Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
She woke with Gray's arm heavy across her waist and the moon calling to her blood.
Not the full moon, not yet, but she could feel it pulling at her magic even in daylight, making it stir and stretch beneath her skin.
"You're awake." His voice rumbled against her shoulder, rough with sleep and something else.
"The moon woke me." She tried to shift away, but his arm tightened.
"Stay."
That single word held enough command to make her power flare. But that was the opposite of what she needed. She had to put distance between them before…
A violet bloomed on his nightstand.
"Shit." Lily scrambled up, staring at the impossible flower. "That shouldn't—I didn't mean—"
"Lily." Gray sat up, sheet pooling at his waist, his chest bare. "It's okay."
"It's not okay. I’m trying to keep it under control, but my magic's responding to the moon.
" She backed toward the door, but two more flowers pushed through the floorboards.
This is how a nova starts, she thought wildly.
Not with fire but with life exploding outward, uncontrolled and unstoppable. "I need to get out of here."
"You need to calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down when I'm turning your bedroom into an overgrown frankengarden!"
He was out of bed before she blinked, pressing her back against the door. Not overly aggressive, but just enough to stop her flight. This close, she could smell him, pine and sleep-warm skin and arousal that made her thighs clench.
"Running makes it worse," he said. "You told me that. When you're scared, your magic takes control."
"I'm not scared."
"Liar." His thumb traced her jaw. "You're terrified of what’s happening between us."
She wanted to deny it, but jasmine vines were already creeping up the door frame, blooming in response to his touch. "Gray, the hunters—they're still on the island. If they see this."
"They won't."
"You can't know that."
“I have patrols observing them. They're focused on the festival. On watching for wolves."
"But if they notice, it’s going to be a problem.
"Then we deal with it." His eyes had gold flecks now, his wolf peeking through. "But right now, you need to get ready for work before Ryker comes looking and finds my bedroom turned into Eden."
The casual domesticity of it all—work, routines, the mention of his pack mate—grounded her. The vine stopped climbing, though the flowers remained.
"I should shower," she said.
"You should." But he didn't move, still caging her against the door. "Lily? Last night..."
"Was a mistake?"
"Was perfect." The admission seemed pulled from him. "Which is the problem."
Before she could respond, he stepped back, giving her space to escape. She fled to the bathroom, his bathroom, and stood under cool water trying not to think about how him in this shower, stroking himself while thinking of her.
The moon amplified everything. Or maybe clarified it. She couldn't tell anymore.
By the time she dressed and made it to the brewhouse, Gray had coffee waiting and his professional mask firmly in place. But she spied the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands gripped his mug too tight.
"Morning batch needs attention," he said without looking at her.
They fell into their routine, but everything felt charged. When she reached past him for the thermometer, he inhaled sharply. When he showed her a new hop variety, his fingers lingered against hers. The air between them sparkled with suppressed energy.
And everywhere she walked, flowers bloomed.
"Boss?" Shaw stuck his head in around noon, eyes widening. "Uh, why does the distillery look like someone bombed it with flower seeds?"
Lily froze. Scattered around the equipment, tiny wildflowers pushed through cracks in the concrete, subtle unless you were looking, but Shaw was looking.
"New decorations," Gray said smoothly. "For tomorrow's festival."
"Right." Shaw's expression said he didn't buy it. "The festival. Sure." He paused. "You know, the hunter guys were asking again about unusual plant growth this morning?"
Lily's blood turned to ice.
"What kind of questions?" Gray's voice stayed level, but she saw his knuckles go white.
"Weird stuff. Whether we'd noticed any unseasonable blooming. Plants growing where they shouldn't." Shaw shrugged. "I repeated what you said and told them it's the Pacific Northwest. Everything grows here."
"Good answer." Gray's eyes flicked to Lily. "Keep an eye on them."
Shaw left, and Lily sagged against the fermenter. "They know this is me."
"They're fishing." But Gray looked worried. "Can you control it?"
"Not with the moon rising." As if to prove her point, a rose bush started climbing the nearest copper still. "It's going to get worse tonight."
"Then we have to keep you away from the public areas." He moved closer, voice dropping. "Work in the back. I'll handle the festival prep."
"That’s not going to—”
"Don't argue." His hand caught hers, and where their skin touched, silver-green sparks danced across their fingers. They both jerked back.
"What the hell was that?"
"The mate bond. It's visible now because of how close we are to the full moon." His eyes were going gold again.
"That's not possible."
"Lots of impossible things happen during the harvest moon." He flexed his fingers, staring at them.
She reached for him, fingers closing around his wrist. The sparks flared between them, racing up his forearm. He sucked in a breath.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
“No,” His voice had gone rough. “It feels like you. Warm and magical running through me.”
She let go, shaken by how much she wanted to keep holding on.
"Maybe I should leave the island until this is over."
"No." The word came out as a growl. "You don't leave. Not now. Not when you're vulnerable."
"I'm making everyone vulnerable. If the hunters see—"
"The hunters see what we want them to see. He stepped closer, but didn’t touch her this time. “We just have to stick to the script. Boring island. Normal festival. Nothing supernatural here."
"While I turn everything into a jungle?"
"While I keep you safe." His hands stayed at his sides, but she could see the effort it cost him.
