I was starting to wonder if Maverick had convinced a wizard or witch to come out of hiding or something. Supposedly, other magical beings existed too.
The rug smelled like one of his enforcers. Ryker, maybe? I hadn’t memorized their scents, and they were nowhere near as strong as the Alpha’s.
“I didn’t kill Celeste,” Harper whispered, dropping heavily onto my couch. Thankfully, she had her own cup of coffee in her hand, so she wasn’t going to touch either of mine. I wasn’t in the mood to share. “I was arguing with Rhone, so he can vouch for me.”
“I obviously believe you.” I forced myself to put my cups down. I needed to ration my caffeine to get through the whole day, and the freaking family dinner that night.
Which Maverick was supposedly going to attend.
I needed a way to stop him from going, because fiancé or not, that would be a shit show.
Maybe I could get them to move it to a family lunch? Then I would have a better chance of Maverick not making it. My family members all took Fridays off of their respective jobs, so they could probably do it. We had before, when I was swamped.
I typed out a quick text, asking them if they could do lunch instead. While I was gone, I’d missed a crapload of messages from them about the road trip Maverick and I had gone on. Someone had posted about it online.
I’d silenced the chat during my insane week of work, so I hadn’t read the messages yet. I’d only ignored two calls from them on the drive to Erren, so they couldn’t have been too pissed. They would’ve called more if they were.
“Any ideas who killed her?” I asked, turning back to my best friend.
She looked slightly dazed.
“Harper?” I snapped my fingers, my stomach clenching.
Her attention jerked back to me, and she rubbed her eyes. “Sorry. I really need to take a day off and just sleep.”
I forced myself not to give away the worry gathering in my lower belly. “I was thinking that on my way in.”
Was she starting to zone out?
That was the start of devolving, wasn’t it?
What the hell was I going to do?
“Let’s do it tomorrow,” I said. “Take the day off. Maverick already told me I should, so he can deal with the office. We’ll spend the whole day on the couch, sleeping, whileIs It Cakereruns play in the background.
Harper perked up. “We can stop at that bakery we like on the way home, so there’s cake to eat while we watch.”
“Hell yes. Couch, sleep, cake, and no werewolves? It doesn’t get better than that.”
Harper lifted an eyebrow. “Are you pretending you don’t like him again?”
“No. He’s my fiancé now.”
“Fiancé? Damn.”
“Yeah. We’re not doing rings, though. Werewolves don’t wear them, and I didn’t technically agree to the engagement.”
She smiled. “Of course he’s forcing you to be engaged to him.”
“I know. He’s a pain in my ass, but I kind of like him.” I turned back to my computer as it dinged with a few new messages. “Oh, sweet.”
“What?”
“I got my family to switch the dinner plans to lunch instead. I’m hoping I can avoid bringing him.”
“Fiancé dearest?”
“Yes. You know it wouldn’t go over well with my family.”
