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Whimpering, Anabel stiffly walked out into the yard.
Xavier sighed, his face creasing. “I remember I fell asleep in the sun once after putting on tanning oil. Rookie mistake. I ended up in hospital because I got sunstroke.”
“Aw, really?” asked Delilah.
“No, not really.”
Her face hardening, Delilah threw up her hands. “Then why say it? Why make shit up all the time?”
He pursed his lips. “Maybe eating at your sanity makes me feel whole.”
Wynter exchanged an eyeroll with Hattie as the other two began squabbling like siblings.
Soon, Anabel came staggering back into the kitchen. “I don’t think the leaf’s working.” She sniffed. “God, now I reek.”
Just then, one of the blisters on her arm burst. Sprinkles of water erupted out of it like a mini geyser.
Everyone jerked back.
“Ew,” said Xavier, shuddering. “No, don’t come sit over here.”
But Anabel ignored him and perched herself on a chair, the height of misery.
“You won’t get any sympathy from my corner,” said Delilah. “I tell you—hell, we all tell you—over and over and over to use the test bowl. It ain’t rocket science.”
Hattie let out a low whistle, peering out of the window. “Oh, what an ass.”
Standing, Wynter glanced outside to see a well-built male in the backyard beginning to straighten, a football in hand. “I take it the lycans are playing soccer again.” They often accidentally kicked the ball over the fence.
“Anabel, dear, I have no clue why you ran Diego off. That very delicious Alpha has one spectacular behind,” Hattie told her.
“And that’s what’s important,” Anabel deadpanned.
“Is he still leaving you alone?” Xavier asked the blonde.
Anabel perked up slightly, a self-satisfied smile shaping her mouth. “Oh yeah, he has definitely given up on trying to make me his bed-buddy. I think the time I answered the door smelling like fish guts was what finally did the trick. He almost vomited right there. It was fantastic.”
Thankfully that particular scent-changing potion had worn off within minutes or the cottage would have smelled like that for days.
“You know, most people don’t try to repel their admirers,” Delilah told Anabel. “They just say ‘thanks, I’m not interested.’”
The blonde’s brow pinched. “I did tell him—repeatedly, I might add—that I’d prefer we kept things at a one-night stand. But he wasn’t really hearing me. Like he thought I was simply playing hard to get. I had to do something.”
To be fair, Diego had been unreasonably persistent. In fact, so had the Alpha of the other lycan pack that lived on their street—his attention had been on Xavier. Had been, she realized. That wasn’t the case anymore, for some reason.
Wynter looked at him. “It only just occurred to me that Elias is no longer trying to provoke you and stuff. What happened there?”
“I took your advice and just paid him no attention,” replied Xavier with a quick shrug. “He got bored of me ignoring him, I guess.”
Wynter gave him a warm smile. “I’m so proud of you.”
He blinked. “You are?”
“Incredibly. You handled the situation like a grown-up.” Which didn’t sound like Xavier at all. Suspiciousness settled over her, making her eyes narrow. “Or did you?”
He shifted slightly in his seat and cleared his throat. “I might have also done some itsy, bitsy magick to . . . you know . . . spook him.”
Wynter stiffened. “What kind of magick?”
