I felt the gratitude through the mating bond, her relief, and the ebbing panic that still lingered in the back of my mind. I wished I could take it away from her.
“It wasn’t just me,” I said, raising an eyebrow as I studied her. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I didn’t think you would be able to describe how to talk to your wolf that easily.” At her weary look, I held up my hands. “I was impressed. That’s all. I thought it was admirable.”
Something flickered in her gaze, but her shoulders loosened. “Well, when you aren’t able to shift, but you still have a wolf, you learn how to communicate with them,” she said. “You sort of have to, because at times, they don’t understand why they can’t come out. Honestly, you have to be in tune with them at all times, just to stop that constant need to shift and run through the desert from driving you mad.”
My fingers twitched as I looked away, then back to her. “I never thought about it that way before,” I admitted, looking her up and down, studying my mate in a different light.
Her lip twitched upward in that sassy way once more. “You males who can shift rarely do,” she teased. Her eyes sparkled, and though there was admonishment in her eyes, there was also a hint of playfulness.
I stepped forward, hesitating just a moment before reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. My fingers trailed down the side of her cheek. It might have been my imagination, but I thought she might have leaned into my touch.
“Well, then,” I murmured, fully aware of how close I was to her, the way her breath hitched. Her scent wrapped around me, driving me insane, and it took all my self-control not to pull her toward me, to press her mouth to mine. “It seems I have more to apologize for than I realized.”
It was all I could do not to close those final few inches and press my mouth to hers. I forced myself to hold back, instead focusing on another thing I had found strange.
“There was one more thing,” I said.
“What?”
“The water,” I said.
“What about it?” She said the words casually, but something that might have been alarm flickered through her gaze.
“Nothing, really.” I kept my eyes locked on her, gauging her reaction. “But I noticed the water never seemed to go cold. We were in there, what, for an hour? Steam was still rising when we left.”
This time, alarm did spread across her face. I frowned, tilting my head as I looked her up and down, unease creeping up my spine.
“It’s not dangerous,” she babbled. “I was just trying to help with the pain.”
Understanding dawned. “You did something to the water,” I said.
Her eyes had grown as wide as saucers. I didn’t need to sense her worry through the mating bond to know she was terrified of how I might react to whatever she had done.
“It’s nothing big,” she said hastily. “I don’t know where they came from or anything like that. They’re not dangerous, I swear.”
“Magic?” I blurted. “You have magic?”
The words spun around in my head. I managed not to recoil, but I couldn’t hide the shock on my face. Witches weren’t exactly beloved by wolves. The fact that my mate, the pack luna, who had been determined by fate to be a witch, wasn’t going to do anything to endear her to the town that had already distrusted her.
Emma’s face contorted as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Hardly,” she mumbled. “I can fiddle with water. Make it hot, and maybe make a tiny wave in a tub, but that’s about it.” She gave a self-deprecatory smirk. “I’m almost as bad a witch as I am a wolf.”
I opened my mouth, realized I had no idea how to respond to that, then closed it. After another moment of consideration, I said, “I don’t think you’re being fair to yourself there.”
Tilting her head, she blinked, considering me. “That’s not exactly the reaction I expected,” she finally said.
“I told you I’d make you feel welcomed,” I said. “And I don’t have the same prejudice against witches as some of the others in the pack. But you might want to keep your powers to yourself.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice there,” she quipped.
I reached out and gave Emma’s arm a gentle squeeze, my hand lingering after, unwilling to let her go.
“I’ll let you get some rest,” I said. “It’s been a rough night.” My arm finally fell to my side as I turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Emma’s voice stopped me mid-step. When I turned, I saw her bouncing anxiously from foot to foot as she chewed the inside of her lip, either debating something or steeling herself. After a moment, she took a deep breath, coming to some sort of decision, and raised her head.
“Do you want to stay with us?” she asked. “I’m sure that Grace would appreciate having you nearby if something happens again.”
