Macey’s face appeared between the door and the jamb. “Luke?”
“I need to talk to you. Can I come in? Please?”
She studied him for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not she wanted to talk. Finally, she sighed and opened the door. “Come on.”
The cool air of her living room made him shiver. Or was it his excitement? He wasn’t sure. He closed the door behind him, blocking out the summer heat, and stared at her, another kind of heat pooling in his core. She was barefoot, wearing a silky green robe, and she’d piled her hair on top of her head in a messy twist. A few silky strands hung down around her face, framing her sparkling eyes. He’d always fantasized about what she’d look like if he woke up next to her. She was more stunning than he’d imagined.
“Well?” She picked up a coffee mug and settled onto the sofa, curling one leg underneath her.
“I’m sorry.” He sat on the edge of the couch and turned his body to face her. “The way I acted was inexcusable, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
She gazed into her mug and inhaled deeply. “Thank you for the apology. Is that all you needed?” She set her cup down and started to get up.
He reached for her arm. “That’s not all.”
She sat down and pulled her arm from his grasp. Thor jumped into her lap, and she held him close, stroking his fur.
“See, the thing is…oh, Macey, there’s so much I need to tell you. I don’t know where to start.” He raked his hand through his hair, desperately trying to gather his thoughts.
She stared at her cat. “You can start with explaining why you ran off. One minute things were going great, and then you bolted.” She lifted her gaze to meet his, and the pain in her eyes pierced his heart. “What happened?”
“It really was an emergency, but it wasn’t for work. It was…” He let out his breath in a huff. How could he make this right? “Let me start this way. Your power? Your ability to read objects and sense spirits is real.”
She squinted her eyes. “I know. Roberta has been helping me develop it.”
“Roberta. Yes. She has powers, too, but they’re different. So magic is real.”
“What are you getting at?” She put the cat on the floor and crossed her arms.
“So, if you have powers, and Roberta has different powers…then other people could have even more different powers. Like me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You have powers?”
“Kind of. Yes.”
“And what does that have to do with you running out on me?”
“It’s complicated.”
“And why haven’t you called? Or at least texted?” She flung her arms about, irritated. “I was starting to think I’d never hear from you again.”
He folded his hands in his lap and swallowed. There was no easy way to say it. “You’ve seen a wolf in the woods twice now, haven’t you? A light-brown one? It knocked you out from under a falling tree branch.”
She gaped at him. “How did you know that?”
He tapped his fist against his chest. “That wolf was me. I’m a werewolf.”
She stared at him, blinking. He waited for her to respond, but she just narrowed her eyes and stared.
“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true, Macey. That’s why I ran off that night. The emergency had to do with the pack, and I didn’t think I could tell you about it, but I was wrong. I don’t want to keep secrets from you. I want you to know everything.” He took her hands in his, and she didn’t pull away. “I want to be with you, Macey. If you’ll have me.”
She opened her mouth to speak but snapped it shut again. Her gaze fell to their entwined hands and rose to meet his. “You’re a werewolf? That’s a real thing?”
“Yeah.”
She let out a cynical laugh and shook her head. “So, I’m not going crazy then?”
“No, you’re not. I’ll prove it to you. Wait here.” Heart thudding in his chest, he paced to the next room and shifted. Seeing his wolf form would be shocking enough. He’d save letting her watch the transformation for another time. Slowly, he padded into the living room, lowered his head submissively, and approached her.
“Oh, my God!” She folded both legs onto the couch and balled herself up in the corner. He crept toward her and rested his chin on the cushion, trying his best to look harmless. He whimpered, begging her to relax. If she could accept this part of him—all of him—they could spend the rest of their lives together. His stomach fluttered at the thought of spending forever with Macey.
Slowly, her muscles began to unwind; her eyes held an incredulous expression. “Luke? Is that really you?” She uncurled herself and tentatively reached a hand toward his head. “Can you talk?”
He stared at her. He could understand everything she said, but a wolf’s mouth couldn’t form human words.
“I guess not.” She rested her hand on top of his head and stroked his fur. “You’re so soft.” Tilting her head, she studied him. Slowly, all traces of fear drained from her eyes, and she smiled. “I’m not crazy. This is…amazing.”
He hopped onto the couch and licked her face.
She laughed. “Okay, enough of that, mister.” She stroked a hand down his shoulder and shook her head. “You’re really a werewolf. No wonder Roberta wasn’t afraid of you. She knew.”
The knot in his chest released, and he jumped down and trotted out of the room to shift back to human form. She was already taking things much better than he’d expected.
She giggled as he stepped back into the room. “So when those women claimed a big animal saved them from the attackers…that was you?”
“Well, me and my team.”
“There’s more of you? More werewolves?” She giggled again, covering her mouth with her hand. “It feels so weird saying that.”
He smiled. “There’s a whole pack in New Orleans. About two hundred of us.”
“Two hundred?” She tugged her bottom lip. “But, the rapist. Who?”
“Demons.”
Her mouth fell open. “Demons?”
