“Your face is getting red.”
“I umm…” I chewed on my cheek, and Nora smirked.
“What happened?”
“We may have…slept together.”
Her mouth dropped. “Oh my god! What, are you serious? I thought you said you didn’t even like him.”
“I don’t.”
“You clearly do, otherwise you wouldn’t have slept with him.”
I shook my head. “It just happened.”
Nora snorted. “Oh god. It’s me, Jade. You can be honest. You like him… don’t you?”
I looked away, unsure of what I was feeling. Every time I thought I was figuring it out, that I could finally see through the fog, something made it worse. It was never black and white.
“I don’t know. I want to believe him and trust him, but how can I? He left once. How do I know he won’t again? With everything going on, how can I know what’s real and what isn’t part of his job?” I sighed. “I just…I don’t know what to believe.”
Nora gave me a sympathetic expression. “I think you can trust him. He seems like he wants what’s best for the pack.”
I made a face. “That’s part of his job. I don’t want to just be part of his job.”
She shook her head. “Not entirely. His father didn’t care less about the woman and their ability to protect themself. He was clear that he thought women should be at home and that they were more useful bearing children rather than standing as equals with men. Brandon doesn’t view things the same way. He wants everyone to know how to protect themselves, and he wants the pack to do their best.” Nora took a sip from her mug. “He could have been a crappy leader, and he could have just taught the men, but he didn’t. He wanted change, and I think you can trust that.”
I knew she had a point. Things had been changing. The women were growing more open, and the pack felt like it wasslowly starting to become a place that didn’t feel like a prison. It was good.
“How about we go out?” she asked. “The fresh air might help.”
I decided there was no harm in the idea. We headed outside and started walking around the neighborhood. I could see that some guys were doing patrols around the neighborhood, and it helped relax my nerves a little.
“So, tell me about the sex.”
Her questions caught me off guard, and I looked at her with wide eyes. “What?”
“I need some details. It’s Brandon. The man looks like he was handcrafted by a woman, so please tell me the sex was good.”
I blushed, and she elbowed me. “So, it was. You’re blushing.”
“Of course it was good.”
She smirked. “I’ve heard there are a lot of men out there that don’t know how we work, so I’m glad he does. Would be a shame.”
I rolled my eyes. “It was a one-time thing.”
Nora wiggled her eyebrows. “So you say, but I can see that isn’t true.”
“Why is that?”
Nora interlocked her arm with mine. “Because he’s your mate.”
In a normal world, that would mean so much, but it didn’t for me. I wasn’t a full shifter, so having a mate didn’t mean as much. It was understandable if your mate didn’t want you.
“I’m part witch, so that doesn’t matter.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t care about that.”
