“I didn’t say you were gross,” he snorts.“Just that we’re obviously not meant to be together.”
I take a step back and curl my lip at him.“I’m the one who’s grossed out.”
“Oh yeah?”He arches one thick brow.“I can scent your arousal from here.”
“That’s my dumbass wolf.My mind is shuddering in disgust at your mere presence.”
Andrew rolls his eyes.“Let’s go spend a miserable morning touring the apple orchard and remind fate how stupid she is and what a ridiculous mistake she made with us.Then let’s have lunch together, just to make it even worse.And maybe even dinner.”
I give him a skeptical look.
“Kidding!”he barks.“Obviously I don’t want to have dinner with you.”
“Try again,” I suggest.
“Okay.Fine.”He lets out a long, miserable sigh.“My wolf wants to have dinner with you.And I hate that about him.”
“I know.”I nod sympathetically.“Mine too.Our wolves are stupid jerks and we are never, ever going to shift in each other’s presence because if those two crazy beasts got to meet each other...ugh, I can’t even think about it.Let’s just get this wretched day over with.”
Why can’t I dread it more?Why do I feel so safe, so protected, in his presence?
Off in the distance, I see Marion standing silently, watching us.And she’s got the faintest smile on her face.
Chapter Five
Andrew
Four days.
Four days of coming up with excuses to hang out with Henrietta and waiting for the bond to weaken.My mother keeps staring at me with an odd little half-smile, like she knows something I don’t, my wolf is going nuts, and I’m tossing and turning every night, tormented by erotic dreams of my fated mate.
The corn crop is growing faster than it ever has before, with no sign of pest damage.Silas is satisfied.Carlton is delighted.My pack is getting exactly what they paid for, and if anyone has noticed that I have been supervising the plant mage situation every single morning despite having approximately forty other things that require my attention, no one has said anything.
At least up until this morning – but I think that’s about to change.
"Move," I say to Henrietta, in a low, urgent voice.
I've spotted Cole off in the distance, headed in our general direction like he’s on a mission.He hasn’t seen us yet, but he will.
"Why?”she challenges me.
"My brother is headed this way.Stop giving me grief, or at least walk while you’re doing it.”
That earns me a middle finger, but she trots along at my side, keeping a careful two feet away from me.
We make it to the north barn without incident.I pull the door mostly shut behind us and check through the gap.Cole has stopped.He's shading his eyes with one hand, scanning the fields.Looking for us.
"Has he spotted us?"Henrietta asks.
"Not yet."I step back into the dim.It smells like hay and oil and old wood in here, the same as it has my entire life.I used to hide in this barn when I was a kid and didn't want to be found for Alpha training with my dad, which involved a lot of broken bones that took hours to heal.
"And that would be bad because—"
I look at her."Have you met my brother?"
“Unfortunately.”She narrows her eyes at me.“I wish I’d never met any of you.”
That stings, and part of me wants to tell her what really happened the day that I saw her dad in the forest.But he was her hero.Everyone’s dad is their hero.I can’t take that from her; I’ve already taken so much.