Chapter Fifteen
People tend to be more receptive when you give them something to eat. It’s a lesson I learned pretty early on. Take my Mum for example: she’s always more reasonable once she’s had her daily pain au chocolat at lunch.
‘So, you’re going to go study at the Moon household,’ Mum remarked, as we walked with our arms linked down Main Street towards the library.
We didn’t often get time to spend together; with Mum being mayor, and me being the disappointing daughter.
Our house was a stage set for sleeping in our rooms and seeing each other in the kitchen every morning and every night.
But then there were moments, like this, where it was just us, on Mum’s lunch break, walking down the street.
‘Mhm,’ I said, taking a long sip of my hot chocolate.
‘You know, when Ivy told me you were taking a break from your shifts at the Wishing Well to focus on your studies, I was pleasantly surprised,’ Mum said, her gaze darting to me. ‘So, I assume that’s what you’ve been doing all week after school, studying?’
Agreeing wasn’t a total lie – my lessons with Orion meant I was studying in a way. And my spellcasting had improved. Even I could see it now.
‘Yes, studying,’ I replied, lightly. ‘And this evening I have a study session with Silas.’
‘Silas,’ Mum said, as she tightened her arm in mine. ‘Good kid. Very sweet. I wouldn’t hate him as a son-in-law.’
‘Mum,’ I said, looking around wildly in case anyone heard her. ‘Don’t say that!’
‘What?’ Mum said, innocently. ‘Too soon to be thinking of marriage?’
‘Yes, yes,’ I replied vehemently.
‘Fine, fine. I still like him,’ Mum said, then her lips twitched at the corner. ‘But your father would’ve hated him.’
I stopped in the middle of the street, refusing to move until she elaborated. Mum didn’t shy away from talking about Dad, but the stories I heard about him came in moments like these – unexpected.
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, unrelenting.
Mum shrugged, shaking her head lightly. ‘Silas is the epitome of everything your father didn’t have in his life growing up – good family ties, being the town’s star player, for example. Your father was a warlock with a motorcycle and a dream to own his own bookstore.’
‘Those don’t sound like bad things,’ I said, honestly. I liked that Silas was stable. ‘Why would Dad have hated him?’
Mum grinned. ‘Because he would hate any guy you liked. You could’ve liked the best guy in town, with a perfect track record, and the thought of you going to a study session with him would’ve made your father spend the entire evening by the door, waiting for you to get home.’
An ache bloomed in my chest at the image.
She reached up to press a palm to my cheek. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you that to make you miss him – I told you that so you know, in my eyes, and your dad’s eyes, no one was ever going to be good enough for our little girl.’
My chest clenched with affection. I loved this version of my mother.
Lived for it. Even if she came stained at the edges with grief.
I hated the dance we did back home, the one where we said things that hurt one another – even when we didn’t mean to.
Maybe we could buy a tent and camp out in the Firewood Forest for the rest of our lives.
‘All right, come on,’ Mum said, pulling me along. ‘I’ve got to get back to the office, and the library’s only a few blocks away.’
I smiled at her as we both stopped outside the library.
‘I love you,’ I said, right before her phone began to ring.
She picked it up and pressed a kiss to my cheek, before mouthing ‘I love you’ back.
I watched as she left and let myself feel the rage of emotions whirlpooling through me: happiness that we’d had a nice morning together, annoyed that it had to be so short, and frustration most of all.
Then, I boxed them up and pushed them away, turning on my heel to enter the library.
I found Rowan Hale standing in the centre, commanding the books to move with quick, quiet murmurs. As I approached, his spellcasting paused, and he turned around to look at me.
‘Hi,’ I said, tentatively, grateful that I was holding a box of brownies in my hands.
Rowan’s gaze fell to the box, and then back to me. ‘Bribery, kid? I like your style.’
‘They’re not for free; I come with questions,’ I said, honestly. ‘Sorry.’
‘Come on.’ Rowan beckoned me, and we found ourselves in the self-help section of the library. Before I could say anything, he held out his hands for the dessert, and I handed it over.
I watched as he opened the box, and his nostrils flared with the scent.
‘Charmed?’
‘Just plain old brownies, actually.’
Rowan took one of the squares and bit into it. Watching someone eat something you made, silently, was its own kind of torture. He gestured with the half-eaten brownie still in his hand. ‘All right, hit me with the questions.’
