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“Well, that’s settled,” Articus said. “Tell us though, how are things going with your mate?”
“Mate?” Blake raised a brow. “Interesting. I didn’t expect her to ever come back. Now that she has, though, isn’t that a good thing?”
“I wish.” Rowan bit the words. “She doesn’t want anything to do with me, and she has made that pretty clear.”
“I mean…you did kind of…reject her. Didn’t you?” Callahan piped up. “I mean, even we didn’t know that you had found a mate. You really kept it a big secret. It was only after she skipped town and we saw your pain that we knew how much you cared for her.”
There were general murmurs of agreement in response to Callahan. While Rowan was happy that Juniper had been brought up, he couldn’t help feeling like none of his friends were on his side.
“He’s right,” Articus added. “We all thought she was lying. And then with the words you said? You really messed up.”
“I know, I know,” Rowan replied with irritation. “My wolf reminds me of this every second.”
“Would you like to make things work with her again?” Callahan asked.
Rowan leaned back in his seat, sighing. “Absolutely.”
“Alright. We will support you whatever way we can,” Blake offered. “Only this time, do try not to lose her again? We all know how special a mate bond is, and we don’t want to see you fuck it up.Twice.”
“Here, here,” Xander said, tipping his bottle forward before taking a swig from it.
Rowan took a drink from his own bottle, and realized those were the first words he had heard from his friend since he’d arrived.Typical Xander.
Chapter 9 - Juniper
“I’m sorry, miss. We don’t have any spare rooms at the moment.”
Juniper balled her hands into fists and took steadying breaths. The motel attendant gave her a sorry look and for a second, she forgot her anger. She waited until she could speak without yelling before replying.
“Help me understand…” She peered at the name tag on the right breast. “…Marge. The last time I was here, you said the same thing. Two weeks ago, you had a heating problem. The week before that, it was rats, and before that, bedbugs. Can you help me understand what is really going on here?”
Marge smiled nervously. “I understand your disbelief, miss. But I’m telling you the truth. We currently don’t have any rooms available, sorry.”
“I see,” Juniper replied with clenched teeth. She could feel her patience wearing thin and knew she was at the end of it. “Alright, Marge. Can I see your manager?”
Marge smiled again, this time shaking her head regrettably. “I am so sorry to say this, miss, but you just missed him. You could wait for him if you like?”
Juniper glowered at the attendant. She could feel a pulse throbbing in her head and her vein bulged in her temple. Her face had gone red with anger and it took everything in her not to explode at the young woman behind the counter.
Waiting for the manager to return was an effort in futility, Juniper knew. Chances were he was somewhere in the back office. Juniper could not fathom why the man would want to avoid her, but it seemed obvious that was what was going on.
And what happened next if he did come around? What then? She would give him a piece of her mind and he would die with his story? Juniper had seen the keys hanging behind the counter. There were about half a dozen rooms available.
For whatever reason, the motel had refused to give her a room for over a month. Thinking about it, she realized the problem had started the day she had recovered from her fainting fit.
Before that, she had performed a spell of an unimaginable scale, right before the entire town. She had seen the looks of admiration and wonder in their eyes before she blacked out.
However, she knew what it felt like to be hated and feared. It made way more sense to her the more she thought about it. The motel owners probably didn’t want a powerful witch under their roof.
Could she blame them? People feared and hated what they didn’t understand. Her people had suffered that fate years ago, and it chafed her to see that things had not changed much. It hurt the most because she had come to Starlight Valley for them. To save them.
The understanding of the problem brought a small sense of peace. Juniper smiled at the attendant. “Thank you for your help, Marge. Do have a wonderful evening.”
Marge had an expression of fearful confusion. No doubt the switch in Juniper’s countenance was throwing her off balance. “Err…you’re welcome…err…miss,” she stammered helplessly.
Juniper smiled again and slapped the counter gently as she turned around to leave. She noticed that Marge had jumped at the sound and shook her head.Of course she’s afraid, light poured into the sky from your body.
Juniper got back into her car and felt her frustration return with force. She was stuck in Rowan’s house and she hated it. Absolutely hated it.
