Page 11 of A Bear's Journey

“I like it,” Olivia said, truthfully. “There’s a lot of repetition, and it’s mostly pretty soothing. It’s really satisfying to just put things where they belong all day.”

Quinn nodded, then took another sip of her cocktail. The amethyst on her ring finger sparkled in the light, and Olivia watched it.

I missed so much, she thought with a pang. They all found mates, even my brother.

Kade was there somewhere, probably being grumpy in a corner. He wasn’t a people person, but he’d come out for his cousins, who were more like brothers.

“Do you get to read a lot?” Quinn asked.

“Only if I sneak off to do it,” Olivia said. “Which I do. Sometimes.”

Quinn smiled. She didn’t quite look relaxed, but she looked like she was getting there. Olivia had never directly asked her about her life story, but she knew that she’d grown up in an anti-shifter group.

“How’s the dating website?” Olivia asked.

Quinn laughed.

“It’s going really well, actually,” Quinn said. She did web design. “We just expanded again. An office is going up out in Cumberland in the next few months, and they’re going to start running in-person dating events on the east coast.”

“That’s great,” Olivia said.

“If you ever want a subscription, I can hook you up for free,” Quinn said with a wink. “I mean, no rush, none at all, just offering. If you ever want.”

She looked out over the crowd again, and Olivia thought she saw the other girl shrink back against the wall, just a little.

“God knows I’m the last person who’d pressure you,” Quinn muttered.

As if on cue, a woman with gray hair and a champagne flute in her hand came up to Quinn and put her hand on the girl’s arm.

“I heard your good news!” she exclaimed, then, without asking, lifted Quinn’s ring hand into the air. “Oh, goodness, it’s beautiful!”

“Thank you,” Quinn said.

“Are we going to be throwing you a party like this any time soon?” the woman asked with a huge wink.

Quinn threw Olivia a look, and Olivia had to fight down a smile.

“We’re taking life one step at a time,” Quinn said very politely, and Olivia moved away. She felt a little bad that she was leaving Quinn alone with the vultures, but Quinn seemed to be able to handle herself.

Instead, Olivia walked back toward the snack table for some more of those goat-cheese-and-smoked salmon pastries. In the past few months, Cora — the pregnant one — had suddenly discovered a near-insane love of baking, and had baked up an absolute storm for this party.

Olivia didn’t mind. She also didn’t mind sitting around in Cora, Ash, and Hunter’s kitchen taste-testing the stuff.

A few people stared as she walked past, and she ignored them as well as she could.

It wasn’t enough.

“That’s her,” whispered one woman. Olivia didn’t turn and look.

“The one that killed those wolves?” a man’s voice said.

“Yeah,” the woman said. “Can you believe they’d invite her to a baby shower, of all things?”

“She should be locked away somewhere,” the man’s voice said.

Walk on past,Olivia told herself, feeling the steel in her spine. Just walk on past.

“Animal,” the woman said.

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