I gestured in the direction of Ivy House, silently asking if he would walk with me. For a moment, I thought he was going to say no—he glanced in the direction of the bar, indecision on his face—but finally he stepped forward.

“I’m a mess,” I said, falling in step with him. “You know I’m a mess. You’re the one that always builds me up when I’m wallowing.”

He shook his head, glancing to his left, where Jasper shadowed us on the other side of the street.

“You can smell him from way over there?” I asked.

“Just barely. I can…sense him. That gargoyle can inflict some serious damage. I don’t need to see or smell him to know he’s there.”

“Like a sixth sense? Women’s intuition type of thing?”

“Exactly, yes. All animals and people have the innate, primal ability to sense danger. It’s built into us. Women have to listen to it more than men because you are so often prey. Shifters are more in touch with their primal sides in general, so we pay attention to it. The best of us have cultivated the sense into a defensive measure.”

“I don’t need to ask if you rank yourself as one of the best.”

“No, you don’t. You already know that I am.”

I shook my head. He wasn’t putting on airs—he was stating a fact.

Something occurred to me. “Damn it. I bet Sasquatch smelled or felt me. That’s how he knew I was there.”

“No, he saw you. The whole street saw you.”

“No one on the other side of the street looked at me,” I argued. “Usually your people acknowledge my presence.”

“They knew you were playing the game, though I really can’t have people stabbing you in public, Jess. More magical people have moved into the area, but there are still a lot of Dicks and Janes. That’s not something they should see. Please remember that in future. But anyway, my people were giving you space. It’s not polite to point out someone’s failures.”

“Well.” I huffed. “Maybe they could have acknowledged me so I’d know my magic wasn’t working.”

“That’d be cheating.”

“You’re quickly becoming my least favorite person.”

He barked out a laugh before wrestling his features back into submission.

I smiled as I watched. “You’re going to have to beat up, like, five people after that outburst.”

His lips tweaked before settling. “Probably.”

I sighed, taking in the lovely late March day, the sun warm on my face and a cool, floral-scented breeze tickling my skin. “I’m out of my mind excited for my son to get here, but I’m trying to calm down. Just because of how it went with my parents, you know?”

“Are you going to tell him you’re magical?”

“Yes. As soon as I get up my nerve. I won’t be able to hide it, so I might as well… just hope he accepts it. I’m not allowing myself to worry that he’ll…” I shook my head, not even voicing the thought. “He’s always been a good kid and a mama’s boy. Let’s hope that’s enough to keep him from…” I shook my head again, fear worming through me before I could shove it away.

“It’ll go well.” Austin rubbed my back as we walked. “Your parents were a tough situation, and that ended up just fine, even if they did assume you were the head of a cult.”

I chuckled, comforted by the warmth seeping through his touch.

“When’s he supposed to get here?” Austin asked, his hand slipping down to the small of my back.

“Tomorrow. That’s why I canceled training. I’ll probably be sitting in the front room, pretending I’m not anxiously looking out the window every second.”

“Well…” Austin stopped near the No Outlet sign at the corner of my street. “If you need anything, call me.”

“Are we…” I pointed at him as he made to turn back. “Are we back to being friends, then?”

He didn’t smile at my teasing. “You’re one of the most important people in my life, Jess. We’ll always be friends. I’ll make sure nothing gets in the way of that.”

“You need to lighten up.”

“I’m the alpha. I don’t lighten up.” He winked at me, which I appreciated all the more because I knew it couldn’t be on the approved list of social interactions.

“Can I ask a favor?” he said.

“Sure.”

“I’ll need to run some training exercises with the new pack members, see what I’m working with, and I wondered if I could use the Ivy House woods. I can feel people on the grounds better now, and it would be helpful to—”

“Of course. Just make sure to enter the grounds before the others so she knows not to harm them. And don’t allow any stragglers. Ivy House is very moody lately, and she often acts before I can defuse the situation.”

“How do you defuse the situation?”

“By taking control of the arsenal. It’s like grabbing a plastic sword out of a child’s hand so the kid doesn’t thwap someone.”

“I didn’t know that was possible.”

“It is once the heir has enough power and control.”

