Page 7 of An Anomaly of Sunlight

No, I’ll never look like Sage. She runs track and lifts weights for fun. I sip whiskey on my porch. The most running I do is seeing if I can grab a snack before the ads go off on whatever show I’m streaming. I refuse to pay to turn the fucking things off.

“Oh, you know. Nowhere better to catch various criminals than Burrow’s,” Sage jests. “Got anything fun going on tonight?” I shake my head, exhaling the smoke away from her. “Not yet. Unless you consider explaining the same thing ten times in a row to be fun.”

I plop down on the pallet of dog and cat food we keep outside. Which, in a way, it feels wrong to be a wolf sitting on a bag of pellets for your domesticated brethren. I personally can’t fathom owning an animal, but the witches love that shit.

Sage laughs in such an uncouth manner, but her joy is infectious, and I always find myself snorting alongside her. “Man, Sky, I don’t know how you fucking do this.” Sage reaches to her belt turning the volume down on her handheld as dispatch calls for a firetruck. “I’d rather go on a high-speed chase from here to California than repeat the same shit over and over. Your job seems a lot like baby-sitting.”

She has no idea how accurate that is. Before I can formulate a proper response or compare her own job as chief of police to scolding toddlers, my eyes catch on a woman stepping out of a vehicle across the lot, and my whole world stops. With a pale hand, she flips her long chocolate hair over her shoulder as she leans down, popping her head in the door and saying something to the driver.

She closes the door and I can’t help myself from taking in every detail of her. She’s dressed in an oversized sienna sweater and black pants that hug every curve. As she and another woman walk toward the entrance to the store I take in her striking amber eyes. They’re unlike anything I’ve seen before. Sunlight trapped in a glass vial.

As the pair steps onto the sidewalk near us, her scent floods my nostrils. The sweetest honeyed vanilla. There’s not a bakery on earth that could produce a more decadent scent. Even before scenting her, I knew this woman was going to turn my world off its axis; like she was carved into existence just for me.

Sage shakes my shoulder and I come back to reality. “Uh, earth to Skyler, you in there?” She quips. I run my fingers through my hair, looking back over my shoulder in the direction of the mysterious, yet eerily familiar woman. “Who is she?” The words fall out of my mouth before I realize I’m saying them.

Sage shrugs, “No idea, I’ve never seen her before.” I huff, rising off the pallet. “You know everyone, Rivera. Don’t tell me you’re slacking on the job.” She clicks her tongue, “Still with the last name, really? And seriously. This is the first time I’ve ever seen her.” Waggling her eyebrows at me, she adds, “I can go find out for you, though.”

I playfully punch her shoulder as I head inside. “I’ll find out for myself, thank you very much.” As I step inside, the dark-haired goddess is talking with Wren at the register. Fate is hard at work as I see Wren hand across a clipboard, which I know holds an application. No reason for her to even fill that shit out. She’ll be hired on the spot.

Working with her may not be the smartest move. But I want — need to get to know her. She walks away, clipboard and pen in tow, back to who I can tell now must be her mother. They have the same cheeks and round eyes. Her mother has the same dark hair, just lightened at the bottom. Neither of them notices me, which makes me decide to look busy and inconspicuous, grabbing a hand scanner to check prices.

I coincidentally end up on the same aisle as the pair of them every few minutes. They are filling a cart, but with nothing to indicate they are paranormal. No potion bottles, no blood jugs, not even the salve for us shifters that helps with joint pain. Just regular, everyday food items.

A human mate for a wolf is unheard of. A vampire, perhaps. Maybe even a witch or demon in rare cases. But a human? It’s seemingly impossible for them to be able to feel the mate bond in the way a paranormal would.

Mate?

Why is that where my mind went? Around the sixth year after leaving the pack I accepted that I’d be a loner for the rest of my life. Now at twenty-nine and a decade of devoting my life to Burrow’s, it seems like wishful thinking that the Goddess would give me such a blessing.

Meeting your mate outside of pack life is rare. Not to mention my asshole of a father wants me back enough that if I did have a mate, they’d be in danger. He’ll use them to get to me. He’s threatened to do it, and I don’t have to wonder if he was bluffing or not. If she were my mate, no one could know.

And as a human, how would she ever accept our bond?

Typically, the mated pair would drink from the Crystalline Water while in their wolf forms to start the ceremony. Whereas centuries ago, a wolf could only feel the bond with another wolf; the Goddess amended her rules to include any paranormal species after wolves began rejecting their mates in favor of their other paranormal partners.

Could her amendment include humans as well? Yet, even if a human did drink the Crystalline Water, with no magic flowing through their veins, could the bond be solidified?

My mind clears instantly as I see her unloading her groceries onto the register. Rushing to the front, I turn the corner just in time to hear her melodic voice ask, “Is your manager in by chance? To hand my application to.” Wren opens her mouth to answer, but I don’t give her the chance.

“Hello, I’m Skyler Ashford, the manager here. I’d be happy to take your application.” Her cheeks flush; she’s impossibly gorgeous. She pushes her hair behind her right ear and places the clipboard in my outstretched hand. “Amethyst Owens,” she near whispers, “nice to meet you.” Amethyst finishes her statement in a more confident tone. What an enchanting name for the woman before me.

She clears her throat and looks up at me with those intoxicating eyes. “I apologize for seeming reserved. Admittedly, I have been through an unpleasant chapter in life lately, and I am still learning to come back to myself.” She stands a bit straighter as she adds, “Rest assured, I am a very motivated worker. I have a track record of outstanding attendance, and my performance standards are always met or exceeded.”

Wren rolls her eyes, laughing behind the counter. It takes everything in me not to jump across it. I know my eyes are glowing as my feral counterpart comes to the surface, infuriated over the rude gesture toward Amethyst.

Forcing myself to focus on the conversation instead, I ask, “What’s your availability like, Amethyst?” She laughs. It’s one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard. “Wide open,” she answers.

“Excellent,” I try my best not to let my mind wander inappropriate places due to her choice of words, “as long as you’re over eighteen, I’d like to welcome you on board.” She nods as a smile lights up her face. “Quite. Twenty-four to be exact.”

“In that case, welcome to Burrow’s. You’ll be doing a little of everything. Register, stock, clean-up.” I tilt my head in question, “Can you start in the morning at eight?” Her mom had finished paying and putting the bags back in the cart but was hanging back to give Amethyst and I room to talk. Amethyst glances at her mom for a split second, then back to me, pure happiness shining in her eyes.

“I will see you at eight, Mr. Ashford.”

“Please, call me⁠—”

“Skyler,” Wren’s sharp voice cuts through my own. Amethyst jolts as if she just got caught doing something illegal. Perhaps she did. In half an hour she’s waltzed in and stole my heart. “Sorry, Skyler. I just need to check in.” It’s Draeven, the blood vendor. I lift my hand in a slight wave to him, “I got you, Drae. Just one moment and I’ll be right with you.”

Turning my attention back to Amethyst, her eyes are locked on me. She can’t be human. She feels drawn to me just like I am to her. She is a mystery — one I will be working diligently to solve. “I should let you get to work,” she motions toward Draeven. Is that… fear that passes through her eyes as she studies Drae, then flicks her gaze to Wren’s horns?