Chapter 5
“Why do you look so nervous?” Brianna asked as they stepped out the back door and headed for the woods. “It’s just a barbecue. Totally casual.”
“Well…” Nia rolled her hands helplessly in the air, trying to find the right words. Because I know your dad is going to be there, and it’s going to be uncomfortable as hell.
“Is it because you’re not a wolf?” Brianna asked.
“Everyone already knows you’re a lynx after that run you took with us when you first got here, even the people who weren’t there that day.
Word travels fast, so you won’t have to explain yourself to anyone.
I mean, they might ask some questions, but it’s not like they’ll be upset. ”
“That’s good.” Hell, Nia hadn’t even considered what they might think of her being a lynx, not since she’d identified her much bigger problem of being mates with the Alpha. “I don’t want to make any waves.”
They headed down the path to the clearing, staying in their human forms so they could chat. At the moment, though, Nia could’ve used a solid run and maybe a quick climb up a tree.
“Nah, we’re all pretty chill. I mean, a few of the elders can be a bit set in their ways, but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble.
” Brianna looped her arm through Nia’s. “Besides, you’re my best friend, and my dad is the Alpha.
No one will be bold enough to say anything, no matter what they think. ”
Nia gave her a weak smile, hoping she was right. “I hope they like the fruit salad I made.”
“They will. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that they like to eat.” Brianna hefted the big box of apple turnovers she’d made that morning. “I might even have to go back to the house to get more of these.”
They passed through the clearing and up another path that led to the back of the packhouse. It was much bigger than Brianna’s place, a beautiful home with multiple levels of decks along the back. The smoky smell of a grill filled the air, along with music and laughter.
Brianna led the way up onto the deck and headed straight for the grill. “Hey, Dad!”
Cole was wearing an apron as he flipped burgers. “Hey, kid. You can put everything on the table. We’ll be eating soon.” He said absolutely nothing to Nia.
It hurt, but she understood why he did it. That was what they’d agreed on, after all. They couldn’t change what was between them, but they could choose what to do about it.
They set their food down next to huge bowls of potato salad, baked beans, and grilled vegetables before grabbing a couple of beers from a nearby cooler.
“Ready for the rounds?” Brianna asked, gesturing slightly to a semicircle of people who’d set their chairs up on the end of the deck.
They were already eyeing her curiously, so Nia nodded and forced a smile. “Sure.”
“Good.” Brianna led her over. “Hey, guys. This is Nia, who I’ve told you all about.”
“Yes, you’re here to open the bakery with our Brianna.
” The woman all the way on the left had short gray hair cropped at her chin.
She looked to be in her sixties or so, but her bright eyes had no age in them at all.
“What an intrepid young woman you must be, moving across the country to start up a business!”
“This is Linda,” Brianna explained, “my great aunt.”
“There’s nothing that great about me,” Linda said with a laugh. “It’s lovely to meet you, Nia. You might be just what this little town needs.”
Nia relaxed a little, pleasantly surprised with the interaction. “Thank you. I’m very hopeful about it.”
Though Linda looked like she wanted to talk more, Brianna moved on. “This is Sandy, and her sister, Deb.”
“Hi, there!” Sandy said, her voice a bit gravelly. She tossed her wild, unruly hair over her shoulder.
“Hello.” Deb’s hair had been blown straight, and she’d caked on her makeup even for a barbecue. The two of them didn’t really look like sisters at all. Deb leaned forward and held her finger up. “I heard that you’re a witch.”
Though Nia couldn’t be sure if it was a curious question or an accusation, she nodded. There was no point in hiding who she truly was, especially around people who were already not like typical human beings. “You heard correctly.”
“So what does that mean, exactly?” Deb pressed. “I always thought witches looked a certain way.”
“Geez, Deb,” Sandy said, smacking her sister on the arm with the back of her hand. “What did you expect her to do, ride in here on her broom?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Deb replied defensively. “You never know what truths could carry over into all the stories!”
Sandy shook her head and addressed Nia. “You’ll have to ignore her. She has a bad habit of saying whatever is on her mind without actually thinking about it first.”
