It was done. Kai let Sadie go and Sadie found her mate. My second vision had come true.

The drive home was silent, introspective, at least for twenty minutes.

“So tell me more about your vision with the vampire,” Kai queried with one hand on my hand and the other on the wheel.

“Tell me how to keep you out of my thoughts,” I countered.

“Aurora.” He growled.

“I’m serious! I feel invaded. I get in a horrible accident and you save my life. I wake up to find out I’m a mons—a werewolf and I have a mate. But my mate is also my Alpha, so he is inside my head all the time! I’m also a Matefinder and so I’m hunted and I have visions. Please Kai, I need a break.” I whimpered, not planning on breaking down and exploding on him like that.

Kai pulled the car over and took my face in his hands. I stared into his yellow eyes.

“Why is your wolf out?” I asked him trying to change the subject.

“Because you aren’t happy and he is upset about it.” Kai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, his warm chocolate eyes stared back at me. He kissed my forehead. “You are right. You deserve a break. Close your eyes and think of a safe place within nature.”

“What? I don’t need calming techniques. I feel fine,” I assured him.

He growled softly. “I’m teaching you how to close me out of your every thought.”

“Oh.” I closed my eyes quickly and thought of the creek my twin brother and I used to play at, but that was no good because he drowned there and that was no longer a safe place. I thought of the woods that backed up to Kai’s house. I thought of my first run as a wolf, the bits of bark that crunched underneath my paws, the smell of cedar and Kai. That was peace now. That was my home.

“Stay there,” Kai whispered. “Now imagine my energy as a bright ball of light sitting next to you.”

With my eyes still closed, I was looking around the forest in my mind’s eye and a glowing orb appeared next to my wolf.

“Good. Now bury the glowing ball, bury my essence. Not too deep, just under the surface. We will still be able to communicate through pack bonds and eventually through our mate bond. But this will make it so I won’t get your every thought unless you intend it. I will just pick up moods and emotions or sense when you are in danger.”

I imagined my wolf digging a hole and nudged the orb into the hole with my nose, burying it loosely with dirt. I opened my eyes slowly, seeing Kai staring at me from across the car. God, he was so sexy.

“Did you get that thought?” I tried.

He shook his head.

‘You are sexy.’ I sent to him. A huge grin broke out onto his face.

“Whoa, it worked!” I said excitedly.

Kai grabbed my face and gave me a passionate kiss that warmed my belly.

“Now tell me more about that vision.” He prodded.

“Ugh!” I growled and told him about the vampire who met with Sylvia and how he seemed interested in finding me.

“So a vampire tried to use compulsion on Sylvia to give up your location?”

I chewed a fingernail. “Yes.”

Kai’s eyes went yellow and his nails grew to points. I could see patches of fur rippling along his arms as he tried to fight the change.

“Kai?” I was scared.

“If the bloodsuckers think they can have you, they have another thing coming. You’re mine. Mine to protect.” He was breathing rapidly. He slammed his fist into the steering wheel making the car horn honk.

I placed a hand on his arm. “Calm down, you’re scaring me.”

His fingernails immediately went human short, the fur turned to skin and his eyes went brown. “Aurora, I’m so sorry. I would never hurt you. I was mad at the bloodsuckers. Not you. Never you.” He reached out for my face and I flinched. I don’t know why I did; too many years of getting hit when my dad was pissed off. The remote ran out of batteries, smack Aurora. My mother burnt dinner, punch Aurora. He was drunk and bored, put a cigarette out on Aurora’s neck. I rubbed the scar at the back of my neck.

I shivered thinking of the memories while Kai shrank back, hurt. I grabbed his hand. “I have issues, okay?” was all I could offer at the moment.

He stroked my hand with his thumb. “Okay.”

He started the car and we drove the rest of the trip in silence.

Vampires

We got a call from the pack about halfway home, telling us that Sylvia was waiting for us at Kai’s house.

As we drove up the long tree-lined driveway to Kai’s, I still couldn’t fathom how much money this land had cost him. He must own half the mountain. The pack lived in twenty separate houses all within a few miles of each other. He owned every single one of them. “So, my mother will be coming by tomorrow to meet you. I think I should know a little bit more about how you became so… financially comfortable,” I added politely.

He smiled. “I am a very, very old wolf, Aurora. I have had hundreds of years to amass this wealth. I have a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, a  master’s degree in Finance, and I even went to medical school. I’ve tried my hand at day trading on the stock market. I dabbled in real estate and I own some franchises.”

My mind was trying to fathom all of this information when I smelled something weird. I inhaled deeply.

“Witches have a distinct smell, as do vampires. As you learn more about your wolf, your sense of smell will improve,” Kai offered, parking the car.