Page 58

Everyone froze for a moment at her words, then Mikey’s shoulders relaxed, and his scowl melted into a smile.

“She’s the most beautiful soul I know,” he whispered. “You’re lucky to know her.”

“So I’m realizing,” Mila agreed. When she sat back down, it was to find Maddy watching her with unshed tears in her eyes.

“You really need to meet Briar,” Maddy said, reaching across to grab hold of Mila’s hand. “I think you two will get along great.”

Mila squeezed her hand back. “That’s a nice thing to say, but I’d like to get to know you first.”

“Oh chica, that’s a story and a half,” Maddy said with an exaggerated groan as she withdrew her hand.

“Great!” Mila said, grabbing her drink. They were both drinking a tart lemonade Mikey made in-house. It was really good, and she was going to need to ask Mikey for the recipe. Or maybe get Maddy to ask for her. “I think the next place we’re going is, um...?”

She looked over to where Mikey and Carter were talking quietly and intensely to each other. Carter answered without missing a beat. “The Pack House for lunch.”

Maddy looked excited. “Can we join you? I’m craving their patty melt.”

“Of course,” Mila agreed. Today was so much better than she thought. “But story first!”

“I need a little time to digest your amazing pastries anyway,” Maddy agreed, patting her flat stomach. “It all started when we were both five. My much older cousin was picking on me. Briar showed up and punched him. Of course that didn’t work, so she got a rock and knocked him out. Thankfully he didn’t remember what happened when he woke up. Briar and I have been best friends ever since.”

Carter

“I think she might be a Sun,” Mikey said, making Carter blink in confusion.

“What? Whose son?”

Mikey laughed under his breath, shaking his head. “Not s-o-n. Sun as in s-u-n.”

Carter huffed with annoyance. “Fine, I got the wrong sun. Still don’t understand why you’re calling her that.”

“When she stepped in front of Maddy, I felt warmth,” Mikey explained. “You should have Tobias look at her, he’s really good with auras and older than Gio, so he’s had more practice at putting aura colors with powers or species."

Carter startled. “Are you telling me she’s not human?”

“She could be human and still be a Sun,” Mikey said. “Being a Sun is an aspect of aura manipulation, so anything alive can theoretically have Sun powers.”

“What can Suns do?”

Mikey waved a hand to indicate the invisible aura they all had. “They can manipulate other peoples’ auras with their own. When I was upset, I felt a wave of warm and soothing energy washing over me. Even though I’m an alpha, I felt it affect me strongly.”

“I don’t know if I’ve felt that,” Carter said, glancing over at the two women. Maddy was saying something that caused Mila to laugh uproariously. It looked like the two were rapidly becoming good friends.

“She probably doesn’t do it all the time,” Mikey said, smiling at the sight of the women enjoying each other’s company. “She wanted to protect Maddy from a perceived threat so her aura probably flared and touched mine. When you reveal everything to her, it would be worth finding someone who can help her use it deliberately.”

Carter wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Now he understood how people susceptible to vampire thrall felt. No one wanted to be manipulated, even by accident.

At the same time, he wanted Mila to have all the tools and advantages.

“That’s something to deal with in the future,” Carter said. “After we explain about shifters and vampires.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t told her yet,” Mikey said.

Carter scowled at him. “It’s not easy, you know! Maddy was introduced to our world early. You didn’t have to figure out how to tell her you had a beast living inside you. What if Mila freaks out and runs?”

The worry he’d been keeping buried for the last week rose to the surface, threatening to choke him.

“Easy,” Mikey murmured.