Page 80 of The Soulmate Bakery

My body jolted with the realization that this was what I’d wanted all along: Silas and I together at the Fallen Leaves Festival. We’d be under the autumn moon. I’d say the spell, and he’d be my soulmate.

Then I would confess my feelings. Finally.

‘Yes,’ I said, trying to find the confidence I’d felt only weeks ago. ‘Let’s go together.’

I skipped the after-party, feigning a headache that was slowly turning into a migraine. Sofia and Raven offered to join me on my walk back home, but they could tell I wanted to be alone. My head was swimming with thoughts – part of me was furious at myself for not responding to Silas’s declaration with the feelings I knew I had. The other part of me suddenly felt terrified about the night of the autumn moon, a kind of anxiety that I wanted to find the root of so I could just yank it out of the ground and be free.

These were the thoughts that accompanied me all the way home. I kept my head down and my gaze focused on my footsteps. So focused that I barely noticed when I bumped into Rowan coming out of my house.

‘Oof,’ I said, colliding with his strong chest.

Hands settled on to my shoulders, steadying me. When I looked up, the werewolf was staring back at me; the silver scar on his lips gleamed bright, his dark eyes were stormy and his mouth was set to a sharp line.

‘You OK, kid?’ he asked gruffly, dropping his hands from my shoulders.

I stared at him, gobsmacked. My gaze darted behind him, to my door, and to my sister who was probably inside.

‘Did you come here to see Rani?’ I asked, my own worries suddenly taking a back seat.

He was silent, unwilling to say more.

‘Oh, come on.’ I groaned, almost lacing my hands together and pleading for more. ‘Can’t you at least tell me how you two know each other?’

The muscle in Rowan’s jaw twitched, and his gaze slid right over my head to his enchanted motorcycle that was waiting to be ridden away. He barely gave me a backwards glance and went straight to his bike. I watched him speed away, and it wasn’t until the rumble of the engine was gone that I opened the door to the house. I hurried inside, tossing my keys into the bowl, and clambered up the stairs to Rani – to the story, to the lore, to what was surely going to be my older sister, furious.

But I found her in her bed instead. She was cocooned in blankets, decked in her favourite pyjamas. She wasn’t angry, or enraged. Jinx was curled up beside her, and her hand rested deep in his fur. I could see that her eyes were bright red, and her mouth was doing that trembling thing that told me she was on the edge of crying again.

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Rani said as soon as she noticed me in the doorway.

‘OK,’ I said softly. I toed off my shoes and climbed into the bed beside her. ‘Want me to talk instead?’

My sister was a fixer, and I knew bringing her a problem would make her happy. Lucky for her, I was ninety per cent problems, ten per cent witch.

‘Silas won the game,’ I started, snuggling beside her so we were shoulder to shoulder.

‘Silas Moon,’ Rani said, her gaze flicking to the jersey I was wearing. ‘The guy you’ve been in love with your whole life?’

I didn’t correct her, because I couldn’t explain everything that had happened with Orion. I barely understood it myself. And I’d been keeping it a secret for so long, I wasn’t sure how to be honest about it.

‘The one and only.’

‘He won the game, and?’

‘He asked me to join him at the Fallen Leaves Festival. And he told me that he liked me. Really liked me. Then he was called back by his coaches and is probably at the after-party,’ I blurted out.

‘And when he said he liked you, you replied with …?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Nothing?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Because you don’t like him any more?’ Rani asked, confused.

‘No, no,’ I said urgently. ‘Of course, I still like him. He’s my soulmate.’

Rani’s eyebrows skyrocketed to her hairline. ‘OK, that’s a bit intense. But if he’s your soulmate, and you’ve liked him for so long, why didn’t you tell him?’