Page 64 of Heat Me

Snow tilted his head and smirked slightly but didn’t answer.

"What else can you do?"

He just shrugged, stood up, and walked away; the butterfly still perched on his hand.

After that, I pestered him about it for years, begging him to explain what kind of trick he did, but he never answered.

Except this one time…

It was years later—I was nineteen or maybe twenty, still deep in my rebel phase. I’d been messing around with my brothers’ exes, and had just learned that being a purple alpha meant I’d have trouble finding my own True Mate. Apparently, we had lower chances than normal alphas. It made me pretty bitter and spiteful, and kind ofnotcaring about other people's feelings.

That summer, I’d come home after fucking Skye’s ex, David, for three hours straight. It was around 11 pm when I snuck into the house, only to find Snow sitting on the terrace, playing his harmonica.

Noticing a few cans of soda near him, I plopped down on the rattan sofa.

"Revenge is sweet. Truly the delight of the gods," I said.

Snow didn’t respond—of course not. He only stared at me over his instrument.

"I just fucked David! Skye’s gonna lose his shit." I chuckled, leaning back on the sofa. "David’s such a sweetie. No wonder Skye dated him all through high school." And I burst into laughter.

Pale violet eyes stayed fixed on me, and for some reason, I felt a little embarrassed. There was something in his energy that made me feel like a twisted bastard.

"What? Don’t you dare to judge me. You’re not exactly a saint yourself! They were all assholes to me. Now I’m done with the revenge thing," I said, because it wasn’t just David. I’d fucked Finn—Winter’s ex—a year earlier. Hooked up with Larry, too. Though Rain was surprisingly chill about it. I guess he was over Larry by the time I got into his pants.

Snow kept staring.

"I know what you’re thinking—that I’m the asshole now. But who cares? They’re not together anymore. I just wanted to test them. I heard if someone’s a half match for your brother, they might be a high match for you. Genetics or whatever." I grinned mockingly. It wasn’t like I really believed that.

When he didn’t respond, just stared, I rested my head on the back of the sofa and muttered, "Don’t look at me like that, you’re not better than me. Still screwing Theo?"

Snow blinked. He probably thought it was a secret, but I was a purple alpha—I heardeverything.

"It’s not healthy, you know? He’s married. With kids. Are you sure you want to bethatguy?"

He lowered the harmonica, and I continued mercilessly, "Theo’s hot, I’ll give you that. But c’mon, a married guy? That’s more messy than what I did."

"It’s just sex," he said, his voice quiet.

I flinched—Snow actually spoke.

"Yeah, I get that. But sex has a way of turning into more. Feelings creep in. Be careful. Don’t you want better?" I tilted my head, but since he stayed quiet, I pressed, "Aren’t you a wizard or something? I remember that invisibility trick when we were kids. Can’t you justconjureyour True Mate out of thin air?" And I wiggled my eyebrows.

Snow sported that strange, mysterious smile of his.

"I could."

"So why don’t you?"

"I need to learn more. Train more."

Wow, he said it. Snow was actually having a conversation with me about… magic.

"Could you bring True Mates for the rest of us too? I’d love that. Being a purple is a shitshow."

He shrugged. "Perhaps one day. When I've mastered it, my True Mate will come to this house. And you'll all meet yours. One by one."

Then he stood up.

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