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yourself.” He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but he suspected the lightbearer could have just used his magic to pull the wetness out of his pants. Yet he was so flustered that he took off at a jog. Finn laughed.
    Genevieve frowned at her niece. “Really, Cecilia, was that necessary?”
    “Very,” she assured her aunt. Finn snickered. Genevieve left.
    “What was that about?” Finn asked.
    “Auntie Genevieve’s not very subtle way of trying to find me a mate,” Cecilia said with a grimace.
    Finn decided he’d returned to her side just in time. “Why is the queen trying to find you a mate?”
    “I think it’s because Olivia made such a good match with Tanner. She’s hoping I’ll do the same and then start popping out great nieces and nephews for her to dote on. She’s finally figured out that if she herself cannot bear any more children, she should start encouraging the other females in her family to do so.”
    “You look like you’re eating a lemon,” Finn commented.
    “The idea of mating and popping out babes makes me feel as though I’m eating lemons.”
    “Not the maternal sort, eh?”
    He watched as her gaze swept over the room. “Not particularly,” she murmured, and he knew there was more to that comment. Much more. He was about to probe when she piped up with, “Hey, look at us. We’ve been conversing for at least five minutes without arguing. For the second time today.”
    Finn frowned. “Yeah, it feels weird. Like I should pick a fight with you or something.”
    Cecilia laughed. “Are you saying you purposely argue with me?”
    “Sometimes,” he admitted with a shrug. “I’m used to a little more excitement than I see around here.”
    “Like what?”
    He thought about the pack he’d left a few months ago. And the pack master who likened himself to a god.
    “Trust me, arguing with you is a better alternative.”
    Genevieve appeared again, with another male lightbearer trailing in her wake. This one fawned over Cecilia so ridiculously it was comical. But despite her comment about not being maternal or interested in mating, she did not turn away from his attentions. Finn finally grew so disgusted, he stalked away. If that was the sort of man she liked, she wasn’t even worth arguing with once in a while.
    He left the party and moved into the shadows, and when he was certain no one else was around, he shifted into his favorite form, that of a wolf. And then he loped away, in search of one of his favorite pastimes: hunting. The game was certainly plentiful in this part of the world.

Chapter 3
    A week went by during which Auntie Genevieve dedicated herself to introducing Cecilia to what felt like every single male lightbearer in the coterie. The queen was clearly on a mission, despite Cecilia’s insistence that she was not interesting in taking a mate.
    She had taken to staying away from the beach house, in order to avoid her matchmaking aunt. She hated that she had to do so, because Olivia was her dearest friend, and normally, Cecilia spent her days in Olivia’s company. Not to mention the fact that avoiding the beach house meant she spent far more time in her parents’ home than she cared to.
    It was Saturday and dawn was just breaking. Cecilia had slipped from her warm bed, dressed in a pair of fleece pants and matching top, several pairs of wool socks, boots, and a heavy down coat. She pulled a cap over her head, gloves over her hands, and left the house.
    This time of year was difficult for a species of magical beings who required sunlight to live. November in the Midwest meant shorter days and many were cloud-covered and dreary. Since Aunt Genevieve’s party, every day had been like that. Today was the first promise of a sunny day, and Cecilia determined to meet the sun, to soak up those initial precious rays, alone, with no one to harass her about taking a mate or staying away from shifters.
    Her parents had spent the last week not so subtly trying to persuade her to stop