Page 22 of Awakened and Betrayed
“I tried to convince them that I’m fine on my own, but apparently casters are treated like mindless children until they have their awakening.”
I roll my eyes, and Mave gives me an understanding nod.
“You’re going to love this part,” I tell her, my tone overflowing with snark. “I’ve been sent to live with Enoch Cleary’s coven and given Pebble herefor my protection.”
I’m sure to put exaggerated air quotes around the last part. I’ve already proven that I can take Pebble when push comes to shove. There’s really no reason for him to still follow me around. Or pretending that he’s here for any other reason other than spying on me and keeping me from doing anything the elders don’t want me to do.
“Why the fuck did they put you with that coven of assholes?” Mave exclaims.
I give an incredulous snort. “Why do you think?” I roll my eyes. “They gave Elder Cleary temporary guardianship over me. He felt that his son’s coven was where I’d be most comfortable, being that they’re big strong casters and their magic is the mostcompatiblewith mine.”
Mave scoffs and gives me a knowing look. “Sounds completely innocent and not at all self-serving to me. I’m sure Elder Cleary and Elder Albrecht aren’t hoping that you trip and land on one of their son’s dicks, right in the middle of a bonding ceremony.”
I laugh, and Pebble coughs, obviously uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation and our talking shit about his bosses.
“Oh come on, Pebble, put on your big boy panties, and take off your blinders. You know as well as we do what’s really going on here.”
He shakes his head at me, but it’s not lost on me that he doesn’t say anything to refute our claims and suspicions.
“What are you going to do?” Mave queries.
“What can I do? The guys submitted a Bond Claim, but I’ll give you one guess as to who decides whether I can be with them or not. If the elders deny it, I’m fucking stuck until my awakening, and I come into my full power.”
“Holy shit! That was fast. Those boys aren’t wasting any time trying to get you on lockdown,” Mave exclaims with raised eyebrows, and a look that’s half impressed, half shocked.
“What can I say,my magic brings all the boys to the yard.”
I start to sing the rest of the song and dance around. Mave laughs, and the tinkling sound of it breaks up the tension that was building inside of my chest. The thought of being stuck with no control over my life for the next couple of years sits heavy on me.
“Well, you obviously need to let off some steam, and lucky for you, my pack has a moon ceremony tonight. We can party it up, get drunk as fuck, and forget all about life’s problems. Tru has been asking about you,” she teases.
“Tru doesn’t talk, Mave, and the last thing I need is another guy sniffing around where there’s not a chance.”
She laughs. “He talks in the pack link. No one wants to go running with him anymore because he just wants to recap you fucking up those caster pricks. I think it’s less of a crush and more that he really wants to see you fight again.”
I chuckle at that revelation and Mave’s look shifts from innocent amusement to saucy.
“But now that you mention it, if those delicious caster boys of yours are about to put you on a magical leash, maybe we should arrange a littlepuppy pilefor you. You know what they say, once you go wolf you never go...well... fuck. I was going to try and come up with something on the fly, but nothing rhymes with wolf.” We both crack up. “Seriously though, they’re big, virile, bossy, and experts at coaxing out a good howl, if you know what I mean.” She elbows me and wags her eyebrows.
“Is anyone in your pack going to care that somewitchis crashing their party?”
“Fuck no. Not when I’m the one vouching for you. Plus, we both know you can handle yourself.”
Mave winks at me and saunters over to Pebble. She runs a finger down the front of his black t-shirt and looks him square in the eyes. Her lips purse slightly, and I watch as Pebble’s breathing speeds up.
“Now, are you going to behave yourself and be a good boy tonight? Because if you start any shit with my pack, I will make sure that Vinna holds you down while I officially introduce your dick to the magic cross.”
Pebble visibly swallows, and his pupils dilate. I can’t tell if he’s nervous or turned on by Mave’s threat. I have a sneaking suspicion that he doesn’t know either.
This is going to be fun.
13
Acool breeze brushes past me and chills rise up on my skin. I’m seriously regretting the white off-the-shoulder peasant top that Mave forced me into.
“Why can’t I just wear my t-shirt again? It’s kind of cold up here,” I whine, for the thousandth time since Mave started throwing clothes at me from her closet. I magically styled my hair straight, and a breeze catches the thick black-brown strands and pushes them back and away from my face.
“Vin, I don’t care what you say, but a t-shirt that saysTryna look like one of those rap guys girlfriendsdoes not set the appropriate tone for how tonight is going to go. Now, stop with the whining. As soon as we get a couple of sips of Cyrus’s moonshine in you, you’ll be happy you wore something light and breezy.”
