Clover is everything I want to be when I grow up. I’ve never met a cooler woman.
My wolf likes her and so do I. “It’s all right,” I tell her. “I, ah, I came into the woods unannounced. I didn’t know there was a different way into Red River. I got told in Oak Fast to come in through the trailhead.”
Shetsks. “That’s because a lot of the Oak Fast shifters do things the hard way. No sense in running that whole thing if you can just drive in, you know?”
I nod. “Yeah. Totally.”
She stops walking. We’re in front of a wooden door with a shiny brass bird on it. Warm light bounces off it and makes the bird gleam, but when I turn to look around me I don’t see a fireplace to light the way. It’s then that I realize we’re in a hallway lit by floating orbs.
“Is that magic?” I whisper. Other than Maud, I’ve never seen magic, and the only magic she did was to reveal me as Keiran’s unwanted mate and scare the shit out of Alpha Ashford.
“It is. You like?” Clover asks before she leans in close to whisper. “I did it. I’ve been dabbling in some old books that I found and you would not believe the stuff I’m able to do now. The bathroom? It’s a freaking spa now,” she says, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the door.
“You’re a witch?”
“Gods, no,” Clover lets out a disappointed sigh. “But maybe one day. I’ve been trying to learn from some of the gals in town though.”
Excitement buzzes through me when Clover says that. She knows witches. Real ones. And in Oak Fast. If she knows witches then she has to know Maud’s sister.
“Do you know Jazzy?” I blurt out.
Clover gives me a curious look. “I do, but how do you know them? You run with witches then?”
I don’t know how to explain what Maud is to me. Not quickly anyhow, and certainly not before I’ve met with the Bloodstone Alpha. “Well, I-I wouldn’t say that I run with them. I mean, do they even run? I thought they you know…” I make a whooshing motion with my hands and Clover giggles.
“Fly? You really believe in-”
“What business do you have with witches?”
We both turn to look at Thorne. A stormy expression on his handsome face clues me in that asking after Jazzy was not the brightest move I’ve made but even if I was blind, I’d know that I’d made a misstep from the smell.
Annoyance. Frustration. Anger.
It all comes rushing around me, floods my senses until I wince and look away. “No business, just an acquaintance.”
“Gods, Thorne. You stink to hell!” Clover yells. “Damn alphas. They like to pretend to be stoic but then bam, scent bomb you out of nowhere. Gross.” She opens the door for me with an apologetic smile. “I’m really sorry about…you know,him,” she tells me in a loud whisper.
I freeze. Thorne is my connection to meeting with the Alpha. I can’t piss him off any more than I keep doing, so I duck my head and hurry into the bathroom with a quick. “Thank you.”
“There’s fresh towels beside the tub. If you need anything at all just open the green cabinet. Holler if you need anything else.”
Clover shuts the door before I can answer but not before I turn and catch sight of Thorne. He’s beautiful, even if he’s annoyed or angry or any of those things I just caught a noseful of. He’s gorgeous. Warm light from Clover’s enchanted orbs warms him, softens him in a way that almost has me taking a half step towards him. I almost think I see him smile at me the second before Clover closes the door, but that can’t be right.
“I’m just tired,” I tell myself before I drop my backpack onto the floor. Why would Thorne smile at me like that after everything? “Delusionally tired. That’s all.”
Chapter
Twenty
THORNE
“What in the seven hells was that about?” Clover pokes me in the chest as she stomps by. She’s heading to the guest quarter kitchens to get dinner for Cordelia. I normally would make my exit to make my rounds through the Keep and into Red River, but tonight I don’t. I follow behind Clover to the kitchens. I want to see what she’s serving the omega for dinner.
Cordelia, not omega.
I grit my teeth. Even using her name feels dangerous. Like I’m handling a too sharp blade with fingers numb from the cold. I squeeze my hand tight and shake them out like I can chase away the ghost of what Cordelia’s skin feels like.
“What was what about?”
