Come Out Swinging (Reach for the Moon Book 2), Sam Hall [leveled readers .TXT] 📗

“They are accepted here,” Greta answered. “Of course they are. Not all of us are blessed with the Mother’s call as you are, but I believe it the natural way of things for shifters. It is her blessing to us, her daughters. Now, you’ll want some time to settle in.”

“I’d prefer answers.” We both turned to see a very still Lorcan staring, his eyes gleaming moon bright. “Paige, what’s going on here…”

He was right. When I blinked, I saw Micah standing over him, his face a bloody mask, ready to beat him to hell and back. Greta noticed my half step forward, my need to move in close and feel his arms around me.

“Go to him,” she said in a low tone. “Why should you deprive yourself or him of that comfort?”

“It’s that comfort that causes all of this shit to happen. When we connect, he comes through.”

“Father Wolf?” she asked, then nodded when she saw my face. “Then I must request that you go to your mate, that you connect with him. We are far from the humans here, and our land is vast. I believe we will be able to contain what comes through if you do.”

Lorcan’s eyes flared brighter at that, but he didn’t move a muscle, that proud, mulish expression of his hardening the longer I waited. He didn’t think I would, was steeling himself for rejection, even as he wanted me to come closer. That’s what sealed the deal for me. I didn’t like my mates having to push their needs aside for me. I moved in, feeling like there was a weight to every footstep, until I reached him, sliding my hand under his shirt to feel his hot skin, pressing myself against his body, feeling his hands move, to hold me close, to stroke my face. Lorcan’s smile was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds.

“Hey, baby,” he said. “You scared the ever-loving shit out of me before.”

“You too. I thought Micah was going to kill you.” Our eyes slid sideways to see the man himself looking shamefaced.

“He is your avatar,” Greta said with a nod to Micah. “Your connection to the divine. His wolf lives nearer to the surface and colours his actions. Move closer, young avatar. Let us see what happens when you connect with your mate.”

Micah’s eyes flicked up warily, moving from me and Lorcan, to Greta and back again. Finally, he shook his head and ambled over, coming nearer until I could breathe in his scent, feel the heat from his body, but not him. My hand raised on automatic, and those pale grey eyes followed it, then half closed when I touched his still bare chest.

“Mmm…” He let out a pleased little groan, which seemed to just spur Lorcan on.

Not to be outdone, my other mate wrapped his arm around my waist tighter, pulling me hard against his body so I could feel the tension throbbing inside him. Somehow, that made me soften against him and into Micah when I tugged him closer.

“I…” Micah said, a whole avalanche of stuff coming. I could see it, so I pressed my fingers to his lips.

“You didn’t set out to hurt Lorcan.”

But it was my mate’s eyes Micah met, not mine. He shook his head.

“I didn’t see you or her. I just knew you were the enemy and I needed to put you down.”

“Well, whatever it was, we didn’t seem to suffer any ill effect. It felt like you were rearranging my face, but I don’t feel any of it now.”

“Nor your connection to the god,” Greta said, drawing closer. She nodded. “A divine being doesn’t come at our summoning, so we will wait. Come, let us go inside and set things up.”

“And then we can talk about those who watch,” I replied.

The cottage was pretty and contained so many rooms, I could tell it was purpose-built for an ulva and her pack. It was clean, light, and airy, though the rooms had that slightly stale scent that comes from being shut up for a long time. Margaret and Greta moved around, opening windows, so we helped. I watched the older woman as we went and noticed there was an ageless quality to her. With her white hair smoothed back into a bun and blouse and skirt of well pressed cotton, she looked like someone’s nanna, but she felt more like a mountain range or an ancient forest than a shifter, something endless. When she caught me staring, she smiled, then straightened.

“Margaret has told me some of what you have been through. I’ll not traumatise you and make you recount what you told my grandson. He can and will fill me in.” She sat down on the couch, and I found myself doing the same, mine and Margaret’s body language mirroring hers before the guys drew closer. “You recognised the Watcher?”

“The woman in the drawing? Yeah. She lives in my town, has run a bar there since…” I went still, frowned, then looked at the other guys. “When did Stevie come to Lupindorf?”

I should’ve known this on some level. That she’d been there since I was a child, a regular fixture to the town, or when she came. Lupindorf wasn’t exactly a massive place that a new bar wouldn’t have been talked about across the table at the alpha’s residence. I always thought of Stevie only being a few years older than me, but…

“I…” Dec said. “I don’t know.”

“She…” Mase started out confident, then his voice trailed away. “Jesus, how long has she been there? We’d have to be able to find it on public record or something.”

“Or I could just call her.” I drew out my phone, saw the reception was great, and pulled up her contact, then pressed call.

“Stevie’s Bar,” I heard…who? My friend? My confidante? My drinking buddy?

“Hey, Stevie, it’s Paige.”

“Hey! What the hell happened to you? The town’s in an uproar. You and Bridge have gone missing, so have your fellas. Some awful farce