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“Well…I already fed Lucifer.” Amelia glanced at me. “That’s my cat.” She worried her lower lip, definitely reading more into my relationship with Ruby than what actually existed. Finally, her gaze flicked to Ruby. “I can stay until they kick me out.”
“Thanks.” Ruby gave her a tight hug. “I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”
We went to the elevator, and I hit the button. “Are you sure about this?”
“About leaving?” She looked up at me. “Yes.”
The tears were gone, and there was a fire in her eyes that I hadn’t seen before.
The doors parted, and we got in. I studied her on the way down. “What am I missing?”
The bell rang, and the elevator opened to the lobby. She walked out without answering me. We were outside the hospital before she finally spun around, pointing up at the hospital behind me. “She broke the cardinal rule. The oneshemade for our coven. We don’t use magic we don’t understand, and we definitely don’t do it secretly.” She looked up at me, and the spark in her eyes had gone from smoldering to an inferno. “She went home todayknowingthat magic could have killed her. And she didn’t say a word to me.”
I shook my head. “The spell could have…killed her? Really?”
Ruby nodded. “That energy-transfer spell is tricky. It takes your physical strength and instills it in someone else. And if you hold the connection for a second too long, you can die.” The yellow lights of the parking lot reflected in the unshed tears in her eyes. “She thought it was more important for Mathias to live. She was ready to sacrifice herself.” She shook her head slowly. “I can’t lose her, Zeke.”
I drew her into my arms without realizing what I was doing. My instincts had taken over, and the need to comfort her blotted out my rational thought, shaking me to my core. I was a thinker, not a feeler. My heart was a pump in my chest, not a decision maker. Why was it getting involved now?
She stiffened at first. I started to release her, but her arms moved around me, clinging to me like a lifeline in a storm. She fit in my embrace as if I’d been made to hold her. I wasn’t sure why I even noticed. Over her head, I stared at the hospital. Lillian had saved Mathias. She wouldn’t have the strength to do it again.
I’d spent the last twenty years ignoring the future, hiding from the reality that my Alpha wouldn’t live forever. My mom had been right. The wolf pack had asked too much of Mathias to bear the burden of being the Alpha for so long. And maybe the Coven of Light had done the same thing to Lillian.
I loosened my hold on Ruby and stared down into her eyes. “Seems like the future is falling in our laps whether we’re ready for it or not.”
She sniffled and chuckled. “Apparently.” She rolled her eyes. “Lillian says I’m more powerful than I realize, but that’s not going to stop the Coven of Shadows.”
“You don’t have to fight them alone.”
She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have a hard time trusting werewolves.”
I rolled my shoulders back as my hands slid free from her waist. “You might have forgotten, butI’ma werewolf.”
She searched my eyes. “I’ve noticed, but…”
Her lips parted slightly as her words faded, and I fought the desire to close the distance between us. If I was going to become the Alpha of the Salem Pack, I needed this witch to trust me. We needed to be able to work together. Kissing her wouldn’t help.
That didn’t make me want to do it any fucking less.
She took a step back and shook her head as if she were breaking a spell. “I should take you back to your truck. Sorry I stole your whole night.”
“I’m glad I was here.”
She arched a brow. “Really?”
I thought about it for a second. Was I just being polite? But I couldn’t think of a single place I’d rather be than with her, even if it was in a hospital. I nodded slowly. “Yes.”
We walked to her car, and I wasn’t sure if I could explain my answer. I didn’t understand any of this. Maybe it was because we were both supernaturals. The secret of being a werewolf usually kept an invisible wall between me and everyone else. Or it could’ve been that we were both being thrust into leadership positions in the middle of a tempest. Or maybe it was because she made me laugh.
Hell if I knew.
She unlocked her car and got in. She reached across to unlock the passenger door, and I got in. After she started the engine, she looked over at me, her voice barely above a whisper. “Thanks for…everything today.”
I turned her way, and she leaned in slightly. In the very tight interior of her car, she was only a few inches away from me. The smell of spicy cinnamon and the uncurrent of the rum from her drink earlier tonight filled my nostrils.
Her dark eyes locked on mine as I whispered, “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
She swallowed, and I moved a little closer. Her head tilted slightly, her pulse picking up, and my heart raced to keep time as I closed the distance between us. Her warm breath teased my lips…and suddenly she pulled back and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands.
