Gray could feel the tingle of magic in the air, fluctuating wildly as Simon chanted quietly to himself. The power faded, and Simon slapped the grass at his side. Gray cleared his throat, and Simon’s head jerked up in surprise.
He scrambled to his feet, revealing long legs barely covered by the shortest red running shorts Gray had ever seen. Gray took in the view of long, lean muscles and attempted to curb hissuddenly overactive hormones. This wasn’t the time to imagine those legs wrapped tightly around his waist.
“Alpha Gray, what are you doing here?”
He forced his eyes up to Simon’s face. “Hello, Simon. You can just call me Gray.”
Simon dropped his gaze to the ground. “Gray.”
A burst of arousal scented the air. Gray’s hormones weren’t the only ones playing havoc.
He stepped forward and raised Simon’s chin with his fingers. The urge to lean in and take a quick taste of Simon’s full lips consumed Gray. He leaned forward a bit before catching himself and taking a step back. Simon licked his lips, and Gray followed the motion of Simon’s tongue with his eyes.
“I…” Gray paused to clear his throat when his voice sounded huskier than he intended. “I have some questions about yesterday, if you have a few minutes.”
“Oh, well, hmm… of course. Sure.”
The sweet smell of desire twisted into the sour tang of fear. Gray growled in annoyance. If nothing else, he didn’t want this man afraid of him. “I won’t hurt you, Simon. I just need some answers.”
“I know,” Simon said, “but it really isn’t a good idea for you to be here. This is really frowned upon. I am going to be in so much trouble.”
“I’m not here to cause trouble. I just need to understand what happened to our cubs, and you’re the only mage I know.”
Simon took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself. “I’m told there are good reasons for that.” The smell of fear faded, which pleased Gray more than he wanted to admit. “I’m not sure how well I can answer, but ask your questions, and I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Thank you. What do you know about the demon who had the cubs? It was gone by the time we got there, and we weren’t able to track it.”
Taking a moment, Simon seemed to think over what he’d been able to gain from his confrontation with the demon. “It was odd. At first, I thought the power I read signaled a low-level demon, but it broke free of my mind magic surprisingly fast.”
“Why is that weird? Aren’t all demons strong in magic?”
Simon’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head in surprise. “You really don’t know about this, do you?”
When Gray shook his head, Simon explained further. “Think of magic like a triangle. At the top point is mind magic. That’s what mages use. The next point is body magic, like you and the other were-creatures have. The final point is soul magic, which is usually what demons are strongest in. Make sense?”
It did, but Gray really didn’t think what he could do was magic. “I’ve never really described what werewolves can do as some sort of body magic. We just are what we are,” Gray said.
“That’s true for most cases. A mage is a mage, and that means he’s strongest in mind magic. But then there’s someone like Garon—”
“Garon? What about him?”
“Well, Garon is sensitive to mind magic. He communicated with me mind to mind. But he must be able to do body magic as well, correct?”
“Do you mean can he shift? Yeah, he can shift. Only at the full moon, though. He’s not old enough yet to control the change at will.”
“Hmm, I’ve never considered that. My course of study hasn’t involved very much information on were-culture. I really haven’t had the opportunity to study anything outside of the mage’s realm of influence.”
Gray ran his fingers through his hair, wondering just how far he should push this. He needed to learn more about magic, especially if his son could do it. “And Garon can do this magic of the mages?”
“Some of it, yes. I don’t know how much, but I know he mind-talked to me with the ease of another mage.”
That didn’t really surprise Gray very much. “He’s used to that, Simon. I can talk mind to mind with the members of my pack.”
It was Simon’s turn to look surprised. “You can? But that’s mind magic!”
Gray shrugged. “All alphas can communicate directly with their packs. It’s always been that way. This demon did mind magic as well,but that really isn’t as unusual as you made it sound if we can do it too.”
“You’re right. This isn’t the way it was explained to me at all.” Simon paced around the small yard, shaking his head. “None of the books mention any of this, not that I’ve seen anyway.”
