Page 31 of Midnight Moon
Again, Chase and Asher shared a look.
“Stop doing that.” I stomped my foot. “Just tell me the truth. What happened to Chase?”
The bruised shifter sighed while Asher did not react.
The sun had yet to rise over the horizon, but faint pink and orange rays hinted at its nearness. I didn’t have time to waste out here with the Wilds Pack, but I felt compelled to figure out what was going on.
For a moment, I thought I would be left without an explanation. Just as I was about to tell them to forget it and return to my pack, Chase finally spoke.
“You shouldn’t be able to see the bruises on my face.”
His words made zero sense.
“What do you mean? Did you try to cover them with makeup or something?”
Again, Chase sighed. “I placed a charm over my appearance to hide my injuries. No one outside my pack should be able to see past it.”
I blinked several times. “A charm? As in amagicalcharm?”
“Yes.”
I’d heard about charms. They were like spells, only less permanent and less powerful. Charms could be obtained from a sorcerer, but they were expensive and hard to come by.
“Where did you get a charm?”
From the time we were young, shifters learned to keep our distance from sorcerers. The magical race may help ward pack lands against humans for our protection and privacy, but they were a volatile bunch who would curse someone at the slightest provocation. I doubted a sorcerer lived within two-hundred miles of Badlands’ territory.
With a wary expression, Chase stated, “Iplaced the charm over myself.”
I didn’t understand why he looked at me like that. Then, the meaning of his words registered.
“Youplaced it?” I asked in disbelief. “That would mean you’re a…”
“Sorcerer,” Chase finished for me. “Part-sorcerer, actually.”
I stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over the rocks scattered over the ground. Chase and Asher did not move. They simply watched as the implications of Chase’s admissions hit me like a freight train.
Shifters never mated outside of our race.Never.Doing so would dilute our shifter bloodline, weakening the child’s shifter abilities.
Not even Margot and her human spouse would have children. It didn’t matter that my ex-pack member loved her partner; she would never bring life to children who wouldn’t be able to master their shifter abilities. To do so would be cruel.
Apparently, though, that hadn’t stopped Chase’s parents.
Not only did his shifter parent mate outside our race, but they had mated with a sorcerer. I’d never heard of such a thing.
Chase continued to watch me. Asher did, too. Based on their expressions and rigid muscles, they expected me to make a run for it.
The thought was tempting. I’d never met a half-breed shifter before, much less a half-sorcerer, and I didn’t know what to think.
I cleared my throat. “That’s… not what I expected to hear.”
Chase smiled gently. “I imagine not.”
My feet shifted, and I bit the inside of my cheek. I wondered if anyone else knew the Wilds shifter was part-sorcerer. Were there other half-breeds in his pack?
Suddenly, Alpha Orlando’s words from the welcoming ceremony played in my head.
“They are abominations… I will not allow my heir within five feet of those creatures.”
