16. Skyler
Sixteen
Skyler
T he gnawing feeling in my gut won’t ease. I try to force it out. To drown my thoughts in music. Nothing is helping. Something feels off. Wrong. I need to make sure Amethyst is safe while still respecting her boundaries.
Turn around. Turn around. Turn around.
My mind doesn’t hesitate to create several worst-case scenarios.
What if Nitasha is performing some weird blood magic on my mate?
What if that piece of shit vampire has somehow tracked her down?
What if she’s stuck in another anxiety attack and needs someone to be the shield that stands between her and those brutal thoughts again?
Maybe it’s a harmless overreaction or perhaps the wolf’s senses invading my own. Either way, wolf or man, I want to make sure Amethyst isn’t in danger.
Pulling between the faded white lines of my usual spot is muscle memory now.
The soft red glow of the Burrow’s sign shines inside the car as I check my phone one last time, happy to find a blank screen.
Once again, hoping August is oblivious to my absence, I take the phone and both sets of my keys in hand.
Quickly stripping, I switch my uniform for a plain black tee and jeans that have been spelled to stay intact during shifting.
I toss the uniform and keys into the trunk.
Leaving the keys means the car will have to stay unlocked, but I don’t think anyone will be looting vehicles at three in the morning.
If they do? Good for them. Maybe they’ll ransack the store, and I won’t have to work another fucking double. Feeling two legs become four and the grit of the pavement against bare paws, I give the limbs one quick stretch. A heartbeat later I’m headed toward my Sunlight.
As the trees whizz past, I keep replaying the exchange between Amethyst and I earlier. She says her father left... her human father. If her mother were paranormal, wouldn’t she know? On the other hand, if she doesn’t know her father, that opens a realm of possibilities.
One thing is for certain. Someone, or perhaps everyone, is keeping secrets from Amethyst. A growl rises in my throat at the knowledge of what she’s gone through. How defenseless she felt when truthfully, she could’ve killed that fucker herself.
The beautiful vision of that cream wolf paints my mind.
If only someone had told her the truth.
A heavy pang of guilt roots itself in my chest. Fuck. I need to tell her. I’ve spent this time being afraid of scaring her away from me... Selfish.
Even if that’s the outcome, she deserves to know the truth of what she is. After the double shift from hell, then.
Her comforting vanilla scent wraps around me as I come to a halt just across from her home. Greedily, I suck in a breath, closing my eyes and drowning in the scent. Thoughts of her, of us, settle into my mind.
I could have kissed her tonight. Should have. I was desperately close to losing myself to her. The feel of her lips pressed against mine. The hitch of her breath as my fingers glided across her skin. Exploring and starving for more of her.
The delightful burn of the bond through my left hand. What would it feel like to bury those fingers, ignited with devotion for her, deep inside? To lick the taste from them, feel her on my tongue, a nectar created just for me.
Focus.
My eyes scan the perimeter. Finding no visible threats, my muscles relax. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the area is safe. Dropping my nose to the ground, I draw in the scents, searching for anything off.
Crossing into Amethyst’s yard, I begin smelling that awful fucking strawberry perfume. Surely it hasn’t been long enough for Nitasha to get here since I left. Not to mention, all the lights are off in the house.
Perhaps she had been here earlier or maybe she left clothing here. There must be a reasonable explanation. But that doesn’t put my mind at ease, nor does it cure the tension I feel in the air.
Nitasha’s power is still a mystery to me. I never cared enough to know. Now I wish with everything in me I would have. All I know is she’s a witch — which could mean dozens of things. Affinities are different for every family line and come in a slew of variety.
Witches aren’t always forthcoming with their gifts. I’ve only ever known of two, water walking and immunity to fire. I have a sneaking suspicion there was more to those affinities than the two led me to believe.
With narrowed eyes, I continue sweeping the area. If Nitasha is here, I’ll find her.
As I turn the corner, my heart sinks.
“She’s beautiful, you know?”
August’s voice floods my mind through the telepathic link wolves share with one another in close proximity. Turning on my heels, I glare up at the auburn wolf as I stalk toward her.
“ That knowledge better stay between you and I.” My words hold every bit of the threat I promised earlier.
August just sits back on her haunches, tilting her head at me. “ You give dad way too much credit. Just because I stayed with the pack, it doesn’t mean I bend to his every will.” Her eyes shift upwards, drawing my attention to something I hadn’t noticed earlier. A scar carved through her brow.
A surge of protective fury washes through me. Typically, wounds would heal during the shift. In order to scar the cut would have to be straight to the bone.
“He hurt you?” My lips draw back in a snarl.
August pads to me, placing a dark copper paw atop my own.
“ Don’t worry about it. My point is, I won’t tell him shit, Sky.
But you shouldn’t let him and his threats come between you and your mate.
” She points her snout toward the house, “ Should she accept you, she’s my sister.
I’ll kill him myself before he hurts her — or you. ”
Pulling in a deep breath, I brush my head against August’s shoulder.
“ Love you, Augs.” She nips my ear, “ Love you too, but don’t let it go to your head.
” She pulls back, retreating a step. “ Anyway, I’m going to rest a little longer at your place, then head back to Sanguine. I just had to see her for myself.”
Without another word, August’s white-tipped tail disappears over the horizon. I turn back toward Amethyst’s, but before my raised paw ever touches the ground, a twig snaps behind me. My head shoots up, eyes searching for what caused the disturbance.
I freeze. My breath hitches as in front of me, Amethyst’s cream wolf stares back with those sun-warmed eyes. “ Amethyst!” I cry out through the link. She turns toward the forest behind her and bolts. “ Sunlight! Please, wait!”
I’m not convinced she can even hear me, nor that she’d know how to respond.
I push myself through the woods as fast as I can.
Chasing a smudge of cream that disappears through the trees.
Following in her direction like my life depends on it, I send up a prayer to the Goddess to let me find her this time.
To speak to her.
Leaping into the clearing, my prayer goes unanswered as Amethyst fades away... again.
The stab of pain through my chest nearly causes me to crumble. Again, I’ve lost her. The first rays of the morning sun are appearing above the pines. With no time for lamenting, I turn back toward Burrow’s on defeated paws.
Amethyst is a wolf.
An apparition.
My mate.
An anomaly.