Page 72 of Witch Unexpected
“You can see the top of it there.” Bramble pointed at a star hanging low.
Not a star, but the reflection of moonlight on glass. The path curved to the left, and the massive building came into view. The atrium was red brick and glass panes that winked pitch black in the night. A glass roof rose to a peak, pointing to the stars. A gazebo draped in ivy sat to the left of the atrium.
Bramble made a beeline for it, and I trailed after her, my gaze drifting to the atrium doors.
“Come sit,” she said.
I joined her, making sure I had a view of the exit to the atrium. “What time do they patrol?”
“Usually around nine pm.” She studied her nails. “They’ll be out soon.”
A quick glance at my watch showed it to be ten to nine. I looked up to find Bramble watching me with a sly smile.
“What?”
“So, you and Leif got on well,” she said. “I saw you sharing food and laughing.”
Oh, that. “He’s a cool guy.”
“Yeah, Leif is solid. So’s Rune. Torsten, not so much. Torsten, you need to be wary of. The fecker’s insane.”
“So I’ve been warned.”
“You’ll be okay,” she said. “Charlotte told me what she said to you. She said you looked freaked out.”
“Yeah? Well, I was.”
“Why?” She looked genuinely confused. “The guys will take care of you. They’ll never hurt ya.”
“Until they go off and fuck other women for procreation purposes.”
“It’s just sex,” Bramble said. “It’s the way it’s always been. Everyone understands that.”
“Why not just turkey baster it, huh?”
She stared at me, wide-eyed and uncomprehending.
Seriously. “Artificial insemination? No sex required.”
“Dire wolves can only procreate via intent, and sperm has no intent. The act needs to be in the flesh with the male driving the intent.” She thrust her hips to demonstrate.
“I couldn’t deal with that. If I loved a guy, I couldn’t be okay with him having sex with someone else.”
“But you’d expect them to be okay with you having sex with all of them if that was an option?”
“Honestly, no. I mean, I’m more of a one-man woman.”
“Then you need to adjust your expectations, luv. Being mated to three wolves won’t allow for that world view.”
We sat in silence for a long beat. “I dunno, Bramble. Even if I got over the procreation thing, knowing that they’d leave me once a new anchor took over—”
“We don’t know that!” Bramble snapped. “They love her.”
Of course, she was protective over Charlotte. But I didn’t have time for delusional shit. “They love her because of the bond, because it makes them see her as a mate, and when that’s gone—”
“They’ll realize they love her anyway.” Bramble glared at me.
Fuck it. I wasn’t about to argue with her on this one.