“It’s okay. There are a lot of misconceptions about us out there.” At least if they were discussing her magical abilities, they couldn’t be wondering about her love life.
“So what, do you make potions in a cauldron or something?”
“Deb.” This came from the man on the other side of her with a thick beard and glasses.
She scowled at him. “What? I want to know! Maybe she can show us something!”
Nia felt footsteps behind them, and suddenly, Cole was at her side. “It’s Nia’s business. No need to put her on the spot.” He turned and stormed back to the grill.
So he’d been listening to the whole conversation.
Well, of course he had. What else should she have expected?
It wasn’t so odd for a man to stand up for his daughter’s best friend and the newcomer to the group, but Nia didn’t want to hide behind his shield.
She wanted to fit in with the pack as much as she could since she’d be living among them for the foreseeable future.
“It’s all right. I can show you. Everyone’s magic is a bit different.
There are some, for instance, who really do make potions.
For me, it’s more like this.” Nia put her finger in the air, letting an orb of white light expand until it was about the size of a volleyball.
She sent it rising above the deck, hovering at about the level of the roof.
There were a few murmurs of delight, so she did it again.
Nia arranged them quickly and neatly so that the glowing orbs created ambient light for the gathering.
They didn’t require the same kind of energy and concentration that the stronger spheres did, since they were simply hovering and emitting light.
Nia felt a slight drain on her body, but it was more than worth the interest from the wolves.
“How lovely!” Deb enthused. “What else can you do?”
This time, Brianna was the one to put a stop to it. “She’s not here for entertainment,” she said before bringing Nia further along the deck to introduce her to several others.
The sliding glass door on the back of the packhouse opened, and a man who looked like he could be Brianna’s brother stepped out. He pulled a beer from the cooler, took one look at Nia, and lifted his drink. “Ah, the famous Nia has arrived.”
“Oh, good. Someone reasonable we can talk to,” Brianna whispered. “Nia, this is my cousin, Morgan.”
“Nice to meet you.” He gave her a polite nod and shook her hand. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Why is that?” Nia asked, unsure of why he’d find her anything other than curious and new.
“Because Brianna hasn’t been able to shut up about this bakery for the last three months,” Morgan replied as they found open chairs nearby. “It’s pastries this and turnovers that.”
“I brought apple turnovers,” Brianna told him, folding her arms and arching her brow.
“Oh, hell yeah!” Morgan scrambled back out of his chair, raced over to the table, and grabbed one of the treats.
“Aren’t you going to eat your dinner first?” This came from Rachel, Cole’s sister. Nia had just been introduced to her a few minutes before that. She had the same dark, thick hair and angular good looks as Cole, though with a softer femininity. She was Morgan’s mother.
“Nah.” Morgan took a huge bite of the pastry, not worrying about the flaky crumbs that scattered over the front of his shirt. “There’s plenty of room for all of it.”
“You can trust him on that,” Cole advised. “He eats more than half of the police force.”
“Speaking of, when are you going to have all that ready to go?” This came from Bob, Deb’s husband. “We’re starving over here.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’ll get it when you get it,” he grumbled.
Nia was hungry, too. Any other time, she might have made a joke right along with Bob, or if the situation had been different, she would’ve made a crack about how she couldn’t wait to get her hand on a sausage, but not today.
She and Cole had made a decision together, and she was going to do her best to stick with it.
“So, what do you think of our town so far, Nia?” Morgan asked, pulling her attention back to the present moment. “Do you think you’ll be able to handle living in a little backwater like this instead of some East Coast city?”
“I’m actually pretty enchanted by it,” she told him honestly. “I love the way it looks and the way it feels. On the drive out here, I kept getting more excited as I got closer. It was almost like something was pulling me here.”
Too late, she remembered the real reason she’d felt that pull, and it had nothing to do with the cute downtown shops or the ever-present backdrop of mountains. Cole stiffened slightly at the grill, but no one else seemed to notice.
“You know, that’s how Janet ended up in Nevada,” Sandy said. “She convinced herself that it was her destiny to go. Turns out, it was just the craps tables in Vegas that were reeling her in!” She cackled with laughter.