He sank onto the sofa next to her. Closer this time, but still not close enough. “Yeah. Someone has been summoning them. We’re working on finding the bastard and putting a stop to all this.”
He could practically see the gears turning in her head as she shook it, narrowing her eyes, trying to understand. “But how come no one knows about you? How do you keep two hundred people hidden?”
“We’re not hidden. We’re regular people, who happen to have some special abilities. We try to keep it a secret.” Silence stretched between them like an infinite sea. What thoughts were tumbling through her mind? He could only imagine the emotions she must have been enduring, but relief seemed to be somewhere at the top of the list. He wanted to scoop her into his arms and tell her everything would be fine now. To wrap her in comfort and reassurance. But she needed time to process, and he could give her that too.
Finally, she spoke. “And that’s why you freaked out on me? Because you’re a werewolf, and you thought I couldn’t handle it?”
He knelt on the floor in front of her and grasped her hands. “I’m so sorry, Macey. Can you find it in your heart to give me another chance?”
She searched his eyes, and his chest tightened as he prayed she’d find what she needed. Tugging him onto the sofa, she held his face in her hands. A smile spread across her own, reaching all the way to her eyes. “I think I can.”
He kissed her. Deep and slow. Passionate heat built in his chest, its flames licking out to set his body on fire. She’d taken him back, and he would never lose her again.
“Just promise me one thing,” she said as she snaked her arms around the back of his neck. “No more secrets, okay?”
He swallowed. “Well, there is one more thing you need to know.”
She pulled back, eyeing him warily. “What’s that?”
“It’ll be easier to explain it at the bar. That’s our base. Can you go there with me?”
&n
bsp; She hesitated, folding her hands in her lap. “All right. Let me get dressed.”
A thousand emotions danced through Macey’s heart as they approached O’Malley’s Pub, but relief topped them all. Relief that Luke still wanted her. That she wasn’t going crazy. The case was solvable now that she had some answers. It was all starting to make sense. She had hundreds of questions to ask him, but for now, she relished in the elation of holding his hand.
“There’s a hierarchy in the pack, a lot like regular wolves. We have an alpha who’s in charge, and everyone answers to him.”
“So he’s like a king?” They turned right on St. Philip and stepped around a young man playing his guitar on the sidewalk. She dropped some change into his instrument case and wrapped her arm around Luke’s bicep.
“Not really a king. More like a boss. The president of the company. But the alpha is determined by bloodline, so I guess king works too. All alphas have to be descendants of the first family.”
“Okay.” She shook her head. It was hard to believe this was all real, but she’d seen it with her own eyes. What would her partner think now?
“When the alpha dies or retires, if his son is a full werewolf, he takes over. Otherwise, the oldest first family male steps in.”
“Full? You can be half a werewolf?”
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Only the firstborn child of a werewolf couple can actually shift. The younger siblings are born with special abilities—my sister has premonitions—but they can’t turn into wolves.”
“Interesting. And what would happen if a werewolf and a human had a baby together? Would the baby be a werewolf? Or half a werewolf?” She bit her lip. What was she thinking asking a loaded question like that? They’d just solidified their relationship, and she was already asking about their babies?
“There’s a fifty-fifty chance the children will be weres. Mating with humans dilutes the bloodlines.” He looked at her with an expression she didn’t understand. Regret, maybe? If he married her, would he be shunned for not producing werewolf offspring?
They stopped outside the pub door, and he turned to face her. “That’s the reason I ran off that night. Some weres do mate with humans, but the son of the alpha can’t.” He pinned her with an intense gaze, searching her eyes for understanding.
A heaviness settled in her core as the realization dawned on her. “You’re the son…of the alpha?”
“Yeah.”
She froze, a wave of nausea rolling through her stomach. Was all this for nothing? The revelation of his secret, her acceptance of his supernatural existence…and she couldn’t be with him because he was werewolf royalty? “But I’m human, Luke.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gently kissed her cheek. His mouth lingered by her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin. “You’re a werewolf, Macey.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Yes. Your abilities? The way you can read energy? It’s because you’re a were.”
She crossed her arms over her tightening chest. “I think I would know if I turned into a wolf.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Only the first-born child can shift.”
She covered her mouth. “My sister.” Her head spun. She leaned into Luke for support, trying to understand what he was telling her. “But she ran away. How could she—? How did you—?”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her into the pub. “She’s here, Macey. Alexis is here.”
As Macey’s gaze landed on the woman at the bar, the entire room became a vacuum, sucking the air from her lungs. She fisted her hands at her sides, using the burn of her nails biting into her palms to keep herself steady. Thoughts raced through her mind, turning her into a whirlwind of emotions…none of them pleasant.
She wasn’t the gangly teenager Macey remembered, but the woman at the bar was definitely her sister. She laughed at something the bartender had said, but as soon as their eyes met, Alexis’s face went slack with shock. She stumbled to her feet and pressed her back against the bar, gripping with her hands as if she needed to steady herself. “Macey.”
