Chapter 12
The next day as Olivia and Eli were enjoying their coffee on the porch, Silke did not appear with pastries, but she called with an invitation.
“Morning,” Silke greeted as Olivia put her on her cellphone’s speaker.
“How do you two feel about coming to the main lodge today? We’ve got no guests booked and I figured we could all use a breather.
I need to get some maintenance done on the deck and the roof, but after that, it’s a free day for the boys and the rest of the staff. ”
Olivia looked at Eli, who was leaning against the railing with a mug of coffee. He nodded.
“We’d love to,” she said.
Bo picked them up twenty minutes later and dropped them off at the lodge.
Hawk and Ink were on the front deck with power tools, replacing some warped boards, and Snake was hauling lumber from the back of a truck.
Inside, Silke was at the front desk with a clipboard and a pen tucked behind her ear. Her face lit up when they walked in.
“Welcome to the Seven Peaks main lodge.” She gestured around her like a proud parent.
“Silke, this place is amazing,” Olivia said, and she meant it.
From the outside, it was all rustic charm—reddish log walls, stone chimney, and lush pine trees surrounded the building.
But inside, it opened up into a sprawling lobby with high ceilings, exposed beams, and floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the mountains.
A massive stone fireplace anchored one end of the room, and handcrafted settees and sofas piled with comfortable cushions and flannel blankets surrounded it invitingly.
Even Eli let out a whistle. “This is special.”
Silke glowed under their praise. “She’s my baby,” she said.
“But this baby’s getting some much-needed TLC.
” She gestured vaguely at a light fixture hanging at an angle.
“And since we’ve been at capacity for guests and events the past couple of months, I thought we could all use a breather.
We’re gonna have a barbecue on the deck later, once all the work is done. ”
“Can we help with anything?” Eli offered.
“Pshaw,” Silke said with a wave of her hand. “You’re guests here. Now, you should come and have our famous breakfast. Since we already planned the menu for the week, I just asked our kitchen staff to prepare everything like they usually do if we had guests, since the crew will need the energy.”
Silke led them into the restaurant, a warm, paneled room off to the side of the reception area with checkered tablecloths and a view of the front deck.
The buffet table was heavily laden with all kinds of breakfast food, from baskets of rolls, croissants, and sourdough to piles of eggs, bacon, and sausages warming under heat lamps.
Olivia made a beeline for the waffle station, piling her plate with a full stack.
Eli let out a sigh, then added an extra helping of fries on his plate.
She smiled to herself as she walked back to their table.
Oh God, I love him so much.
She stopped short, the waffles nearly sliding off her plate from the momentum.
I do?
She blinked, glanced over her shoulder at him as he carefully picked at the pile of crispy bacon.
Yes, I do.
“Everything okay?” Silke cocked her head to the side. “You seem … I don’t know. Shocked or something. Like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“M-me?” she stammered. “I’m fine. Just fine. And hungry.” Sliding past Silke, she headed to the table and put her plate down.
I love him. I love him.
“Olivia?”
Eli’s voice jolted her from her reverie. Her head snapped up. “Yes?”
“Are you okay?”
I love you. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just hungry.” She attempted to sound casual, but her words ended up sounded singsongy. Panic rose in her. What was she going to do now? Should she tell him? What if he didn’t feel the same way?
Her wolf, on the other hand, remained cool and calm. Smug even, as if it had known before her.
“I don’t know how you True Mates pack away so much food,” Silke declared as she sat down on the chair next to Olivia. “If I wasn’t busy running around the place, this French Toast would go straight to my—” She clamped her mouth shut, as something by the entrance caught her attention.
The main lodge doors opened, and three women entered.
The first was older, perhaps sixties, with steel-gray hair swept back from an angular face.
She wore a long charcoal coat despite the mild weather, and her posture was rigid and steel-straight.
The two others were younger, one blonde, one dark-haired, early to mid twenties, if Olivia guessed correctly.
“Ah,” Silke said under her breath. “That’s Margaux Featherstone, the coven’s matriarch. Give me one second. Ransom’s been waiting all morning in the back office, I’m sure he wants this over as soon as possible.”
She crossed the restaurant before the group made it past the lobby, intercepting them with an easy smile.
From where she sat, Olivia couldn’t hear what Silke said, but the matriarch gave a curt nod and allowed herself to be steered down the hallway toward the back office where Ransom was presumably waiting.
