Chapter 5 #2
For the most part, Nia could see what Brianna had meant about her pack.
They were an odd but funny bunch who liked to tease each other.
The worst one was Deb, and she was really just a nosy older lady.
Nia could handle that. There was a much older woman named Phyllis who mostly lurked in the house and watched through the sliding glass door, proclaiming about her allergies every time someone opened it.
Scott, the wolf who’d decided to make a crash landing at the end of their run on that first day, showed up as Cole finished up with the meat and everyone made a line to get their food. He jumped in at the front.
“To the back, bozo,” Morgan taunted.
“Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do, make me?”
Morgan grinned. “Sure!” He lunged forward and wrapped his arm around Scott’s head, dragging him away from the food line. He pretended to punch him in the gut, but his fist only grazed the front of Scott’s shirt.
Scott tried to pry Morgan’s arm off of him, but he was laughing too hard. Instead, he tripped over one of the drink coolers, falling over it and landing on his backside. Morgan crashed down on top of him.
“All right, that’s enough of that,” Cole warned in a gruff, deep voice.
“You know, it wasn’t so long ago that you would’ve been the one doing that,” Rachel commented. “When did you become such a grump?”
“When I had to step up and lead this pack of ruffians,” he retorted.
“You can’t blame him, Rachel.” This came from Travis.
Nia couldn’t remember exactly how he was related to anyone else.
All the new names were starting to spin in her head.
Travis punched Cole in the arm. “It’s not like he’s had time to get out much over the last several years. The old Alpha just needs to get laid.”
Though most of the pack laughed at the joke, Cole’s hands tightened into fists. “Stop it, Travis.”
“Hey, man. I was just kidding!”
Cole just grunted at him and went in the house.
Nia stayed in line with Brianna, but she wished she could follow Cole.
She could feel his wolf calling out to her, lonely for her, distressed at being kept from its mate.
The rest of the pack couldn’t know that.
They just thought their typically surly Alpha was a little extra cranky at the moment.
That wasn’t fair, but neither was the bond that fate had created between them.
She and Brianna got their plates and sat back down while conversation and banter continued around them. The food was delicious, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. If it weren’t for her internal struggles, she’d never have known anything was wrong.
At one point, Rachel came to sit next to her. “Hey, Brianna told me that you’re a tarot reader.”
This was far less accusational than Deb’s comment about witchcraft, plus Rachel was a bit easier to like. “I do. I’ve been practicing for a few years now.”
Rachel’s bright blue eyes sparkled. “Do you think I could make an appointment with you or something? I’ve always wanted to have my cards read, but I was never sure if I could trust the person doing it.”
“We could do it right now, if you’d like.” Nia reached into her pocket and pulled out her deck.
“You’re kidding me!” Rachel exclaimed with delight. “You have them with you?”
“Always,” Nia explained with an embarrassed smile. “When I was still learning, I’d practice with them in my spare time. I got in a habit of having them with me, and I never stopped. It’s just part of what I bring every day when I leave the house.”
“How much do you charge?” Rachel asked.
Nia waved away the question. “For you, not a thing.”
“I can’t ask you to do that!” Rachel protested.
“I’m offering,” Nia corrected with a smile. “I made a little money with it back in Salem, but I don’t have anything like that set up here yet. I wouldn’t mind a bit of card work to keep me fresh.”
“Well, if you’re certain.”
They found a small table, and soon, Nia was reading Rachel’s cards for her.
She liked Cole’s sister. She was witty and intelligent, and she was a little more open than Cole was.
“The Ace of Wands is a great card. It suggests something new in terms of creativity. A business idea, a creative project, something like that.”
Rachel tapped her fingers together under her chin. “I have been thinking up something new!”
Morgan, who’d been lingering nearby, tipped his head back and sighed. “God, what is it this time?”
His mother lifted her shoulder and regarded him with a dismissive look. “You’ll just have to wait and see. You can criticize it when it’s finished instead of along the way.”
“Rachel is an artist,” Brianna explained.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Rachel countered humbly. “I just like to put my creative energy into something. Sculptures, paintings, fabric arts, whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.”
Nia finished with the reading, which Rachel thanked her profusely for. As soon as she vacated the chair across from Nia, Sandy was sitting in it.
“Can you do one for me?” she asked eagerly.
“Sure,” Nia replied without hesitation. She cleared the energy from her deck and began shuffling again. “Do you have any specific questions you want to ask?”
Scott had approached by now, watching carefully as he held a beer in his hand. “So much for you not being here for entertainment! I’m going next.”
As the pack kept lining up, Nia kept reading.
Her fingers felt warmed up, and she could sense the energetic tingling in her palms that let her know she was truly tuned in to the cards.
It felt wonderful, and she loved that Brianna’s pack was coming around.
Even Deb, who had watched the first few readings from a careful distance, was now starting to ask questions.
But the one person she wanted to spend time with the most was staying the furthest away. Cole came out of the house, but only to clean the grill and start putting away his barbecue tools.
If he looked at Nia at all, he made sure she didn’t see him.