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He laughed, and a swell of joy swamped me. “You’ve got a great laugh,” I blurted.
He sobered, shaking his head. “I don’t do it very often.”
For some unexplainable reason, I liked the idea that I might be one of the few people who made him happy, even if he was a werewolf and could overpower me physically. Despite my past experience, I felt safe with Zeke.
After our appetizer arrived, he popped a cheese fritter into his mouth and growled. “That’s good.”
Heat gathered low in my belly. I cleared my throat as I dipped a fritter in ranch. “So, what do you do when you’re not nursing Mathias back to health?”
“I manage the operations at Munro Manor Farms.” He picked out another piece of fried cheese. “What about you? How long have you been in the Coven of Light?”
“Since I was thirteen. My mom was part of the coven, too.” I swallowed and lifted my eyes. “Now I’m Lillian’s apprentice.”
“I heard her say that. Has she always been your teacher?”
I picked up my Poison Apple cocktail and took a sip, licking the cinnamon and sugar from the rim of the glass off my lips. “She and my mother both taught me to hone my power. Now Lillian is grooming me to take over her position.”
“You’ll be the high priestess? Congratulations.”
“Ha!” I shook my head. “I’m stepping into a storm. Between the Coven of Shadows supercharging their spells with werewolf body parts, and hunters picking off your pack to supply them, I’m not sure my magic is strong enough to fight all this.”
He took another sip of his ale. “Mathias wants to step down from being our Alpha. He asked me to ascend.”
I almost choked on my cheese. “You’re going to be the Alpha?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I haven’t given him an answer yet.”
“Why not?” I dipped another fritter into the ranch.
“The same reasons as you, I guess. These hunters have already killed two of my packmates and then went after our Alpha. I don’t see how Mathias stepping down will solve anything.”
With the live music blaring around us, we sat at our table in the darkened corner and talked all through dinner about werewolf and witch politics. Gradually, I began to realize we weren’t as different as I’d thought. I also noticed it was really easy to talk to him. Not that I’d been out with many men, but I’d had a couple of blind dates and more than a few boyfriends over the years. That said, in all my life, I’d never shared the magical parts of myself with anyone outside my coven.
It was intimate and exciting to compare notes with a werewolf.
“If I do take this Alpha spot, you and I will probably be working together to stop the Coven of Shadows and the hunters.” He took another swallow of his ale.
I hadn’t thought about that, but he was right. I shrugged. “I guess so.” I finished off my drink and set the glass down. “I’m not convinced Lillian chose the right witch to be her successor.” I met his eyes and whispered the words that were like ash on my tongue. “I’m afraid.” Once they were out, a tiny weight lifted, and I forced a smile. “If you tell anyone I’ll deny it.”
“Your secret is safe with me.” The corner of his mouth quirked into a sexy, lopsided grin. “Maybe you just need to be reminded that you’re magic.”
“If only it were so simple.” I grabbed the check before the werewolf could. “My treat, remember?”
“I was kidding about you buying me a beer.” He took out a twenty. “At least let me chip in. You had to listen to me complain about my pack.”
I chuckled and added a couple more bills to the folder. “And you probably heard more about witches than you ever wanted to know.”
When I lifted my eyes to his face, I found him staring at me, his smile fading. “I’d like to do this again sometime.”
My heart skipped, and this time it wasn’t out of fear. “I’d like that, too.”
“I’ll text you.” He stood up and offered his coat. “You sure you’re not cold?”
I chuckled. “I’m wearing a sweater. I’ll be fine.”
He put his coat on and followed me back out to the street. We’d gotten only about half a block when the sky opened up, pelting us with icy, slushy rain. I squeaked as I tipped my head down. Suddenly, the drops stopped hitting me.
Zeke had his trench coat open and held his arm over my head. “We better run.”