‘I’m going over to study at a werewolf household. I’ve never actually been invited into one before.’
‘Not friends with many werewolves?’ Rowan asked.
I shook my head and added defensively, ‘To be fair, we only have like two packs here. The Stars and the Moons.’
His expression clouded ever so slightly, and I wanted to smack myself; why would I inadvertently mention that Rowan was pack-less? He’d always been pack-less, a story that I’d never been able to unravel. It was just him and his grandfather.
‘You probably know the general stuff,’ Rowan said, finally. ‘Pack meals every night. Everyone has a seat. The Moons have an alpha, but that’s it – no betas or omegas. Other than that, if you’re not going on the night of a full moon, or the night before, they should function like a normal family.’
‘Normal,’ I echoed, hoping it was true. ‘What about the stuff I wouldn’t know?’
‘Just don’t wear anything too scented,’ Rowan said, and then gestured to his head. ‘It could mess with their senses. On top of that, they will know when your emotional scents change – so if you’re stressed, they can tell.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, grateful for the knowledge he was sharing – even if I’d had to bribe him for it. And then something hit me. ‘Wait – how did you know I was talking about the Moon family?’
The werewolf’s mouth curled into a smile, making the scar on his lips stretch. He looked sinister and wicked, and I could see why some of the girls at school were obsessed with him. ‘You know the good thing about being the town outcast, little witch? I see everything. I hear everything.’
‘Was that supposed to be threatening?’ I said, only half pretending I wasn’t a little bit nervous.
‘Nope,’ Rowan retorted, with a pop of his lips.
‘I told my sister you said hi, by the way.’ If he thought he’d get under my skin, then we could go tit for tat.
His eyes widened, and his smile dropped.
‘And what did she say?’ Rowan asked, tone too casual.
‘She said hello back.’ And then, because I couldn’t resist, I added, ‘She also called you a jerk.’
His smile came back, full wattage. ‘Not the worst thing she’s called me.’
‘What else has she called you?’
Rowan stepped neatly around me, snagging another brownie from the box. ‘Question time is done, little witch. Have fun with your werewolf.’
The Moon house was near the Firewood Forest and was larger than our house. It had to be to fit the entire family. I’d never been inside, because there was never a reason to be.
Not until now.
I stood outside the dark-brown door that had a claw-shaped gold knocker and tried not to throw up on the porch. My hands were full – this time with the moonlit blueberry muffins that Ivy had thought were too risky when I’d tried to suggest them the first time.
But Melodie had loved the idea of them. They were intended to help werewolves with their shifts, and she was more than happy to let me to use the Treasure Trove’s kitchen for my experiment.
So now I was armed with muffins and full of nerves that refused to dissipate.
Just when I was sure I should leave, turn around and walk away, my phone buzzed.
I slipped it out and read the flurry of texts.
RAVEN
Stop freaking out
SOFIA
Yeah we can feel your panic from here.
RAVEN
Orion says to knock on the door already.
MAYA
Is he stalking me????
I looked up accusingly to the sky, trying to see a flash of silver among the clouds. But there wasn’t any.
RAVEN HAWTHORNE ADDED ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE TO THE CHAT
ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE
The ‘Unstable Spell Club’. Really?
SOFIA
Why am I not surprised you text with punctuation
ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE
Why am I here?
RAVEN
Because I’m not being a messenger between you and Maya.
ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE
Has she knocked on the door yet?
MAYA
No.
SOFIA
Maya!!
RAVEN
COME ON, MAYA.
ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE
OK. Don’t knock on the door. Here’s a video of Inspector Vale putting on a candlelit play version of his love story with Ivy. Imagine having to watch this every day, Reverie. Every. Day.
That was all the encouragement I needed. I pulled the knocker and waited. The door swung open moments later, and there was a man in the doorway. A man who looked like Silas, but a little older and far more rugged. It must have been one of his older brothers.
‘Si!’ the man called, his voice booming. ‘Your girl’s here!’
I wasn’t sure whether I should correct him or preen at the assumption. I was saved from doing either by Silas appearing behind his brother.
‘Stop being annoying, Cassius,’ Silas said, elbowing the other out of the doorway. He stepped aside to let me in. ‘Maya, you made it.’
‘Well, I mean, it wasn’t really hard to find the place. I’ve lived here my whole life,’ I teased, and stepped inside the Moon house.
