“Willa?” He blinked a few times, trying to understand. “What did she have to do with it?”

Roxy picked up the silver claw hanging off the long chain around her neck. “She made this part of it and Pandora did the main spell. It was a team effort.” She dropped the claw. “I just don’t get it. I thought you’d be thrilled.”

“I am. I would be.” He sighed. “My aunt had this same spell cast on her, and I’m so sorry to tell you this, but she died young because of it. The magic takes a terrible toll on the human body. I want forever with you, Roxy. As much time as I can get and –”

“Did I forget to tell you I’m not completely human?”

He went still. “What?”

“Turns out I’ve got more than human blood running through my veins. Mostly some nymph and a little witch, to be exact. And that other spell you’re talking about? Pandora told me about that. She said she’d never perform it on a human, but this spell is different. And it’s safe because I’m not entirely human. In fact, that’s what makes it work.”

His anger faded. “Different how?”

She picked up the claw again. “This amulet holds all the magic and it’s tuned to me so that only I can activate it. I can shift whenever I want. I just slip this over my finger and say the word.”

“And that’s it? There’s no magic that will wear you down over the years? You won’t lose any of your life force to support it? No bad side effects?”

“Nope. You can talk to Pandora about it if you want.”

“I will.” He took hold of her shoulders again as what she’d just told him sank in. “Are you saying you can become a panther like me anytime you want to?”

She nodded. “Anytime. I’m never going to be a real shifter. I don’t have a half-form and my eyes will never glow, but I can turn into a panther just like you.”

“And you did this for me? For us?”

She scooted forward and put her hands on his knees. “Absolutely. I don’t want there to be anything we can’t share. If we’re going to give this relationship a fair shot, we need to be on equal footing. After what I went through the first time, I want everything to be right this time.”

“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. I love you. And I love everything about you. No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.” He got to his feet and helped her up. “I know you just got out of an awful marriage, but I hope when the time comes you’ll be willing to talk about entering into a very different one with me. I can’t be without you, Roxy. I can’t.”

She swallowed. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

“I…hell, yes, I am. Not today or tomorrow or even next year. Just whenever the time is right for you. Please tell me that doesn’t scare you away.”

She sucked in a breath, her eyes bright with tears. “I’ve been trying not to tell you I love you for the last week. I thought it was too soon. Thought I couldn’t really know this soon. But I do. I can’t be without you either and I don’t want to be. So yes. When the time is right, I will. And to be honest, I don’t think it’s going to take that long for the time to be right.”

He scooped her into his arms and kissed her, hard. “Then there’s only one thing left to do.”

She smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Is this thing going to make dinner late?”

“Yes.”

She moved her hands to his shirt and started unfastening the top button. “What else is it going to do?”

He knew his eyes must be glowing with all the emotion coursing through him. “It’s going to make you sweaty and tired, but when it’s over, you’re going to want to do it again.”

She laughed as he carried her around the couch and toward the bedroom. He picked his keys off the counter, and with her still in his arms, he headed toward the front door.

She frowned. “Um, shouldn’t we be headed toward the bedroom?”

“Nope.” He walked outside and went right to his car, where he put her on her feet and unlocked the passenger’s side door. “We’re going for a run.”

She let out a little gasp. “You mean like the way shifters do?”

He walked around to his side of the car. “Exactly like shifters do. What did you think we were going to do?”

She snorted. “Something else.”

“You have a dirty mind.” He winked at her. “The something else comes after.”

Roxy didn’t know what was more exhilarating. Running through the forests of Nocturne Falls as a panther with all the speed and agility of the big cat, or doing all that running while at Alex’s side, both of them in panther form. It was like the speed of driving the Vette, only so much better.

The run, and the night, wasn’t something she’d ever forget even though she knew they would repeat it many, many times over the course of their lives, a thought that brought her indescribable joy. She also couldn’t wait to use this experience in her books. The details she’d be able to add now would really bring the world of the shifters alive for her readers.

And, in a curious twist of fate, she felt as though Wolfgang and Marabella had become real to her. She could imagine what they would feel when they went for a run together, and how much more romantic it was than she’d ever realized.

At the end of the run, Alex brought them to a stop beside a waterfall and shifted back into his human form. He was still in his uniform, something that amused her to no end. He could have changed, but his eagerness to do this with her had trumped all else.