decorating the nursery together, excited and nervous about having our baby arrive…it’s how life is supposed to go.
Meet your soulmate. Fall in love. Get married. Start a family.
It’s something I’ve always wanted but never thought possible. But it is, and it’s happening. I let out a happy sigh, feeling—for the first time in a while—that things are going to be okay. In just a few days, Lucas and I will board a fancy-shmancy private jet and will stay in an over-the-top presidential suite at an already over-the-top fancy resort.
I can relax. Not worry about a damn thing. Have someone make my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ll shop. Go on rides. Just be able to be with Lucas without a care in the fucking world.
Fuck, I need this vacation.
Lucas takes our pillows off the bed to take downstairs. He’s almost out of the room when the motion sensor alert on his phone goes off.
“I thought you were going to disable that,” I mumble, still annoyed he set it up. If anything tried to get close to the house, my wardings would keep it away, alerting me in the process.
“I turned down the sensitivity,” Lucas tells me and speeds downstairs to get his phone. With my PJs in hand, I walk out of the bedroom. Lucas is back up before I can even get to the hall, and we both look at the screen of his phone as he pulls up the security footage.
Yawning, I wait for a raccoon to come into focus, or even a large moth flying by. Then I can tell Lucas—again—how the cameras are stupid, and we don’t need them.
But a raccoon didn’t set off the motion sensor. Not this time. “Holy shit.” The pajamas fall from my hands as I stare at Lucas’s phone screen. “It’s a wolf.”
Chapter 19
“If that is a werewolf, I swear to fucking god…” I clench my jaw and the lights above us start to flicker. Lucas’s blue eyes flash with anger and he drops the phone, turning and speeding out of the room.
“Come on, guys,” I say to my familiars and Scarlet, sucking in a breath and pushing my shoulders back. Shaking my head in annoyance and anger, I hurry down the stairs, shove my feet back in my boots and follow Lucas out the open back door.
I shiver as soon as the cold night air hits me, making me wish I grabbed my cloak on the way out. I start running, too late to turn back now. Barking reverberates through the woods, followed by a high-pitched yelp.
“Go!” I tell my familiars, who shadow ahead of me. Light from the full moon floods down on me, lighting up the yard. I don’t have to conjure a string of magic for light until I slip into the woods, where the thick canopy of leaves above me blocks out the moonlight.
“What are you doing in my yard?” Lucas growls. I narrow my eyes and step over a fallen log and pull the hem of my dress off a pricker bush. I take another few slides forward and see Lucas’s back. He’s holding someone up against a tree with one hand closed around their throat. Bare legs dangle down, swinging as they desperately try to kick Lucas.
Anger surges inside of me. Is it too much to ask for one fucking night off?
The string of magic I’m twirling between my fingers turns red, bathing my face in crimson light. Silently, I step next to Lucas, and all three of my familiars shadow around us. Even with my seemingly sweet and innocent puppy standing between my feet, doing her best to look like a threat, this is a frightening sight, and the fear shows on the werewolf’s face.
“I suggest you answer him.” I spin the string of magic in the air, taking solace in the way the energy sparks around my fingers.
“I…I…can’t…” The werewolf brings one of his hands up, trying to remove Lucas’s hand from his throat. He has short dark blond hair, with his face covered in stubble. He’s fit in his human from—like most werewolves are—and would be more than a match for any human.
But when it comes to vampires…hah. Good luck with that one. A pack of werewolves working together can take down just about anything, though. They’re not as strong or fast as vampires, especially one Lucas’s age, but they are not a threat to be ignored.
I bring both hands up, pulling the string of magic between them.