Free Pricolici by Alicia Nordwell Page A

you.”
    Tucker scoffed. “Me? I’m twenty years old and only shifted a few months ago. I don’t have enough power. There’s no way I could change Stelian.”
    Grecia shook her head. “I’ll give you your youth. You really don’t know anything, do you? I can sense what you are. I’m not as old as Stelian, but I know what power feels like—trained or not. You’re not a regular lupe, and you have magic. Very strong magic.”
    Without a teacher, Tucker wondered if he’d ever learn how to use the magic she and Stelian both said he had. Plus, Stelian seemed so sure that they were mates, but why him? Why would the most dominant male in their society want him? Tucker felt drawn toward the lupe, but he wondered if the male would still be attracted to him if he didn’t learn to use his power. He’d never expected to be an equal with his mate. His ranking in his haitas had always been the lowest.
    He’d never been able to act like the non-dominant lupes, though. He’d been too opinionated and didn’t seem to have that gene that made him eager to please those stronger than him.
    He grinned as he remembered telling Stelian off. A lesser lupe wouldn’t have been able to do that. He’d seen the few non-dominants get into arguments in his old haitas, and they’d always backed down when pressed. It was built into them to defer to the dominant lupes, yet Tucker had taken more than a few cuffs and kicks because he made eye contact when he shouldn’t and spoke out of turn.
    More and more, Tucker was coming to understand he needed to rethink a lot of what he thought he knew about himself.
    Stelian had said he’d known hultans. Even if he didn’t know how the magic worked, maybe he would know more about what they could do. Tucker had managed to actually do the astral projection thing Stelian had just mentioned as possible, even if he didn’t really know how he did it. He had, though, and it was becoming more and more clear that he really was a hultan.
    Now if he only had some sort of how-to manual.
    Sighing, he fingered a book on the shelf. A manual on coastal birds wouldn’t help him at all. Well, maybe he could figure out how to do other things on his own. Tucker knew he was smart. Growing up in a haitas without any parents hadn’t been easy. He’d learned to be self-sufficient and strong. Of course, curiosity had gotten him into trouble more than once, but Tucker had always been top of his class all through school and in college, before he’d been forced to drop out by the response to his pheromones. A major in history wasn’t exactly practical, but he’d thought about teaching at some level. A fascination with ancient cultures had always filled him.
    That fascination had been fed living in a haitas that had members whose lives had spanned over a hundred years, through times he could only read about. Their memories, and the way they spoke of the past, ignited his interest when he was still a child. Now he had another reason to dig into the past and learn as much as he could. It might be the only way to discover the power that seemed to be his birthright.
    “Tucker? Tucker!”
    Blinking, Tucker looked at Grecia. She’d grabbed him by the shoulder and given him a good shake.
    “What?” He looked at her in confusion.
    She let him go with a laugh. “You sort of left me for a bit. I thought maybe you were doing some magic stuff or something.”
    Tucker shook his head. “No, I don’t know much about magic. I didn’t even know I had any until Stelian told me I did.” He shrugged. “I’ll worry about that later. You know what I’d really like to do right now? Go get my stuff.”
    Grecia looked uncertain. “Where’s your stuff? I didn’t think you were from around here, and Stelian wouldn’t want you to leave town.”
    “It’s all in my truck outside the club in town with the two wolves sign.” Tucker could tell that Grecia wasn’t sure about leaving the house. “Look, I thought you said you were a