Page 4 of Magic Pussy

“Seriously, my old home territory was smaller than Lakesides and the witch who protected it was strong. Yet she had to nap each time she renewed her spells. You don't. Why is that?”

“Go on, keep talking,” she'd replied, batting her eyelashes.

Infuriating lass. She was hiding something. Something he had no business asking, so he tried not to mind.

And failed.

The first time he'd met Rain, she'd come to help the Wyvern pride fight against a whole bunch of shifters who wanted to kill little Zack, their alphas' son. The boy was a turner, a shifter able to change a regular human into one of them. Back then, his kind had been killed on sight to protect shifters. Right after, she'd been there to help against the Vergas pack, the most powerful werewolf pack. She was Ace's friend, but still, no one would have judged her for backing down against such enemies. But she hadn't. Nor had Vivicia, a loner werewolf. Luke guessed that was why no one protested at clearing them a cabin; they could visit whenever they wanted, without announcing themselves. The Wyvern's animals knew their scents and welcomed them home.

Even Luke's grouchy, mistrusting cat had no problem with the female. In fact, if anything, the dumb beast was annoyed at her for leaving.

Rain had stayed for three months the previous summer, until each of the cabins had been cleared out and decorated. She and Vivicia had then both popped back every now and then. Once, Rain had come to renew their wards, and a bunch of times she'd turned up to help out Niamh, who had trouble controlling her magic.

Every six or seven weeks, Rain came bearing gifts from every corner of the world. Food, typically.

Why Luke was so confident that something would be unusual about her visit today, he couldn't tell, but the moment he caught her scent, he knew he'd been right.

Luke had been chopping logs with Ian when his head snapped east.

“She's here,” he stated.

Ian frowned. “Who?”

Feline shifters' senses were a great deal more sensitive than a regular human's, but they weren't exactly wolves' either; from the woods, it was hard to distinguish scents all the way back at the house. Yet he smelled her clearly. Maybe because her fragrance was so different from anyone else's, dipped in essential oils, incense, and spices because of the concoctions she made on a regular basis.

He'd never seen her brew a potion, but Luke understood that she made a living out of selling her skills, as so many loners did. For shifters, it often meant that they were hired guns or trackers. Rain made spells.

“Rain,” he replied, nose wrinkled in displeasure. “She smells wrong.”

Shifters could distinguish subtle changes in people's scent depending on their state of mind. She wasn't quite anxious, Luke smelled no fear, but there was an edge he didn't like. He needed her to get better.

“Shall we head back? We have enough wood for the day,” he said, although they'd only gotten about half of what they'd planned on chopping.

The previous winter, they'd run out of wood and had to buy some, which was ridiculous, given the fact that Aisling owned the whole damn forest around the lake. This year, they'd started to schedule work shifts. They'd gotten experts to come have a look at their wood, as none of them knew much about forestry. Apparently, a good bunch of their trees could be cut on the southeast side. They were supposed to clear the entire area, then plant new trees and attack another side the following year.

It looked like they'd have enough wood for a few years just out of that parcel of land, so they were going to sell the rest. The alphas had liked the news: prides had a tendency to diversify their income stream.

Luke didn't mind the work. It was considerably less boring than patrolling in a territory as peaceful as theirs had been recently, for one.

But today, he wanted—needed—to head back early. See why Rain's scent was all wrong. Not that he could do much about it, frustratingly. If she'd been pack, he would have given her a little well-meaning hug and patted her head, demanding to know who he was supposed to punch.

But she wasn't.

He still needed to be at the house, though.

Ian laughed. “You head back. I'm staying. Tell everyone I sent you early to check the fridge and go shopping for me. I'm cooking tonight.”

Luke perked up. Ian was a legend behind a stove.

Then he frowned. “Why would I lie?”

The enforcer shrugged. “Fine. Tell them you needed to see Rain and couldn't possibly wait four hours. See how that goes.”

Ah. That made sense. “Forward me the shopping list, would you?”

Home

"Hey guys, I'm home!" Rain announced jokingly as she entered the main living room of their main pride house.

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