Zoey followed her gaze, and her heart stuttered in her chest. Three members of the Blood Oath pack were climbing out of a van that had just pulled up to the curb in front of their building. Dominic and his lackey Romano, and the pack secretary, Giuliana. She shot out of the office, closing the door behind her.
Kalinda’s legendary kitchen of deliciousness was fortunately close enough to the office that she could eavesdrop. She closed the door but leaned on it so she could hear them speak, her stomach churning with worry. If anything happened, she had no power to defend myself. Like the vast majority of magic-bloods, her magic was just strong enough to be detectible by the authorities - and it was utterly useless. She had earth magic; her houseplants were super healthy, and she could make flowers bloom faster. Give her a handful of buds and if she concentrated hard, she could make them burst into blossom. Woo hoo!
Great party trick – and it had completely upended her life. She’d have given up her powers in a heartbeat. She’d been living in San Francisco when her magic talent was discovered during a random sweep by the Federal Bureau of Magical Containment. Thanks to FBMC, she’d been ripped away from her home and her job at an internet startup, and had been given her choice of portal cities. She’d picked Encantado because Nevada was reasonably near her family who lived in Marin County.
She also had map magic – she could find her way anywhere. It was a form of earth magic, the same as her green thumb. She was like a human GPS. But there was also such a thing as actual electronic GPS available so again…her power was more useless than a screen door on a submarine.
The front door banged open and she heard the thud of footsteps.
Dominic’s voice, loud and booming, carried. “We’re looking for a waitress named Zoey.”
“Ah, yes, I heard something about one of your men biting her,” Kalinda said. “I’m sorry, she isn’t here. It was very distressing to me to hear of her being bitten. Were you displeased with her services?” She kept her voice respectful, but firm.
“I was the one who bit her, and I was not displeased. We call it a moon-bite, or a moon-claim. My wolf selected her as a mate.”
Say what now?Zoey’s knees went wobbly.
“Excuse me?” Kalinda’s voice rose in shock.
“My wolf bit her. When our wolf bites a female on the full moon, it’s because he’s chosen her as a mate.”
“That doesn’t make sense – if she was your mate, why wouldn’t your wolf have bitten her before?”
“Are you heard of hearing?” Dominic’s voice was snappish. “I spoke clearly enough. Full moon. My wolf never encountered her on a full moon before.”
“But – she’s not a shifter!” Kalinda protested.
“It doesn’t matter. As long as she’s a magic-blood, she can bear my cubs. And I smelled the magic in her.”
Ewww. Rude.
She lifted her arm and surreptitiously sniffed. Her lilac deodorant was still working. What exactly did magic smell like? Did it smell bad?
“Why her?” Kalinda protested. “There are plenty of other girls who are more…”
“More what?” Dominic snapped, with a hint of danger in his voice.
Yes, more what? Zoey wanted to know too. More attractive? That seemed to be the only possible answer, and it stung. Yes, she was a little on the full-figured side. Her mother always said that just meant there was more of her to love. As for her freckles, her mother used to call them angel kisses.
“More, ah, willing!” Kalinda said brightly. “She’s the independent type. I happen to know for a fact she’s not looking for a relationship right now.”
“Too bad. That will change.” His voice turned rough and impatient. “My wolf chose Zoey, and Zoey I will have. Now, you know I can scent her. And the scent is fresh. You can bring her out here, or I can tear the place apart.”
That was her cue to leave. In great haste. She bolted out the back door, as she heard Kalinda protesting in a loud voice – one that she meant for Zoey to overhear - “Go ahead and look around! She stopped by here to pick up her pay and left a few minutes ago, that’s why you’re scenting her!”
She ran down the alleyway behind the squat concrete building, mind whirling. What the hell was she going to do? She had to find some way to convince him that he didn’t really want to claim her. Heck, given her past dating history, that shouldn’t be too hard – apparently, one night out with her was enough to do it for most guys.
She dodged down another alleyway, and hesitated, picturing her apartment. Not only could she find her way around anywhere, she could also sense obstacles that stood between her and her destination.
Of course, if she was surrounded, knowing that the obstacles are there didn’t help much.
Her map magic froze up, twisting in indecision, as a man leaped over a six-foot chain-link fence in a single bound, clearing it easily and landing with a resounding thud a few feet in front of her.
Dominic. The man who’d chomped her cheek the night before, and now thought he was herhusband. Mate. Whatever. He was sexy as hell, yeah, but she barely knew the guy. He was also theCapoof one of the most violent and corrupt mafia shifter packs on the entire west coast. She kind of had issues with how his pack ran things.
But he didn’t seem to care what she thought about the whole claiming thing. He looked down at her and his mouth curled in cruel amusement, his blue eyes glinting. “Hello…mate.”
He smiled at her lazily.