The two younger women were left standing in the lobby, looking around.
“All right, that’s taken care of.” Silke reappeared moments later, slightly out of breath.
“Let me introduce you to the girls. They’re really nice.
” She waved a hand to catch their attention, then gestured for them to come over.
Only the blonde one teetered over, her spiky heels clack-clacking on the hardwood floors.
“Hey, Silke,” she greeted. “I love what you’ve done in here.”
“Thanks, Tabitha.” Silke beamed. “Would you like to have some breakfast?”
“No, thank you, we ate before we came here. Though I do love your croissants.”
“I’ll tell the chef. By the way, this is Olivia and Eli. Friends from out of town. They’re staying with us for a bit. Guys, this is Tabitha Featherstone.”
Tabitha Featherstone’s smile was as bright as the sun at high noon, and she vibrated with an energy to match.
Even in the Kentucky humidity, her bouncy blonde blowout seemed to magically hold together and her perfectly polished nails were the same pink shade as the tailored blazer she wore over a white shirt and jeans.
“Eli, Olivia, hi. Oh my God, I love your hair. Is that natural?”
“It is, actually.”
“Incredible. I would kill for that color. I’ve tried silver toner three times and I just end up looking like a wet raccoon.” She turned to her sister. “Tori, come say hi.”
The younger Featherstone trudged over. She was the opposite of Tabitha in almost every way, from the dark hair, pale skin, to the eyes so deep green they were nearly black.
She wore an oversized sweater, jeans and scuffed boots, all black.
The bored expression on her face clearly signaled she did not want to be here.
“Hi,” Astoria said. They all waited for her to say more, but several beats passed and she remained silent.
“She’s shy,” Tabitha said brightly.
“I’m not shy,” Astoria said. “I just don’t perform on command.”
Olivia liked her immediately. Beside her, Eli had gone rigid. Not his usual Eli-stillness, where he was just being himself. Rather, it was something else. Whatever it was, Olivia couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“How long are you guys staying here?” Tabitha asked.
“A couple days maybe,” Olivia said, trying to keep things vague. Although these witches knew all about Lycans, she wasn’t sure how much Ransom would tell Margaux about their little predicament. “We just needed a few days away to relax.”
“Well, it’s a gorgeous spot for it. I keep telling Mother we should go on vacation sometime. Like, the Bahamas or Paris. But she keeps nixing the idea.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “Between us, I think she’s allergic to relaxation.”
Olivia laughed. Tabitha was impossible not to like. “What about you? Do you come here often?”
“When we have business here, though Mother mostly handles the lodge stuff with Silke and the magic stuff with Ransom. She’s the one more talented with wards and prefers to work alone.
I tell her I tag along because I want be more proactive in maintaining friendly relations with our Lycan neighbors, but really, it’s because someone has to make sure she doesn’t offend anyone beyond repair.
” She held up her left hand and pointed to her bare ring finger.
“Also, I’m getting married here next year. Winter solstice.”
“Congratulations! Who’s the lucky guy?”
Tabitha laughed. “No idea.” She shook her head as she read what was likely confusion on Olivia’s face.
“Seriously. Mother’s still negotiating with the other covens.
Bloodline compatibility, power balance, territorial alliances.
It’s a whole process, fascinating and important to us witches, but boring to most. My older sister Rowena married into the Ashford coven last year, so now I’m the next daughter in the line of succession. My match has to be strategic.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes at the young witch. “And you’re okay with that?”
“Absolutely. I trust the process. And whoever it ends up being, I’ll make it work. I have to, if I want to be the future matriarch.”
Tabitha had said it without arrogance, and Olivia figured she was just one of those type A people who didn’t let things like doubt or insecurity stop them from accomplishing their goals.
“Tori thinks I’m insane,” Tabitha added.
“I didn’t say that,” Astoria muttered. “I said you were a fool.”
While Tabitha described the solstice ceremony, the candles, bonfires, binding vows at midnight, Olivia caught something in her peripheral vision. Astoria’s gaze had drifted to Eli. She was studying him with an intense focus, her head tilting slightly to one side.
A shout from outside cut through the conversation, followed by a crash and a string of profanity.
“Aw, hell.” Silke was already on her feet. “That’s Hawk.”