The Mating Intent-mobi by Bonnie Vanak Read Free Book Online Page A

beetle infestation. He used a pure Light Elf as a conduit.”
    Gabriel’s gaze softened. “You can accomplish much good, if I teach you.”
    She bit her lip, fighting the faint hope rising inside her. What if Gabriel were right? What if she could use Terithen’s dark magick like a fire hose and direct it for healing instead of destruction?
    Then she remembered her task. Always do as the king directs you , and do not question otherwise, her mother had instructed when she’d left Sienna in the care of the Royal Court.
    “No. I’m here to use the spring of Danu, not take lessons, Gabriel.”
    Disappointment crossed his expression, but he stood and brushed off his jeans. A door inside the house slammed and someone cursed loudly. Gabriel tilted his head. “Sounds like George is back.”
    She followed him to the kitchen. A barrel-chested bald man in a wife beater shirt and khaki pants rummaged through the stainless steel refrigerator, his thickly muscled arms covered with tattoos.
    “You finish closing up shop?” Gabriel asked.
    “Willow cashed out. She did great. So I let her finish closing up.”
    “Why aren’t you helping?”
    “Got hungry for a small snack.”
    Astonished, Sienna watched George withdraw an entire raw chicken, toss it up in the air and catch it like a basketball.
    “George, put down my food,” Gabriel ordered.
    The man slammed the refrigerator door, and let the chicken drop to the floor. Grinning, he waved a hand and shifted into an alligator.
    Sienna’s mouth went dry. No matter how many times she’d witnessed the transformation of beast shifters, it always left her slightly afraid. But she knew the beast shifters, knew if she showed fear, they would scent it.
    After decades of never displaying emotion in the political firestorm of the Fae King’s court, she knew how to keep a poker face.
    The gator opened its jaws and swallowed the raw chicken whole.
    Gabriel shook his head. “There goes my dinner. At least he left you all the vegetables.”
    The gator grinned, showing rows of pointed teeth.
    “Don’t get ideas or I’ll turn you into a cluckagator wrapped in bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon. Even your gnarly hide,” Gabriel warned.
    Sienna’s mouth worked as she held back a laugh, her previous grief now gone. Gabriel’s jocular threat diminished the power of the fierce beast shifter.
    George the gator ambled out of the kitchen, but not before giving Gabriel a one-clawed salute that clearly indicated, “Fuck you.”
    “Nice guy. You’re still friends?”
    Gabriel nodded. “He’s ornery and only Willow seems to calm him down, but George is the best protector of the ‘Glades for miles. He knows every inch of the swamp, alerts me when the water levels are low and poachers are trespassing. In turn, I alert the Skin authorities.”
    “He lives here?”
    “No, I bought him a house nearby. George was homeless. Some stupid Skin thought it would be dandy to torment a gator by stabbing him with an ice pick. He was laid up for a while and lost everything he owned.”
    Touched at Gabriel’s thoughtfulness, she shook her head. “You’re very unusual. Not many shifters would grant refuge to other shifters, predator or prey.”
    He glanced at her. “It’s a necessity, Sienna. We all band together for protection from development, the Skins who live here and tourists.” His mouth quirked. “Sometimes I think the tourists are the worst, with those hideous lime green shorts they wear.”
    Then his gaze grew tender and he touched her cheek. “Although you’d make any crazy outfit look better.”
    Her breath hitched. Sienna leaned against his touch, closing her eyes for a moment. It had been too long since anyone touched her with tenderness. For too long she’d shuttered her feelings, never showing herself to the outside world. She was the stoic Shadow Guardian, always devoted to duty.
    A duty that did not include Gabriel Sanders in her life.
    Drained, she pulled away.
    He lightly