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A smile took over his lips. “Sort of, but not my leg this time.”
She stared at him for a moment. Then her brows rose, and she giggled. Again that quirk of a smile made an appearance. Her voice entered his head. Got it. No public kissing.
Not after a win, and not when I’m on my back and you look so beautiful. Besides, I don’t know what you did to my head, but I’m feeling pumped.
You mean when I put my hand on your forehead?
Yeah.
I hate to break it to you, Vaughn, but it’s a form of my witch killing power.
He sat up way too fast. “What?”
Since he’d spoken in a loud voice, several Savage Border Patrol officers turned in his direction. All the officers, both male and female, eyed Emma with suspicion. Shifters had the same problem with witches. He apologized for the outburst and everyone went back to their conversations.
She lowered her voice. “Yes, I could have zapped you good. But first I’d have to actually load that kind of charge into my fingers and for some inexplicable reason, as in you mean a helluva lot to me, I didn’t want to do that. Don’t you trust me, Vaughn?”
He rose to his feet and shook out his legs. When she stood up as well, he took her shoulders in his hands. “I do trust you. I was surprised, that’s all. I’m still getting use to your witch gifts.”
He glanced around once more and afterward checked his sidearm. He drew his Glock from his holster then returned it. This particular habit stuck with all peace officers, making sure your weapons were in order.
As for the AR-15, it was probably with Fergus’s forces and they were welcome to it for the service the troops had performed tonight. “How about we find Fergus and Brannick, see if they need us? If not, I’m thinking I’d like to take you home.”
“Sounds good.”
When he turned toward the main path, it would have been a natural time to let go of her hand, but he didn’t want to. Instead, he felt a primal need to make a show of it. He saw the way many of the shifter males looked at Emma, like something they wanted to devour. And he never lost sight of the fact she’d once loved an alpha.
~ ~ ~
Emma’s heart rate soared, but it had nothing to do with fear. Instead, she couldn’t believe Vaughn hadn’t released her hand. In the alter world, it was a clear signal that he thought of her as his woman and every other man present should back off.
She didn’t miss how many gazes slid to their joined hands as they walked by. A lot of the men even took a small step back as a result.
Shifters were generally a gregarious bunch and many of them congratulated both Vaughn and herself for setting up and taking part in the rescue.
Vaughn asked one of the shifters where Fergus was and got directions that involved taking a side detour. The destination proved to be a large rowdy bar about a mile distant from the storage unit site.
She and Vaughn found Brannick in the center of the bar standing beside Fergus, laughing with him. The men were about the same massive size as Vaughn, though slightly shorter and each almost as handsome.
The first thing she did was ask for an update. “What happened with the gun battle? Did any of Loghry and his crew get hit? I mean, I’d love to hear that Loghry got shot out of the sky. Nothing would make me happier.”
Fergus shook his head. “No such luck. A couple of his warlocks went down. I had my men haul them to the morgue. But a general consensus among my pack is that Loghry initiated some kind of spell for himself. A black cloud hung over the storage facility, blocking out the night sky in that direction. Once the shooting stopped, the cloud and Loghry were gone. Wish I had better news for you.”
Emma sighed then
shrugged. “It was too much to hope for, but the girls are all safe?”
At that, Fergus smiled. “All safe and headed home.”
“Well that’s the only important news anyway. And thanks again, Fergus and Brannick, for being part of this. I’m more grateful than I can possibly express.”
Both men nodded. Vaughn squeezed her hand and smiled down at her, his eyes warm with affection.
“So what do you think of this place?” Fergus swept his hand to encompass the shifter hang-out.
“I think it’s great. Elegance doesn’t have nearly enough clubs or bars that bring its people together just for fun.” That was the exact truth. Most of the clubs serviced the sex trade and the humans who arrived in droves nightly to take advantage of it. Five Bridges had a long way to go.
The bar had a large sand pit in the center designed for pack challenges when a male wanted to make a bid for alpha status. But it was also used for public fist fights and occasionally full-on wolf fang battles, both of which shifters loved to participate in and watch. Max had told her about them and had hoped, once he got his pack used to her as his mate, to take her to see one.
