Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Going back to work the next morning felt a lot better after spending time with my bestie and the Pack’s adopted Chimera baby. I cherished all the sweet snuggles and good food Evie had all but stuffed in my face. But now, it was time to face the real world once more.
I had a Lord I needed to talk to.
Soren answered on the second ring. “Moira?”
The surprise in his voice made me chuckle. After the way we parted, I was the last person he expected to hear from.
“Hello, Lord.”
He sighed. “Moira. It’s Soren.”
“Mmm. Not today. I’m contacting you about the request for help you placed with the junior council.”
He swore under his breath. “It came to you?”
“Do you think I’d be calling you otherwise?” I asked dryly.
He let out a short laugh. “Yeah. Probably not.” Soren paused. “Shit. Okay. Sorry about that. I thought they’d send in someone else.”
“There is no one else. I am the only consultant for the junior council at this time. Until they give it a fancier, capitalized name and get a budget, you’re stuck with me.”
“Those rich assholes have all the money in the world.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Now, looks like you have some witches that need to be dealt with?”
“I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why I haven’t chased them out.”
“A little, yes. Would you like to explain?”
“Their wards burn.”
I paused. A lot of shifters could bypass wards with no real harm.
Trickier when they were fae wards, but after Evie became queen, she shut down that kind of cooperation with an iron fist. She wasn’t against cooperation between our kind, only made it clear that the shit Marnie and Twyla had done while working with the fae would end in a death sentence.
Since that time, everyone’s been a lot more wary in their behavior.
“Burn how?”
Soren hesitated. “I can’t break through them. Neither can the mages.”
Curious. “Did the mages say anything else about them? Could they be fae made?”
“They would have said something if they were. The Head Mage said he’d never seen the likes of them.”
Hmm. “Can you catch any of the witches unaware outside their wards?”
I could almost hear Soren’s teeth gnashing. “No.” His voice had taken on a deep rumble.
“It’s like they’re ghosts. One minute, they’re right where I can see them. The next, they’ve disappeared into thin air.”
“As if by magic?” I said helpfully.
“Moira. Make fun if you want, but there’s something disturbing going on here.”
I sat back in my chair and tilted my face up to the ceiling. “Hmm. Alright. I’ll bite. Why your territory? Why you?”
“I’ve never dealt with witches in my entire life. As far as I know, I’ve never pissed any of them off, and I’ve certainly never frequented their shops.”
“Yes, well, witches are women, Soren. The more important question is, have you ever pretended to love one, slept with her, and dumped or ghosted her the next morning?”
The tense silence told me everything I needed to know.
I let out a soft huff of laughter. “You beautiful idiot.”
“Suppose I have—”
“We both know there’s no supposing about it, Soren. Of all the people you could have done something like that to, you did it to a witch?” I shook my head. “You’re lucky you haven’t woken up with your balls outside your body.”
“Thanks,” Soren drawled.
“I’m serious. Witches are not known for being kind to men who abuse them.”
He sucked in a breath. “I did not abuse anyone!”
I clicked my tongue. “Men. So handsome. So strong. So. Terribly. Dumb. Abuse is not limited to physical harm, Soren. Let me break this down in a semi-academic way. What you did to her was sexual coercion by deception, sometimes called rape by deception.”
“Moira! Fucking—”
“Stop talking, Soren.”
He sucked in a breath and shut up.
“Good boy. Now, sexual coercion by deception is the term used when someone, regardless of gender, consents to sexual intercourse because the other party has issued false statements, perceptions, or participated in false actions in order to get them to agree to such an act. Would the witch have consented if you hadn’t love-bombed her with gifts, false promises, and/or the illusion of catching feelings? ”
Soren’s silence said it all.
“I should leave you there to rot,” I said quietly.
“Do it, then, since you think I’m such a horrible person.”
I laughed. “Uh uh. You don’t get to passive-aggressively try to turn this back on me. I’m not the one out there promising the moon to land women.”
I shook my head. “The crazy thing is, you don’t have to do any such thing.
You’re handsome, wealthy, and have more power than 99% of the men in this country.
