirt, scuttling backward to put distance between us. The fabric floats to the ground.

I’m not powerless. I’m not weak. I’m not going to let her get away with this, especially not since she made the first move.

I gather my magic for a spell, but before I let it fly, Gloria shifts. Her human form melts away, skin falling to a pile around her four paws. Fur the color of her hair covers her entire body and in the next breath she pounces. I turn away to run, magic forgotten, and her claws catch the back of my head hard before I stumble, dizzy and unable to catch myself as I fall.

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