Dear gods, if I wasn’t blushing before, I certainly am now.
I clanked the teacup onto the mismatched saucer, proving her point even further.
“Here. I’m getting the notebook for this one. Give me all the details you can,” she said.
There wasn’t much, and by the time I finished scribbling my thoughts to her, the scones had gone cold and so had my tea.
Magda smiled the entire time she read my words. That paper would be in the fire as soon as she finished. No way in hell I was taking the chance of someone finding it.
“Oh, my. This Dean is something, huh? And your wolf can speak to his and his to you?”
I nodded and almost gave myself a headache.
“I’m not going to say the words but you know what this means, right? Well done, girl. You’ve found your mate.”
I stopped chewing on my scone, deadpanning her.
“Oh, oops, I said the word anyway. How clumsy of me.”
There wasn’t a clumsy bone in Magda’s body. She knew exactly how to mess with me before. Now she had all new fuel.
I don’t know what to do.
“I have a book on that subject if you need it.” She waggled her eyebrows and I slunk lower in my seat. Not the sex talk with Magda. Wasn’t happening.
I wasn’t that naive. I knew some things about sex. It seemed to be the main subject of gossip among the farm workers, both female and male alike, and they were never quiet about it.
I shook my head, making her laugh.
“Have you kissed him yet?” she asked, putting more honey in the last few sips of her tea as though she’d somehow drained the cup of honey but not of the tea.
Another shake of the head. I wanted to. So badly. When he spoke, most of the time I was looking at his mouth and often didn’t hear what he said. And for me, that was a particularly troublesome corner to be in.
“Everyone gets what they deserve, Jillian. Bad and good. And you, my dear, are past overdue for your payment in this life. Now, go home. I’ve got things to do.”
And with that, I was pushed out but not before she placed a kiss on my head. And two scones in my hand.
Heading home, I was considering whether to eat one of the scones along the way or wait and have one along with Dean when the sound of low male voices sent me scurrying behind a tree. I’d spent so much time alone in these parts, but first Dean arrived, and now there were two unfamiliar men tromping along my path. It was becoming a traffic jam like I’d seen the one time I went to the city with a group of kids to see the wolves in the zoo. Oh, we saw other animals, but it was the amber eyes, shaggy coated wolves who held my attention.
Even though they had a big enclosure with fake rocks to lie on top of in the sun and all the food and water they’d ever want, seeing them there like that made me want to free them. I knew, even at that young age, what it was like to be where you didn’t belong. When you yearned to be...somewhere else. Like the cubs rolling in the grass there, I didn’t remember where that might be, but I knew where I was...wasn’t where I was born to be.
I slid a little deeper into the brush as the two men came abreast of me and kept on walking. They were talking low and serious, and I wondered if they were lost, but I didn’t have the courage to just step out on the path and meet them. Not because I thought they would hurt me—my wolf was not growling or on alert at all.
But strangers...meeting Dean had taken all the bravery I had, and I was so grateful for the fates who sent him my way. To have more friends, more people I could care about come my way was asking too much. As their voices faded with distance, I stepped back on the path and headed home. Maybe I’d give Dean both scones.