The vision fades, and I grasp for it, forcing myself to remember the gruesome details. I pull and strain, trying to untangle it so I can see the rest, but it’s to no avail. I fight until my nose bleeds and tears stream down my cheeks, and that’s exactly how Luca finds me.
He blots my bloody nose with the tail of his flannel shirt, holding my head in his hands as he stares into my eyes. His own sea-green eyes are lined with worry. “This isn’t the way, princess.”
“I have to get stronger,” I whimper, shutting my eyes tight against the headache bursting behind them. “I thought if I focused on the grimmest parts of my vision, I could get more details, and I did. But it’s not enough. I have to keep trying, Luca.”
Luca gathers me into his arms in a hug that pulls me up to my knees, nuzzling my cheek, marking me with his scent. “Not like this, Junie. Never like this. Why didn’t you tell us you were working on your affinity?”
He touches me everywhere he can, stroking and coaxing until I begin to relax. Still, my tears don’t stop. Not after what I saw.
“I didn’t want anyone to worry.”
“We’realwaysgoing to worry about you. Will you tell me what you saw, now?”
“Soon,” I promise, my voice thick with tears. “I’ll tell everyone soon.”
He strokes his hand down my back, holding me close. “Whatever you saw, it isn’t everything. There’s joy to be had, too. Why not try to call those visions?”
“I wouldn’t know how.”
Luca cradles me in his lap, still slowly stroking my back. “Try as you would any other vision? I don’t know. I’m not Ian. Can’t you, I don’t know, focus on your breath and gather your magic? That sounds like something Ian would say, doesn’t it?”
I crack the barest smile at that. “It does.”
“So, try it if you’re up for it. Butonlyif you’re up for it.”
“I am,” I say softly. Inhaling deeply, I do exactly what Ian would have instructed me to do. I focus on my breath andfind the place where my affinity dwells within me. I think of the near future, of my love for my pack, of their love for me. And slowly, achingly slowly, beautifully poignant, the visions begin to flow.
I see a celebration at the restaurant in Promontory Tower, a champagne toast, and the laughter of my men. I see their easy smiles.
I see myself cataloging new affinities with Sienna, making a record of every single omega we rescued, collecting all the details we discover on her laptop.
And then, breathlessly then, Ifeelmyself on the back of Luca’s bike.
I open my eyes with a gasp. “We’re going somewhere, you and me,” I tell him, awe in my voice. “On your bike. I saw it. Where? Where are we going to go?”
He smirks at me and steals a lingering kiss. “You’ll just have to wait and find out, now won’t you?”
“Oh, come on, Luca. Please?”
“Nope,” he says, his voice serious though his eyes dance with the tease. He loops his arms around my hips and swings me closer to his body, dropping a kiss on my jaw then down my neck. “My beautiful princess will just have to wait and see. And don’t try for another vision and ruin the surprise.”
At my soft whine, his kisses turn heated and, for now, the dark vision is forgotten. He eases me onto my back, a thigh between my legs, giving me the friction I’m already yearning for. And then everything but scent and slick and love and touch falls away.
We’re curledbeneath the blankets of my nest, thoroughly sated when I finally speak again.
“I need to learn more about my affinity,” I tell Luca,tracing the lines of the tattoo on his shoulder. “But I don’t know where to start, or evenhowto start.”
“Why won’t you let Ian help you?”
“He’s busy,” I say, waving my hand dismissively.
“I’m never too busy for you,” the alpha in question says from the door to my nest where he leans against the doorjamb, face grim. “Have I made you feel that way, my darling? That I’m too busy for you?”
I shake my head. I’m the one who’s been withdrawing to my nest, practicing my abilities in secret—or trying to.
“I don’t even know what I’m capable of,” I murmur. “I feel like I’m groping in the dark. Some of the omegas I’m teaching already know their abilities so well.”
“No doubt forced to learn quickly in Rad’s evil facility,” Luca says, stroking my back.
