Page 23 of Bullied Wolf Mate

“I do remember, actually.” It had been one of the few times she had fought back. I cracked a grin despite myself. “You used magic to reflect it back on us or something. I had to pick out eggshells from my hair.” I frowned. “Wait, that was when we were fourteen.”

She nodded. “Witches’ powers usually manifest when they’re thirteen. You have no idea how excited I was to finally be able to do something about the bullying.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I mean. Your parents died when we were fourteen. I never knew.”

“No one did,” she said. “I didn’t want someone taking me away. I stayed in school long enough to avoid anyone sniffing around, then left.”

It took a bit for those words to really hit home. We hadn’t stopped tormenting Lorelei until she left school. All that time bullying her, and she’d been alone.

For the first time, I felt a twinge of disgust at the way I had treated her when I was a kid. Through the disgust, though,another feeling sparked through me. Admiration. This woman had been through so much and had taken care of herself for years, even as a teenager. She had overcome who knew how many obstacles. She could have rolled over at any moment and just given up. But she had kept fighting, even when she was up against Inara. All this time, I had seen her as someone who needed saving and rescuing. It had never occurred to me that she had essentially rescued herself for over a decade now.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She studied me, head tilted as if she was trying to determine how genuine I was being.

“Show me you’re sorry,” she said. “Don’t just say it.”

I took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. “I’ll do my best,” I promised.

Chapter 9 - Lorelei

For the first time since I had gotten here, the front door was unlocked. But it wasn’t because Mark trusted me anymore. It was simply because the group of women currently standing on the other side wouldn’t be able to get in.

“Hey there!” the one in front said, beaming. “You must be Lorelei.”

“That’s me,” I muttered. Heat flooded my face, and I was suddenly self-conscious. I didn’t think I had been around this many women at once since I was in school. The skin on the back of my neck prickled uncomfortably, and I had a sudden urge to run.

The woman in front must have seen how nervous I looked because she gave a warm laugh. “Don’t worry. There’s a lot of us, but we don’t bite. I’m Georgia.”

“Right,” I said, already fully aware that committing the names of what looked like ten women to memory in a short time span would be nearly impossible. But I was going to have to try. “It’s nice meeting all of you. Come on in.”

It felt strange inviting them into Mark’s house as if I was a joint owner. If the women noticed anything nervous or odd on my part, they politely ignored it.

Georgia rattled off everyone else’s names as they walked in. Sure enough, said names quickly blurred together until it was nearly impossible to distinguish one woman from the other, and they soon blurred into a single mass. Still, I nodded and smiled even as panic began to creep in.

What the hell was I doing? I wasn’t someone who had friends. This wasn’t me.

“And this is Holly,” Georgia said as she finished, gesturing at the pale, dark-haired girl. She smiled and waved at me.

“Who’s your mate?” I asked.

Holly giggled. It had a pleasant, musical lilt to it. “No mate,” she said. “The girls just adopted me into the group one day, and I never left.”

“Not that she has any option,” Andi said, looping an arm around Holly. “She’s too much fun, so she’s stuck with us.”

“Hey, is it true you’re a witch?” Evelyn, a woman with vibrant red hair, asked.

“Uh, yeah,” I replied.

“Cool!” the one I was fairly certain was named Thea said. “I’ve always wondered what that was like. Do you like it?”

“Uh,” I stammered. “I mean, yeah? I guess? It’s sort of like breathing to me, so I don’t know how else to describe it. I mean, it’s kinda… um… well, I’m not very good, so I’m probably not the best person to ask, but it’s really neat.”

“How does it work?” she asked.

I blinked. “It’s… complicated?”

“Oh.” Thea looked a little disappointed, and guilt squirmed inside me.

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