Chapter 2
Chapter
Two
Ethan unfolded his lean form and stood, his expression piercing. “I expect you to call me first.”
“Not happening.” I walked over to the office door and gestured for him to leave. “Alice has that blend you like. Ask her for a hot tea on your way out.”
Ethan didn’t budge. He leaned against the doorframe, all muscle and leashed violence. “You’re agitated.”
“Yes, because there’s a stubborn wolf who won’t leave me be.” I flicked my fingers. “Shoo, dog. Be gone.”
His lips twitched. “Dog?”
“Same family.”
“Technically, yes, though some domesticated dogs are descended from an extinct species.”
“Tea,” I said and pointed. “Begone and let me work.”
Ethan sighed. “You’re still mad.”
And therein lay the crux of our issue. I was not mad. Nor was I disappointed. Mostly, I was sad. While I had liked Soren, what I felt for him was nothing compared to what I felt for Ethan.
What was worse? Ethan had repeatedly shown me he wasn’t interested.
Not only had he shown me, he’d told me point blank he and I would never be in a relationship.
Not that I asked him to be in one, or tried to seduce him, or behaved in any way other than appropriately.
Ethan was like the boy who cried wolf. He sensed something happening between us and tried to stop it by claiming nothing would ever happen between us.
And yet…he kept showing up. He all but dragged me to his territory, moved me into a small cottage close to his main residence, came over almost every night, and spent more time with me than anyone else in his pack. So I thought he might be coming around.
“I’m not mad.” And I wasn’t.
“Moira.”
I shook my head. “No. You don’t get to do this. You’ve made your feelings perfectly clear, and I’ve done my best to respect your boundaries. You need to do the same.”
Ethan’s lips thinned. A thin ring of gold appeared around his irises, one of the few ways I knew he was experiencing high emotion. “Fine,” he all but snarled.
“Go get your tea. I’ll contact Soren once I acquaint myself with his file.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. He left without another word but didn’t miss asking Alice for a to-go cup. I was not too proud to admit I watched him walk away the entire time. That man had an ass built for watching.
“Witches,” I muttered. “I hate witches.”
Soren was having trouble with a coven of witches who’d taken up residence on his borrowed lands without permission. I texted Evie to confirm she hadn’t authorized a coven to live on her lands, and she promptly denied it. She didn’t like witches either.
The real problem wasn’t the witches, though.
It was the magic they were performing. As a shifter, Soren was naturally resistant to magic.
Didn’t mean spells couldn’t harm him; they certainly could, but it took a lot more power to affect them.
If Soren was sensing dark magic seeping through the land around him, whatever spells those witches were working needed to stop. Immediately.
I asked Evie to do a quick health check on the land. She responded a few minutes later, disturbed.
High concentration of bodies in Soren’s area, she’d written. Odd magic. Off, like Danu’s but creepier.
I grimaced. That wasn’t good.
Want me to kill them?
I laughed out loud. Knowing Evie these days, she was fifty percent serious.
Not right now. Let me try reasoning with them first.
Okay. I’ll kill them when you give me the go-ahead. But this time she put a winky face afterward.
Maybe forty percent serious then.
How’s the baby?
Not so little anymore. She’s almost walking. Come by the main house. She misses Auntie Moira.
I smiled. Misty was growing up to be a mischievous and adorable baby, and I’d been so busy I hadn’t seen her in close to a week. That was forever in baby time.
Is Rowan cooking?
Not after last month’s disastrous barbecue. The entire Pack banned him from the kitchen. I’m making lasagna.
I shuddered. Not sure what the fuck Rowan had tossed on the grill that fateful night, but he managed to turn it into a gristled, inedible mess. I once thought a man was genetically incapable of fucking up barbecue. Rowan had proven me wrong.
Even his shifters, who never spoke against their Lord, turned their noses up at it, leaving us scrambling to order enough pizza to feed several hundred ravenous wolves in human form.
Thank the gods. Never let that man hold the tongs again.
Only when he’s chasing me around the room!
Eww. Also, yay on the lasagna. I’ll be there at 6:30. Save me a seat.
Evie sent a kissy face.
Ever since Danu, Evie’s emoji use was out of control. Guess if she couldn’t put her feelings into words, a kissy emoji said what she couldn’t.
Shaking my head, I flipped another page in Soren’s file. Normally, when Ethan handed me a file, he crammed it full of information. This one was strangely light on details, making me wonder who’d put this one together.
Or maybe something else was going on, and Soren was desperate enough to ask for help, while keeping the worst of it to himself.
Sounded exactly like something he’d do. I read through the rest of the file, and when I made it to the end, I wondered why the Lord hadn’t gone in and taken them all out.
Easy enough to do for a Lord, if he caught them unaware.
As much as I was loath to, I’d call him in the morning and see if I could fix this without traveling to his territory.
While I wasn’t as furious with him anymore, I had no desire to spend time with him.
