“Okay, moving on. Sorry, Bethy, but you had your turn. We educated you. You seduced your man and got his bone. Now, it’s Zara’s turn, and she’s chomping at the bit for—”
“If you say historyboy’s bone, I’m going to dump my wine on you,” Peri warned.
“I didn’thaveto say it,” Jen replied. “You said it for me, Peri Fairy.”
Peri tipped her glass back and drained it. “I totally did. I need more to drink.”
“Maybe everyone shouldput their drinksdown so we can be a little more clear-headed for Zara,” Crina suggested.
“Good plan, Stan,” Jacque agreed, and everyone sat their mugs and glasses down. “Okay, so you told Wadim that you were ready to proceed with your bond. You’ve still got to do the Blood Rites, correct?”
Zara nodded.
“And you still need to consummate the mating,” Jacque added.
Jen laughed suddenly. “Consummate. That word totally has a new meaning now that we’re werewolves with mates. It sounds like consume mate. Like we’re eating our mates. Only we’re chicks, so it would actually be the other way a—”
“Someoneshovea cookie in her word hole. Quickly, please,” Jacque said.
Elle snapped her fingers, and suddenly an Oreo protruded from Jen’s mouth. Everyone froze as they looked from Jen to Elle.
“Why the hell have you two not been doing that all these years?” Sally asked Peri and Elle.
“No one asked us to,” Elle said.
“I don’t think that’s something that needs to be asked. It’s pretty freaking obvious this girl doesn’t need a working mouth,” Sally said.
“Pretty sure Decebel would be a bit angry with us if we caused her mouth to stop working,” Peri murmured.
“Bloody hell.” Jacque sighed. “It’s like I’m surrounded by drunk, eighteen-year-old dudes who’ve gotten stuck on the sex merry-go-round jokes.”
“And if we shoved a cookie in Jen’s mouth every time she said something inappropriate, she’d be three hundred pounds by next week.”
Jen swallowed hard. “Something else Dec probably wouldn’t appreciate. Keep your cookies to yourselves.”
“I haven’t mentioned a word about sex,” Rachel called out.
“No, you just put the image of Gavril in a tutu and tiara in our minds,” Sally said dryly. “Thank you, wise healer, for that.”
“All right, moving on,” Crina said, obviously trying to keep everyone focused. Zara couldn’t help but laugh. She’d never had friends like this. She’d never experienced the kind of comradery these women shared. Zara would be forever grateful to the Great Luna that the Romania pack had found her in the vampire coven and gotten her out.
“What did Wadim say?” Crina asked. “You guys haven’t exactly seemed kosher, so I’m guessing it didn’t go well?”
“He said he doesn’t think I’m ready.” Zara glanced down at her nearly empty mug of hot chocolate, though she didn’t even remember drinking it. Jen took it from her hands and replaced it with a full one.
“Don’t you love it when they do that? As iftheyknow what you are and are not ready for?” Jen said.
“It’s very helpful,” Sally said, shaking herhead at the same time.
“I, for one, love it,” Crina bit out. After a brief pause, she added, “No. I do not love it. No one loves it. In fact, it’s freaking annoying.”
“And your response was?” Peri asked, a freshly filled glass in her hand.
“I told him he didn’t get to tell me what I was or was not ready for,” Zara said, remembering the way he’d growled at her.
“Bet he loved that.” Bethany chuckled. “They love it when we tell them they aren’t in control.”
“Sorin rarely questions what I—” Elle started but Jen cut her off.
