Free Sarai's Fortune by Abigail Owen

back off a bit. Wait for her chances as they came.
    But if anyone knew patience, she did. As a Seer, she had no choice.
    ****
    Zac called himself all sorts of fool as he walked away from Sarai as fast as he could without looking as though he were running. Luckily, with his room on the same side of the apartment as hers, he made it there without bumping into any of the other men. He needed a moment to collect himself.
    He’d been angry with Sarai when he’d gone to her room to confront her. George was convinced that shaking her babysitters had been her goal with all her shenanigans today, which had him concerned.
    Zac’s concern came in the form of anger. He’d already been clear with her that skipping off wasn’t a good idea. But, deep down, he knew the emotion came from a place he didn’t want to examine too closely. From a place where the thought of harm coming to her sent a spike of panic through his blood.
    He’d been truthful when he’d told Sarai of his promise to Andie. He took that promise deadly serious. However, what had started out as an obligation to a friend was now more. Now it was personal.
    Damned if he hadn’t almost kissed her as he’d stared into those wide gray-blue eyes. He’d been close enough that he could see the tiny freckles across the bridge of her nose, smell the scent of vanilla. So sweet, he’d wanted to taste, to sip at her lips. So distracting that he completely lost his train of thought—including the anger that had driven him to her in the first place.
    So he’d left, before he did something really stupid.
    But that didn’t fix the issue. She’d made no promise not to leave. She’d just said it wasn’t her intention to make him work to keep his own promise. Which was a politic answer that gave away nothing.
    The woman had spent too many years learning to be evasive in her old dare. He’d have to warn George and Scott to keep a tighter coverage on her, and, when he was in the apartment, Zac would keep a closer eye on her himself.
    He just hoped he could do so without also giving in to the urge to get closer to her body.

CHAPTER 12
    “Who am I connecting you with today?” Andie’s tone was more amused than offended.
    Sarai cringed. “Next time I call, it’ll be just to talk with you,” she promised.
    “Uh-huh. Anything we should be concerned about with this one?”
    Usually, she didn’t share her visions with anyone other than those directly affected, but she understood why Andie, as an Alpha of one of the dares, needed to ask. “Internal stuff only today.”
    “Okay. Tell me who to connect you to. Must be someone big if you have to go through me.”
    She wasn’t wrong. “First I need a quick word with Hannah. Then I need to talk to Tieryn McGraw.”
    There was a short pause on the other end of the line. Sarai had a good guess what Andie was thinking.
    “I know who she is,” she assured her friend.
    There were certain positions in the Shadowcat Nation that were kept as secret as possible. Only the Alphas knew each of the Alphas, Betas, and Kuharte in the dares. The rule was put in place for safety purposes but really had been created because of the mountain lion shifters’ suspicious natures. Creating a society out of animals who’d rather fight each other than work together was a constant uphill battle.
    However, there was very little that could be kept secret from a Seer. Sarai knew who all the Alphas, Betas, and Kuharte were. She’d known all her life, even when seats of power shifted. Tieryn McGraw happened to be Kuharte like her—someone with supernatural powers beyond the ability to shift. She was a Healer, one of two in the Shadowcat Nation, the other being JoLynn Mason in the Keller Dare.
    She could hear Andie’s long sigh. “Okay. I’ll get Hannah first.”
    The line beeped and Sarai waited while Andie put through the call. It took quite some time. Not a surprise. Most of the compounds were fairly large and complex, making it difficult to track