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“You didn’t feel that?” he asked.
I blinked again then looked closer. I hadn’t felt anything, but wrapped around his yellow shifter hue was the same orange magic that I had seen before. The magic that had linked Tripp, Levi, Roman, and me. Was there some kind of weird spell going on here?
“Feel what?” I asked, feeling way more defensive than I should.
“Witch,” he muttered. “Never mind.”
I’d only just met him, but I believed this was the first time I’d seen him without his oh-so-charming smile. “Were you in the aquarium earlier?”
“When?”
“When the magic was going haywire?” I tried to act innocent.
I hadn’t seen him, but I had seen the orange magic going off in a fourth direction. I felt inexplicably drawn to these four men—four men? What in the world was going on in Silver Springs? I knew my friend Pepper had three mates, but she was a shifter, they were drawn to their fated ones. I swallowed . . . Wasn't that what Hudson had just said? Mate. No way. I’m not mate material.
Hudson must have answered but I didn’t hear him. I couldn’t seem to focus as I climbed out of the fountain. I was mated? Was that even possible? I wasn’t a shifter. I ignored my soaked through state and walked away from the fountains. He didn’t move behind me, just sat there in the water.
I crossed my arms over my chest as I walked. I didn’t want to give the whole park a show, and I shivered in the cool autumn air. When I reached the road, I tried to figure out which way to go. Maybe I should just call a rideshare? Phoebe had dropped me off this morning, but she had other things to do today. Oh, and my phone and wallet were in my coat at the aquarium desk.
“Hey.” A woman approached me. Her brown eyes looked concerned. “Can I help?” She gestured toward my soaked clothes and shivering body.
“Help?” I asked, confused. My head was foggy, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I just knew I couldn’t be around those guys right now. My feelings were too confusing.
She smiled, and it lit up her face. “I can dry you off,” she said. “Least I can do for a fellow witch.”
I sniffled. “Yes, please.”
She waved her hands and the magic flowed over me, heating and drying my clothes. When she was done, I stretched. I felt like I’d just pulled this outfit from the dryer. “Thank you,” I said.
“I’m Natalie,” she said. “But my friends call me Nat.” Her hair was a rich brown that I’d always envied.
“Delphine, or Delphy if you prefer.”
“Do I even want to ask how you ended up all wet?” She arched an eyebrow.
“Had a run-in with a fountain.” I pointed back toward the park and the trio of fountains that stood there at the entrance.
“Ah, the three sisters, “ Nat said. “They often think they know what’s best for us.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Those statues on the fountains are the three sisters of fate, and it's said—and being Silver Springs, it’s probably true—that the real Fates peer through their eyes from time to time and affect the mortal realm.”
“Oh,” I said, not sure what to make of this revelation. The fates had been trying to steer me into Hudson? Or just cool me off from my kisses with the vampire brothers? I shook myself. I’d have plenty of time to overthink later.
“I was on my way to grab coffee,” Nat said. “You want to join me?”
I found myself nodding. I’d have time to get my coat and things later. I needed to get away from here for now.
Hudson
I stared after Delphine. The word “mate” circled around in my head like a seagull that didn’t know where to land. It seemed so permanent, so solid, and I didn’t know what to make of that. To be honest, I never thought I’d have a mate. Sea turtles procreated, but I didn’t think we mated like other shifters.
Not that I had any examples. My parents had left me on the doorstep of a fire station weeks after I was born. After a few horrible years in the human foster system, I’d wandered wherever the water took me, taking odd jobs among the humans and enjoying floating along in the ocean. I’d heard other shifters talk about mates, especially here in Silver Springs where every woman seemed to have at least three, but I didn’t think that was even possible for sea turtles like me.
I climbed out of the fountain and dragged off my t-shirt, then shook and squeezed out the water. Delphine had run away so fast, I hadn’t even had a chance to think about what had happened, let alone explain it to her. That wasn’t fair.
Looping toward the aquarium, I tried to figure out what I was going to do next. Could I just refuse the mate bond? It didn’t sound like Delphine even knew it existed. Of course she was a witch. Sea turtles might not have the nose of other shifters, like wolves, but even I could sense the magic on her. Witches didn’t have mates, did they? Well, I knew they did in Silver Springs because I’d met a few of them during my odd jobs, or at least the closest witch equivalent.
