Page 24 of Witch's Exile
"Wow." My jaw dropped in awe. "Just the two of you are doing this?"
"There's five of us," she replied, her lip curling in amusement. "My three mates are out hunting now."
I lifted an eyebrow and exchanged my own amused glance with Sal. Despite getting off to a rocky start, I was starting to like our new neighbors. Astrid and I seemed to have more in common the more we talked.
"What's that look for?" she asked defensively, noticing my and Sal's grins.
"I have three mates too," I replied, nuzzling against Sal and kissing his cheek. "The others are away at the moment too, so he's the one stuck with me."
"Lucky me," he growled softly, dropping a kiss to my shoulder.
Astrid's face broke into a full-on grin as she hid a girlish giggle behind her hand.
"Would you two like to stay and eat with us?" she asked a bit nervously. "I only have homemade blackberry wine and bites to nibble on now. But my mates should be back soon and then we'll be feasting."
"We don't want to intrude," I protested but she waved a hand, cutting me off.
"They always bring back so much and then we have to dry it into jerky, which is a huge pain in my ass. Please." She lowered her voice. "I still want to make up for shooting you. And I think we have much to learn from each other."
Sal and I looked to each other again, coming to an agreement without words. "If you're sure," I turned back to Astrid with a smile. "Homemade blackberry wine sounds absolutely delicious."
