Chapter 8
I stood in front of the expanse of water, the moonlight reflecting off of the glassy surface. Tomorrow morning, I would finally get to speak to my cousins, and I was antsy and impatient.
Thane tried to explain the whole “portal” thing numerous times, but it all went way over my head.
It was fascinating what warlocks and witches were able to do.
I realized I was looking forward to watching Thane in his element.
If all went according to plan, it would be like using a screen to speak with them face-to-face, only... magical, I suppose.
It took some convincing for the guys to let me come out here myself tonight, but I managed.
It was one of my hard limits. I was not, under any circumstances, to be cooped up like some kind of prisoner.
I didn’t need chaperones to go on a run or to just get some fucking air once in a while.
If they expected me to keep my sanity, then they needed to let me have my alone time.
Besides, with the way Thane set up the wards around the property, they would likely know about any intruders well before I did, and with War’s vampire speed, he could reach me in a matter of minutes, or even seconds, knowing him.
I pulled on an oversized t-shirt I’d hidden out here yesterday morning, knowing I’d likely be running most nights as a wolf.
Nudity was becoming less of a strange concept for me, but I still liked to feel a little less exposed, especially against the frigid chill.
There was still snow covering the ground, and in the moonlight, it was nothing short of magical.
The trees were coated in a powdery blanket that twinkled like diamonds, and the lake was utterly still and as smooth as glass, perfectly reflecting the sea of stars overhead.
I marveled at them. In the city, they were nearly invisible with all of the light pollution, but out here, it was like standing on another world.
Parts of the lake were frozen over, so I grabbed a few flat pebbles and tossed them out onto the surface. When they hit, the sound they made echoed over the lake, bouncing off the trees. I did this for about an hour, just passing the time.
Then I felt him.
Somewhere in the trees behind me, Gareth was getting closer. I smelled him before I heard his footsteps. He wasn’t trying to be silent, and I was grateful. I hated being snuck up on.
I tossed a few more pebbles onto the ice as he approached. I heard the telltale snap and crack of bones as he shifted to his human form. There was shuffling in the bushes behind me, but I gave him the courtesy of not peeping.
A moment later, human Gareth sat down beside me, clad in a pair of black gym shorts he must have stashed out here alongside mine. I smiled to myself, realizing he’d done so with a purpose.
“Hey, wolf man,” I said, smiling over at him. I eyed his disheveled blond hair, which now hung just under his shoulder blades in waves. He stared out across the water, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. “Did War and Thane send you out here to chaperone me?”
He huffed a small puff of white steam rising up into the cold air.
“I don’t take orders from anyone but my alpha.
” His words were clipped, but not cold. Just matter-of-fact.
“I was on a hunt when I scented you about a mile back. I thought I’d see what trouble you were getting yourself into this time. ”
“Are you insinuating that I go looking for it?” I asked with narrowed eyes and my hand on my chest.
He cut his eyes at me, raising a single brow.
“I think trouble goes looking for you.” His eyes flickered up and down my shirt-clad body, and then he leaned toward me, his nose grazing my shoulder as he breathed in deeply.
Something in his eyes flashed for a moment—some inner light that I suspected belonged to his wolf. “You smell like sex.”
The deadpan delivery made me tense up. Unease had me shifting slightly, pulling away from his intense scrutiny. I pivoted to face him and said, “Probably because I just had sex.” I wasn’t going to hide it from him. There was no reason to. He was well aware of my relationships with Thane and War.
“Why haven’t you slept with your warlock, then? I only smell the vampire.” He studied me with a pensive frown.
I blinked at him for a moment, thrown off because I was expecting an argument or to have to defend myself. But that didn’t happen.
I sighed, picking up another pebble and tossing it onto the ice as I formulated the right words. “Thane says we have some kind of soul bond. His magic calls to me, and I don’t understand it, but I feel it.”
“Like a mate bond,” he said, nodding as if something had just been confirmed.
I shrugged. “I guess. I’ve read about soul bonds, but I never thought they happened between species. How can a warlock have a soul bond with a shifter who has no magic?”
Gareth stared out into the darkness for a moment, a furrow between his brows. “Have you considered that Estelle may have changed you more than you thought?”
