Page 70 of Touched By Moonlight

Grayson dropped a kiss on the sensitive area of my throat and then nipped, the erotic bite sending waves of pleasure throughme.

“Everything we can,” he addedsoftly.

The week spedby and before long, it was Wednesday, my last day with the pack. Most of my days had been spent with Grayson and his betas. I met many members of the pack, and Grayson introduced me as Sienna, hisfriend.

He did not tell them I was Fae, and I didn’t volunteer the information. Why ruin a goodthing?

Though most of the time I had company, there were times my boys left me alone to explore on my own. This morning as dawn streaked the leaden sky with brushes of rose and gray, I ventured on a long walk. I followed a dirt path through the woods to theperimeter.

At the back fence, Ihesitated.

Grayson warned me never to leave thegrounds.

But there was something in the dark woods that called tome.

The gate stood between myself and the forest beyond. I touched it andwinced.

Iron. Iron hurtsFae.

The fence, however. Made from barbed wire and split rails, it looked strong enough, yet it could be easily breached. I wondered if it stood more as a marker to delineate Grayson’s propertylines.

Why did he want me to remain on hisland?

Sienna, a voice seemed to whisper tome.

The ghostly murmur stirred the power inside me. Before I could question it, I found myself climbing over the fence and walking on a narrow pathway toward the darkwoods.

Leaves crunched beneath my boots and the ripe, pungent smell of earth filled my senses. Yet the further I walked, the more I became aware of a shift in the air, a heaviness. Thin and cheerful aspens gave way to thick fir trees, dark as those in a grim fairy tale where witches lived and feasted on stray boys and girls. The woods there were not welcoming. I could see flickers of odd energypatterns.

Aspen trees and brush flanked me as I hiked. I covered almost half a football field when a tingle rushed down myspine.

I looked around. That tingle was the presence ofmagick.

Growing near a fallen log close to the path, a clump of white mushrooms stuck their heads up shyly through the damp fallen leaves. Enchanted, I leaned close. Sprites often make mushrooms their home when it rains. As much as I needed to avoid the Fae, I missed seeing the pretty fairies and sprites that lived in the woods and protected thetrees.

I reached down and touched afungus.

It turned black and shriveled, falling to theground.

Mouth dry, I stared at my fingers. They glowed blue with power. The faint whisper in the air became moreinsistent.

Sienna,Sienna.

The grounds seemed to call to me in a siren song. Traces of haunted energy pulsed in the air. In the distance I could see an abandoned shed, perhaps once used to storefirewood.

Fae are sensitive to energy attached to places, especially structures surrounded by nature. Fionn Fae can siphon negative energy lingering in abandoned buildings and use it to empowerthemselves.

Most use it to gain power overothers.

I had no desire to gainpower.

Lingering seemed imprudent. Trembling inside, I returned back to the house for breakfast, determined to forget whathappened.

After breakfast, I headed downstairs to the rec room for a promised game of ping pong with Carmen. Voices sounded from the basement. Good. The other kids were there playing as well. Watching children play games would soothe my jumblednerves.

Why did Grayson insist on me joining his pack? The sex had been terrific, and I still felt all three of them between my legs, but there was more to being someone’s mate thansex.

Sex drove the mating instinct, but it took cooperation and trust for a pack to survive. Just as it did for a Fae colony, and I knew what happened to a colony when someone gained more power thanothers.