Free The Mating Intent-mobi by Bonnie Vanak Page B

what they’d find. When she protested, he simply scooped her over one shoulder again and carried her, jogging back to the encampment.
    “Dammit, Gabriel, put me down!”
    Her protests died as he set her on her feet. She gazed around the camp, her eyes wide.
    Every shifter was smiling. They’d all stopped eating their evening meals and looked rapt with joy. All the fear and worry had vanished, leaving only a feeling of peace and hope. Even he sensed it.
    Gabriel gently clasped his fingers around Sienna’s wrist and tugged her over to Roger. The hawk shifter’s broken arm was free of the sling, and he moved it around like a baseball pitcher warming up before a big game. Happiness replaced the constant, pinched pain of grief.
    “Gabe, it’s healed! I don’t know what happened, but all the sudden this enormous surge of power flowed into the camp and washed over us like a wave.”
    Releasing Sienna’s trembling hand, he knelt by the shifter. “Were you scared? Did it hurt you?”
    “Hurt?” Roger flexed his right fingers. “No, it felt really good. Warm and peaceful and loving.”
    A shadow flickered across his face, but it was fleeting. “For the first time since I lost Ursula, I didn’t feel this horrid emptiness. All I felt was peace, remembering the love we shared. I still miss her like crazy, and I always will, but it’s not the constant, crippling ache crushing my chest. Feels as if I can finally breathe.”
    The hawk’s brown gaze searched his. “Did you do this? Thanks, Gabe.”
    “Not me.” He nodded at Sienna. “She did.”
    Roger stood and bowed formally to the shaken Sienna. “Thank you.”
    “I did nothing,” she protested.
    “You did this, Sienna. You succeeded where I could not, no matter how I tried. You healed him. Not just here,” Gabriel touched Roger’s once-broken arm and then his heart. “but here as well.”
    Her mouth wobbled and sweat glistened on her forehead. Sienna shook her head. “It’s impossible. It must be you, Gabriel. I have nothing but dark power inside me.”
    “If I held the power of light, they would have been healed already,” he pointed out.
    Roger nodded. “He’s right. Whatever killed my darling Ursula was evil. I feel only good energy radiating from what healed my arm. Thank you, Sienna.”
    “Shifters know. Just as animals know a Skin has a good heart. We can feel their vibrations and energy and know if they are harmful people.” Gabriel cupped her chin and raised her face to meet his gaze. “You see the evidence here with your eyes, Sienna. Believe what you see.”
    Breathing in her scent of flowers, tangy earth and freshly cut grass, he felt dizzy with need. Sienna had the unique ability to turn him upside down, make him forsake common sense. He must keep his distance, keep his wits about him.
    Hell, he’d almost swear she’d cast an enchantment over him. Twenty-five years was a long time, but when he’d seen her in his store, all the old feelings had returned as if she’d never stepped away. He’d never wanted a female as much as he wanted her.
    Gabriel stroked a thumb over her wobbling lower lip. “They need you, Sienna. This land needs you and I need you. Don’t deny your true nature.”
    She remained silent as they returned to the house. Inside, she headed directly for the guest bedroom, turning to regard him as she put her hand on the doorknob.
    “I’m very tired, Gabriel, and I’m going to bed for the night. Please, leave me alone.”
    He stepped closer, stroking a hand through her thick blonde hair. “I have no intention of disturbing you for the rest of the night. But know this. Tomorrow is a new day. We’ll leave for the river after breakfast, to see if we can track the dark enchantment that killed Rex.”
    “And tomorrow night?”
    He studied her, his body tight with longing, his instincts sharpened and alert. “Tomorrow night we will be lovers. You can count on it.”
    They would be lovers, but she would leave him again. The