“I wasn’t going to,” I lie to her.
“And I’m a rabbit shifter,” Clover crows and pokes me in the ribs. “You were too. Arguing to do work. I never heard of such a thing.”
“I’m just not used to not doing anything. I was always busy in my old pack.”
“That’s because they worked you to death,” she points out.
“True,” I agree and then smile when she bumps her shoulder against mine. “Okay, I’m glad you rescued me and now we can eat scones. There, are you happy?”
“That's the spirit! And yes, I am very happy. I cannot wait to see your place. I only saw the cottage a few times but the garden. Ohhh, that garden is gorgeous, isn’t it?”
I nod excitedly. Clover’s energy is infectious and by the time we reach the lane back to the cottage I’m skipping along with her. “It’s stunning. I can’t believe it’s all mine.” I start to tell Clover about my cottage when I see two women ahead of us. They’re huddled together whispering and watching us. They look familiar. I watch them for another second before I realize why they’re familiar. They were two of the people I tried to say hello to this morning.
“Who are those women?” I whisper to Clover.
She looks up from her basket and groans. “Annie and Ceelie. The pack windbags.”
“The what?”
“Windbags. You know? They gossip like their lives depend on it,” Clover tells me. She lowers her voice and leans close to me as we get closer to them. “Ceelie is Annie’s daughter. They work in the school and I think it has gone right to their brains because they act like they’re still in school, you know what I mean?”
I remember the females with rank and how they liked to throw their weight around. They were tight with one another, always on the lookout for someone to gang up on. Ceelie leans her head close to her mom and laughs. Her eyes are on Clover and I. She reminds me of Bella.
“Yeah, I get it,” I tell Clover.
“Best to just keep it moving. Don’t even talk to them. Anything you say will be around the pack by mealtime, so avoid them at all costs.”
I survived in Frostclaw. I can avoid two shifters with big mouths. “Got it. Avoid them like the plague.”
Clover and I keep walking and we pass Annie and Ceelie without so much as a backwards look. I let out a relieved sigh when we round the corner and continue on to my cottage out of sight of the two women. The rest of the walk to my cottage is nice. Clover and I chat about everything and nothing. She fills me in on her plans for the week and what she thinks we might have for dinner and I tell her about my dinner with Ronan the night before. When we get to my cottage we end up breaking into the scones with a pot of fresh tea that we take into my back garden. We spend the rest of the morning there chatting and soaking up the sun together before we head back down to the mess hall for lunch. I’m not surprised when I see Thorne’s familiar figure waiting for us in front of the building.
If Clover thinks anything is strange about her cousin meeting us for lunch unannounced she doesn’t say a word about it or the fact that he once again serves me my meal. The three of us eat together with Clover chattering and Thorne interjecting every so often when he isn’t forcing the other shifters to steer clear of our table.
I definitely don’t go to the Healer’s Rooms or think of them for the rest of the day and as far as lunch goes it’s one of the best I’ve ever had.
Chapter
Thirty-Three
CORDELIA
Idon’t get to work until the next day which starts a lot like the day before except for the fact that the few pack members I pass on my way to the mess hall greet me. They’re tentative in their hellos and good mornings but I’ll take it. Thorne waits for me by the front door and my stomach gives a flip-flop of excitement when I see him. As hard as it is to explain, the Enforcer has become a part of my life. If Thorne wasn’t there I’d worry. He brought me dinner yesterday after I got caught up in cleaning and decorating my cottage. I didn’t even notice the time until I heard him knocking at the front door. He wasn’t there when I opened it but I knew it was him. I could smell him, his scent still hanging in the air on my front porch. Even if it hadn’t, his mark was all over the tray of food he brought me. Steak, potatoes, and a salad. No one but Thorne would have put three steaks on my plate. Today, breakfast followed the same routine as yesterday, Thorne served us both and then acted as a guard between me and the rest of the pack.
I wonder how long he’s going to keep that up so I bring it up on our walk to the Keep. He’s showing me the Healer’s Rooms today.
“You know you’ll have to let me meet them soon.”
“Meet who?” Thorne asks. He scans the horizon like he’s expecting an attack. I wonder if he is. I’ve heard a lot about the ferals loose in the woods but I didn’t think they were making their way this far in Bloodstone Territory. I look with him. Should I be worried about running into one on my own?
I take a step closer to Thorne. “The rest of the pack. I’ll have to meet them sometime, Thorne. Are you worried about me meeting them?”
He waves me off. “I’m not worried about that.”
“Then what are you worried about?”
“Them meeting you,” he says.
What the hells is he going on about? “What do you mean-”
