Page 10 of Snow's Charming
“I can’t go shopping without money. I planned on surfing the net tomorrow to look for a job so I could afford a few more outfits than the one I had on my back and the one Jerry gave me when we left Jackie’s.And now? I don’t even have the one I was in a few moments ago.”
Tears welled in my eyes and I tried to blink them back, but they fell down my cheeks, anyway. Sylus kissed each one before responding to me.
“Princess, it’s okay. You don’t need a job. You already have one. You are the proprietor of this inn. And you are also my Luna.”
“I don’t know the first thing about running a place like this. I mean, I can cook, but I wouldn’t know the first thing about QuickBooks.”
“You have plenty of help for all of that. The entire pack helps maintain the place, and it practically runs itself. Alphas and Lunas mostly deal with paperwork, though. Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you in the beginning.” He said with a wink.
“Okay, but this place can’t be that popular. If it were, my stepmonster would have tried taking it from me before the lawyer even read the will.”
“It’s popular, but only with shifters. We haven’t allowed humans here—it’s a wolf thing. We like a place where we don’t have to hide our true selves. The books in the human world do not reflect the exact income we bring in. That’s why Jackie let you keep the inn. She doesn’t know that the shifter community does a lot with the bartering system. We are also big tippers.” He said with a wink.
“I’m not sure that will stop Jackie from trying to get her cut.”
“Our lawyers are cutthroat, princess. She won’t getshit and,” He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead before continuing, “she won’t lay a hand on you ever again. You’re safe now. I promise.”
He carried me through a long hallway and then pushed the up button on the elevator. The cart instantly opened, and he whisked me inside. He pushed the only button on the keypad and then placed me in a standing position while smiling.
“We live in the penthouse.”
“We?”
“Yes. There are 12 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms. Pick whichever one you’d like. I’ll even move my things out of the master if you feel more comfortable there. But? Whether or not you want me as your mate, you will live here with me. That’s non-negotiable. As the best huntsman of this pack, I must protect our Luna.”
“What’s a Luna?”
“It means you are my fated mate and once the coronation happens, I will become the Alpha King and you will become my Luna Queen. But only if you choose me as your mate.”
My heart skipped a beat as he led me from the elevator into an expansive great room. He then placed a hand on the small of my back to guide me down a hall to what I assumed was the master bedroom.
He gently scooped me up in his arms again, placed me on the bed, and walked into the closet, which seemed larger than my old bedroom, as I peered through the open door.
“So we are like together?”
“Only if you want it. I get this is all new to you. And—for the record—we would have had the time to get to know each other if you lived here in the packhouse, but because your father left, we didn’t get that chance. Our bond would have been seamless by now. But, Sesi, I’d like to get to know you now. When you were promised to me, your mother was already sick and your father wanted to ensure your safety if anything happened to him before you turned 21. It was the only part of the will we had a leg to stand on to take you back with that asshole lawyer your stepmother hired.”
“How come I was in the dark about being a shifter?”
“You weren’t supposed to experience your first transformation until you were 21. My guess is that your father always thought he’d have time to tell you the truth.”
“But wouldn’t I have known about my wolf beforehand, at the very least? I mean, don’t they have a personality all their own?”
“If you were bitten, yes, that can happen. But you were born a shifter, so your wolf has always been in sync with you. That makes it harder for your human side to connect with it as a separate entity. Sometimes they talk to you telepathically, but usually not until after your first shift. And when they talk to you, it seems more like an intuition or inner voice than an actual person talking to you in your head.”
“I see. That actually makes a lot of sense. So, Dad was the shifter?”
“Yes. But so was your mother.”
“But Jackie is human?”
“Jackie is mortal, yes. However, she’s also a witch.”
“Okay.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. It was hard to wrap my head around all of this shifter stuff, so hearing about witches was beyond crazy, but I was determined to get past the crazy for some answers about Dad and Mom.
“So why did my father leave the pack? I assume it’s because of Jackie?”
