The same thought had crossed my mind the moment we’d found out he’d gone after Marcy, but there hadn’t been any time to put the pieces together in a way that made sense. “If they were mated, it would certainly explain a lot.” I thought about it for a moment. “And it would definitely explain his reaction to her at the Pack meeting. He pretty much carried her out of the room when she’d tried to bring me water. I think that was the first time they’d ever met face-to-face.” I shook my head in wonderment. “That’s big news. I don’t know much about bonding, but finding your mate outside your Sect is rare, correct?” I looked to Danny, who was older than Tyler and I. He was also English. Maybe Europeans had a bunch of interspecies relationships we knew nothing about?
“I’ve never heard of it before,” Danny answered. “But the two of you are quite an unlikely pairing as well, even though you’re both shifters. Something must be tainting the well we’ve been drinking from, eh? Or a major tide is shifting for supernaturals everywhere, but either way it’s unprecedented as far as I know.”
Cats and dogs were definitely not the norm. Shifters mated with human women, since there were no females born. It had always been that way. If a Sect had males and females, they found their mates among their own kind. A pairing of two supernaturals of different gene pools had the potential to be explosive, their offspring being a rare mix of powers. Danny was right. It felt like a tectonic shift was happening in the supernatural world—and the only one who had any answers was fate. “But the two of them together is good,” I said, nodding once as I made up my mind. “It means Marcy will remain safe. James will protect her ferociously. My father will have to find a way to understand, and if he doesn’t, we’ll have to make him understand.”
Tyler turned away from the window as he glanced down the street. “Something smells different all of a sudden.” He had an uncanny knack for scenting, so it meant it was farther away than the rest of us could detect. Tyler was talented enough to smell an aura, picking up on the subtle layers of someone’s personal magic. Smells still overwhelmed me. Parceling them away took skill and practice, and I hadn’t had enough time to figure it out since I’d made my first change.
Danny’s head went up, too, but he shook his head. “I don’t smell anything, mate.”
“Time to go.” Rourke revved the engine, his eyes scanning the road behind us.
“One last thing before we leave,” I said through the glass. “You guys need to pick up Nick. He’s still at the Coven with the witches and the baby oracle. It’s a long story, but it’s how we found out Marcy was okay. We had to leave him there, but the sorcerers have likely bailed now that I’ve left, so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can. But if you don’t hear from me before then, meet us in the Ozarks in two weeks.”
Tyler’s mouth opened and closed. “You lost me at ‘baby oracle.’”
“Too much to go into, but he’s in the huge stone mansion on the northern peninsula of Lake of the Isles. You will know which one once you arrive. My scent will be all over the yard.” Rourke put the car in gear. It was time to move. “Oh, and you might want to think about finding some pants before you head over. If the witches get a gander at the two of you in your Calvin’s, they may never let you leave.” I grinned.
“That’s hilarious, Jess.” He bent over the window. His face changed to pensive in the next beat and his emotions ran through me, a mixture of worry and love. “Just make sure you stay safe. That’s the only thing that matters. Stay alive. And, cat, make sure she doesn’t hurt herself. We’ll see you in a few weeks.”
Rourke responded, “That’s my prime objective.”
A few blocks up a grumbling noise shook the street.
Tyler slapped his hand on the top of the car. “Go! Get out of here. We’ll take care of this.”
Rourke took off from the curb, tires squealing. I glanced back to see Tyler and Danny running toward the disturbance. You can’t fight the threat in your underwear! I yelled at my brother.
I’m not planning on staying in my underwear for long.
They dropped to the ground to shift right as Rourke turned the corner.
We drove all day, stopping only for sustenance, which Rourke went in and bought. This car was truly spelled. It didn’t need any gas and there was a never-ending supply of loose twenties in the glove box, which replenished as soon as we used them. There were also insurance papers and driver’s licenses with our names and pictures on them.
Witches were freaky.
I’d slept some, but most of the hours had been spent staring at Rourke with naked longing.
His delicious scent was driving me out of my mind. The small sports car was crawling with pheromones, and because we couldn’t risk opening the windows, we couldn’t escape them. No matter how many times I’d tried to convince him to pull over, he wouldn’t, and it was clearly taking its toll on both of us. Nothing had convinced him to stop—save hunger, and that had required threatening to eat the dashboard.
I hadn’t allowed myself to physically touch him in any way.
Because once it started, it wasn’t going to end without a powerful climax. The adrenaline raging through my system from escaping the sorcerers had no place to go, which made his scent all the more intoxicating.