He told me he wanted to make a wish, and I almost laughed in his face. He was the first shifter I’d ever seen, though I didn’t know it then. To me, he was just a stunningly good-looking man in his late twenties, all coiled muscle and restless energy, with dark, troubled eyes that lingered on you. He stormed into the shop like he was on a mission, and I’d seen him pacing the street for a while before he finally made his entrance.
“I’m here to see the magician,” he said in a commanding tone. “I’d like to make a wish. ”
“No,” I replied, returning a book to a shelf with careful detachment. He crossed his arms.
“Aren’t you going to get him? ”
“No, thanks. I choose life. ”
When his expression hardened into a displeased scowl, I added, “He’s off today.
Hungover. ”
He clenched his jaw, debating whether to force the issue, but in the end, he just exhaled and nodded. “When should I come back? ”
I wanted to say never, for your sake, but I wasn’t allowed to warn clients, no matter how foolish they were for coming here.
So I told him to come back tomorrow. His name was Caleb, and he came back two days later, looking almost sheepish. I led him to the back room where Adrien was building a house of cards with obsessive concentration. My boss, my caretaker, my father’s mysterious final request.
I still knew nothing about why my father had left me in the care of a man who granted wishes for a living, a man whose powers came from a demon and always demanded a hefty price. No price, no wish. “What is it you desire? ” Adrien asked, flicking a finger at his card construction, which toppled over.
“To become Alpha of your pack? ” Caleb blinked in surprise. Adrien smirked. “Don’t act so surprised.
Becoming alpha is what any shifter wants. ”
“Well, it’s not what I want,” Caleb replied with a frown. “Oh. Then what would you like me to do for you?
”
Caleb hesitated, then squared his shoulders. “My brother just took a mate. I would like you to break the bond. ”
Caleb came from a large pack, one that had clawed its way to influence after years of being small and vulnerable.
His mother had died protecting her children in a Rogue attack while his father was away, and the memory of that loss had driven Caleb and his brother, Rowan, to help their father rebuild everything they’d lost. But Rowan, their future Alpha, had chosen a mate who was weak, insignificant, an Omega. Annie. The very definition of a damsel in distress.
Rowan was kind and magnanimous to a fault, always trying to save the unsavable, so of course he’d taken it upon himself to protect the most fragile wolf to ever enter their pack. And soon enough, he’d declared her his mate. Caleb had nothing against Annie personally. She was bland and boring and perfectly insignificant.
But she’d done nothing to earn her place, and Caleb would be damned if he let an Omega ruin everything his family had built. Annie wasn’t fit to lead. Annie had nothing to bring to the table. Annie had to go.
“So you want me to break your brother’s bond to his mate,” Adrien resumed after Caleb finished his story. I was feeling much less sympathetic by then. It wasn’t Caleb’s business who his brother married, but I kept my mouth shut. I knew it wasn’t my place to comment.
“Yes. I want him to forget about Annie and find someone better suited for the job,” Caleb said, looking more resolute by the minute. “Can you make that happen? ”
“Of course.
But it will cost you. ”
“How much do you want? ”
“It’s not money I want. I’ll grant your wish, and in exchange, I’ll take what matters most to you.
”
I shivered, just like I always did when Adrien explained the price of a wish. “I guess that would be my Lamborghini,” Caleb said with a displeased frown, making me roll my eyes. A car. That was the thing he valued most.
“Keep in mind,” Adrien warned, “what matters most to people is rarely what they’d expect. I can’t guarantee I’ll be taking your car. I’ll be taking what matters most to you. ”
“It’s definitely the car,” Caleb insisted with a smirk.
“It’s vintage. ”
Once we were alone in the adjacent room, I cornered Adrien. “Don’t do it. It’s a selfish wish.
He’s going to ruin this couple’s chance at happiness. ”
“I don’t make the rules. If a client wishes to make a wish, I’m obligated to accept. ”
“But you could discourage him.
Make him understand what he wants is wrong. ”
“How would you know it’s wrong? ” Adrien asked, perfectly indifferent. “You’ve met him for all of ten minutes.
You don’t know the brother or the mate. She could be a conniving little thing for all you know. ”
I pouted, displeased. “Do what you want, then.
You always do. ”
And he did. Minutes later, Adrien granted Caleb’s wish, and somewhere not too far away, a sacred bond broke. A month later, Caleb came home to find Annie sitting on the porch by herself, drinking one of those insipid herbal infusions she liked.
“It doesn’t even smell good,” he told her. “Why do you drink that stuff? ”
Annie greeted him warmly, as if she hadn’t noticed his approach. Some wolf she was.
Anyone else in the pack would have heard him coming from miles away, but Annie was always daydreaming, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Caleb didn’t regret breaking the mating bond for a second. Neither Annie nor Rowan remembered ever being bonded, and there had been no suffering. Caleb had made sure of that.
