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Alphas don’t panic.
Uma had put a spell around the place so that she couldn’t get away. I trusted Uma, and the fae had pointed out that Kinley wasn’t here because she had some kind of agenda. She was here because I’d brought her here.
“Calm the fuck down,” I scolded myself.
I walked out of her room and through the house. A breeze blew from the bar, and when I followed it, the glass doors were open. Kinley sat outside on a lounger, knees pulled up to her chest, head tilted up to the sun. Her eyes were closed, and she looked so peaceful.
I stood for a while and watched her.
She was a complete mystery. I’d heard of rabbit shifters, but they were so rare that seeing one in anyone’s lifetime, even shifters who lived around half a millennium, was special.
My phone pinged in my pocket, and Kinley opened her eyes. She looked at me over her shoulder and stiffened.
I cleared my throat and stepped onto the deck. “I thought you’d be in your room.”
“I needed to get out and breathe,” she said.
I nodded, taking a step closer to her. I was careful with my movements, aware that I was a predator, and she was prey. I moved slowly, and she watched me with sharp eyes. Her eyes were cornflower blue today—I could stare at her eyes forever. They were filled with suspicion, and that pulled me up short.
“Do you want to get out?” I asked.
She frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
“You haven’t been out in the forest for a while, and you need to shift. You’ll get cooped up, and if you don’t let your animal out, it can get ugly.”
I wasn’t sure if the normal rules for shifters applied. If a shifter didn’t shift often enough, the magic built up and almost fermented. It could make the shifters go crazy. I didn’t know if that was the same with a rabbit, but being cooped up in the house for days on end couldn’t be good for anyone, even someone without an animal.
Besides, Uma had told me to take her out, and the fae had a point.
I wanted to get to know Kinley better, anyway. I wanted to see what she was capable of, what her magic was like. Was she a threat?
In more ways than one,my little voice said.A threat as an enemy, or a threat as a lover.
I pushed away the thoughts, shutting down my little voice of reason—or fantasy, in this case.
Kinley hesitated.
“Come on,” I said and gestured for her to follow me. “Let’s go out. I could use the fresh air, too.”
Kinley stood, tugging her long sleeves over her hands before she followed me. I led the way to the front door and onto the gravel that led away from the house. When we reached the perimeter of the area Uma had blocked off for Kinley, her steps faltered.
“I can’t go out there.”
Had she tried?
“Here,” I said and held out my hand. “I’ll take you.”
She hesitated before she stretched out her arm. Her sleeve pulled back, and her delicate fingers curled around mine. When we touched, warmth washed over me.
I looked at her, and her eyes locked on mine. They were a deeper, darker blue than a moment ago. Did she feel what happened when we touched each other? She had a hell of a poker face.
I guess she’d learned how to hide what she thought and felt if she’d been living in a human world. Uma had told me a bit about her backstory. Not a lot—the fae had been tightlipped—but enough.
I led her across the perimeter. Uma’s magic rippled over my skin like water, and Kinley let out a soft sigh when she passed through it, but she crossed without difficulty.
“How does that work?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Fae magic is a mystery to me.”
