Page 93 of Wedding the Werepanther

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Naomi scrunches up her nose. “Okay, so I don’t want to break girl code or anything, but you’re a good friend, so I’m torn.”

“Go on.” I lean one hip against the edge of her desk and cross my arms.

“Kayla hasn’t said anything to me directly, but… several of the other witches were talking after the handfasting ceremony. There’s some concern that you’re not serious about Kayla, that you’re going to get bored and leave her.”

“What?” The smile slides from my face, and I growl, “Why?”

“Because you’ve told her it’s a ‘game’ and that you’re going to ‘win.’” She makes air quotes around both words. “Kind of hard to misconstrue. That’s the kind of thing players say about their conquests, not what you want to hear from a long-term partner.”

“Define ‘player.’”

“A player is a guy who’s just out to sleep with as many women as he can. He’ll say anything to make it happen, then drop them and move on to the next person.” She jabs a finger at me, her expression no-nonsense. “You’re one of my best friends, but I also like Kayla, and I don’t think she has much experience with guys. If this isn’t serious for you, you need to stop.”

“Goddess,” I groan, rubbing my face. I throw out a hand. “It’s how cat sith talk about mating. We call it the courtship game, because we expect it to be fun and exciting and just difficult enough to entice.”

“So you’re serious about her?”

“More serious than I’ve been about anything in my whole life.” A small smile curls my lips. “I love her.”

“Oh, Shadow. I’m so happy for you!” Naomi’s demeanor changes in an instant, her face softening as she throws her arms around me. Then she pulls back to point at me again. “The person you need to say all of this to is Kayla.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With a laugh, she teleports us back into the main room of the bookshop, and the kits come rushing over to show me the books Kayla helped them pick.

I meet her beautiful brown eyes and mouth, “Thank you.”

She’s been so kind and generous with my family. It hurts my heart to realize I’ve given her so many reasons to doubt my intentions.

I will fix this.

I must.

Because if there’s one thing I’m serious about, it’s how much I love my witchy beauty.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Kayla

The house feels really quiet after the other werepanthers leave. Even Shadow’s gone a lot, catching up on delivering messages all over Faerie. I should be glad, because it gives me the chance to focus on work for the next couple of days. Also, I usually find it hard to be around so many people constantly without any alone time to recharge.

Instead, I’m a little wistful, missing the excited chatter of the kittens as they complete another level of a video game or their happy shrieks as they play with Dewdrop in the yard.

My familiar misses them, too. The dragonet cuddles on my lap while I work, his purr a quiet rumble that possibly soothes him even more than it does me.

And Victoria? The house is downright moping and keeps listlessly opening and closing the outer doors as if pretending the werekittens might run inside.

“When’s the next party?”she writes across the office’s magical parchment.“You promised.”

“It’s only been three days since the handfasting party.”

The back door slams.

“How about this?” I stroke Dewdrop’s little forehead. “I’ll order pizza for dinner tonight. When the delivery pixies get here, we can invite them in to meet Victoria, and they can play with Dewdrop after.”

My familiar perks up. “Yes, please!”