Page 37 of Witch Unexpected
“Okay.” I held my hand out to the wolf.
Crazy, I know. It was a fucking wolf, but he was a shifter and one of my future mates.
He waited patiently as if to say,are you ready?
I nodded. “I’m ready.”
He dipped his huge head and laved my palm with his rough tongue. Heat bloomed across my skin, and the ache was gone.
I held my hand up and examined the non-existent wound. “Bloody hell.”
“Cool, right?” The woman looked smug, as ifshe’dbeen the one to fix me. “Rune has skills.” She stroked the top of the wolf’s head, and he blinked slow and deliberate as if in agreement.
I looked down at Rune. “Thank you, Rune.”
The woman cleared her throat, and when I looked at her, I found her misty-eyed.
I was used to tears, and I was used to being a shoulder to cry on for my friends, but this woman was a stranger, and if she started bawling, things would get awkward. I had two choices, ignore the sheen of tears or ask about them.
She gave me a watery smile.
Aw, fuck it. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She sniffed and stroked Rune’s head. “I just…You spoke to him directly.”
“Is that a problem?”
Had I made some dire wolf faux pas?
“No, no. It’s just…everyone always speaks to him through me.”
“Okay, now I’m intrigued.”
“I’m Halle,” she said. “Rune’s twin sister.” She looked down at her brother. “Rune is the ascending alpha of the Holm Pack and, um… He’s been in wolf form most of his life.”
“Oh.” I shrugged. “I suppose if he prefers it, then cool.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but Rune made a soft growling sound, and she snapped it closed and looked down at him for a long beat. Fuck, they were communicating, or he was communicating with her. This was possible between Loup when they were in Loup form, but I’d never seen it done like this. Must have been something to do with their twin bond, or maybe dire wolf dynamics were different.
Halle smiled brightly at me. “Once you’re bonded to Rune, you’ll be able to communicate with him directly for real.”
“Oh?”
“Anchor perk,” she said.
“There are perks, huh?”
“Oh, so many…” It was her turn to frown. “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“What the bond is… What it’s like?”
“No, I—”
“It’s not good enough!” Anna’s raised voice cut across the platform.
“Uh-oh,” Halle said. “This drama.”