Macey hadn’t seen her sister in twenty years. What was she supposed to say? She rubbed the back of her neck and focused on the sensation of Luke’s hand resting on her back, grounding her.
Alexis looked from Macey to Luke and back again. “Macey, I was going to find you—”
“Don’t, Alexis. Just…don’t.” All the resentment she’d felt toward her sister bubbled to the surface, tainting her words with venom. She counted backward from ten, but this was an ancient anger that couldn’t be quelled with tricks. “After all these years…you show up in my city, and you don’t even have the guts to talk to me? You must have known I was here.”
Alexis took a step toward her. “I did. That’s why I came.”
“Shut up. You don’t get to talk to me.” She couldn’t deal with this. Not now. “I’m going home.”
“Wait, Macey.” Luke grasped her arm, but she yanked it away.
“I want to go home.”
He followed her out the door as she stomped into the street. She fumed with anger. Her hands balled into fists, nails cutting into her skin again. Focus on the physical pain. It hurts less than the betrayal. She struggled to breathe. What did all this mean? Her sister was here, in New Orleans, and she was a werewolf. She’d only just found out werewolves existed, and now she was related to one?
Luke approached her tentatively. “Can I walk with you?”
She sucked in a deep, shaky breath and blew it out hard. “Yeah.” She shook her head. “I…why didn’t you warn me? I wasn’t prepared for a shock like that.”
He laced his fingers through hers and gave her a sheepish look. “I’m sorry. I thought it would be a good surprise to see her. I screwed up again, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did.” His touch calmed her. His intentions had been in the right place; she couldn’t be mad at him. “But…it’s okay. I need some time to process all this. I’ve got so many thoughts and emotions swirling around inside me, and I don’t know how to sort it all out.”
“Do you want me to come over? We can talk about it. I’ll answer as many questions for you as I can.”
She chewed her bottom lip, contemplating his offer. “Okay.”
They walked three blocks to her house, and Thor greeted them at the door. He purred and wound his way through their legs, stopping to rub his head against Luke’s calf.
“Looks like you won him over,” she said.
Luke scratched the cat behind the ears. “Yeah, don’t tell anybody how I gained his trust. I’m about to be alpha. I can’t go around submitting to cats.”
“It’s weird he was never afraid of me.”
“Why is that weird?”
“I’m assuming he didn’t like you at first because he could sense you’re a werewolf, right?”
“Sure. He’s got animal instincts. He could smell the wolf inside me.”
“So, why couldn’t he smell the one in me?”
An amused grin curved his lips. “There is no wolf inside you. You’re all woman.”
She let out her breath in a huff. “I don’t understand.”
“You have the werewolf gene, but since you’re second born, it’s dormant. You’re a carrier, but you don’t have any canine traits yourself.”
“So I’ll never turn into a wolf?”
He shook his head.
That’s a relief, but… “Why do I have a bloodhound’s sense of smell?”
He shrugged. “Lucky, I guess. Like any other were, your blood is sacred. It’s where your magic lives, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.”
“Sacred?” A sinking feeling formed in her stomach. “I’ve donated blood before. Did I spread my magic? Or could I have hurt someone?”
His eyebrows scrunched together as he considered her questions. “I don’t think so. Like I said, your werewolf gene is dormant; it shouldn’t be a problem. The receiver’s own white blood cells
would have been able to destroy the foreign substance, so I wouldn’t worry about it. I hope you won’t donate again, though. Our laws forbid it.”
Jeez. Special werewolf laws? She shook her head and motioned for him to sit on the sofa. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Want a beer?”
“Yeah.”
She popped the tops on two Blue Moons and tossed the lids in the trash. They landed on the wilted, brown flowers he’d given her on their date, so she pushed them farther down in the bin and laid a napkin over them. This was a fresh start. She didn’t need a reminder of the trouble they’d been through.
He grinned as she sat next to him and offered him the brew. “I thought Abita was your favorite.”
“You changed my mind.” She held up her bottle. “Here’s to starting over. Truthfully this time.” They clinked the glass necks together and took a long drink. The frosty bubbles soothed the tightness in her throat and warmed her from the inside out.
Luke took her hand. “I will tell you everything you want to know.”
They talked for hours, Macey listening intently as he explained the origin of the New Orleans werewolves and the way the pack worked. The politics confused her, but she tried to grasp the concepts. She must have had a glazed look in her eyes because he stopped and smiled at her, cupping her cheek in his hand.
“This must sound so strange to you. You’re taking it like a champ.”
“Really? Maybe once the shock wears off, I’m going to have a heart attack.” She put her hand on his, leaning her face into his palm. The tingling energy that used to frighten her now provided comfort. Warmth.
“So this electric feeling is because you’re a werewolf? And it will always be there?”
“It’s like a paranormal calling card of sorts. All magical beings have a certain energy they radiate. Generally, you get used to it, but it’s stronger with you. Stronger than I’ve ever felt with anyone. And different.”
“I like it.”
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Her pulse quickened, a different kind of energy racing through her veins.
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