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I let go of Kinley’s hand, and she tugged her sleeve down again, folding her arms around her body as if she were trying to keep herself together.
We walked into the trees, heading up the mountainside. The further we moved through the trees, the more Kinley relaxed. I watched her from the corner of my eye as she let go of herself, pulled back her sleeves, looked up at the branches and the leaves, and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
She was fuckingbeautiful. Her face was delicate, but her jawline was strong and her cheekbones high. Whoever her parents were or had been, they’d been of powerful blood. I could tell in the way Kinley’s magic ebbed and flowed beneath the surface, responding to the forest.
As alpha, I could sense magic more easily because it bode well for me to know what was going on with my pack, but I’d never been able to sense magic the way I felt it with Kinley. Foxes had a keen sense for particular magic, but this wasn’t that.
This was different. Everything about Kinley was.
We walked until I found a small clearing where water had gathered to form a small pond. It was my personal slice of paradise.
I pulled off my shirt and kicked off my shoes.
Kinley eyed me.
“You’re going to have to strip if you want to shift.”
She worried her bottom lip. “Could you turn around?”
A growl rose up in me. I wanted to tell her no; I wouldn’t turn around. I was the alpha, and I did what I wanted. Besides, being naked for a shift wasn’t a big deal. We all did it.
Except she wasn’t like the rest of us. She’d grown up around humans, and they were so weird about nakedness, always trying to cover up, making a fetish out of being without clothes.
I grunted and turned my back to her. I pulled down my jeans and kicked them off. Behind me, I heard her clothes rustle as she got naked, too.
Everything in me ached to turn around, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to scare her away, and I wanted to respect her wishes.
Her magic came like a hot rush of power when she shifted, and I spun around.
She sat on the ground, a tiny sable rabbit. Her nose wiggled, and her ears turned this way and that. She shook herself out, and it was incredible to see something so small when her power was so great.
She hopped forward once, twice, and then she was gone.
In a flash, her little body disappeared.
Fuck.
Well, that was fun while it lasted.
I didn’t know why I’d thought she would stay with me after I’d taken her out of the perimeter of Uma’s spell. I was such an idiot.
I pricked my ears and listened to the sound of the forest. I couldn’t hear a sound. She wasn’t here anymore.
Anger grew inside of me and burned hot on my skin.
I paid good money for her!
Money was nothing, though. I could make that back in no time.
More importantly, if she wasn’t under my protection, what if someone came after her? The thought made anger boil at my core.
I’d also wanted to get to know her better. I’d wanted to know what her magic was like, and what she could do.
I’d hoped I could win her over to be on my side, a part of the pack. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?
I turned around, and suddenly, she was in front of me again.
“I didn’t hear you,” I said.