He’d also made sure Rowan would never be tempted to court her again, and that Annie wouldn’t be sad. She may be useless, but Caleb wasn’t a monster. He had no desire to break a poor girl’s heart. “Would you like me to make you one?
” she smiled, pointing at her cup. “It’s an acquired taste, but it’s very good for the body. ”
Caleb had no desire to try her drink, but she looked so hopeful that he replied, “I guess, if you add whiskey to it. ”
“I can do that,” she said, looking pleased.
“Wait here. ”
They drank their infusion together in silence. Annie wasn’t skilled in conversation, just like she wasn’t skilled at anything, but sitting with her was strangely pleasant. As he was about to retreat back inside, she spoke.
“You know, Caleb, I always wanted to thank you. ”
“Thank me? ” he asked, genuinely surprised. “Yes.
I’m very grateful your family agreed to take me in. ”
“That wasn’t my decision,” Caleb confessed. “Maybe not, but I know your brother and father. They’d never have agreed to let me stay if you’d argued against it.
For that, I thank you. ”
An uncomfortable feeling settled in his gut. He hadn’t argued against her staying, but he’d never encouraged it either. He’d seen her as a lost cause and chosen to ignore her over and over again.
And yet here she was, thanking him as if he’d shown her kindness. “I know I’m not very strong,” Annie said, smiling sadly. “So I’m grateful you’ve given me a chance, Caleb. ”
“Why are you telling me this now?
” he asked, curious. Annie turned away. “Because your brother has arranged for me to be mated. He’s from another pack, so I’ll be leaving soon.
”
Caleb agreed to act as Annie’s chaperone during the courting period. When Rowan requested it, he couldn’t find it in his heart to say no. Partly because it was his brother and future Alpha asking, but also because he was excited by the idea of Annie finding a mate outside the pack. She’d have a secure future, away from Caleb and his family.
Best of both worlds. The only problem was Annie’s enthusiasm. “Corbin is as good a wolf as any,” he told her, driving her to the meeting in his Lamborghini, which, against all odds, hadn’t been confiscated by the magician. “Give him a chance.
If you don’t like him, then you won’t have to mate with him,” he added without thinking. What was he saying? Of course she’d have to mate with him. It was Annie’s best chance at a safe future.
But a little voice whispered in his mind: She was your Alpha’s mate. Your own brother’s mate. There is no better wolf than Rowan. But you took that away from her.
“Don’t worry, Caleb,” Annie said, placing a hand on his arm. “I’ll make Corbin like me. I won’t let you down. ”
The unease only grew.
“To be honest,” Corbin said, once Annie had left them alone, “I’m not very difficult. I just want a nice mate who can cook and bear my children. I don’t care that she’s not very strong, and your father promised me a nice dowry for her. ”
He said this as if Caleb would be happy to hear it.
Maybe a month ago, he would have been. But ever since he’d torn Annie and Rowan apart, he just hadn’t been the same. It was just the guilt talking, he told himself as he held back a grimace at Corbin’s words. Except Annie wasn’t some stock to be bargained for.
She was a person with thoughts and feelings, but it seemed like everyone had forgotten that, even Annie herself. Later, driving home, he asked, “What did you think of him? ”
“A strong wolf,” she replied politely. “Yeah, we’ve established that, Annie.
But did you like him? ”
“What’s not to like? I’m very lucky to have found a match, Caleb. I know that.
”
Caleb ground his teeth. “It’s not just about finding a random match. It’s about finding love and happiness. ”
Annie looked at him as if he’d grown a second head, trying to guess what he wanted to hear.
It broke his heart a little, because he realized she always had. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she confessed in a small, fragile voice. “Do you think you could grow to love him? ”
Annie hesitated, then averted her eyes.
“My heart has always belonged to another,” she said in the firmest tone he’d ever heard her use. “And it always will. ”
Caleb’s heart sank. “But don’t worry,” Annie added, placing her small hand on his arm.
“He’s not someone I stand a chance with. I’ll mate with Corbin. I promise. I would never let you down, Caleb.
”
The date for Annie and Corbin’s mating ceremony was set, and everything was exactly as Caleb should have hoped. Yet the faster the day approached, the more anxious he became. He lost focus, sleep, and appetite. He couldn’t stand the idea of Annie leaving with a wolf she didn’t truly want, just because she believed she couldn’t do better.
Just because Caleb had ensured she wouldn’t do better. He’d ruined her happiness. She loved another who would never have her. Except Caleb knew the man she loved would have taken her as a mate.
Annie was happy with Rowan, and Caleb had ruined that. “How about I train Annie personally? ” he offered his brother. “If she became stronger, we could find her a better match.
