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She might not feel the deep connection that I feel, but she wants me. I mean to encourage that every chance I get. I haven’t given up on us going home as a team, as husband and wife, united in our vision for Zion. And if winning her over with sexual attraction is the only way to get there…
Well, it’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.
seven
JULIET
I’min my new room, picking out something to wear after my shower, when Diana flies in through the cracked window on her side of the space.
I turn, lifting my hand in greeting. “Hey. Find something good to snack on out there?”
She hops over to the machine that’s charging on the desk near her perch. She taps on the buttons and a slightly robotic female voice says, “Mouse central out there. My family thinks it’s gross, but my owl wants what it wants.”
I laugh. “Dude, I’m not here to judge. You do you. There were times in the not too distance past when I was hungry enough, I would have eaten a mouse if I got my hands on one. And I didn’t even have the bird of prey thing as an excuse.”
Diana’s eerily human eyes hold mine for a beat before she taps out, “You looked pretty hungry by that tree earlier. Who’s the hottie?”
I blush and then curse myself for being an idiot with Ford and, what’s worse, getting caught being an idiot. “That was…a mistake. One I don’t intend to make again. At least not for a good long while.”
She hoots, a sound I’m guessing is a laugh since her next words are teasing. “At least he’s a yummy mistake. And seems like a good wolf.”
I nod. “Yeah, he is. But we should keep that between us, okay?”
She cocks her head sharply to one side.
I answer the silent question. “Ford is going to infiltrate the wolf dick squad and try to weaken it from the inside. To do that, he’s going to have to pretend to be one of them. That’s why we were saying goodbye.”
“With your tongues,” Diana types out.
I fight a smile. “Yeah. With our tongues.”
“Best way to say goodbye,” she teases as Layla bursts through the door.
“Did I hear tongues?” she asks, tossing her bag on her bed. “No fair! You can’t gossip about good stuff without me. I need all the sordid details and please, please,pleaselet them be about that smoking hot gentle giant you ran off with earlier.”
Ford isn’t as gentle as she thinks, not even close, but I skip that part and fill her in on the plan and the need for secrecy.
I end with a stern, “And Ford is just a friend I like to kiss. Nothing more. And we’re not kissing again until after the trials are over and we’re both in, so I won’t be running off with anyone in the near future. Sorry about that, by the way. I didn’t mean to leave you alone on the lawn.”
Layla waves a hand. “It’s fine. A couple panther shifters glared at me a little, but they didn’t say anything. The wolves weren’t around so it was fine. They must be taking advantage of our last day off to sleep until noon or something.” She shrugs. “Whatever. Who cares about them. I have itineraries!” She pulls rolled up papers from her back pocket and holds them in the air. “Dorm welcome meeting at four today, luau welcome party at six, and then we’re having a rooftop shindig just for us! With s’mores! It’s going to be lit.” Her lips turn down. “But there’s also bad news. Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I say, accepting the paper she passes my way.
“Starting tomorrow we have two weeks of Lost Moon history, protocol, and new student etiquette classes,” Layla says. “They start at eight and go until noon. Then it’s physical conditioning until five, right up until the start of the trials. We’re going to be way too tired to sneak out and explore after hours.”
I smile. “Well, as a person who could use all the physical conditioning she can get, it sounds okay.”
Diana hoots and types, “I wonder if they’ll have little owl-sized weights for me? Tiny bird-sized treadmill?”
Layla arches a brow, “Considering you’re going to fly over every obstacle and leave the rest of us in the dust, I doubt they’ll worry too much about your physical conditioning. But hey, being a cursed bird ought to have some perks, right?”
“Amen, sister,” Diana taps out. “Want to see the crazy thing I found in the woods while I was hunting before the meeting? We still have a few hours, right?”
Layla glances at the clock on the wall. “Yeah, but I want to be back in time to clean up so I can wow Jay on the second floor with my cuteness at the after-party.”
Diana glances my way, and I nod, “Yeah, I’m up for an adventure. Just let me throw on some shorts and a t-shirt.”
“Grab this for me, Layla?” Diana types. “I want to be able to talk when we get there.”