His words had my body going utterly still, my stomach curdling, and my throat tightening. I chewed on my lip. “You mean my DNA? I’ve always been a shifter; she just woke it up, but I’m not a hybrid.” Not like Serenity. I would know if I was.
“Not a hybrid, but something else,” he suggested. “You were given the same drug that the others were. The serum was created with Serenity’s blood, so it makes sense that there might be some other changes you might not know about yet.”
“But she doesn't have magic,” I said, maybe a bit defensively. “She’s a hybrid, but only human, vampire, and shifter. It wouldn’t make sense.”
“Her blood wasn’t the only blood found in that lab, Trix.
” I peered up at him, eyes wide. He grimaced, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
“Hundreds of blood samples were collected by the authorities. Who the fuck knows what was actually injected into your bloodstream? But if you have even an ounce of warlock blood inside of you, it might explain why Thane feels a connection.”
The more he spoke, the more his words made so much sense.
I even considered what else those drugs might have done to my DNA.
According to Serenity’s mates, there were probably hundreds of newly made hybrids out there on the loose, and it's not like they have trackers on them either. There’s no telling what kind of blood enzymes were used on whom, unless there’s some kind of archive we didn’t know about.
The thought of just how deep this went sent a chill down my spine. Gareth was most likely right. I probably had some traces of warlock DNA in my blood, and that’s why Thane was able to feel a bond. Whatever magic my body had created was somehow compatible with his.
“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.” I glanced up at him, meeting his eyes. “I never agreed with the whole concept of mate bonds or soul bonds when I thought I was a human. It seems so... restrictive.”
“How so?” he asked.
I shrugged. “It takes away a person’s personal choice, doesn’t it? Letting magic or a moon goddess choose your mate for you seems so cold and calculated. How are you supposed to know how you really feel about someone when there’s some mystical force bringing you together?”
I thought about Serenity and her mate bond with August. I’d heard the entire story from start to finish, and it always made me wonder just how strong that tug was. How much did it interfere with real feelings?
“Goddess, I’m such an idiot. Gareth, I shouldn't even be talking about this after what happened to—”
“Savannah meant nothing to me,” he said, cutting me off. A muscle feathered in his jaw, and something behind his eyes dimmed a little. “Maybe once she could have, but I realized very quickly what kind of person she really was. After a while, her presence felt like more of a burden than anything.”
“But the bond…” I said, feeling utterly lost.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t create feelings.
That’s a romanticized idea of a mate bond.
It might feel like that initially. There’s intensity, attraction, and longing, but it's just your body’s way of signaling that it's found its most physically compatible mate to create offspring with. It has nothing to do with love.” He looked away from me, his eyes going distant.
“Serenity rejected August at first. She let her brain take the lead instead of instinct. She fell in love with my cousin on her own terms, and the bond came second.”
He was right. Serenity told me as much. I heard all about the back and forth between them in those first weeks together.
August chased her relentlessly, all the while she denied the pull between them.
She had the same reservations about mate bonds as I did, but eventually she fell in love with him regardless.
I studied Gareth closely. His shoulders were hunched over, and his hair was disheveled, but he was still as breathtaking as ever. Reaching out, I hesitantly took his hand, feeling his body go still. He didn’t pull away from my touch.
“Even if you didn’t love her, I’m sorry you lost her,” I said, meaning every single word. “I wish Selene could have given you a better mate.”
The corners of his lips pulled up. “A mate like you?”
My belly fluttered, and my cheeks heated. “Would that be so bad?” My voice was small and unsure, and I hated it. Why the hell did I allow myself to feel like this around him? Why did I suddenly want to hold my breath as I waited for him to answer? “Did you mean what you said?”
His words from the night before echoed in my head repeatedly. Love. He said he loved me. For a long time now.
He looked down at me, his eyes roving over my face. “I always mean what I say. You know that.”
“So... you’re like, in love with me then,” I said with a broad grin. “Do you write Mrs. Gareth Blood Moon on all your notebooks and make me mixtapes?”
He groaned, rolling his eyes. “Selene, help me, here we go...”