Page 14 of A Wolf for Winter

“I enjoy a good run in the woods,” he replied, matching her sociable tone. They were all friends here, sort of.

“You like company?”

“Rose,” Lilac hissed.

He gave the younger sister a wink that was more mischievous than anything else. “Only if they can keep up.”

“Alright.” Boar stuffed his cell phone back into his pocket. “It’s as he says. Zofia vouched for him. Allen Sharpe is the caretaker of Hawthorne Hall for the foreseeable future.”

“Welcome to the family!” Rose flung herself at Allen, hugging him tightly. Then she pushed away, her hands on his arms and her green eyes wider than before. “You do work out.”

Boar hauled her off him, pushed her towards their sister, and Allen heard Lilac snip at her, “He is not your mountain man, Rose. Get ahold of yourself.”

The male witch offered one snowshoe-sized hand in way of apology. “Sorry about your jaw.”

Though it had audibly cracked upon impact from Boar’s fist, there was nothing remaining now but a dull ache. “Sorry about your ears,” he replied, taking Boar’s hand.

The bones in each of their hands popped with the handshake.

“I’m Boar. That’s Rose, and that’s Lilac,” he introduced, and Allen nodded along as if he didn’t already know that and much more about each of them. “We’ll be the only Hawthornes in residence this year.”

“Everything okay?” Allen ventured.

“Yes, of course,” Lilac said sharply. “We Hawthornes don’t need an entire coven to manage a week’s worth of festivities.”

“I’m afraid I can’t comment on that, miss.” Allen gestured to the Hall in general. “Bit new to all this.”

“Right,” Boar agreed. Then he clapped Allen’s shoulder. “You’re coming with us to the pub.”

“Boar!” Lilac immediately protested.

He didn’t even look at her. “You need to know what Zofia signed you up for, and we need to get to know the new caretaker.”

“Which we can all do right here,” Lilac said firmly.

She was eagerly ignored by her siblings, Rose letting out a whoop of excitement and Boar continuing, “You like beer, Allen?”

“I like anything that’s free.”

Rose laughed again and Boar gave him a look that showed he appreciated the brazen confidence Allen had demonstrated by assuming the Hawthornes would be paying for his drinks. It was only fair, after all, since they had been the ones to provoke the attack.

“It’s settled then.” Boar clapped him on the shoulder and gestured for the stairs at the opposite end of the hall. “You go on and take your delivery truck around back and unload it by the walk-in cellar, we’ll go put the wagon in the barn, and then we’ll all go down to the village for a few pints.”

“Boar,” Lilac tried again. “Get the keys.”

“He’s the caretaker,” Boar countered with a frown. “The keys belong to him.”

Lilac gave them a bold look, unfolding her crossed arms so they hung loose at her sides.

She’s readying for a fight, Allen realized. He had to admire her bravery—she was trembling, but she wasn’t backing down, either.

“I don’t trust him,” she declared.

Rose rolled her eyes as Boar released a world-weary sigh. Their easy disregard for her concerns seemed ingrained in their personalities, but Allen knew that at the end of the day, they were a close-knit family. They would believe her, if push came to shove, and he could not afford to have any suspicion thrown his way. Suspicion led to inquiry, then accusation, and, inevitably, damnation. He had to win her over as soon as possible.

And, he realized with a start, not just for the sake of his mission. He wanted her to like him, for real.

From the books hidden under her mattress, he knew the first steps to take, too. Those novels hadn’t just centered on romance and women carving out their own places in the world, but chivalry also.