Page 62 of Bonded Through Bite

“Your blood tastes like bloody potpourri now. I’m not touching that shit. I’d rather starve!”

Rafael blanches and I can’t help growling either. Samantha takes a few deep breaths and stops struggling.

“Let me go,” she says, calm and collected. Somehow, that makes me warier than her explosive temper. Reluctantly, I release her but keep an eye on her every twitch.

“Who did you drink from?” I ask again when Rafael stays stubbornly silent.

“A witch,” he finally answers and Samantha tenses again. She takes a deep inhale, clearly smelling him this time, and throws her hands in the air.

“I can’t deal with you right now.”

I’m not sure, but there might be a hint of jealousy in her voice. A tiny hint. The anger is easy to hear and so is disgust. She turns on her heels and blurs out the back door before either of us can react.

“Samantha!” Rafael bellows after her, but she doesn’t reply. When did she learn to fucking blur? Goddammit, this is a mess.

“I’ll go after her,” I mutter and find Rafael by my side. Him going after her might not be the smartest idea, but right now I don’t want to waste time with pointless arguments. Silently, we follow Samantha’s scent, but it fades fast in the rain and I curse under my breath.

“Why did you drink from the witch?”

“I didn’t drink from her. I took a sip. One small sip.”

“Why?”

“She was masking her scent and refused to drop the spell.”

“Dumb of her.”

“Witches, always causing trouble,” Rafael grumbles.

We stop at the same time, realizing there is no longer a scent to follow.

“Don’t tell me she knows how to conceal her scent too?” I sigh and rub my eyes, trying to stay calm.

“I don’t know what the hell she can and can’t do. If you haven’t noticed yet, she doesn’t exactly fit any norms.”

I resist pounding my head against the closest tree. “Where would she go?”

“Away from me?” Rafael asks sheepishly and I roll my eyes. There’s technically nothing wrong with what he did, but I can’t help resenting him for the fact that he upset Samantha.

“I think we can both agree on that, but how far would she run?”

“Hmm… How pissed off would you say she is?”

“Very. And hungry.”

“Then I would wager at least an hour away.”

I raise my eyebrow at that and Rafael groans.

“Two?”

“Maybe two, depends on how quickly she’ll tire out.”

Rafael chuckles and then stiffens suddenly. “You don’t think she would go after the witch?”

“Fuck,” I say and look around. “Why was the witch here in the first place?”

“She came with the pack. There’s been a string of females going missing, both shifters and witches.”