“How goes the search?” Emily asks as she hands me a coffee.
“It’s not really going at all,” I sigh, curling my fingers around the mug for warmth. The comforting scent grounds me slightly, but it doesn’t ease the weight pressing on my chest. “Four weeks of digging through every pack registry, calling in every favor I can think of, even a visit to the council that Luca had to attend because they’re a bunch of misogynistic assholes who would only speak to the acting alpha. But I still have no leads.”
Emily winces in sympathy. “What about the witches?”
I shake my head. “I haven’t found a contact in any of the covens who will agree to perform the spell to find Ryan’s mate yet. Apparently, I don’t have enough of an offering, whatever the fuck that means.”
“I’m so sorry. It sounds like you’re doing everything you can.”
He’s been staying in the cells since we got back from the rescue mission, but he’s doing well. The therapy has been helping, as much as he tried to get out of it the first couple of weeks. Hebought in after Maya basically told him to stop wasting her time and either do the work or give up the space to someone who would. Ryan was fuming, but he respected it, and he has come to enjoy his sessions.
Even his wolf seems more settled.
The memory tugs at my mind of Ryan telling me,“I’ve got to give it to you; that human has claws.”He was obviously expecting more of a nod and smile type therapist but has come to enjoy the way Maya calls him on his shit. I never could have imagined the day would come when my alpha brother not only tolerated but actually enjoyed being challenged.
“He wasn’t too bad during the full moon last week, but this can’t continue.” I continue. “He needs to get out of there. Being locked up isn’t good for any wolf, let alone an alpha.”
“Of course.” Emily nods. “It must be so hard seeing him like that. Locked up like an animal, even if it was his idea.”
“It’s awful,” I agree. “Luca has been doing everything he can to help and distracting me when he can’t. He lets me fall apart and puts me back together again afterwards. And Dad—” I pause, shaking my head. “He’s there every single day. Talking to Ryan, trying to convince him to consider a chosen mate. But Ryan won’t budge. He says his wolf won’t allow it.”
I still can’t believe how consistent Dad has been. He’s different from how he was before everything with Mom. More subdued, more mellow, definitely less alpha. But he’s acting like his old self in other ways. He even slept in the cell beside Ryan during the full moon to make sure he wasn’t alone.
It’s allowed me to focus on trying to find a witch, but I’m running out of places to look.
We fall into silence for a moment, sipping our hot drinks. Then Emily asks, “And Luca? He’s been good? I still can’t believe he won you over.”
“Me either,” I say with a laugh. “Luca is such an idiot. He genuinely didn’t know how to be around me because he was obsessed with me and thought I was too young. But since finding out we are mates, he has learned to be honest about his feelings. It’s what I wanted. Even if it doesn’t make any sense.”
“I’m happy as long as you’re happy, bestie,” Emily says with a smile. She’s still not fully sure about Luca, which I get. He was an asshole when she got here first. But he won me over, and I’m sure Emily will see it in time.
“Plus, the sex is insanely good.”
Emily flushes and giggles. She’s so adorable. The sweetness to my spice.
“How’s Jackson doing? Has he talked to Katie much?”
“No,” she says with a heavy sigh. “It’s tough on him. He had this idea that they would go back to their old dynamic as soon as he found her. But she’s not the same shifter she was back then. He understands, of course. What she’s been through…” she trails off and shudders. Emily has her own history of trauma, but what Katie has been through is very different.
My phone pings, and I open a text message from Caleb.
I have awitch. Call me.
For a heartbeat, I just stare. My pulse stutters, then surges so fast it feels like my skin can’t contain it. “Holy shit.”
Emily blinks at me. “What is it?”
I screech with excitement, jumping to my feet as I read, and Emily chokes on her tea. “Sorry, Em. I’ve got to go call Caleb. He has a witch!”
“Oh, thank Fate,” Emily whispers with her hands covering her mouth. She gives me a quick hug and then hustles me out the door as I pull up Caleb’s details. Finally, some good luck.
“We have a witch!” I cry as Luca, Ryan, and Dad all turn to stare at me, their conversation dying mid-sentence. My heart is hammering so hard I almost choke on the giddy energy buzzing through me.
“Caleb found the coven who spelled the chokers,” I say quickly, as if the reality will fade away if I don’t grab on to it straight away. “He found a witch willing to talk to him. Turns out she had no idea what they were being used for and feels awful. She agreed to do the locator spell for Ryan’s mate as part of her repentance. No payment required!”
I clap my hands together like a kid at Solstice, giddy with relief, with the sense that finally—finally—something is going our way. It feels as if the universe might be making sense again.
But Ryan’s answering snarl shreds my happiness in an instant. Dousing my excitement like a bucket of ice water.
