Page 43 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

“Keep trying,” Wilder says encouragingly. “Think about it the way you think about the moon. The Earth is alive. It’s like communicating with it. You’re not forcing the dirt up. You’re asking it to rise for you.”

I can just picture Nate snorting if he’d heard that. He wouldn’t be able to take this seriously.

I focus on the patch of Earth in front of me.

I think about the way it supports me. The way my feet are rooted there.

I think about how big the Earth is compared to the moon, and how much nearer, and how much power it holds.

I think about the heat at its core, and for a moment, I feel a burning heat in the core of my own body.

I raise my hand.

All around me, wildflowers shoot up out of the ground.

Wilder stares. “Did you mean to do that?”

I don’t have words. I stare at the flowers in shock, shaking my head slowly.

“You’ve got a gift,” Wilder says. “You have an affinity for elemental magic, Emlyn. You’re more powerful than I thought.”

25

MILO

Emlyndoesn’ttalktome the whole way home.

I don’t know what’s up. Is she mad at me because I tried to talk Wilder out of teaching us elemental magic? Because if that’s it, she has to understand that I’m just concerned about safety. I’ve spent my entire life keeping a careful distance from everything to do with magic and Moon Casters. And Wilder’s approach seems to be, well, let’s just do as much as we can and see what happens!

I’m not gonna pretend it’s not a little intimidating.

She grabs me by the wrist when we get to Giuseppe’s, and I figure I’m in for it. “Go on in,” she says to Wilder. “We’re right behind you.”

Wilder looks from Emlyn to me, then shrugs and heads inside. I can only suppose he figures the same thing I do—that there’s going to be some kind of argument—and he doesn’t feel the need to be a part of it.

Fair enough.

She leads me around to the side of the building, which is about four stories high and looks like it might have once been a hotel. We’re in a little alleyway now, small enough that it hasn’t been used much, so at least it’s relatively clean.

“You’re mad,” she says.

“What?” She’s got it completely backward. “I’m not mad.”

“I didn’t know that would happen,” she says in a rush. “I didn’t know those wildflowers would—I just wanted totryit, Milo, I just wanted to see if I could do it. I had no idea it would come so easily to me. Please don’t be upset.”

“No,” I say quickly. “No.” I kiss her, and she responds eagerly, opening her mouth to me, her body molding itself to mine. “Of course I’m not upset,” I say. “Wilder was right. You’re talented at this. It’s nothing to be upset about.”

“But I know how you feel about magic—”

“I don’t even know how I feel about magic,” I tell her. “This is all new to me. But what I saw you do today was beautiful, Emmy. It couldn’t hurt anybody.” I kiss her again. “Please don’t think any less of yourself because you’ve discovered a power you didn’t know you had, all right? And please, please, don’t imagine that I ever could.”

In response, she wraps her arms around me and kisses me deeply.

I pull her close, into the shadow of the building. Her shirt is caught between us, exposing a bare strip of skin along her lower back, and that’s enough to tempt me. I work a hand into her pants and cup her ass, relishing how neatly she fits against my palm. She hums with pleasure.

“Here?” she says.

I nod. I’m too hungry for her to even think about going inside. Besides, we’ve been here long enough that I know the couple of blocks outside of Giuseppe’s are safe. We don’t need to hunker down in our restaurant all the time. We can enjoy the fresh air on our skin while we make love.

---