Page 32 of Spellbound & Speechless
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
I blink. “It’s a wolf thing, isn’t it? Youallseem to enjoy eating.”
“Right, right.”
He groans and sits up, running his fingers through his messy curls. He looks… well,human—as human as any of us can be. The unapproachable facade he puts on slips away, and I fight a strange urge to be the one protectinghim.
Not that he needs protecting. The corrupt witch seems to have no interest in the wolf.
“You go,” he says. “I’ll meet you down there.”
Breakfastin the Hawthorne home is almost the same as I remember. Maple’s breakfasts have replaced my mother’s. Instead of the music Mom listened to, usually Fleetwood Mac, Maple plays soft folk music that fills the tiny space with a bright ambience.
My pink robe drags on the floor as I float through the room.
One good thing about working at a bar is that I don’thaveto be ready early, and neither do the others. We can all take our time—except Rowan. Rowan sits at the table with her laptop open, typing away, but everyone else moves leisurely.
“Good morning!” I sit next to Rowan. “Our wolf friend will join us shortly.”
Rowan looks at me from the corner of her eye. “I hope we didn’t wake him.”
“You didn’t,” I say. “You did wakemeup, but I doubt anyone cares about that.”
“You got more than enough beauty rest!” Maple smiles and pushes a plate of apple pancakes in my direction. “Just look at you. Your skin is glowing. Eat up—and don’t worry, I made extra for our guest.”
“How long will he be staying here?” I pile my plate with pancakes and scrambled eggs. “And byhere,I mean in my bedroom.”
“Until we eliminate the threat,” Juniper says. “And until he finds a place to stay. Don’t be stingy. He saved your life—and your magic.”
“Is this how you’ve been treating my room all along? I didn’t realize you turned it into the guest room.”
“Why shouldn’t we? You weren’t exactly using it,” Juniper says. “You didn’t even come for last year’s winter solstice.”
“Don’t listen to her! We didn’t do anything like that.” Maple chimes in, always the peacekeeper. “We didn’t have a single guest while you were gone.”
I giggle, trying to show there are no hard feelings—but there are. Not my hard feelings, but theirs. My sisters likely still haven’t forgiven me for freezing them out, and I can’t say I blame them.
“It’s fine,” I say. “It could be worse. He doesn’t snore loudly or anything.”
“He doesn’t have any icks?” Laurel lifts a brow. “That’s major for you.”
I shrug. “Not yet.”
He’s a man. Hisickswill present themselves any day now. Probably in the form of heavy shedding, thanks to his wolf form. Ugh. I hope he knows how to snake a drain, because I don’t.
Mac is surprisingly quiet when he enters the room. He styled his curls and changed into a dark blue turtleneck. It’s a nice outfit; if I liked him more, I would compliment it.
“Were you talking about me?” he asks.
“A little.” I gesture to the chair next to mine. “Good things—mostly. Come on. I saved you a seat.”
It’s the only empty seat. Our table is already huge, meant to accommodate our large family, but if we keep growing, we’ll have to get an evenbiggerone.
“Where’s Ozzy?” I ask.
Juniper looks down at her plate. “At his place. I didn’t tell him about the attack.”
“Juniper!” I frown. “Why not? Keeping secrets isn’t good for a relationship.”
