No. I’d seen purple eyes. Eyes just like Lake’s.
“Lake?” I surveyed the trees again, heart knocking in my chest.
No response.
“If that’s you and not a ravenous demon that wants to eat me for dinner, it’s okay to come out.” I stepped closer to the tree line. A pressure filled my chest—a longing. I realized then how badly I wanted to see him. Because even though I loved Maddox and Briar, a part of me was drawn to the demi-wolf.
More silence.
Deciding I’d been mistaken, I turned toward the cottage. I was farther away from the back patio than I’d thought. In my excitement, I’d rushed for the trees without thinking of the possible evil things slinking through the shadows.
“Sorry, Maddox and Briar,” I muttered. I had broken my promise not to go outside. But what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. The disappointment of not seeing Lake was crushing though. “If it is you, Lake,” I weakly said. “I won’t hurt you.”
The air stirred at my back.
Someone stood behind me.
Chapter Three
Evan Touches a Shooting Star
Fear had me rooted in place. Every muscle froze, and my lungs did the same, refusing to work.
“I know you won’t hurt me,” a slightly raspy voice said from behind me. “I won’t hurt you either.”
The twinge of fright was then overshadowed by a pillowy warmth that moved through my rib cage. “Lake?”
“Yes.” He stood so close that I felt the heat of his body. Felt his breath on my nape. And I smelled his unmistakable scent, of sun warmed earth and spring water. “Did I frighten you?”
“Oh, not at all,” I said, trying to calm my racing heart. The fluttering beats reverberated in my belly. I hadn’t turned around yet in fear he’d run away. “After my epic battle with that thornbush the night we first met, nothing scares me. I’m invincible. Total nerves of steel.”
“And what if I was a ravenous demon that wanted you for dinner?”
When I laughed, it was more of a squeak. “Um. I don’t know. I’d probably take off my shoe and throw it at you to get away. Demons like shoes. Wait. No, that’s elves. I think. Trolls maybe?”
Lake pressed closer, and my entire body tingled from his proximity. He skimmed his fingers down the back of my arm. “Your pulse is thrumming so wildly. Are you sure you’re not afraid?”
“Yep. I’m sure.” And I wasn’t afraid. Oddly aroused? Definitely. “Kind of cool you can sense pulses. That’s like a superpower.”
“Wolves are attuned to their prey,” Lake whispered, bringing his mouth to the shell of my ear. Chills danced across my skin. “Your heartbeat. Your quickening breaths. Your sweet scent.” He ghosted his mouth down the side of my neck, not touching but somehow that only made it more arousing. “So sweet I can almost taste it on my tongue.”
“Are you saying I’m your prey? I don’t think I’d taste very good. Definitely not top-shelf meat. More like meat past its sell-by date that’s a funky color and guaranteed to make you sick.”
A rough sound came from him. A laugh?
It made me smile. So many people in the kingdom feared demi-wolves and claimed they couldn’t be trusted. But Ididtrust him. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.
Lake gently grabbed my elbow and turned me to face him.
My breath caught. My memory of him didn’t do him justice at all. Smooth alabaster skin, sharp, androgynous features, and purple eyes that faintly glowed as dusk fell over the kingdom. White wolf ears jutted from his silver hair.
He reminded me of moonlight. Or like a shooting star, leaving a trail of star dust as it journeyed across the night sky. Maybe that’s what he was. A rare, beautiful thing that disappeared too quickly.
I lifted a hand to touch his hair.
He flinched and jerked away from me.
“Sorry!” I withdrew my hand.
