Silver snorted.
“Hush you.” Anthony bumped shoulders with his mate.
Kat smiled at their interaction. It was always refreshing to see pack mates affectionate with each other. Even those bonded in his last pride weren’t much for casual touching. It might have been the atmosphere, but that group showed little love, even among lovers.
A soft noise heralded the arrival of Anthony’s parents.
Anthony sighed. “If you’re still spending all your spare time together, why did you two even bother getting divorced?”
“We might be divorced, darling, but we’re still fuck buddies.”
“Mother!” Anthony’s shocked response sent his father, Gallien Carrow, into peals of laughter. If Anthony’s laugh was tinkling wind chimes, his father’s was an orchestra of bells.
Kat crossed his arms and gripped his opposing shirtsleeves to keep himself in check. Damn, Anthony’s father was beautiful.
“Darling, stop that.” Hallea smacked her ex-husband across the back of the head. “You’ll make that sweet kitten’s nose bleed.”
Gallien rubbed his sore head and glared at Kat. “It’s not my fault he’s weak-willed.”
The urge to claw his smug face was almost irresistible. Unfortunately, he’d be crushed with a twitch of Gallien’s fingers. Moon Pack gossip had given Kat the rundown on Anthony’s parentage. The Fae man might not be as powerful as his son, but four times more powerful rather than ten made little difference if both could leave Kat as a splat on the floor.
Hallea approached the bar and gasped when she saw the person embedded inside like a fly in amber. “Rance!”
“You know him?” Anthony joined his mother to stare at the boy.
“I’ve only seen a picture of him. He’s Talula’s son.”
“And Talula is?” Silver prompted.
“The dryad priestess of the Grove. I thought it might be him when you mentioned a male dryad, but now I’m certain.”
Anthony frowned. “Why would she send him to me? I’ve never met her.”
Hallea shrugged. “I doubt he had much choice. She probably told him to come here in case of an emergency. Something must have happened at the Grove.”
Anthony frowned. “I don’t know if I can get him out of there without harming him.”
Hallea patted Anthony’s shoulder. “I’ve got this. Everyone, step back.”
“This is so fascinating,” Kat whispered as he joined the others several feet away. “I rarely get to see magic other than mine.”
Kat might not be a bookworm, but he loved magic, especially other people’s. The variety and flexibility never failed to fascinate him, even the scary parts.
Silver laughed. “Stick around, and you’ll see more than you ever wanted.”
Anthony glared at his mate. “Are you saying you see too much magic?”
Silver raised his hands. “Of course not, my love.” He dared to kiss Anthony’s cheek. “With you, I see just the proper amount.”
Kat covered his mouth to hide his grin. Anthony had his Alpha twisted around his finger.
A low humming broke his admiration of the Alpha pair’s relationship. The hairs at the nape of his neck rose from the energy pouring from Hallea and the powerful magic answering her call. Kat struggled to breathe as the air became heavy with an unseen force. Anthony’s and his father’s eyes glowed with the rising magic.
“Whoa,” Kat whispered.
A loud crack snapped Kat’s attention away from the father-son glow show.
Rance now lay on top of the bar. Surprisingly, the wood beneath him remained intact and unmarred despite the sound, as if the teenager had simply melted through the surface.
