So, that’s what we do. We spend the day doing an endless amount of walking with nothing to show for it. We’ve gone through a third of the photos and we’re walking down Bourbon Street as the night picks up. It’s not carnival season, so it’s not as packed, but with Halloween around the corner, it’s bumping.
Silas stills a few times while we’re walking. Clearly there’s a shifter presence here, but none of them approach him. I wonder if they can sense that he’s an Alpha, or if they can sense what I am.
“Should we get a drink?” I ask him, pointing over to one of the more empty bars that’s trying to entice women to come inside.
“Yeah,” he says, everything about him is alert.
It shouldn’t be attractive. Because it’s not. He’s just a big man, I’m only a woman after all, it’s not a crime to notice that he’s big. Or that his veins are bulging out of his arms, or that he could probably kill someone with his bare hands.
Not hot, just natural. I shake the thought away.
“If you want to go home, you can,” I tell him as we each take a stool and Silas holds his hand up to the bartender.
“What do you drink?” he asks.
“Oh, I’ll have a hurricane,” I say and his lip tilts as he shakes his head.
“I’ll have a brandy.”
The bartender hands us our drinks as the jazz band plays their music, the bar slowly filling with more people. It’s weird, but I find myself relaxing more. Maybe it’s the alcohol or maybeit’s the fact the hex likes the fact that Silas and I are drinking together.
“Two more days. If we don’t find anything in two days, we’ll leave.”
“What did you tell your pack?” I ask, taking a sip of the beverage that’s cool against my tongue.
I don’t drink often, and I find the cocktail has me feeling loose for the first time in weeks. Shit, I should have gotten a potion from Iris. I’ll just make sure to not drink too much.
“Nothing. I’m the Alpha. They don’t need to concern themselves with what I’m doing.”
I toy with the umbrella in my drink, finding those words attractive. What it must be like to not give a shit what anyone thinks.
“Does Jonas know about us?” I ask.
“Partially,” he says, and my brows furrow.
“I’m glad you had him,” I say, covering my mouth as soon as I say it.
“Did you just say something nice to me?” he asks with a smirk.
The black shirt he’s wearing stretches over his arms so tightly I wonder what size he has to order. Do they have a store for men specifically built like him? Probably not, because I don’t think I’ve really seen anyone else so tall and muscular before.
“Who me? No way,” I say with a smile, spinning in my seat. “Can I get another?” I ask, waving down the bartender.
She acknowledges me, and I sit back down on the stool. I feel light for the first time since this ordeal happened, but it’s quickly washed away as a hand touches my shoulder.
When I spin around, it’s a large man—not as large as Silas. He has short hair, and an irritated scowl on his face. Silas’ gaze automatically flings to where the man is touching me.
“I suggest you move your fucking hand,” Silas says in a low timbre.
“Why the fuck is an Alpha from another parish here, with a witch? A very pretty witch,” he says with a grin.
I shrug and the man only doubles down, gripping me harder. Silas stands, grabbing the man’s wrist and squeezing.
“It’s New Orleans. I think you’re quite used to others passing through,” he says, shoving the man’s hand off me.
“Not an Alpha and a future High Priestess.”
I stand up, feeling incomparably small next to the two men.
