Page 26

But I couldn't fixate on that, not when there were two shifters about to destroy Scott's shop. Chairs had already been knocked over, and one table was overturned. Both men were average-sized, one with a thinning blond ponytail and the other wearing a baseball cap that had somehow stayed on.

"Um... hey !" I yelled, trying to sound authoritative. They, of course, ignored me.

The two wolves were locked in a struggle, teeth gnashing, growls and snarls echoing through the room. Everyone was watching the show, and Gwen was a little paler than usual.

"I said, stop." I was surprised at how calm my voice was. "You guys, come on, knock it off before Scott gets here."

"You don't speak for the Alpha, freak," one of them snarled, swinging on the second man."Go back to the Saltfangs where you belong."

Ouch. Okay, apparently, simply being married to Scott wasn't going to stop me from being a punching bag to these jerks.

"This is not the time for bickering," I said, stepping forward and trying to sound firm. "You're going to damage the shop."

"Bickering?" I heard Gwen mutter, and I glared at her, but stopped when I saw how worried she was. She'd called me to stop this, and I was just flitting around, being as socially inept as ever.

Enough is enough. You carry some of his influence , Gwen had said. And then I'd felt the pack bonds clearly for the first time...maybe our mating was temporary, but if it was even partially legitimate, then I could perhaps channel Scott's power as an Alpha to stop this thing.

They were full-on fighting by the time I raised my hands in front of me, reaching into myself and looking not for my golden magic, but the intricate spider's web of the pack bonds.

I choked up when I truly saw that it wasn't the Saltfang web anymore, but something new: the Shadowbay web.

I was really a part of them, at least for the moment.

I found Scott's thread easily. It was the thickest of all of them, glowing with a deep, umber light that reminded me of his eyes.

It was the main piece of the pack bonds that everything else was connected to.

He was their Alpha, and their anchor, and right there next to his thread was my own.

It was thinner than the rest, but attached so closely to Scott's they were almost touching.

It was a shimmering gold, like my magic, but bits of black floated through it like pepper in water.

I pulled on Scott's thread, just like I would my own magic, a gentle request for help.

And just like that, his power flowed freely to me like a tap had been turned on.

It filled my core, flooding every part of me with his energy, his scent, and his power.

I was overwhelmed, my knees wobbling, and the pack bonds glowed brighter as if feeding off of his power, too.

The two men stopped their fight, frozen, their heads turning to look at me.

"Enough!" I yelled, voice vibrating with the echo of the Alpha.

When they didn't move apart, I called forth my own power, and it answered easier than ever before.

Something about connecting with Scott opened up all new pathways inside of me, and I felt high on it.

Pushing my hands apart, I threw both wolves away from each other, and they went crashing into the chairs they'd knocked aside earlier.

I'd done that. With just my magic, I'd stopped the fight. I was reeling.

"Both of you, stop acting like children and control yourselves. If I ever see you fighting again, I'll throw you out of the pack." I didn't have the authority to actually kick them from the pack, but with the way their heads were lowered, they didn't need to know that.

Power was still crackling at the tips of my fingers as I looked them over, seeing the blood dripping on the cafe floor from the broken nose of one man and the split lip of another.

I could still feel Scott, so clearly that it was like he was in the room, and felt his love for his pack, even when they were being fools.

So I raised my hands once more, but this time when I poured my magic over them, it was to heal.

Their wounds closed, and they looked up at me with something that almost looked like reverence.

"Mate of the Alpha," the ponytailed man breathed, "Forgive us."

It was done. Now that it was over, I let the magic slip away and stopped pulling on Scott's power. I felt cold as it retreated, but ignored it.

"Woah," Gwen whispered, her mouth dropping open. "Who are you and what have you done with Nayeli?"

The last thing to leave me was the hints of darkness, and I could almost taste them on my tongue like bitter poison. All the power and magic were gone, and I was left feeling like an empty vessel. I swayed on my feet but locked my knees, not wanting to appear weak.

But I didn't just feel weak. I felt like I was on the verge of passing out, darkness creeping in at the edges of my vision.

"Leave," I said, pressing the heel of my hand to my forehead as dizziness set in, "Get out of—"

The door to the coffee shop slammed open with such force that the glasses behind the counter shook. Scott stalked in, his gaze taking me in before he turned to the two fighters, who now looked sheepish. I could feel the anger rolling off him.

"What the hell is this?" he growled, "You two fighting in my shop, breaking the things I own? Scaring my employees? What the hell is wrong with you?"

The men exchanged nervous glances but stayed quiet.

"I swear to God I—" Scott cut himself off when I stumbled, grabbing the edge of a table to steady myself as Gwen rushed to my side.

His face instantly shifted from fury to worry, and it was like he'd just realized what part I'd been playing before he showed up.

"Nayeli, what happened? I felt you call me through the pack bond, and I felt you draw on my power. ..what did you do?"

"She's okay," Gwen said, waving him off. "She handled these two jerks just fine, thanks to your Alpha-ness. But it's so weird, she reminded me more of Kiera than Samson, or maybe like a mix of the two—"

I knew by the end of the night Gwen would have figured it out. I'd healed the men and thrown them apart, and that was not an Alpha ability. My friend was just too shell-shocked to puzzle it out in the moment.

I opened my mouth to tell him that I was fine, and that I just needed to sit down, but my tongue felt weirdly heavy.

Before I could react, my vision blurred and my legs buckled.

I didn't even feel Scott catch me at first, but he lifted me effortlessly into his strong arms, pulling me against his chest. I was on the verge of unconsciousness, but I still hummed in contentment at the feel of him, and how his touch fed into the bond.

"Damn it, Nayeli," Scott sighed, and I felt him brush his lips over my clammy forehead before he spoke to Gwen and the two male wolves.

"You two clean this place up, and if it isn't exactly as it was before you decided to be fucking idiots and fight I swear you'll be relegated to the bottom of the pack.

Gwen—" his tone changed completely, professional with an edge of concern.

"Close the store once these idiots are done and take tomorrow off. Paid. I'm taking Nayeli home."

Home. When I pictured it, I didn't see my apartment anymore, or even the guest room covered with my things. Instead, it was Scott's face. He felt like home to me, and as exhausted as I suddenly was, home was the only thing I wanted.