Getting women to like you wouldn’t be an issue.
But you like a challenge, and when things aren’t working out, you resort to deception so you can win. ”
And just like that, it clicked. “Huh,” I said aloud, figuring something out about Soren I’m sure he’d never want anyone else to know.
The handsome Lord wanted to be loved, was desperate for it, in fact, but couldn’t break his cycle of wanting to be adored. That wasn’t real life. Love was heat and fire and yearning, but it eventually banked into something warm and cozy. Soren had never stuck around for the warm and cozy.
He always wanted to be on fire.
“I want you to try this,” I said. “Is this witch or witches you did this to living inside that coven?”
“Yes.”
“Then I want you to go there and apologize.”
“Godsdammit, Moira. An apology? You think that would work with a bunch of furious coven members?”
“You have no idea how far a sincere apology could go, Soren. Maybe give it a try for once in your life. And for fuck’s sake, maybe bring flowers. Hell, show up with a truckload of money. I dunno. Just don’t be an insufferable dick about it.”
His heavy sigh delighted me. “And if they fry me?”
“I suggest you run very fast when you see the magic coming.”
Soren’s blustering just as I hung up the phone made me snicker.
What an asshole.
The inevitable ass chewing came a few hours later.
I held the phone up to my ear and didn’t bother to say a word.
“Godsdammit, Moira! You told a Lord to apologize? What the fuck kind of advice is that?”
“Hello, Ethan. I hadn’t heard from you in almost twenty-four hours and was wondering if you’d perhaps fallen into a pit.”
“Cut this shit, Moira. What kind of bullshit advice is that?”
All amusement dropped from my voice. “It’s good advice,” I snapped. “Advice more men should listen to when they do something as profoundly fucking stupid as Soren did.”
Ethan paused.
“Ha. I should have known that asshole wouldn’t tell you. He needs to apologize, Ethan, because he lured those witches to bed with false promises, and they’re understandably a little pissed about it!”
He sighed. “Moira, that’s the age old—”
I closed my eyes for a brief second. “Don’t you dare say something insane like boys will be boys.
You think Evie didn’t like you when you first met her?
I will legit come to where you are and bite your fucking face off and leave it on the Council’s desk for the waitstaff to use as a doily if you finish that thought. ”
Ethan’s snort of laughter came over the line. “Fair enough. You win. Soren issues an apology—”
“A sincere apology, Ethan. None of his look at me, I’m so handsome and innocent bullshit Soren is famous for pulling.
The witches will see right through him. And listen, I’m not saying this will work.
Odds are good it won’t. But first, he owes them an apology.
Soren is a dickhead, and his actions have probably caught up to him. It’s worth a try, at least.”
Ethan fell silent for a long moment. So long, I cleared my throat. “Are you still there?”
When he spoke, his voice had turned to gravel. “Is there a reason you’re so adamant about this? Does Soren owe you a similar apology?”
“Neither here nor there. I’m packing up this evening and plan to head into Soren’s territory tomorrow. I should have a report in the next seventy-two hours.”
“Do you really need to go into his territory?”
“If you’d like this solved, yes, I do.”
“Are you going to answer my question?”
“I just did.”
“You know which question,” Ethan growled.
“Seventy-two hours. Also, I want a raise.”
“You’ve been on the job for less than a year!” Ethan sputtered. “And we’re paying you an ungodly sum!”
“Yes, and I noticed you haven’t hired anyone else. I didn’t sign up to do things like deal with Soren’s overactive dick problems.”
Ethan snorted. “Moira, can you please tone it down? Soren is a Lord.”
“I don’t see what that has to do with me. And we both know I’m right. I’m surprised that thing hasn’t turned to dust and fallen right off. He’s definitely got a BIFL deal out of his unit.”
I could almost see the wheels turning in Ethan’s head. He didn’t want to ask, but he couldn’t help himself. “BIFL?” he repeated.
“Yup. Buy it for life. That thing has taken a licking and keeps on ticking.”
“For the gods’ sake, Moira!” Ethan blustered.
I laughed and hung up the phone.