Kiara flicked the card.
It dissolved into smoke halfway across.
Dani lifted her hand above the pile. The smoke twisted, then with a sharp little crack, the card reappeared under her fingers, whole and unburnt.
A few wolves laughed or clapped.
Arthur felt the punch of her voice before he registered the words.
“All right,” she said. “One more, then we stop before something important gets set on fire!”
Her hands were steady. Whatever had happened in Layla’s shop, she’d found enough confidence to play in a crowded bar. He should have been relieved.
Instead, his wolf paced, uneasy. She was using magic. In his town. In front of his wolves. And they were…entertained.
“Thanks for teaching me that trick,” said Dani with a worryingly cheeky grin. “Lavinia never lets us use magic for stuff like this.”
Kiara huffed in amusement. “Please, I was doing this as a kid. I’ll teach all your young witches to misbehave.High Sister Laviniawill just have to deal with it.”
Dani rolled her eyes and glanced up, and saw him.
Everything in her stilled. The humor drained from her face. The bond hummed, sharp and sudden in his chest, tugging him toward her.
Dani set the cards down. The crackle of gathered power faded.
“Show’s over,” someone muttered. “Alpha’s here.”
Wolves drifted away, grumbling. Kiara stayed where she was. Rory lingered nearby, gaze flicking between Arthur, Dani, and Aurelia like he was watching pieces on a board.
Arthur barely registered them. The world had narrowed to the witch in front of him and the girl at his side.
“You found us, then,” Dani said. Her tone was light. Her eyes weren’t.
“Aye, it’s hard to miss,” he said. “You left the compound without telling me.”
Her brows hitched. “I didn’t realize I needed your permission to walk into town.”
“You’re Luna of the Nordan now,” he said. “There are expectations.”
“Right now I’m a witch in a bar,” she said. “At Layla’s invitation. With your daughter. Who, by the way, is also a witch. Not one of your soldiers.”
He was acutely aware of Aurelia at his elbow, listening. He’d intended to march in, find them both and haul them back somewhere he deemed safe. It sounded different out loud.
“I came to make sure you were all right,” he said stiffly.
“By ruining my evening?” she asked.
“By making sure you weren’t about to blow the back wall off The Anchor,” he snapped, before he could reel it in.
Kiara’s brows rose. Layla, at the bar, went very still.
Dani’s face cooled. “And there it is,” she said softly. “I was wondering how long it would take.”
“How long what would take?”
“For you to stop pretending this is about me,” she said. “And admit it’s about my magic.”
Heat flared in his chest, a tangle of shame and defensiveness. “I saw what happened at the border,” he said. “And I heard about the bookshop. Forgive me if I’m not ecstatic about you practicing in the middle of my pack.”
