Page 21 of So I Won a Werelion

“Sure do.” He attached a GoPro to the front of my helmet.

I took a deep breath. It had been a long time since I stood at the top of a run.

Wendy doesn’t care about what you can do on a boarding run, my lion snarled.You’ll have to work harder than this to get her back.

Before that night on stage, I would’ve said I knew Wendy better than anyone. But I didn’t know her at all.

That was the motivation I needed to tip my board down and start the run. I was going faster than I should have, but it fucking felt good. This was the closest I could get to my animal without shifting.

My board hit the rail with a clang, and I wasn’t ready for the trick. My balance was off, and if I landed wrong, especially with no snow, I could crack my skull open. I had to throw everything into the spin to not fall on my ass.

I skidded to a stop and my nephews cheered.

“Uncle Gabe, that was so cool,” Liam said.

“Don’t try that,” I growled and snapped the restraints free. What was I thinking? I knew better than to show off for a camera. I needed to concentrate. Focus.

“That footage will look so fierce. I could barely remember to breathe while you were in action. It was perfect.”

Glad Bibi thought so.

“Uncle Gabe. Can you bring us on the trampoline? Do flips with us?” Lance asked.

“Oooh, that sounds like so much fun.” Bibi clapped her hands together.

“Sure.” I kicked off my shoes and noticed my phone was ringing. I almost ignored it because no one I wanted to talk to actually called me.It was usually my agent trying to sell me on some has-been circuit appearance to make a quick buck.

My eyes had to be playing tricks on me.

“Wendy’s calling.”

I’d written a thousand texts and deleted them. Picked up the phone more times than I could count. Thrown it across the room a couple of times, too.

I had so much to say to her, yet none of it felt right.

Bibi beamed. “Answer it.”

Bjorn pointed his camera at me.

“Hey,” I said.

She didn’t say anything right away.

I had to make a move. I’d already waited too long, afraid I’d do something I couldn’t fix. “I’ve been thinking about you. All the things I should have—”

“Gabe.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “I found the Sempiternal Scepter.”

“You did what?” I lowered my voice and turned away from my audience. The Sempiternal Scepter was a legend passed down from our elders. A story only meant for shifters to know. No human should ever lay a finger on it. “Where are you?”

As far as I knew, she’d gone back to work at her family’s realty company. At least, her car had been in the parking lot every time I drove by the office.

“I’m hiding in my office at work,” she said.

“Where did you find it?”

“At the groundbreaking for that new housing development. A bulldozer pushed up a bunch of stuff. A reporter grabbed a piece of it before I had a chance to—"

“What? A reporter has it?”

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