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17

Invisible Alien

Harry burrowed into the heated blanket, groaning at the spicy cinnamon scent that tickled her nose. It smelled incredible, a soothing comfort she wanted to wrap herself in and savor until she had no choice but to move, and even then she’d put up a fight.

A pleased hum rolled up her throat as she shifted closer to the intoxicating yummy-smelling source.

Her blanket chuckled, the deep, husky kind that sent a familiar tingle to all her lady bits.

“Well, that’s certainly new.” A finger slowly skated down her spine and swirled in a delicate pattern just above—and slightly lingering on—the upper half of her left ass cheek.

The tattoo.

Jax, propped up on his side, studied her ink work with his hands as much as he did his gaze. “Is this one of Lenny’s?”

“Yeah, but she couldn’t—”

“Read it.” He transferred his searing gaze to her face, then slowly brought his lips to hers, capturing whatever breath remained in her body in a soft, sensuous kiss. “You good?”

“A pretty significant degree better than good,” she hummed.

“No overthinking things?”

“Who can think about anything when your mouth is on me.” She pushed him onto his back and followed him down with a kiss when her cell phone rang. She ignored it, and a second later, it beeped with a series of incoming texts.

He chuckled. “Someone’s pretty insistent. Sure you don’t need to get it?”

“Nope. Whoever it is can wait a few more hours.”

Harry’s cell went silent only for Jax’s to ring, then buzz.

“Oh my goddess, this is not happening.” She groaned, reaching for her cell.

Jax chuckled. “What happened to ignoring it for a few more hours?”

“Reality set in and I remembered that’s not something the guardian of a teenager can do. You never know if it’ll be the police telling you to pick your kid up from the drunk tank.”

Behind her, Jax paused. “Tell me that didn’t happen.”

“Not from the police, but it’s no less jarring when it comes from the principal’s office and it’s because your teenager set fire to an entire chem lab.” Harry bypassed the voicemails and went straight to her texts.

U still w/ Jax? Nora brought me to my training sesh at the ranch, but he’s MIA

—G

“Crap,” Harlow cursed the same time Jax read off his own text, “Shit.”

“I have to get up to the main house,” Jax added.

They both did, and as Harry searched the floor for her clothes, she remembered her fundamental lack of underpants or bra. Jax came up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he nuzzled her neck. “You could always stay here naked and wait until I come back.”

“While that’s a very tempting offer, I’ll take the second option.”

“And that would be?”

“You don’t happen to have something a girl could wear during a walk of unshame, would you?” She cursed herself for asking the moment the words left her lips because she really hoped Jax didn’t have some other woman’s spare clothes lying around, and then she called herself all kinds of names for even thinking it.

It had been thirteen years. She wasn’t deluded enough to think there hadn’t been anyone since her.

“I could probably find something. Give me a sec.” He rummaged through his drawers before pulling out a familiar Fates Haven High T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. “It’s definitely not as flashy as last night’s dress, but it should work in a pinch.”

“It’s perfect.” She took his clothes and scurried into the bathroom to freshen up with lightning speed.

As she pulled the T-shirt over her head, she instantly recalled that it had been one of his favorites back in the day, and also one of her favorites to steal. It was soft to the touch, and his pine-fresh scent was practically embedded into the cotton, even still, she noted as she allowed herself a quick sniff.

A small smile worked its way over her lips as she shifted focus to the sweatpants. After rolling up the cuffs and folding down the waist a few times, she drew the drawstring as tight as it went until there was minimal risk of them falling to her ankles. But there was no quick wardrobe fix for shoes, so she regrettably stuffed her feet back into the previous night’s heels and called herself fashion forward.

They snuck casual glances back and forth on the quiet drive up to the Alpha House until Nora’s yellow hatchback came into view. Two petite forms stood right by the hood and turned their way as he brought the truck to a stop.

Harry didn’t know which expression posed the higher risk, Grace’s look of cocky assurance or Nora’s smirking amusement.

“How do you want to play this?” Jax slid her a questioning look.

“No playing.” Harry shrugged. “It happened. It’s our business. We’re both adults, and don’t need to explain anything to anyone. You good with that?”

“More than.” He nodded.

“Great.”

They got out of the truck, Harry clutching Tomlyn’s book to her chest and wearing it like a Captain America shield.

Grace, her arms folded over her chest, bounced her gaze from Harry to Jax as he rounded to join them. “Guess we can call off the coast guard search.”

Harry lifted her brow. “We’re landlocked. There’s no coast guard here.”

