Page 37 of Stealing Sloane

“And what about your powers? How did you learn to use those? And how did you even realize you had them?”

“Ahh yeah, things were a little different with us hybrids. Aside from the Lycan lessons, my other uncle—you might remember him from last night when he came with my dad—is a warlock.”

The events of last night had gone by in such a blur, she didn’t even realize she’d met his uncle and his dad, but she nodded anyway.

“Uncle Daric bound our powers temporarily when we were young. I set the kitchen on fire.” He chuckled. “But when we were old enough, he unbound them. I learned to control it here too.” Raising a hand, he made a ball of fire appear in his hand.

She gasped, but her eyes remain fixed on the fireball inches above his hands. “That’s real?”

“Oh yeah.” He moved it closer to her. “Try to touch it.”

Putting her hand near it, she felt the heat on her palm. “Wow, that does feel real.”

“Oh yeah.” He pulled his arm back then, then threw the fireball, making it land on a nearby shrub. The dry leaves and twigs quickly caught on fire, but with a wave of his hand, it disappeared. “I can also control any type of fire, but minimally. And like I said, I can’t be burned.”

“How did figure that out?”

“How do you think?” He flashed her a lopsided smile. “My brother Anthony and Lizzie set me on fire. Mom was livid.”

“Sounds like something Lizzie would do.”

“Yeah.”

“So, like … the fire … does it come out of anywhere else?”

He burst out laughing. “Smart ass.” He nodded toward a line of trees ahead. “The pond’s just over that hill.”

They marched forward, and as they drew closer, the sounds of barks and yips grew louder.

“I guess Stella’s doing well with her Lycan lessons,” he said.

They walked through the trees, revealing a large pond just at the slope of the hill. “Yeah, I hope so. She only accidentally shifted that first time, and since then she said she couldn’t figure out how to do it again.”

“I figured. Stress can do that to you. And?—”

“And what?”

His eyes grew wide. “What the fuck?”

“What’s wrong?” She cocked her head to the side. The animalistic sounds had dissipated, only to be replaced by human voices. Her gaze followed the source.

“Cliff! Yes …”

“Oh, God, Stella!” a male voice groaned. “You’re so—what the hell?”

Sloane’s jaw dropped at the sight of Cliff and Stella’s naked bodies entwined on the grass, obviously in the middle of vigorous sex. Stella let out a shriek as Cliff rolled over to shield her and both Sloane and Jacob whirled around.

“Shit!” Sloane covered her face with her hands, the heat on her cheeks warming her palms. She didn’t dare look at Jacob, but she couldn’t help herself and peeked between her fingers.

He looked just as mortified as she felt. “Goddamned horny bastard,” he muttered. “What the hell, man, how about a warning?”

“Warning?” Cliff groused. “How about you don’t go sneaking around when people are busy?”

“Busy, huh?” Jacob chuckled.

“Shut up,” the other Lycan growled.

There was a rustling of clothes as the couple hastily put themselves to rights. “Okay, we’re decent,” Stella said.

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