Page 14 of Wedding the Werepanther

That’s one of the things that makes this whole situation with Shadow so scary. What will happen if I let down my guard andlet someone in for the first time in my life? If this is all a game to him… if he’s not serious about me…

How will I ever handle it if he leaves?

CHAPTER SIX

Kayla

I cuddle with the tulips, pumpkins, and hearts for several more minutes, murmuring to them, “I’ll visit more now that I know.” What I am to them. What they are to me. “I promise.”

Then the rustle of clothing becomes noticeable over the sweet sounds of evening birdsong, and I look up to find myself surrounded by friends.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Violeta asks, her tan face breaking into a wide grin. Short and curvy, she bounces with barely constrained excitement that sets her highlighted brown hair swinging and makes her wide-necked top slip further off one round shoulder. “You’re the one who made them.”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Her enthusiasm pulls a little smile from me. “What are you guys doing out here? Am I late for the meeting?”

“Girl, you’re about tobethe whole damned meeting,” Jasmine says. Tall like me, she leans over to pet the tulips, herbeautiful face softening as the flowers preen for her attention. Her bright-pink top and hair wrap match the color of their blooms and set off her rich brown skin and dark curls.

“You discovered your power! How amazing!” Hannah beams at me. Tall and thin, with long, straight brown hair, flawless pale skin, and a beautiful face, she looks more like a runway model than a small-town mayor, but she’s one of the most generous and hardworking people I know. “Severin’s going to want to talk to you about maintaining the tulips.”

I nod. She’s married to the shadow fae king, who has plant magic. He visits the tulips regularly, giving them little gifts of magic to keep them healthy. They’ve already lived an entire year without ever losing their flowers, and I’m happy to do whatever it takes to keep them going. They’re sentient now and enjoying life.

“Now we know who’s to blame for the pumpkins.” Autumn’s pale, freckled nose crinkles in amusement as the redhead shoots me a teasing grin. Short with a medium build, she dresses in lots of boho-chic clothing, the golden bangles on her arms adding a musical chime to her movements.

“Blame? There’s no blame!” Skye looks scandalized, the O of her lips a bright pink that matches the 1950s retro dress she has on, the look perfect for her short and plump frame. Then her light face breaks into a smile as she pats her retro blonde hairdo. “The flying hearts were utterly magical at the Valentine’s dance.”

The hearts lift from my arms and flutter around her

The door to the bookstore opens, and Naomi emerges. Short and pretty and plump, she has gorgeous medium-brown skin and a wealth of curls. She also has my dream life: being a witch with teleportation powers who lives in Faerie with her orc husband while also running a bookshop here in her hometown.

My friends’ familiars dash past her legs to race over to the green. The fox, mini-goat, and cat hit the grass and keeprunning, Finn yipping a challenge. The tulips and pumpkins give chase, the hearts swooping after, and they all come together in a wiggling mass of joy.

“That’s our cue.” Violeta extends a hand to help me to my feet, waving the other toward the bookstore. “It’s time for cupcakes and cocktails!”

“While you tell useverything,” Jasmine adds.

Before we take a single step, Skye grabs me in a tight hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

There’s a tiny awkward pause of shock—I’m still not one-hundred percent used to this, to having friends—then I wrap my arms around her.

The rest gather round, also offering hugs of hello and congratulations, and I’m once again pleasantly overwhelmed by the thought that these women like me. It’s silly, I know—I should leave all my childhood BS behind—but I can’t help feeling it.

The whole thing repeats once we’re inside I Touch My Shelf, where the rest of the Witch Bitches wait. I’m not as close with any of them, which makes me kinda awkward as my social anxiety kicks in. Willow, Emily, Abril, Madison, Destiny, and Rachel are all a couple of years younger and came into the book club as an already-existing friend group. They’re nice, and they’re witches, but it takes a lot for me to open up, which is more a me thing than a them thing.

We weave our way through the display tables topped with featured books to get to the sideboard holding a tray of Skye’s cupcakes and Autumn’s cereal milk cocktails.

I’ve always loved this little bookshop, with its mix of wooden bookshelves, Tiffany lamps, and comfy old-timey velvet sofas. Now that Naomi’s a witch who also lives in Faerie, the book selection has gotten even better, the adventure fantasy and fantasy romance sections growing ever larger. There’s also a lot more orc and shifter romance, and I do a little double-take as Ipass a pile of books titledThe Panther’s Queen. I hadn’t realized the sequel had come out. I’ll have to snap it up next time I’m in the shop alone.

I grab a cocoa puffs white Russian and a matching cupcake, and we all pile onto the couches.

“This session of the Witch Bitch Spicy Book Club is now in order!” Hannah calls out.

“And we’re once again not talking about a book.” Skye laughs and lifts her drink. The librarian lives in constant hope that we’ll get to be a real book club, but with all the magical shenanigans around town, we rarely get to talk about books.

Violeta adds, “Here’s to Kayla, who got her power!”

Everybody cheers and drinks, then Jasmine demands I tell them everything, so I explain how Victoria came to life and began talking by rearranging the pictures on the wall.

“Victoria seems to have some level of awareness that goes back years. She knows she used to be a wedding chapel.” I take another swig of cocktail, letting the chocolaty goodness coat my tongue and wishing the drink was a little stronger—I sure as shit could use more liquid courage for this next part. “So… uh… about the wedding chapel thing…” The next bit comes out in a rush of words. “She trapped me and Shadow in a magical marriage contract, and we have to have a bunch of romantic dates and weddings andnotbang each other for an entire month, or we’re married forever!”