”
Rowan didn’t object. He still cared for Annie and wanted nothing more than to see her happy. So Caleb started spending time with her, hunting in their wolf forms, practicing her fighting skills, trying to attune her senses and control over her abilities. He could see how hard she tried, how much she hoped to become stronger.
Except he realized she wasn’t doing it for herself or for a better mate. She was trying to please him. “Maybe that’s your problem,” he snapped in a fit of anger. “You’re always thinking of other people and what they want.
What do you want, Annie? Do you even want to be stronger? ”
Her smile broke, and tears pricked her eyes. “It doesn’t matter what I want,” she said with resolve, “because I won’t ever have it.
I know that, and I’ve made peace with that. But if I can bring a smile to someone else’s face, then at least it won’t have been a waste. ”
“You’re not a waste,” Caleb protested, feeling it in his heart to be true. Annie wasn’t strong or able to fight, but she was calm, collected, and understanding.
She read people easily and always found a way to help them, even to her own detriment. That wasn’t nothing. “Please don’t be angry with me,” Annie said, taking his hand. “I just want you to be happy, Caleb.
I always have. ”
Caleb came back to our shop soon after. I was upstairs making dinner when he arrived. I only became aware of his presence when I heard yelling from below.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I hurried down to discover our shifter client shouting at Adrien in a tone that made me freeze in fear. “I’ll pay whatever you want or do whatever you want,” he was ordering, backing Adrien into a corner. “I don’t care. But you have to cancel my wish.
”
Adrien looked perfectly indifferent. “I couldn’t cancel your wish even if I wanted to. Once it’s done, it cannot be undone until the day I die. ”
Caleb looked like he was seriously considering making that happen.
My heart pounded as I jumped in. “What if he makes a second wish? ” I asked. “Would that work?
”
Adrien’s eyes snapped to me in displeasure. “Go back upstairs, Iris. ”
“But I insist—what if one wish per person—no refunds,” Adrien declared, giving Caleb a cold, unyielding look. Caleb’s anger deflated before my eyes, replaced with a sharp, heartbreaking sadness.
“Please,” he begged in a defeated voice. “If not for me, then for her. Annie’s a good person, the best. And she’s about to mate with someone who doesn’t even see that.
But Rowan did. He would have made her happy. What I did to her was unfair. ”
“Life is unfair,” Adrien interrupted wearily.
“Now leave us, shifter. You’re scaring my assistant, and she doesn’t easily get scared. I won’t have it. ”
Caleb left our shop looking like his entire world had ended.
We never saw him again. But a week after Caleb’s departure, another shifter came into the shop. A frail, pale-looking girl with very light blonde curls, freckles, and earnest brown eyes. She wouldn’t look powerful or impressive even if she tried, but she greeted us with a warm, hopeful smile.
It was Annie. “I heard that you grant wishes,” she told Adrien with peaceful resolve. “So I’ve come to make one. ”
I wondered if she knew what Caleb had done.
It must be why she was here. She couldn’t know that Caleb couldn’t make a second wish, but Annie could very well make one for herself, to undo his and be reunited with Rowan, her Alpha mate. “All right,” Adrien said, giving her an assessing look. “What is it you desire?
”
Annie’s expression became resolute. “There’s someone in our pack who’s so worried about us being vulnerable that he focuses his entire life on making sure we’re safe, instead of thinking about his own happiness. I don’t think he even knows how to be happy. You understand?
” She frowned sadly. “It’s because when he was little, his mother died protecting him. He feels guilty, and he’s afraid that if he starts thinking with his heart rather than his head, he’ll lose everything again. But he deserves better than that.
He’s a good man, and he deserves to be happy. I just want him to be happy. ”
“Is that your wish? ” Adrien asked, not unkindly.
“Yes, sir. I wish for the man I love to be happy. ”
I became nervous. Adrien hadn’t even told Annie about the consequences of making a wish, and she’d already lost everything once because of his magic.
It didn’t seem fair that she should face consequences again just for wanting someone to be happy. But Adrien snapped me a warning look. “Very well. Tonight, the man you love will ask something of you.
Agree to it, and you’ll ensure his happiness forever. ”
A bright, relieved expression spread across Annie’s features. “I will,” she immediately agreed. “It really will make him happy?
I guarantee it,” Adrien replied with a small smile. “Oh, thank you,” Annie exclaimed. “Thank you, sir. Really.
”
She got up from her chair, eager to be on her way, but then turned back as if remembering something. “What do I owe you for the wish? ”
Adrien shrugged. “That one’s free of charge.
”
Annie would be mated to Corbin tomorrow, and Caleb had decided it was unacceptable. She had made it very clear she was only agreeing to the union to please their pack. But she needed to understand that everyone needed her there. Caleb needed her there.
He didn’t want Annie to leave, especially not if it was going to make her unhappy. But he also understood that Annie needed a mate. So really, there was only one thing left to do. He knocked on her bedroom door, feeling more nervous than he expected.