Something glinted in his eyes, and I found myself tapping into our connection. His pride beamed through it, making my face heat. “Any idea how much power you have yet to…inherit?”

“I don’t know how much is eventually coming, no. Edgar thinks I’m over halfway there because we’ve made it through the first book.”

Austin’s eyes crinkled, and that feeling of pride almost overwhelmed me. “I’ll have to work hard to create a castle that is worthy of your keep.”

I shrugged, my embarrassment flaring higher, although I wasn’t sure why. “I need more instruction, though. The books only have so much. The instructions are literal, and there’s not much room for reinterpretation or tweaking. I need a powerful teacher who can help me with nuances.”

“It’ll happen.” He nodded to me. “You sent out that summons. The right mage will come.” He took a step back, and his muscles popped once again. He gritted his teeth. “Hands in pockets,” he murmured, taking another step back. “I have to get going. Text me when your son is around. I’d like to meet him. See if he’s as crazy as his mother.”

He gave me a brief smile before turning, clearly willing to beat up a few more people to give me a proper goodbye.

“He’s conflicted about—”

Sensing another presence, I cut myself off and spun around, ballooning my magic around me even as I sent out a wave of power with a “Hah,” chopping my hand through the empty air for emphasis. Once that would’ve been a ridiculous karate chop; now it was an unnecessary flourish.

Austin turned just in time to see Jasper go sailing, up over the stop sign and into the trees, catching halfway up before tumbling down, hitting a dozen or so branches before he splatted onto the dirt.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” I rushed to Jasper as Austin kept going, probably figuring it was just another day when dealing with me. He was right.

Jasper lay with his hands spread out to the sides, wheezing. “Sorry!” I said, sending a prod of magic to make sure nothing was broken or punctured. Finding he was just bruised, I quickly repaired the damage. “Are you okay?”

“You’ve taken away the pain. I am okay. Just…dazed.”

“Okay.” I rested my forearms on my knees as I looked down at him. He didn’t make a move to rise. “Do you…” I bit my lip. “Should I help you up, or…”

He struggled to his side before pushing up onto his knees. “Was that punishment for using the hairy shifter in your training?”

I grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. “No. I was just distracted and didn’t hear you creeping closer.”

“Why use ears? You can feel me.”

“Oh no—I could’ve sworn I told you, sorry. I usually block the links to give us all some privacy.”

He braced his hands on his lower back and arched back, trying to stretch it out even though he couldn’t feel the pain anymore. It gave me a little validation for my reaction to the stab wound.

“You’ve said you block it, yes.” He nodded, dropping his arms. “But since it has never been blocked, I assumed I was still on trial.”

I blinked at him for a moment. “What do you mean it isn’t blocked? I’m blocking it right now. You shouldn’t be able to feel my presence or emotions or anything. I can’t feel yours…”

His dark eyebrows drew in. “I can still feel your presence and…confusion.”

I blinked at him. He stared at me.

I pulled the block away, his confusion and wariness immediately rushing in. “Is that any different?” I asked.

“Is what any different?”

Frustration boiled within me, and his wariness grew.

“You feel my emotions all the time?” I demanded.

He stiffened, and I could sense his anxiety through the link. He was stopping himself from stepping backward in the face of my anger. “Yes.”

“Do you always feel it at the same strength? The feelings through the link never dim or anything?”

“I can’t feel emotions when you’re asleep, just your location or proximity. When you startle awake, it wakes me.”

The heat drained from my face. “What about when…” I cleared my throat. “What about after I go to bed, but before I actually go to sleep. Like…late at night…”

“When you pleasure yourself? Yes, I feel that.”

I could do nothing but stare. In mute horror.

Whatever he felt through the link got the words flowing.

“At first that confused me,” he said, “since you did not express interest in bedding me. Then I thought maybe you were trying to pleasure me through the link. Only, it was just the feeling of pleasure and not actual pleasure, if that makes sense?” My expression clearly insinuated that it didn’t. “I could sense you were feeling pleasure, but it wasn’t directly manifesting into my pleasure. So I finally realized the link was like a two-way radio, and each person controlled the volume from their side.”