Life had changed in huge ways.
And in little ways too.
Thea walked quietly downstairs. Usually she’d pop her head around Conall’s office door to ask him if he wanted a coffee. Although her mate kept her up through the night with his insatiable lovemaking (okay, to be fair, sometimes she initiated it), Conall was up at the crack of dawn to work. Thea would tumble out of bed hours later and he’d already be four hours into his to do list for the day.
This morning, however, he’d left the house early to greet three representatives from the Blackwood Coven. They were staying the night at the Coach House. It had been agreed that they would visit on the first night of the full moon to witness Thea shifting. Not only did witches draw power from the full moon, but members of Pack MacLennan were coming out in force tonight for their first run with their new alpha couple.
It meant the witches had power on their side while the pack had numbers on theirs. An even playing field seemed the fairest way to ensure everyone’s cooperation and safety.
Thea felt the fluttering of butterflies as she moved around the kitchen, making coffee and heating the oatmeal Conall had left her. Porridge, he called it. He ate it plain.
Blech.
Thea drizzled a generous amount of honey over the top of hers as she slid onto a stool at the island.
Once the Blackwood Coven had evidence she wasn’t fae, Thea could only hope that would be the end of her story as one of the fae children being hunted. That finally she would be free to live her life as a werewolf in Pack MacLennan. She would lay low for a while until they felt the coast was clear, but then she would have to think about what she wanted to do with her life.
“Would it be crazy if I went back to school?” Thea had asked Conall the night before as they laid together on his sofa, listening to the rain beat against the roof.
“Why would it be crazy?”
“Because I’m twenty-five years old and I don’t even have a GED.”
“If you want to go back to school, go back to school.”
“I like architecture,” she’d admitted a little shyly. “Traveling around so much, I was always fascinated by the way architecture told a story about the history of a place. I don’t know.”
Conall had tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “You can do anything you put your mind to, Thea. And you have options now. If you want to go back to school so you can go to university to study architecture, then that’s what you’ll do.”
“I’ll get a job too,” she’d assured him. “I don’t want you to think I’m just going to live off you.”
He’d scowled at that. Fiercely. “Every member of this pack gets a stipend from the proceeds of the pack businesses. If you think that doesnae include my mate, you’re wrong. And if I want to spoil the fuck out of you for merely being grateful that you fucking exist, I will. No arguments.”
Thea snorted, outwardly, while inwardly she squirmed with pleasure at his words. “You got it, Chief.”
She smiled around a mouthful of oatmeal.
Had they only known each other a month?
That was kind of crazy.
It might have only been a month, but Thea didn’t care. Not only had Conall brought love and friendship into her life, he didn’t make her feel like she’d come to their relationship with less than he had. He gave her his trust, which few people had done in her life. It was strange how a person didn’t realize the impact being trusted and respected had on the psyche. In fact, Conall trusted her enough to leave her behind in charge of the pack when he traveled to Colorado with James next month to meet with Peter Canid.
They were planning on working out a new alliance between them. Callie was going too as Conall’s lead warrior. Conall asked Thea if she wanted to come—in fact, he would have preferred it because he was still a little cagey about letting her out of his sight after Castle Cara—but Thea was still afraid of flying, even if she couldn’t blow up a plane anymore. Moreover, she was ready to just be in one place for a while and was interested to see how the pack reacted to her when she didn’t have Conall at her side.
Upon her mate’s return from the States, he’d promised they’d begin their search for the woman from Prague whom Thea was convinced was fae. She needed to be protected, and she needed options, like Thea had been given. Conall had warned her not to get her hopes up regarding finding the young woman. At this point, she was a needle in a very large haystack. Still, Thea couldn’t help but hope.