I watch her face while she talks, memorizing every shift in her features. The frustration sits right behind her eyes, tightening the corners of her mouth, and I am learning how to read her. Where she softens, where she hardens, what makes herpull back into herself. Each detail is precious, another piece of the map I am building.
“But you have me now. I will make sure you have all that you need.” I lean forward in the chair, resting my elbows on my knees, trying to convey the depth of my commitment. “We can build together. A new clan.”
Her mouth opens and the words start to form, but before she can respond, black smoke erupts six feet from the foot of the bed, swirling upward in a column that defies natural law.
Kendra yelps and scrambles backward on the mattress, her back slamming into the headboard with enough force that I wince. Her fists clench in the blanket, gripping so tight the tendons strain beneath her skin. Kade appears through the dissipating cloud, her long blonde hair braided in the front and curling past her shoulders, her fitted Wintermoon sheriff’s shirt stretched across her frame. She surveys the room in a single sweep, those bright blue eyes missing nothing.
The vampire is scaring our mate,my Bouda growls.She always does this. No warning, no knock. Just smoke and drama. I despise that woman.
Kade smiles at Kendra, wide and warm, that motherly look she gives every new mate she encounters. “You’re awake. Good.”
“What the fuck.” Kendra is pressed flat against the headboard, heart hammering so hard I can hear it from across the room, the rhythm fast and uneven.
Kade flashes her fangs in a display that is intimidating. Kendra’s eyes narrow in recognition. “Vampire,” she whispers.
“And a witch too.” Kade tucks her fangs away with a casual flick of her tongue and waves dismissively. “But that’s a story for another day.”
She looks to me and I smile despite everything my Bouda has to say about her. “This is Mother Kade.”
Kade scoffs. “I really wish you wouldn’t call me that.” She turns back to Kendra and straightens her shoulders. “I’m the sheriff of Wintermoon, and I’ll be your personal transport tonight. My son Andrew will be around shortly with the truck.”
Aiden groans from his chair, the sound loaded with meaning I do not fully understand.
“Oh, please shut the fuck up,” she says without bothering to look at him, the dismissal casual and complete.
Aiden glares at her but keeps his mouth shut, though a muscle jumps in his cheek.
Kendra slides toward the edge of the bed. “Well, if you’re the sheriff, you can help me get home on the way. I’ll figure out what to do about my car.”
Kade tilts her head. The smile stays, but the warmth behind it fades. “Oh honey. I’m gonna need you to come up out of that delusion for a second here.” She folds her arms across the logo on her chest. “You are fated to a Bouda shifter. You’re coming to Wintermoon with us.”
“Wait a damn minute.” Kendra’s voice rises with indignation.
“Oh, you’re one of the difficult ones.” Kade huffs and shifts her weight to one hip, impatience radiating from her posture. “Some jump at the chance. A life in Wintermoon, worshiped by a shifter who’s been waiting for them for a thousand years.”
Kendra’s eyes narrow. She looks at me, pressing a finger to her lips in a gesture of sudden realization. “A thousand years?”
Tell her. She needs to understand what we have sacrificed for this moment.
I open my mouth to explain, but Kade is already finishing her thought.
“And then there are the simple stubborn ones like yourself.”
The growl rips from my throat, low and vicious, vibrating through the thin walls of the motel room. My Ridge calcifies along my back, the spikes hardening and lifting through theslit in my shirt, each one clicking into place as the bone locks upright. Kendra gasps and presses back into the headboard again, her gaze fixed on my back, witnessing the transformation with alarm.
“Careful.” Aiden sits forward in his chair, tension visible in the set of his shoulders. “He is very sensitive about Kendra.”
Kade grins at her, completely unbothered by my display. She has survived things far worse than my Ridge, and we both know it. “See? Your mate is a bit sensitive when it comes to you.” The grin vanishes and her voice goes flat, all pretense of warmth abandoned. “If you don’t agree to come with me, he will follow you wherever you go. Kojo is possibly the last of his clan. I can’t find the others. You are queen of the Bouda now.” She pauses, letting that sink in. “He will watch over you. Guard you. Kill for you, and I’m not cleaning up bodies all over Detroit so you can feel independent.”
Kendra hisses at her, a sharp exhale through her teeth that carries more defiance than fear, and my Ridge responds instantly. The spikes retract, settling back into dense fur, responding to her irritation.
Interesting,my Bouda observes.The vampire said something disrespectful to our queen and our Ridge deactivated because our queen hissed at the threat. She did not even realize she gave a command, and our body obeyed it anyway. Also, for the record, I still despise Kade. She teleports into rooms without permission, she calls us hyena when she wants to start a fight, and she smells like old blood and bad decisions. The only useful thing about her is the truck.
“I took care of your car.” Kade moves on. “And that clerk is still alive. The men who tried to rob you are in police custody. They won’t be hurting anyone else.”
I straighten in my chair, my muscles tensing. “I will go to this station and deal with them myself.”
“Oh, no the fuck you won’t.” Kade turns on me, one finger raised in warning.