Page 27 of The Werewolf’s Study Date

“You knew and you let me keep wearing the sweatshirt.”

She has the grace to look at least slightly guilty. “I suspected,” she says carefully. “I didn’t know know—I can’t read wolf mate-recognition scent the way another wolf can—but I had strong suspicions. Yes.”

“For how long?”

A pause. “Possibly since the second study session.”

I sit down on my bed. “That was weeks ago, Delilah.”

“I know.”

“I’ve been wearing his sweatshirt to class.”

“I know.”

“The whole campus knows.”

“The whole werewolf-adjacent campus, probably, yes.”

I press my fingers against my eyes.

Here’s the thing, I’m not furious. I want to be—it would be simpler—but she’s right. This isn’t her story to tell. If Boone recognized me as his mate—and I have a notebook full of evidence and ninety years of scholarship that say yes, probably—then that conversation belongs to him and me, not to a third party who figured it out from context clues. I get that. Doesn’t mean I’m not annoyed.

But I need to talk to him. Now.

“You could’ve said something subtle,” I say. “Like, hey Maisie, you might want to look into werewolf courtship behaviors. Purely academically. For fun.”

“Would you have listened?”

I think about the first time—me insisting it was just tutoring, just studying. Definitely not anything. Nothing weird about it at all.

“No,” I admit.

“That’s why I let it go.”

I take a breath. Let it out. “Okay. I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re a little mad at me.”

“I’m a little mad at you,” I agree, “but I get it. I just want to talk to him.”

Delilah nods, suddenly serious. “Are you okay?”

I consider it honestly. “Yeah,” I say. “I just want to understand what’s actually going on.”

She holds my gaze for a second. “Don’t let him be too noble about it,” she says. “Whatever he says about giving you space to choose—and I think he will say something like that—don’t let him talk himself into a corner when what he actually needs to do is be straight with you.”

“You know him pretty well for someone who’s met him four times.”

“I’m a witch,” she says. “We observe.”

I text him to confirm we’re still on for tonight. He responds in under a minute.

Boone: Obviously. Bringing the new Thai place, you’re going to love it.

And then, almost immediately.

Boone: Hope that’s okay.