Being polite was okay in small doses and when we were in public.
I wasn’t sure the urge to claw his face off wouldn’t come raging back when I was alone with him for longer than a few minutes.
Alas, something to deal with tomorrow. For now, I had tea to make.
When the gods made Alice, they left something out of her DNA.
My helper was a shifter, supposedly a wolf, though she was the least wolfish person I’d ever met.
If I saw her on the street, I’d peg her as fae.
She was petite, maybe four eleven on a good day, and had long, curly blonde hair, so pale it was an odd cross of gold and creamy white.
Her eyes were a bright sky blue, and she had a pert, upturned nose.
Her lips were shaped in a perfect rosebud, and when she spoke, she had a breathy, Marilynesque tone to her voice.
Everyone underestimated Alice, which always made me laugh.
She might look like a wispy fairy, but Alice was whip smart and had a vicious tongue when you crossed her—one she thankfully only used on occasion.
The shop could only handle so many one-star reviews, though Rowan was quick to step in when there was a disagreement of some kind with his shifters.
Alice was one of Rowan’s, but even he was befuddled by her sometimes.
When I came out of the office, she was leaning against the polished oak of the counter, staring outside. I had no need to stay quiet. Alice’s senses were sharp and honed. She’d smell me first before she heard my footsteps.
“I’m surprised you haven’t hog-tied that man and carried him to your lair yet.”
That was Alice. You never knew what she was going to say.
Her hair was tied in a wild, loose bun atop her head and secured with a cute apple clip, made by one of the artisans in town.
“A one-bedroom apartment is not a lair, and I don’t think Ethan could relinquish control long enough to allow someone to tie him up. Even if it’s for fun.”
Alice grinned. “Well, I think you should try. Maybe if you ask nicely, he’ll come around.”
I shook my head. She knew something was up between the other Lord and me and teased me every time he came around. Which was too damn much. Maybe I could have Rowan ban him.
“I have zero desire to tie anyone up these days.” Not strictly true, but Alice and I weren’t besties. I’d consider her a friend, but she was a shifter. Odds were good if I confided in her, word would get back to Rowan.
Shifter clans were tight, and their gossip lines were hot as a midnight bonfire during a full moon.
Her lips pursed. “Liar.” She tapped the side of her nose. “If you’re worried about me chatting with the other wolves, don’t be. They’re convinced I’m a fae changeling, switched at birth.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “Never mind they see me shift all the time.” Her tone was level, but her heartbeat was faster than normal. “I’m looking for a place outside of the Keep, but I have to convince Rowan first.”
All the Lords wanted their people to live on site at the Keep, Rowan being no exception.
Shifters tended to be more volatile as a general rule, and they were easier to bring under control when they lived in close proximity to their Lord.
He’d made exceptions to this rule before, but those were for older, much more established shifters.
I wouldn’t get involved, but I could help ease her way a little. “If I were you, I’d come up with a strong argument on why it would benefit both you and the Pack to move off-site. Rowan appreciates a well thought out plan. Could move the needle a little.”
To her credit, Alice didn’t ask me to use my friendship with Evie to influence Rowan. We’d worked together a while now, long enough for her to know I wouldn’t. Being BFFs with the fae queen and the Lady of the territory was a little weird. To me, she was just Evie.
To everyone else, she was an almost godlike figure. Which, to be fair, technically she was. Evie = goddess = wife to Rowan = Emberwood’s Lady. Rowan, on the other hand, was both Lord and the fae king. They were my besties, but they were also the most powerful couple in the entire United States.
Weird to think about since Evie once arm wrestled a shifter inside a bar and won. The memory made me smile. Man, I loved that bitch.
“Like a PowerPoint?” Alice asked, staring at me like I had two heads.
“The more detailed the better. But maybe go for Canva. More graphics and ways to wow him.”
Alice’s brow furrowed, but she nodded. “Huh. Like a real-life boardroom proposal.”
“Couldn’t hurt. I can guarantee you’d be the first shifter to throw a slideshow his way.”
Alice grinned. “Sold. I’ll work on something this week and try to get on his schedule for next week.”
Now that was something I could help with. I wouldn’t sway his decision, but I could smooth the way a bit. “I’ll mention to Evie you want a meeting. She’ll make it happen.”
Her expression brightened. “Thanks, Moira!”
She noted my purse and the canvas bag I held. “Leaving early?”
“A little bit, but you’ve got me for another couple of hours. Tell me what I can do to help out.” I tucked my things under the register and tied an apron on.
Always happy for an extra pair of hands, Alice shoved a list at me. “If we get everything checked off, we won’t have to come in early tomorrow.”
“Then let’s get busy!”
Soon, the scent of Earl Grey and roasted Oolong filled the air, and my brain settled into a relaxing rhythm. I’d worry about Ethan and Soren tomorrow.
For the rest of the day, all I had to worry about was tea.