And then she decided to try out this modern-girl thing: she kissed him thoroughly before he could answer.

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

After their kiss, Jayce had asked her to explain what she meant, but she couldn’t, not really. “I need to get permission to say any more,” she’d told him. Jayce went back to town, and Rika set out to find Sionnach, realizing that this would be the first time she went to her Alpha with a request. It rankled, and she pondered what she’d do if Sionnach said no.

Do I want this enough to challenge him?

She wasn’t sure. All she could say for certain was that while she wasn’t sure of the rules for courtship in this modern world, she was pretty sure that lying wasn’t a good plan. So she needed to seek Sionnach’s permission.

She found the fox faery nestled in the shadows of a rocky edge that formed the side of what would become a water hole in the wet season. He wouldn’t be visible if she hadn’t wound her way through the canyon and through a narrow opening. He didn’t quite flinch at her appearance, but he didn’t offer her a smile either. All he said was “Princess.”

Rika smothered a sigh. He didn’t often sink into melancholy moods—or if he did, she hadn’t seen many of them—so she was at a momentary loss. Carefully, she skirted the cacti that flourished here and walked over to stand awkwardly in front of him. “Why do you call me that?”

He shrugged. “You weren’t the queen of winter or summer, but you could’ve been. You aren’t the Alpha, but you could be . . . so, princess.”

She sat down next to him on the ground. “I never wanted to be a queen or Alpha. I just wanted to be loved.”

Sionnach stared at her for long enough that she squirmed. They had discussed her past enough that he shouldn’t be surprised by her words. Maybe it was his mood, or maybe it was because he’d almost kissed her. Either way, she felt uncharacteristically vulnerable.

“Shy?”

“You like the mortal,” Sionnach said.

“Yes.”

“That’s why you’re here.” He looked away from her to stare out at the desert.

Rika frowned. Sionnach had all but shoved Jayce into her arms, yet now he was looking at her like she was wrong to have done exactly what he seemed to want. Cautiously, she said, “I won’t tell him what I am if you forbid it.”

The fox faery nodded, but he didn’t look at her. “Do you remember when we met?”

She smiled. “You were dancing in the moonlight like you didn’t know anyone was around.”