"Gray—"
Ryker burst in. "Boss, we have a prob—" He stopped, taking in their position. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No." Gray stepped back, but his eyes stayed locked on hers. "What's the problem?"
"The storage room's gone full rainforest. I mean, literally. There are birds. Tropical birds that aren’t native to Washington let alone the island."
They followed Ryker down to find the storage room transformed just as he’d described. Vines thick as her arm coiled around shelving. Exotic flowers perfumed the air. And yes, there were birds, bright parrots that had no business existing outside a jungle.
"I can fix this," Lily said.
"How?" Ryker asked. "Because the salmon run competition's in two hours, and if anyone sees this—"
"They won't." Gray's command voice brooked no argument. "Seal it. No one goes in until after the full moon."
"But the supplies—"
"We have enough inventory at the festival. Make it work."
Ryker left muttering about impossible bosses and even more impossible mates.
"This is getting dangerous," Lily said.
"Yeah." Gray ran a hand through his hair. "Tonight's going to be brutal."
They worked through the afternoon, but her magic kept escaping. Flowers pushed through the drain, and vines coiled around the equipment. At one point, an entire apple sapling sprouted in the break room, already budding.
The hunters came by again twice more, walking past the distillery with studied casualness. Each time, Gray positioned himself between them and any magical evidence, his territorial instincts making his eyes flash gold.
"They're still watching," Lily whispered after the second pass.
"Let them." His hand found her lower back, possessive and protective. "They won't touch you."
The sun began setting, and the moon's pull intensified. Lily's skin felt too tight, her power pushing at boundaries that wouldn't hold much longer. Every breath brought Gray's scent, making her body ache with a need she couldn't satisfy.
"Go upstairs," he ordered as the festival crowd gathered for the evening's competitions. "And stay there."
"What about you?"
"I need to patrol. Make sure those hunters aren't getting ideas." He caught her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Lock your door. Don't come out until I get back."
"What if something happens?"
"Nothing will happen." His thumb stroked her bottom lip. "But if it does, the pack knows to protect you."
She disappeared upstairs, but alone in his apartment and surrounded by his scent, the pull turned unbearable. Her magic leaked everywhere and it would only get worse from here.
Through the window, she watched the moon rise above the water. Tomorrow it would be full, but tonight was close enough to drive her halfway mad with power she couldn't contain.
A knock at the door made her jump.
"Lily?" Not Gray. Ryker. "You need to come down. Now."
She cracked the door. "Gray said not to."
"The hunters are in the tasting room. They're asking about the flowers. And Gray's about to wolf out and kill them both."
She ran downstairs where the scene stopped her cold. Gray stood between two hunters and a massive flowering vine that had erupted from the floor. His eyes were pure gold, hands clenched into fists, every line of his body screaming predator.
"Interesting botanical anomaly," one hunter said, photographing the vine. "We’ve been documenting similar growth patterns all around this building. Almost magical, wouldn't you say?"
"Like we said. It’s the Pacific Northwest." Gray said through clenched teeth. "Everything grows wild here."
"Everything?" The hunter's eyes found Lily. "Even things that shouldn't?"
Gray shifted, blocking the hunter's view of her. "You need to leave. We're closed."
"Closed? In the middle of the festival?"
"Get. Out." Gray's canines were visible now.
The hunters exchanged looks. "Of course. We wouldn't want to cause trouble." They headed for the door, but one looked back at Lily. "Interesting company you keep, Miss Mitchell. Raises a lot of questions."
Shit. They knew her name. The situation was spiraling.
The moment they were gone, Gray was on her. He didn’t touch her, but he stood close enough she could feel his body vibrating with suppressed violence.
"I told you to stay out of sight.”
"You were about to shift in front of them!"
"I was handling it."
"By almost proving werewolves exist?"
He snarled and her magic responded. The veins of every leaf in the room began to glow, pulsing in time with her racing heartbeat.
"This is insane," she breathed.
"Yeah." His hands came up to frame her face. "The moon's making us both crazy."
"What do we do?"
"Stay the course a little bit longer. We’ll get through tonight and tomorrow, then the moon wanes, and we can think clearly again."
"And if we can't?"
His eyes dropped to her mouth. "Then we deal with the consequences."
The air between them crackled with visible energy. Silver from his wolf, green from her magic, twining together like lovers.
"Gray," she whispered. "I want to be with you."
"I know." His forehead touched hers. "Believe me, I know. But not like this. Not when we're both drunk on moonlight."
He stepped back, and losing his warmth made her ache.
"Go upstairs. Lock your door. And Lily?" His eyes burned into hers. "Don't come out this time. No matter what you hear. My wolf's too close to the surface, and if I see you again tonight..."
He didn't finish. Didn't need to.
She fled, locking herself in the guest room while flowers bloomed in her wake. Through the walls, she heard him pacing, growling, and fighting the same pull that clawed at her.
The hunters knew her name. They'd photographed the vines, documented the "unprecedented growth patterns." When the full moon rose tomorrow night and her magic exploded beyond control, they'd have all the evidence they needed.
Outside her window, the moon climbed higher, swollen and golden, nearly full. Tomorrow everything they'd been holding back would detonate. Her power. His wolf. The threats closing in from all sides.
She pressed her palm against the wall between them. The pacing stopped. He was right there on the other side, probably doing the same thing. One more night before the Harvest moon stripped away what little control they had left.