“Fine. Search and Rescue. The Forest Rangers. Smokey Bear. Whoever.” Her gaze dropped to the old book in her hands, her sassiness melting away. “Did you get that from the fae guy? He was actually able to help?”

“Yes, and… maybe? According to Tomlyn, no fae shifters remained in this realm after the portals closed.”

Grace’s shoulders sank. “So that means we’re back to square one with knowing absolutely nothing.”

“Not necessarily. He was very strategic with what he said and what he didn’t say. Just because none stayed doesn’t mean someone or a group of someones didn’t return.”

“Is that possible?”

Harry held up the old book. “That’s what this will hopefully tell us… only problem is it’s written in Old Fae and that wasn’t exactly part of the world languages curriculum at NYU.”

“I can help with that,” Nora stated proudly.

“You know how to read Old Fae?” Harry asked, surprised. “Since when?”

“No, but I know a spell that might be able to translate it for us, or at least pieces of it. And then you, my dear, can use those descry abilities of yours and possibly locate the information for which we’re looking.”

“You mean basically search engine the ancient fae book? That almost seems way too easy and I’m not sure I trust it.”

“Only way to find out is to try. And there’s no time like the present.” Nora turned to Jax. “You don’t mind if we make use of your glorious porch, do you?”

“Not a bit.” He shot a wink Harry’s direction before turning toward the teen. “And you and I can work on these super shifter skills you pulled out for Paintball Pandemonium. I’m still not quite sure where you came from. One second you weren’t there, and in the next, you were.”

Grace shrugged. “I’m not sure why I took you so off guard. I thought I was making a lot of noise.”

“Well, let’s see if we can replicate it. Devon set up a small obstacle course the other day that would showcase a wide range of shifter abilities.”

“Good luck. We’ll just be over there.” Harry gestured over her shoulder, toward the house.

Harry watched Jax and Grace head toward the field to the right of the horse barn, their heads bent as they talked. When she turned around, she ran into Nora’s mischievous smirk.

“Don’t,” Harry warned, leading the way up.

“Don’t what? That’s a pretty wide directive. Don’t breathe? Don’t change my hair color? Don’t go out with a former lover to a fae club and appear the next morning wearing said lover’s clothing?”

“Can you stop saying lover ?” Harry grimaced.

“Sweetheart, I didn’t get to be my age without knowing my way around a—”

“Stop right there, please and thank you.” They settled at the table on the porch, putting the book between them. “So how do we do this?”

“Carefully.” Nora hovered her palm over the book, a magical glow slowly trickling down. The book vibrated. “Fae magic isn’t always compatible with magic from this realm, so it’s always best to tread slowly and lightly and…”

Sweat dotted her forehead. Harry nearly told her to stop when she stopped abruptly with a hefty sigh. “There. Take a peek. Let’s see if that will make things any easier.”

“It worked.” Harry carefully flipped page after page, quickly overwhelmed by the amount of information. “Maybe I should’ve taken this to Gavin.”

“Unless Gavin has descry abilities of which I’m not aware, this will actually be the fastest way.”

“But I don’t even know what I’m looking for.”

“Then it’s best we get started, don’t you think?”

I T WAS ONLY a matter of time and distance until a smirking Grace opened her mouth. Jax just didn’t expect it to be when they were only halfway to the training field.

“Do the two of us need to have a chat, Alpha Atwood?” Grace’s tone was as stern as her glare.

“We’re about to have quite a few chats, considering I’m ready to put you through the paces. We’re seconds away from finding out if all that meditation has been working.”

She turned toward him, her arms folded over her chest. “Let’s not pretend we don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“I’m not pretending. I know what you’re referring to, but I also know that whatever is or is not happening between Harry and me is just that… between us .” He turned toward her, mimicking her pose. “But I’m glad to see that you have her back. It’s admirable. And that protectiveness you’re feeling?”

“What about it?”

“Definitely a shifter trait. What do you say about finding out what other shifter traits and abilities you have?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re trying to change the subject.”

“And?”

“Fine. It’s working. What is it you want me to do, O Master Yoda?”

He chuckled. “Let’s start with that popping-up-out-of-thin-air trick, young Padawan.”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about or how you didn’t see me. I was literally like six feet away and practically in your direct sight line. Maybe you were too focused on Harry to see anything else.”

“Nice try, but no. My cougar wouldn’t have missed you lurking in the wings. He was in prime tracking mode. He would’ve sensed a second predator if you’d been there.”

“Guess your cougar isn’t as good at tracking as he thinks,” Grace taunted.