Barely a knock later, Annie appeared, looking hopeful and expectant. “Caleb! ” she exclaimed, sounding confusingly relieved. “I was worried you weren’t going to show.
But you’re here. ”
She pulled him inside and made him sit in a chair, which Caleb did, feeling uncharacteristically dumbfounded. “Go ahead,” Annie encouraged, squeezing his hands. “Tell me.
What can I do for you? ”
“How do you know I have something to ask you? ”
“A hunch,” she replied with a smile. Caleb hesitated.
“Well, I’ve been meaning to ask you…” He suddenly felt very foolish. His plan had been to ask Annie to mate with him instead of Corbin. If she became his mate, she wouldn’t have to leave the pack where she was happy. She’d be protected, and he’d be a good mate to her.
He may not be Rowan, but perhaps he could be the next best thing. But looking at her so earnestly, holding onto his hand expectantly, with that warm, kind expression he’d grown so fond of, Caleb understood he’d been a selfish fool once more. He didn’t want her for the pack’s sake. He wanted her because he’d fallen in love with her, and he wanted her all to himself.
Instead of reuniting her with Rowan, the mate she deserved, the man she claimed she’d always love. He felt sick to his stomach, but he was determined to fix things. He would make Annie happy, even if it meant giving her up. “Annie,” he began, bringing her hand to his lips.
“You once said to me there was someone you would always love, that you’d prefer to be mated with. ”
Annie searched his gaze, looking confused. “Yes, but well…”
“I came here tonight to tell you that this person does in fact love you, and that he would love nothing more than to have you for his mate. And if you let me, I promise you, Annie, I will make sure you—.
”
Annie threw her arms around his shoulders, burying her face into his neck. “You love me? ” she asked, her voice full of hope and tears. “You really love me, Caleb?
”
“I—,” Caleb interrupted himself, confused. “What? ”
Annie immediately recoiled, looking terrified. “I thought you just said the person I loved felt the same,” she said, her voice trembling.
“But I misunderstood, didn’t I? Of course you don’t feel this way about me. ”
She lowered her eyes, twisting her hands nervously, looking like she was about to move away. Caleb didn’t think he’d survive it.
He grabbed her arms and pulled her onto his lap, his heart leaping. “Of course I love you, Annie,” he told her, awed by how ridiculously happy she seemed at the news. “But you said there’s someone you’ve loved forever, and that you’d always loved. So I assumed you meant Rowan.
”
“Yes,” she said, placing her small hand on his cheek. “It’s you. It’s always been you. ”
Caleb took her face in his hands and pulled the woman he loved into a kiss, realizing he hadn’t known what real happiness felt like until this very moment.
“Break your engagement, Annie,” he begged, bringing their foreheads together. “Be my mate instead. ”
“Yours? ” Annie asked, tears of joy streaming down her face.
“Really? ”
“Yes, please. Will you accept me as your mate and make me the happiest man in our entire pack? ”
Annie’s eyes widened in surprise, but then a slow, hopeful smile grazed her lips.
“Yes,” she replied. “Yes, of course I will. ”
Back at the shop, Adrien was staring at our dinner with a disgusted expression. “And what is this supposed to be?
”
I ignored him. “Do you think Annie’s got her wish by now? ” I asked nervously. “Undoubtedly,” Adrien replied, bringing his fork to his nose to smell my dish.
“I think it’s burnt,” he complained. “Poor Annie. I don’t think I’m going to get any sleep tonight. Why did my father leave me with a maniac who ruins people’s lives?
It makes no sense. Even your own rules don’t make sense. Is anything you ever told me about your work even true? You always claimed you couldn’t grant wishes for free, yet you agreed to grant her wish for nothing in return.
”
“Because I didn’t grant her anything,” Adrien replied with a shrug. “She got what she wanted, magic-free. ”
I frowned, unsure what that meant. But I felt some relief knowing Annie was fine.
“Well, I guess Caleb will be relieved to see things end well for her. I guess maybe you didn’t ruin anyone’s life today. Good on you. ”
“I guess not,” Adrien replied, making his way back to the stove.
“Though you still took the thing he loved most,” I observed. “Don’t you think he’ll miss it? ”
“Not really. If anything, it was holding him back.
”
Seeing my confused expression, he sighed and added, “It was his fear. His fear of losing the people he loved. He was holding onto it like his most precious possession. So it’s what I took from him as a price for his wish.
”
That took me a minute to process. His fear? “But that sucks,” I exclaimed. “How does it benefit you, taking someone’s fear away?
If anything, you helped him, on top of granting his wish. From what I gathered, this wasn’t how things were supposed to work. ”
Adrien poured too much pasta into the boiling water. I couldn’t read his expression, and I was left staring at his back.
“I guess we’ll find out,” he eventually replied, before getting started on a sauce.
