I hope you had alovelynice day yesterday. Aster said hi and that he will see you later at Bonnie’s. I’ll be there too, but I’m off around the island today.
I promise not to say anything later to make you uncomfortable.
Have a good day,
Lucasx
I hadn’t seen Lucas yesterday. I decided at ten that he was purposefully coming home late to avoid me and I shouldn’t embarrass him by waiting up. Over an hour later, I’d laid in bed and listened to him shuck off his boots and coat, then hurriedly climb to his bedroom. Despite the doors between us, I’d caught a bitter waft of sadness.
I crumpled his latest note in my fist. He’d scribbled sections out, but had either been in a rush or didn’t think I would bother to decipher them. The words underneath strengthened my resolve to sort out the tangle of miscommunication between us. Lucas avoiding me wasn’t making either of us happy. I didn’t think it was what he actually wanted. He couldn’t escape dinner at Bonnie’s later, and I’d find a way to make him listen to me before or after.
Kat appeased with a pouch of hideous chicken jelly, I met Louisa at the cottage’s back door and walked with her around to the front of our workplaces. She and Errol were planning a trip to his home island soon, which Louisa always dreaded because his family had no idea she and Errol were werewolves.
‘It’s hard to hide it from people who love me,’ Louisa grumped. One of her conditions on accepting the bite was that she would tell her grandmother about it. She couldn’t live with someone who’d known her for her whole life and lie to them about something so huge.
‘Plus, his stupid island is ugly,’ she concluded as we picked up our bags of pastries from the bakery. Margie had added an extra pain au chocolat to mine, perhaps to make up for my absence yesterday.
I bid Louisa goodbye and opened up Island Books. The day didn’t drag as much as the last two, especially with a new shipment of crime novels that arrived mid-afternoon. I finished the day by putting together a display Hamish would no doubt sigh at when he was next in and promptly rearrange. I sold two before closing despite my woeful attempt at showing off our new wares, so it couldn’t be too bad.
Lucas didn’t return home before we were due at Bonnie and Joshua’s, so I’d have to settle for clearing the air between us after a raucous meal with the pack. I went upstairs to give Kat her evening pouch of goo – otherwise she’d hunt me down and bite achunk out of my leg for daring to horrendously neglect her – and checked my scarf was in place. I’d gone with a mustard yellow jumper and pink pashmina combination, figuring Lucas couldn’t possibly ignore me if I wore something so loud.
I could hear the pack long before I let myself into Bonnie and Joshua’s cottage. I breathed deep as I eased off my boots on the welcome mat, the scents of those I loved flowing over me. Pack nights had felt much more complete since Bonnie and Callum had talked about their past. Now all members of our cobbled family came together to reinforce our bonds.
The smile slipped off my face when I stepped into the kitchen-diner and noted the two empty chairs at the table, then all the air was punched out of my lungs as Aster thumped into my chest. He’d told me months ago that he was always up for a hug, but I counted out three seconds and stepped back regardless. Aster might have been more tactile than the average human, but he wouldn’t appreciate me holding him hostage in my arms.
‘Where’s Lukey?’ he asked, fingers stroking the soft fabric of my scarf.
‘He’s been off around the island today.’ At least Lucas’s notes made it seem like everything was okay between us. I didn’t have to admit that we hadn’t spoken for an embarrassingly long time for two people sharing a tiny cottage. ‘He said he’d be here.’
Bonnie cocked her head to one side. As Alpha and a born wolf, her abilities far outstripped the rest of the pack. Her thick eyebrows drew together as she focused her incredibly good hearing across the island.
‘He’s in the vet’s surgery,’ Callum piped up. He sat with Errol at the table, his eyes flicking between Aster and the massive leg of lamb Joshua was carving on the kitchen side. ‘I heard him talking before we arrived.’
‘Way to steal my thunder,’ Bonnie muttered. She nudged Aster out of the way and cupped the sides of my face. ‘Joshua said you’ve been sad?’
Bonnie did a great impression ninety-nine per cent of the time of an unfeeling arsehole. The mask fell apart when one of her pack was in distress. She insisted she wasn’t a pseudo mother to us, but she became as fierce as one when leaping to our aid.
I shied away from her penetrating gaze, wriggling out of her hold. ‘I’m fine.’
Every werewolf in the room heard the faint skip of my heart.
I cringed and held up my hands. ‘I will be fine.’
My heart stayed steady, and the focus swung away from me as Joshua carried the impressive pile of meat over to the table.
I slipped into the seat beside Callum. ‘Does it sound like Lucas will be on his way soon?’
‘No way,’ Aster said from across his boyfriend, despite his hearing being even more puny than mine. ‘If people have figured out he’s in the surgery, there will be a queue out of the door. And Lucas will find it impossible to turn them away. He’s terrible at saying no. That’s why I’m so very careful to only ask him to do things that I know he secretly wants to deep down.’
‘He’s right.’ Callum speared a hunk of lamb before it disappeared. ‘I can hear mumbles of people who are waiting.’
Around the table, everyone helped themselves to Joshua’s roast. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that the pile of pastries I’d shared with Kat this morning had been consumed far too long ago, but I couldn’t eat while Lucas was stuck at the surgery.
Grabbing a Yorkshire pudding to tide me over, I stood up. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’
CHAPTER NINE
LUCAS
