Page 62 of Of Magic and Murder

“We’re not excusing Riordan,” she says. “What he did hurt you. You get to be angry about that.”

“But,” Roxy adds, “there’s a difference between what the idiot did and why the idiot did it.”

I look down at Gus again, running my fingers through the fur between his ears. “He said he was afraid.”

“Of you?” asks Honey.

“Of telling me. After what happened in the jail, he thought that if he told me I was his mate—and told me bonding myself to him would break his curse—I might feel like I had to choose him.”

Honey’s face falls.

Roxy stops eating.

“He would rather stay cursed,” I add, “than make me think I owed him the bond because I’m a cursebreaker and that’s the only way to break it.”

For a few seconds, none of us says anything.

Then Honey murmurs, “That sounds like Max’s brother.”

Roxy drops her spoon into the bowl, finished for the moment. “Fate doesn’t actually force anybody to do anything, you know. It’s just… Fate.”

“I’m a witch. Fated mates aren’t exactly covered in basic spellwork, you know.”

“It ain’t like that. It means Fate introduces you, that it knows you’re a perfect fit, and makes sure you feel a connection. That’s it. It doesn’t make the relationship for you. After that, it’s up to you.”

Honey nods. “You still have to choose each other.”

“And sometimes you don’t,” Roxy adds. “You can reject a mate. Riordan knows that better than anyone.”

I think of the certainty in his voice when he told me he was sure his mate would never bond herself to him. Now I know it’s because he was talking about me: a witch not only afraid of wolves, but one he had already accidentally controlled once⁠—

A sudden howl, high-pitched and terrifyingly close, rises somewhere outside the back of the bakery.

I jerk so hard that I nearly knock Gus over on his side.

CHAPTER 17

DONUTS MEAN I LOVE YOU

yay! gus’s wolf friend and the magic lady

have finally figured it out!

good. gus wants to be deputy gus again.

— gus

“What was that?” I ask when I recover from the shock of the howl sending shivers straight down my spine. “I thought you didn’t have wild wolves in Moonburrow!”

“We don’t,” Honey says.

“Shifters do that? They howl?” Beneath the sleeves of my blouse, my arms erupt with goosebumps. I rub my bicep, gaping at Honey and Roxy. “Is that it? They turn into their wolves, prowl around town, and scare the bejeezus out of the rest of us?”

Honey purses her lips while Roxy leans back on her hands, shaking her head while trying her best to hide her amused smirk.

I glance behind me at the closed door, wondering if it’s thick enough when Honey clears her throat, drawing my attention back to her.

“So… do you want the honest answer or one that’ll make you feel better about an alpha wolf confessing you’re his mate?”