Chapter Eight
The buzzing hum ofFated Ink filled the air with the scent of ink, metal, and faint traces of sage.Lennox leaned back in the tattoo chair, eyeing Ursula suspiciously as she set out her tools.Her expression was unreadable, calm like a lake—but there was something in her eyes that made him uneasy.
“Relax,” she said, wiping down the circular pad beside him.“I’ve done this a thousand times.”
“Yeah, sure,” Lennox muttered.“But none of those times were on me.”
Hunter snorted from the next chair, arms folded across his chest.“You’re acting like she’s about to carve runes into your soul.”
Lennox tilted his head toward him.“Brother, she literally might.She’s a witch.”
Ursula didn’t even glance up as she prepped the ink.“You’ll live.Maybe glow a little, but live.”
Brielle laughed from her seat near the window, sipping coffee while watching them both.“You two are worse than kids.”
Hunter grinned.“That’s not true.Kids have more self-preservation.”
Lennox groaned, staring at the design sketched out on Ursula’s tablet.“So, I was thinking maybe something like Jacob and Liam’s tattoos.You know, that interlocking knot they’ve got over their left chest and shoulder looks badass.”
Ursula raised one brow.“Badass, yes.But not what you’re getting.”
Hunter frowned.“What do you mean?We talked about matching ours to theirs.”
“I know what you said,” Ursula replied, tone calm but firm as she adjusted her glasses.“But you’re not them.You’re bears.You’ve got your own path to walk.This one,” she turned the tablet toward them, “is for you.”
On the screen was a Celtic knotwork ring—tight, intricate, endless in its looping curves, designed to curve up from the right bicep and down over the pectoral muscle—but at the center was a blank space, an open circle untouched by ink.
Lennox squinted.“You forgot the middle.”
“I didn’t forget,” she said simply.“It stays empty.”
Hunter leaned forward.“Why?”
Ursula’s lips curved faintly.“Because some things aren’t meant to be filled in yet.”
Lennox blinked.“That’s it?That’s your big witchy explanation?”
She chuckled softly.“You’ll understand when you’re supposed to.For now, trust me.”
Hunter exchanged a glance with Lennox, both of them skeptical but unwilling to challenge the woman whose magic could probably turn their hair green if she wanted.“Fine,” Hunter said.“We trust you.”
Brielle smiled from the corner.“See?Growth.”