Page 9 of No Potions Needed

Outside thunder slammed into the sky again and Othoni leapt into my arms. I reflexively closed them around him, hugging him close to me. He was soft and cuddly but also trembling and smelled like he might explode from anxiety. I snuggled in under the blankets, still unable to find the words that needed to be said. True-mates. Mine. How was he right here in my bed?

“He sniffed us out,”my dragon rolled his eyes inside his inner sanctum.

I kissed the top of his furry head and waited for the storm to quiet down again. He purred, fast and hard as if he tried to out-noise the storm. I pulled the blankets over our heads again and sank into the bed. I’d swallow the storm whole if I could’ve just to help him relax. Instead, we rode out the storm in near silence. Outside, the weather did all the talking as it tossed lightning bolts around and slammed thunder over and over. The rain battered against the building and little icy balls of hail hit the windows and all I could do was hold onto the feline I’d spend the rest of my life with as he rode out his anxiety.

Across the room my phone vibrated but I ignored it. It was either Jacob or Mori. Maybe my sire or siblings if they picked up the news of my meeting my true-mate over the family link but they all could wait. Everyone under the sun, moon, and stars could wait. He was afraid and I wasn’t about to leave his side for a second until he felt secure about his place in the world again.

I thought about what I knew about Othoni. It wasn’t much. He was a jaguar shifter and the heir to the pard down south. His alpha brother had gotten into loads of trouble for stealing a potion to find his true-mate. I chuckled to myself. Othoni had beat the odds. As far as I knew, he hadn’t used a potion to find me. What happened now? Did we go back there? Stay here? I’d have to deal with Dern. Somehow.

If he asked me, I wouldn’t be able to say no. I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes and refuse him something seemingly so simple. He nuzzled in under my chin, scent marking me, as another lull in the rain rolled through the town. I let out a long, slow breath, trying to slow my own pounding heart. I wasn’t afraid of the rain or the storm. It was hard to squash a dragon or blow us away and I’d hold onto Othoni to keep him safe.

Slowly but surely the sunlight peeked through the cracks around the shades and Othoni’s heart rate began to slow. Most felines had fast heartrates anyway but his had tried to pound its way straight out of his furry ribcage. I rested my hand there over his ribs as if I could finish up the job of returning his vitals to normal. He wrapped his legs around my arm and held on with his furry head pressed against me.

“It’s gonna be alright,” I said. “Dragons and storms get along. They can’t really blow us away.”

He licked up my arm with his rough tongue as if tasting me to find out if I told the truth or not.

“So, I know you’re Othoni,” I said, filling in the silence before it pounded too loudly inside my head. “I think you know who I am since Mori said you were looking for me. He’s worried about you out in the storm. I think he feels a bit bad that he didn’t believe you about it being on the horizon. It’s just been a strange day for everyone. Do you think Dern knows about us? Everyone says he’s a fortune teller. Do you think he saw us or something?”

Othoni just looked at me through the dark inches between our faces with his big cat eyes. For a moment, I considered chomping into his shoulder. Somewhere under all that soft, lush fur resided his claiming gland. I’d find it one way or another if it meant being able to know his thoughts.

“You are Othoni, right?” I blinked at him.

I’d never met Othoni in person. Never smelled him. Hell, I’d never seen him in cat form. For all I knew, there were two frightened jaguars running around town afraid of storms. In my hurry to dry off, I hadn’t checked Othoni’s room after all.

The jaguar licked my nose and then my forehead without answering. Maybe the lick was the answer I didn’t speak feline well enough to translate it. A second later, he let go of my arm and scooted up until he could reach my head. He licked my hair, grooming away the styling product that managed to mostly hold up through the rain.

“That can’t taste good, mate,” I chuckled as someone knocked on the door.

Othoni twisted on the bed and hissed at the door. I didn’t need to speak cat to know he wanted the knocker to beat feet and leave us alone.

“Ni?” Mori called through the door and the jaguar sighed. He flashed me a pleading look but I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do. Open the door? Get rid of Mori? Go talk to Dern? Ignore everyone and take him right here and now and--- Well, he’d need to shift for that.

“Ni? Teddy?” Mori called out again. “I can smell you, Ni. Teddy! What’s going on? Teddy if you’re already trying to bed Othoni I swear to the fattest bear ancestor I have---”

Plenty could’ve been going on but nothing like Mori was implying. Did he know already? Did we already smell like mates somehow? Was that even possible? No. It couldn’t be that. Mori was just worried about his friend.

“I’m coming in! I don’t think you locked the door,” Mori called out and Othoni hissed again.

“He’s your friend too, right?” I asked, trying to soothe my mate. “Mori won’t hurt you. Want me to ask him to prove that he’s our Mori?”

The door opened before Othoni had a chance to answer and he was out from under the blanket like a bat out of hell. He leapt across the room, hissing and knocking Mori out into the hallway. He kicked the door shut behind him before I managed to even untangle myself from the web of bedding we snuggled down in.

Chapter Five

Othoni

“Ni!” Mori said, hitting the floor with a thud as I kicked the door shut behind me. “What has gotten into you?”

I snarled at him. The hair on my back and neck raised high to make me look big as I stood on the wolf’s chest. He was going to listen up and listen up good.

“Othoni!”My carrier’s voice sounded off a warning over our family link, but I ignored him. I had business to tend to or I was going to eat my best friend. He could wait.

“Ni!” Mori said my name again, hands up by his head.

“Listen up, wolf. Listen up right now,”my jaguar hissed.

“Ni, I’m listening! I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about the storm. If I knew it was coming in, I’d never have let you go after Teddy alone.”

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