Page 10 of Paws for a Minute

Alana wanted to smack herself silly because she had been seconds away from telling her worst enemy that she was lonely.

Oh, to think of all of the things that Cohen could have done with that knowledge.

She shivered against the thought. If he started teasing her about being an old maid and a lonely witch, she would find a way to get her revenge and turnhiminto a rooster.

“It’s hard being one of a kind, huh?” Cohen finally whispered.

“Something like that, yeah.”

Alana prepared herself for another barrage of questions he was sure to send her way, but Cohen surprised her by remaining quiet. He took in their surroundings, and finally, he nodded. “Well, I can see the appeal. It’s all very cool.”

She arched a brow. “Did you just call my family heritagecool?”

He laughed softly, almost as if Cohen was trying to safeguard whatever little piece of common ground they had found in her most private space. “I did call your family heritage cool.”

“Huh. And here I thought you were going to give me crap for being a witch.”

“You can’t help being a witch any more than I can help being a shifter, isn’t that right?”

Alana thought about lying to him, but there was no point beyond antagonizing him. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’ll admit that until I saw all this, I never would’ve thought that you couldchooseto do magic. But you can’t. Choosing not to do magic would be like …”

“It would be like ignoring the call of the wolf that lives in your head,” she finished for him.

“Yeah, I see that.” He faced her, and for a long moment, they stood in her backroom, behind the green velvet curtain, staring at each other. “I guess we aren’t that different, are we?”

“All I want is to live in Half Moon Key. A quiet, peaceful, maybe evenhappylife. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

“No,” he agreed with her again. “You’re right. It’s not too much to ask.”

“Careful, there,” she laughed. “It’s the second time we agreed on something today. If we don’t put an end to this soon, we’ll be friends by the time the wedding rolls around.”

“Lila and Mason would just love that,” he added with a grin.

“They wouldn’t believe this, you know. If we do show up together, being all cordial, they’re gonna think we’ve been body-snatched or something.”

Cohen chuckled. “Probably. I’m glad I came here, Alana. Now, I’m gonna ask you something, and I wanna a straight answer. I’m not being a dick, but …”

She saw where his eyes were drawn. Right to the ceremonial daggers that lined one of the shelves on the wall. Alana giggled.

“You’re wondering if that is a wall of murder weapons, but I can assure you. No crime was committed with any of the objects in this room. That’s not what magic is all about. It’s about protection or seeking something. In most cases, people are looking for messages from the beyond or from a loved one. Others want to know if they will ever find love or ever find their place.”

Cohen’s entire demeanor changed as she spoke. He went from friendly ... and maybe downright flirty ... all the way to angry again.

Alana crossed her arms in defense of whatever venom he would spew at her for being a magical practitioner who couldn’t protect the town well enough for his taste.

But Cohen Pierce wasn’t done surprising Alana that evening.

Instead of reverting back to his usual hurtful lines, he took a deep breath and held it before letting it puff out of his nose. “That’s what we all want in the end, isn’t it? A place to belong.”

She didn’t respond, but when their eyes caught in the next second, Alana knew.

They were both seeking the same thing, both certain they would never be satisfied.

“Maybe it’s time to go,” she whispered.

He agreed, but he didn’t rush out. He stepped closer to her and looked deep into her eyes. His gaze was so intense that Alana thought it lit one of the candles by the crystal ball, but that was impossible.

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