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Her breath caught, her eyes turning molten. “Two days ago, you hated me.”

He shook his head. “Two days ago, I wasn’t man enough to admit that I wanted you. That’s over now. I want you, Alana Wixx. With your powers and your magic candle and everything else. Even if you always steal my booth.”

Cohen was walking out on a ledge. He had put himself completely out there, and all he could do was hope that Alana wouldn’t break his heart.

She won’t, his wolf assured him with a conviction that gladdened Cohen’s heart.

NINETEEN

ALANA

Alana was aware of two things. The first was that Cohen was in her bed, still fast asleep. His arms were wrapped around her possessively, but it wasn’t stifling. Instead, it was the safest Alana had ever felt in her life.

The second was that despite the safety she felt with Cohen, Alana was very much asleep.

It was a good thing that she was in his embrace because the dream she was having was far from pleasant. Alanaknewshe was dreaming for the very simple reason that her mother and grandmother were sitting in the living room, chatting away like they hadn’t been dead.

“Mother, this is a bad idea,” Alana’s mom, Lina, sighed. “I don’t like it.”

“There are a whole lot of things that mothers don’t like to do, but they still have to do it because it is their job to take care of their children,” Nana replied.

“I don’t think that hiding most of her magic from her is a good idea,” Mom whispered. “She might need it.”

“We are not hiding it, Lina. We are only making it difficult to find. Can you imagine what would happen to this small town if Matthew decided to come here? If he wants the baby, he will stop at nothing to find her.” Nana patted her daughter’s arm. “You know it’s the only way to protect her. The magic cannot be inside her. Not if she is going to survive.”

Mom only nodded, completely defeated. “I’ll get everything we need ready, then.”

“We are doing the right thing, my sweet girl,” Nana insisted. “If we use her magic to build a defensive forcefield around the town, Matthew will never find her. Not here. Not ever.”

“I just don’t like the idea of leaving her defenseless in the world. What if something happens to me? What if I can’t protect her, and she has no magic to do it herself?”

“Don’t worry about that, Lina. This is only temporary. We’ll make sure that there is a failsafe in the spell. If she meets her match, the man she is meant to be with, the magic will break.”

Mom’s frown deepened. “Why would we do that?”

“Because this is a shifter town.” She waved her hand over her crystal ball. Shadows followed under her palm. “Her match … hermatewill be a shifter. He will be able to protect her against any threat. And what’s more, once she has found him, her magic will return to her.”

“That’s one hell of a failsafe,” Mom snapped. “I don’t like it.” She put a hand up to get Nana to stop. “I know. I know. Sometimes, mothers have to do things they don’t want to but are for the benefit of their children. I heard you the first time.”

The dream melted, shifted, and moved until Mom and Nana were standing in the Half Moon Key woods high up in the mountains. Even though she was still dreaming, Alana recognized it immediately.

They stood in front of the strange rock formation where the Wixx witches did most of their higher magic. The forest was perfect because it gave them access to all of the elements of life.

Together, Nana and Mom stepped toward the circle of stone, their hands clasped together. They chatted in tandem, the words foreign yet somehow familiar. As they continued to speak the incantation, the whole of the forest turned a bright shade of green. It pulsed through the trees, seeped into the ground, and moved high to the clouds.

“The spell is in place.” The rocks of the strange and mystical formation began to shimmer with the same emerald glow.

“My little girl has almost no magic,” Mom whimpered, tears flowing freely down her face.

Nana took her hand in hers. “It’s only temporary, Lina. And it’s for her safety. It will be okay.” Nana stepped up to the rocks and produced a red candle from one of her many pockets. She spoke another incantation as she lay the candle on the rocks. The green magic wrapped itself around the candle, and an invisible hand carved a name in the hardened wax.

Cohen Pierce.

The letters were as clear as daylight. Alana focused on it, but soon, the dream vanished, leaving her free to wake up.

“I think I know what to do!” Alana gasped, sitting up in the bed and kicking at the sheets and blankets.

“What?” Cohen stirred beside her; his voice was still full of sleep. “What do you mean?”