Page 35 of The Wolf's Captive

The wind whipped my hair around my face as we walked through The Lanes. The chill of the air made me breath deeper, inhaling the vibrancy of Brighton City. Goddess, I’d missed the diversity of this place. So very much.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Malone asked, squeezing my hand tighter.

Glancing up at him, I smiled. “I’m not letting that bastard taint everything. The shop stays, the apartment goes.”

That’s right, we’d left the witches in order to sort out my life. As hard as it was to leave the home I’d shared with Drake for many years, it was time to move on. My brother had already taken most of his stuff to Laura’s, so it was only right I committed to living with Malone. I basically had been this whole time, anyway.

“I’m actually quite excited to see my shop again,” I said, almost bouncing as we walked.

Malone tried to hide the frown that crossed his forehead, but I knew him well enough to detect that he was uneasy.

Ignoring his worry, I nudged him playfully. He checked around us, on full alert. I didn’t understand why he was so paranoid. Those who had been a threat to us were locked up, every single one of them.

My heart thumped harder when my shop came into view. A nostalgic warmth settled over me, making it feel like I was home. And I was partly home.

I picked up speed, releasing Malone’s hand and hurrying to unlock the thick wooden door that sat in the wall, hiding my wares.

As the door pushed open, I stepped inside, taking a deep breath to prepare myself. Panic gripped my limbs as I went to check around, stopped by Malone’s hand and a growl.

“Let me see if it’s safe,” he grumbled.

He had forgiven me for coming to the shop without him and in effect, allowing Kieran to kidnap me. However, he was still very cautious when it came to my old stomping ground.

“Thanks,” I said, staying by the door as he went around the cash desk and checked the small area out back.

Returning in moments, he waved me in, and I went to shut the door, pausing when someone called my name. A nervous jolt made me swallow as I checked who it was. Ah, the girls who had visited the shop most weekends.

“Where have you been?” one called as they came close. “Can we come in?”

Malone’s growl was low, echoing behind me. I held my hand backwards, warning him to be calm. The girls were human and harmless. They had almost become my friends.

“I’m sorry,” I said, closing the door slightly, “I’m having a revamp so I’ve been busy trying to sort it all out.”

“Uh huh,” the other girl mumbled, glancing over my shoulder at the unchanged interior. “When will you be open again? We miss coming in to see you and picking up our spells.”

A genuine smile came to my lips. I missed seeing their familiar faces every Saturday morning. The girls had often asked me if I was a real witch, and although I’d been discreet, I had a feeling that they knew there was some kind of magic going on. The beauty of Brighton was that people didn’t question anything.

“I miss you guys, too. I promise I’ll email as soon as I’m back on track.”

They both nodded and waved goodbye as I closed the door. Malone had switched the lights on and was wandering around, inspecting the witch artefacts with a scowl on his face.

I trod over to the desk and ran my fingers over the old tarnished wood. Without thinking, I waved my hand near to an incense stick, igniting it with a magical flame. The slight pull on my magic reminded me that Kieran would’ve felt it too. Shit.

“Did you want to do that?” Malone blurted, his tone biting.

Sighing, I shook my head as I looked around, allowing the familiarity of the place to soothe me, despite my mate’s vile mood. “Probably not.”

His snort accompanied the movement of his feet as he went to my scrying bowl and dagger. His head lifted and his nostrils flared. “My blood is on this knife.”

Moving to join him, I studied the spot of blood on the tip of the blade. “Ah, yeah,” I said, my insides quivering slightly. “I kept that when I cut you, the very first time you threatened to reject me.”

“Did you want it for your memory box?” His eyebrows were furrowed, his energy lightening, just a smidge.

Chuckling, I shook my head. “No, silly. I was going to use it against you. You’d threatened to kill me, so I figured I’d try and cast a spell to, I dunno, castrate you or something.”

“Castrate me?” he choked.

My shrug was met with a growl. “What? You were literally foaming at the mouth and not in a good way.”