Page 51 of Scornful

Mom calls out. "Astrid, honey, you here?"

"In the break room!"

She appears in the doorway, Fern right behind her.

Both women are dressed in jeans and old t-shirts, ready to get sweaty.

Mom studies my face with those sharp eyes that see everything. "How are you doing?"

I lie straight through my teeth. "I'm fine."

Fern snorts. "Sure you are. That was quite the scene last night."

Before I can respond, more women arrive.

Starla, Gwen, Aziza, even Meghan, and Dasha—they're all here to help set up the new furniture, but I can tell from their expressions they're really here for me.

Meghan has two trays of coffees in her hands, while Dasha has a couple of boxes of something scrumptious from the shop.

"Coffee and food first." Fern laughs. "Then we talk."

Soon we're all gathered in the main treatment room, steaming mugs in hand, surrounded by boxes and plastic-wrapped furniture.

"So," Starla says, never one to beat around the bush. "You and Geirolf, that’s a shock."

I take a sip of too-hot coffee, buying time. "Yeah."

"How long?" Gwen asks gently.

"Not long. A couple of weeks." Feels like longer, though.

Feels like everything changed the moment he defended me in that parking lot.

Aziza cocks a brow. "A few weeks?”

I give a curt nod. "Yep."

The entire room is silent for a few moments. "I was friends with Aesir before we got together, kind of. I know how feelings can change, and how fast they can grow.”

"Your father will come around, you know," Mom says, but the way she says it doesn’t make me feel like he will. "He just needs time to process."

Meghan laughs, a warm sound that fills the room. "Men. They think they own us, want to control who we love. But the heart wants what it wants."

"Tell that to my dad," I mutter.

"He's protective," Fern says. "After what happened with Flora, he's terrified of losing anyone else close to the club, and you’re the closest thing to him besides your mother."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"But Geirolf could be," Starla points out. "Fenrir could push for his patch to be pulled, if he really wanted to."

The thought makes my stomach clench.

The club is everything to Geirolf.

It's the family he never had growing up. If he loses that because of me...

"Runes won't let that happen," Fern says firmly. "Geirolf's too valuable. Too loyal."

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