Page 3 of Hot in Witch City
Nova caught up with me as I walked through the club. “I don’t know what’s gotten into Sebastian. Diego and Lucas are going to talk some sense into him.”
I shook my head. “Ugh, what a weirdo, sniffing and pawing at me.”
Nova bit her lip. “He’s not like this. He’s usually super considerate, wanting to cook up a storm to feed us.”
I snorted, remembering his odd offer to cook for me.
Nova tipped her head with a knowing grin. “It's not like you haven't had an odd effect on men before.”
True. Men had been attracted to me ever since I’d transformed from an awkward caterpillar to a butterfly after puberty.
“But he looked ready to shift in my club. That would be bad for business.”
“Absolutely,” Nova agreed. “Diego and Lucas will keep him in check.”
When I glanced back they were talking to Sebastian. He stared at me with an odd expression that I could only guess was confusion—and maybe yearning.
I turned away and muttered, “Furball freak.”
Sebastian
“What are you doing, dude?”Diego stepped in my path as I tried to follow Gianna.
Nova had told me about her good friend who lived in Salem, but she’d left out the fact that Gianna was a knockout. She stood tall on sexy high heels that showed off her long legs. Her pinup-style black dress with red bats printed on them matched the crimson streaks in her dark hair. Her captivating eyes were a mysterious color somewhere between dark blue and purple. And her body… Wowza.
“You soundedreal smooth,” Lucas added with a chuckle.
I scowled. “It’s her,” I explained. “Her scent is the one that’s been driving me mad.” That feminine aroma with a hint of vanilla had haunted me for weeks. It lured me to pursue, yet eventually vanished, leaving me confused and bereft.
And acting so, as well, judging by the idiotic display I’d just put on. Muttering “mine” and spouting off gibberish about food and cooking. My wolf had to settle down. I’d barely been able to cut off the word “mate” from escaping my mouth as it rumbled from deep within.
“Uh, oh.” Lucas bent his head down. “You’re not saying what Ithinkyou’re saying, are you?” He lowered his voice. “Mate?”
“No. No, of course not,” I dismissed. “I don’t know.” I averted eye contact and ran my hand over my beard. My wolf told me she was indeed the one, but I didn’t know if I believed it.
Or maybe I didn’t want to believe it.
As a wolf shifter who’d grown up with a pack in the White Mountains, I’d heard the stories about what happens when a shifter finds a mate. Everything changed. She’d be the missing half to your soul. All this woo-woo magic transpired, making you feel whole.
I thought when I found my mate, I’d know it without a doubt. Everything would fall into place.
That didn’t happen. Instead, confusion reigned. Restlessness had built up since I’d first detected the unfamiliar scent in our house. Could I really fall that fast and hard for a stranger I’d never met before simply by smelling her? That was ludicrous, and I had to be sensible about something as huge as a life partner.
“She’s part siren,” Diego said. “Maybe that’s affecting you somehow.”
Could that be it? She had siren magic stirring my wolf, confusing him?
“That explains it,” I declared with more confidence than I felt. “False alarm,” I dismissed. She wasnotmy mate. My wolf snorted in disagreement.
That magical sense of fulfillment from finding a mate had to be another falsehood my former pack had fed me. They lived a backwards life, and I should have known better than to believe anything they said.
“Now that we got that out of the way.” Lucas pointed with both index fingers at the bar. “Drinks.”
“Indeed.” We were in a club and our hands were empty.
Diego led us to the opposite side of the bar from where Nova stood talking to Gianna. Damn, she was beautiful. I couldn’t stop staring at her.
“Knock it off,” Diego warned. “You’re going to freak her out.”
