“Morning, Enforcer!” A voice calls out and we both turn to see Esme leaning out from her shop and waving with a cheeky smile. She winks at me as we walk past. “Good to see you again, Cordy.”
I laugh when I see the appraising look she gives Thorne. Tall drink of water indeed. “Hi, Esme.”
“Morning, Esme,” Thorne returns and the older woman gives a little swoon that makes me giggle.
“What’s so funny?” Thorne asks. He has a slight smile on his face and it’s hard to focus. That smile, oh, that smile is dangerous. He’s shown it to me two times now at full strength and it turned my brain to mush. The plus side is that it takes my existential crisis back down to mild.
“Oh nothing. You know, Esme,” I tell him.
“I do,” he says. “But how doyouknow her?” I roll my eyes when I hear the slight edge of suspicion in his words.
“Back to thinking I’m a spy again?”
“Was debating on it. Pretty smart if you are.”
“How’s that?” I narrow my eyes at Thorne and he narrows his right back at me. So much for being swept up in how beautiful and attentive he can be. We’re in a full-blown glaring match when a voice calls out to us.
“Cordelia! Wait up!” Clover comes running down the path from the Keep. She’s got a basket in her arms and an excited smile on her face. “I’m so glad that I caught you. I was hoping to make it to your cottage before you had breakfast but I got held up.”
“Clover!” I rush forward and throw my arms around her in a hug. Seeing her hits me in a way I didn’t expect. It’s only been hours since I saw her last night, twelve hours more or less but still. She’s my friend. I have a friend and I get to stay in the pack. I pull back and look her over. She’s so happy to see me. No one but Maud was ever happy to see me. I feel so normal here. My eyes start to water so I hug her again so she can’t see me almost cry at the realization that I will be normal here.
“I’m so happy to see you,” I tell her.
Clover hugs me back. “Oh, me too. It was boring without you in the Keep last night. I already miss you. That’s why I was coming to see you this morning, and look, I made scones.” She pulls back the fabric covering on the basket and shows me scones inside. They smell amazing. “I made strawberry and blueberry. I thought we could have a little housewarming for you.”
“That’s so thoughtful. Thank you, Clover. I’d love a house warming.” Thorne moves at my side and I remember where we were going. “Or I would…I’m sorry, we’re on the way to the Keep for me to get a look at the Healer’s Rooms. Can you bring the scones with us?” I ask her. Even if we can’t have a housewarming, I do want to spend time with her and there’s always room for scones.
Clover makes a face. “Wait, you’re working on your first day here?”
I can see that she doesn’t like the idea of me working so I try to explain it to her. “I thought it would be good for me to get settled in and get to work right away. Alpha Ronan said I could stay here as the healer and I want to prove to him that he made a good choice.”
Thorne makes a sound. It’s not a growl or a groan, it’s something in between. Clover and I both look at him. “What did he say about you earning your place here?” he asks when he has both of our eyes on him.
Clover crosses her arms. “He would never say that.”
“And hedidn’tsay that. He said the opposite,” Thorne says and Clover drops her arms to her side.
“Ohhh, I see what you were doing there. I’ll stand down, cousin.”
“Thanks, Clo.” Thorne looks back at me and I want to dig a hole and bury myself in it. “Now, what did he say?”
I look between him and Clover. There’s no help coming from her on this. She’s looking at me with the same expectant look I see on Thorne’s face. “I, well, that I could stay here for as long as I wanted.”
“And?” the alpha prompts.
I grit my teeth. How did we go from him suspecting me of being a spy and a stare off to this? “And that I didn’t have to earn my place.”
“And because he said that and you understand that, it’s best if you head on back with Clover to have that housewarming, don’t you think?”
I frown at him. “But you said you’d take me to the Healer’s Rooms.”
“And I will, just not today. She’s right. It’s your first day in the pack. There will be plenty of time for work later.”
I want to argue with him. For a week I haven’t done a thing and I’m restless. I’m used to working. My time reading yesterday was the longest I’ve ever gone with nothing to do. I don't know if I can handle another day of it if I’m honest. I don’t get to get a single word out though because Clover hooks her arm through mine and hugs Thorne with her other arm.
“Thank you for talking sense into her. I’ll see you for dinner!” Clover tells him before she skips off towards my cottage, dragging me behind her.
“No arguing with the Enforcer,” Clover tells me when I look back at Thorne. He’s standing right where we left him and watching us.