Jax’s inner mountain lion growled low, not liking the challenge in her tone. He pushed onward, ignoring both him and her smirk. “Let’s rewind time back from when you took me off my feet. What were you doing?”

“Following Harry’s scent,” the teen answered. “I could smell her nerves and her excitement as she worked through the field; and since I wasn’t far away from her, I followed.”

“And when you found her? What did you notice?”

“She was preoccupied by Maddox and didn’t see you coming.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“That practically brings us to the moment you took me by surprise. You’re leaving something out.”

“I don’t know what that would be. I found Harry, and almost right away, I saw you stalking toward her. I knew I had to intercept you so she could make it to the flag.”

Jax followed her thought train. “And how were you planning on intercepting me?”

“Be quiet. Blend in. Basically, become invisible.”

He nodded. “Good. Do it again. Think, feel, and do exactly what you did that day.”

He left her in position and drew an X in the dirt, marking the approximate location where Harry had stood, and then headed toward his own spot.

“This is ridiculous,” Grace complained.

He shot her an Alpha look and she sighed.

“Fine. I’ll do it under duress, but it’s still ridiculous.” She got into position and grumbled again before glancing at the X and back to him. Then, she closed her eyes.

Jax sensed it before his eyes saw it, a shift in the air. Almost a shimmer. It very nearly felt like when Harry or Nora called on their magic, but the two of them were all the way back at the house. This was entirely Grace’s doing.

She opened her eyes, staring at him with the gold-flecked eyes belonging to her shifter, and then she shimmered…

And disappeared.

Jax’s mouth dropped a second before he schooled himself and let his cougar rise closer to the surface.

His animal bristled, sensing something else nearby but unable pin down the trajectory, and neither could he. He glanced left and right, and finally, focused on the ground. There, six feet away and slowly closing the distance between them, sneaker prints .

“Stop,” Jax directed, and the steps stopped. “Now come closer.”

The steps started up again. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Grace’s voice drifted in the air.

“Actually, I’m not looking at you like fucking anything because I can’t see you,” Jax snorted, his amazement rising by the second.

“Excuse me?” The air shimmered, and a moment later, Grace slowly materialized, first her feet and legs and then her upper body. When her head blinked into existence, her wide eyes stared right at him. “What the hell do you mean you couldn’t see me?”

“You shimmered and then suddenly you weren’t there, but you were.”

“What?” Grace squealed. “Are you telling me I went invisible?”

“I don’t think so. I think it was more like a camouflage.” He thought hard, not realizing they’d drawn Harry’s and Nora’s attention.

“Is everything okay?” Harry’s face was etched with worry. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I turned freaking invisible!” Grace screeched. “I’m a freaking invisible alien!”

“Camouflaged,” Jax corrected. “She thought about coming at me and being unseen, and then she shimmered away, coming back again when she lost her focus.”

“What the hell is the difference?”

“There’s a big difference,” Harry added. “Do you think you could do it again?”

“Again? I don’t know how I did it in the first place!”

Jax watched a contemplative Harry. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking if she’s invisible, my descry magics won’t be able to find her, but if she’s camouflaged, they will.” Harry turned to Grace. “So, do you think you could do it again?”

Grace muttered under her breath but grudgingly got into position. Jax did the same, and a few seconds later, they all watched the teenager slowly slink away. Harry’s palm lit up with a little golden compass, and she walked around the spot where Grace had been last seen, a smile on her face.

“She’s definitely still there.” Harry chuckled. “I have to say, I like this skill a hell of a lot better than the fire one.”

Grace shimmered back, a smirk on her own face. “This would’ve made sneaking out at night so much easier.”

Harry’s smile vanished along with the magical compass. “Still trackable, kiddo.”

Grace shrugged. “It’s still a cool trick. Do you think this will help you find something in that fae book? I mean, how many fae shifters have the ability to camouflage?”

“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out. You keep up the good work and I’ll get back to reading.”

Harry’s gaze caught Jax’s right before she turned, and he couldn’t help but wink. A pink hue quickly rose high on her cheeks and he grinned, watching her walk away, her hips swaying.

A loud throat clear turned his attention back to a scowling teenager. “I’m thinking maybe we do need to have that talk after all, Alpha Atwood.”

“A talk about what exactly?”

“A talk about what will happen if Harry gets hurt with so much as a splinter on your watch… because not only can I literally scorch your behind so bad you won’t be comfortable sitting for months, but I can now do it without you seeing it coming.”

Jax barked out a laugh. “Warning given and received, Sparks. Now let’s get back to work and see if there are any other hidden talents buried under all that teenage snark.”