Page 47 of Cursed Luck
Her mother waved a hand in dismissal. “Her plants. They’ve been telling me all sorts of things since I stepped in here.”
“Right,” Edward said before shrugging. “I guess I’ve learned stranger things. Anyhow, I stopped at the café for a chat with Claudia, my brother’s mate. I was hugging Claudia good-bye when I saw Mia stumble, and I ran after her. It took me a couple minutes, but I realized she’d come to some sordid conclusion, but before I could tell her, she cast her spell.”
“Claudia?”
Edward stepped into Mia’s space and nodded. “Yes, baby. That was Claudia, Max’s woman. I figured as a werewolf, she’d prefer working with earth instead of coffee grounds,” he said jokingly. “I’d planned on talking to you next, but if Claudia had no interest, there wasn’t a point in bringing it up with you. She’s part of the magical world, so you wouldn’t have to hide who you are either. I figured it was a win-win, but—”
“But our Mia here jumped to the worst conclusion.” Her father sighed.
“That she did. Claudia, Brandy—my sister—and myself all tried calling and texting, but you never answered. We came here, Brandy broke in, and we saw you were not only gone but you’d left your phone. I begged Ethan to tell me where you were, but he refused, only letting me know you were okay.”
Mia moved from him and rounded the counter. She unlocked her phone and found texts from an unknown number.
Unknown: Hi Mia, this is Claudia, Max’s fiancée. That was me Edward was hugging. I’m not sure what you thought you saw but I promise it wasn’t anything ugly.
Unknown: Hey Mia, Claudia again. Edward is miserable. I’ve never seen him like this. Probably doesn’t help he can’t speak. Please come back and fix him.
Unknown: Mia, this isn’t right. Edward was just trying to help us both.
Unknown: I don’t know if his suggestion is even worth it at this point…
It was clear Claudia disliked her more and more progressively. When Mia closed the thread, she found ones from Brandy and Serena as well.
Brandy: Not sure what you did to Edward, but can you please fix it?
Brandy: Oh, and sorry not sorry for breaking in, but we needed to see if you were there.
Serena: I can’t fix him, Mia.
Serena: He’s fucking miserable and it’s not losing his voice that is making him this way. It’s losing you. He’s fallen hard and if you understood him better, you’d know the magnitude of that fact.
She lifted her gaze to his with tears in the backs of her eyes. “You were hugging Claudia?”
The smile he offered was too kind, too forgiving. “I was.”
Mia raised a shaking hand to her lips and swallowed thickly. “I’m so sorry… I thought… and I’ve heard those words before, and goddess it hurt. I couldn’t take it again. I should have let you explain—”
By the end of her incoherent speech, he stood right in front of her. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I hurt you unintentionally.”
“You’ll both have to work on controlling the jealousy streak that comes with the mate bond,” her father said.
They looked toward her parents, Mia’s cheek pressed against Edward’s chest. The steady thrumming of his heart beat against her, and her arms held him tightly. “Jealousy streak?” she asked.
Her mother nodded. “I’m guessing you haven’t bonded, as it’s worse before you do. Edward would have knocked your dad on his ass if he wasn’t so quick on his feet, and you took Edward’s voice away, honey.”
“So you’re saying it’s our fault because we haven’t had sex?” she asked, horrified to be having this conversation with her parents.
Chapter 21
“Yes,” Lily and Adam Hemlock stated together.
Edward’s lips twitched, but he didn’t dare chuckle or even smile. Amusement aside, he felt as awkward as a teen discussing their lack of a sex life. He and Mia had already decided, mate or not, they would take things slowly. Neither had realized, however, how territorial they would become over the other.
When he had rushed to her shop to see her and spotted another man with his hands on her, he had seen red. The emotion had run deep, and he was not sure he’d been in control when he threw the punch. Thankfully, he had not struck the man. What a great way to introduce himself to her parents…
“Seriously?” Mia snapped.
“Honey, you can’t fight this. There’s no use in trying. Not many witches find their mates, and the fact you have should be celebrated,” Adam said.