It was nothing like I imagined; for one, it was even bigger on the inside.
The house had a massive foyer, off-white walls and a living room that had a gorgeous forest-green couch.
Pictures filled the wall next to the staircase, showcasing all the brothers and their lone sister at different stages of their lives.
It was so obviously a home that had been well loved.
‘Your home is amazing,’ I said, and my voice was filled with genuine warmth.
‘Well, that’s awfully sweet of you,’ a feminine voice called from behind me.
I turned to find Lyra Moon, second eldest of the pack and only daughter, standing at the top of the stairs.
‘Hi,’ I waved, gingerly. I’d known Lyra a little; she used to volunteer during the bake sales, and we’d been teamed up before.
‘Si, we’ve left the dining room for you,’ Lyra said, sweetly.
‘Which is directly below my room,’ another voice called, from somewhere in the house. ‘So, you know, whatever you talk about, we can hear you.’
Silas’s ears turned pink, which made my heart stutter, and Lyra shouted something back to her other brother, I assumed.
A squabble broke out between the siblings, the cacophony of raised voices so natural here.
It wasn’t until someone came out of the kitchen, opposite to where Silas and I were standing, that there was actual silence.
‘Would you all please be quiet?’
Silas’s mother was well known in the community; Mrs Moon was tall and willowy, and she ran the theatre in town.
‘Maya,’ she said, when the noises of her children finally quietened down. ‘Welcome to our home – I’m so sorry for all of them.’
She enveloped me in a hug. I had to be careful of the muffins, which Silas kindly swooped in and grabbed. When his mother finally let me go, she saw the muffins and made a noise of delight.
‘They’re moonlit blueberry muffins.’ I explained their magic properties, and Mrs Moon’s mouth turned into a perfect ‘o’.
‘Well, aren’t you talented,’ she said, jovially. ‘Silas, thank you for finally inviting someone who doesn’t just want to talk about rugby.’
He rolled his eyes affectionately, his ears still pink. ‘Yes, yes, now that I’ve been thoroughly embarrassed, can we please go?’
His mother waved us off, and Silas led me to the dining room, where there was a large cherry-wood table in the centre and china cabinets stacked against the wall.
There must have been an unspoken seating arrangement, because Silas moved automatically to one of the chairs right at the end of the table, and I took the one opposite him.
‘Sorry about them,’ Silas started, looking genuinely embarrassed. ‘They just like to tease. A lot.’
I laughed a little, glad to be the one who wasn’t on the back foot for once. ‘It’s nice. It comes from a place of love, right?’
‘Right. Some call it love, others call it attempting to humiliate me,’ Silas retorted. ‘You should’ve seen them at the last game – they came with banners, and they kept screaming my name.’
‘Everyone was screaming your name,’ I said, lightly.
His gaze narrowed on me, a smile tugging on his mouth. ‘You weren’t. Not in the beginning, at least.’
‘You were watching me?’
The words flew out of my mouth, intoned with the kind of edge I didn’t know I possessed.
‘Hard not to,’ Silas remarked, his voice like a pebble skipping on the surface of water. ‘You’ve always caught my eye.’
I laughed, a burst of a sound. Then I gestured between the two of us. ‘Then how is this the longest we’ve ever spoken, Silas?’
His smile widened. ‘That’s ’cause you’ve always been running from me. I’ve tried talking to you, but you’re always disappearing before I can get a word in edgewise.’
I think back on all the klutzy moments I’ve had with Silas, and whether I ever stuck around for Silas’s reaction. He was right – I usually fled.
‘Most of our interactions have been embarrassing for me,’ I confessed, hoping I wasn’t making the wrong choice by admitting that. Hoping it wasn’t obvious why I always seemed to mess up around him.
Silas’s gaze softened, and he leaned forward against the table. ‘Well, I’ve always liked to chase. And now that I’ve finally caught up to you, allow me to introduce myself.’
I raised an eyebrow, watching as he leaned back in his chair. I leaned back in my own chair, mimicking him, excitement buzzing through me.
‘Hi, I’m Silas Moon,’ he said, blue eyes glittering with mirth.
I realized now how right I was about Silas being my soulmate. His home, his family, him – all of it aligned perfectly with me. He was my soulmate, and the night of the autumn moon would prove it.
‘Hi, I’m Maya Reverie.’