Aster was the exception. Callum’s boyfriend would happily lounge in my arms for long minutes, whining each time I tried to step back. At least until he got distracted by something shiny and elbowed his way free.
Reluctantly, I extracted myself from Louisa’s embrace. She didn’t let me go too far, linking her arm through the crook of my elbow. A baby blue jumpsuit flaunted her generous curves, her flaming red hair tied into an elaborate knot at the back of her head. Errol put his rope skills – gained as the island’s ferry captain – to good use by creating beautiful updos for his wife.
‘Good morning.’ She steered me across my garden and onto the path behind the back of the cottages. ‘How was your first night with the newbie?’
We turned the opposite direction to where Lucas had fled.
‘Fine.’ I cringed at the faint skip to my heartbeat that Louisa wouldn’t fail to notice. It wasn’t fully a lie, but wasn’t the whole truth either. ‘I think he needs time to settle in,’ I amended.
‘He seemed quiet at dinner,’ Louisa mused as we marched along the path, passing the different coloured cottages and the assorted lawns and vegetable patches stretching from their back doors. ‘I didn’t expect that from someone who grew up with Aster.’
‘He might be.’ I wasn’t sure if Lucas was actually quiet, or if he was simply so used to letting Aster dominate conversations that he didn’t even try speaking up at this point. Add Louisa, Bonnie, and Joshua into the mix, and only someone truly determined to be heard would be able raise their voice above the din.
Louisa pressed her elbow into my ribs as we neared the end of the row. ‘He thinks you’re a hottie.’
The backdoor of the lime green cottage slammed shut and Bonnie and Joshua joined us on the path. Bonnie was in a white shirt and ironed trousers, her long black hair tied into a neat plait. She must have serious mayor duties scheduled for today. Joshua was in his usual jumper and jeans, the brewery’s apron slung over the top. The deep green perfectly complimented his brown skin, which he’d told me was purposeful. He’d been the one to pick the colour.
‘I would very much like to hear your rebuttal.’ Bonnie casually pressed her hand to the side of Louisa’s neck, then mine. I consciously refused the urge to lean into her touch.
‘Leave him alone.’ Joshua unhooked Louisa from my side and slung his arm around my shoulders. ‘Kit’s walking with me today. Neither of you get to bully him.’
I didn’t burrow into his side. Joshua was the least touchy-feely of the pack. He was only so tactile at the moment because his twin was off the island. Once Cob returned, even these small acts of affection would become rare.
I appreciated Joshua saving me, even if Louisa and Bonnie’s debate over how long it would take for me and Lucas to bang was fully audible as we rounded the end of the terrace and turned onto the road. I wouldn’t have known how to answer Louisa’s question, especially as I was pretty certain Lucas didn’t think I was hot.
It was one of the things I liked about him.
That didn’t feel like a normal thing to think; that I was glad the attractive person I was living with didn’t seem to notice how I looked. But I kind of liked that how much he wanted to see me naked wasn’t the first thing Lucas had thought about me.
Sadness trickled from Joshua as we neared the bakery. The inviting smells of perfectly cooked pastries and hot sugar wafted out onto the street. I couldn’t remember if the bakery had smelt this good to a human nose. With a werewolf one, it was impossible to resist.
Margie, the owner, was ready at the door with our regular orders. The top of her head barely reached my shoulder, her grey hair spinning off in all directions.
‘Mad, the lot of you.’ She grinned toothily as she handed over the paper bags.
Margie had never understood Louisa’s insistence that she and I should walk to work together, despite our commutes consisting of hopping downstairs from our living rooms to the floor below. Louisa said it was good for us to venture into the outside world at least once per day, and it gave her an excuse tocheck the bay to see if Errol was home from his morning trip to the mainland.
Margie was too busy to linger in the bakery’s doorway as we continued walking. I wondered if she thought she provided breakfast and lunch for us. Each of our bags contained three fresh pastries, too much for a human to eat for breakfast every day of the week without incurring some kind of intestinal wrath.
Joshua’s sadness notched up from a trickle to a steady stream as he practically inhaled his first croissant. ‘They’re not the same as when Cob makes them.’
I pressed into his side for a beat. ‘He’ll be home soon.’
Joshua’s twin had been off the island for almost a year, touring the bakeries of Europe and Asia. He and Joshua had never been apart for so long, and it hit them both hard. I tried to not listen in during their long phone calls, but it was impossible to miss the scent of tears on the air when Joshua went on a walk afterwards or Cob’s hitching voice when they said goodbye.
The separation would come to an end soon. Another couple of months of bakery sampling, and Cob would be back to making croissants alongside Margie.
‘Later, losers.’ Louisa skipped to the island’s pharmacy. She and Errol lived above with her elderly grandmother, who ran the shop. Louisa spent her days making her popular brand of werewolf friendly beauty products in the back room.
I’d finished my first pastry by the time Bonnie and Joshua dropped me off at the front of Island Books. They had workplaces that were distinctly separate to their home; Bonnie to her office in the back of the doctor’s surgery/town council offices and Joshua to the brewery off the road up to the island’s farm.
I rubbed at the ache in my chest after they said their goodbyes and promptly linked hands, Bonnie’s head falling to Joshua’s shoulder. I didn’t resent Aster and Callum gettingtogether, since it had helped Callum become a functioning member of society and made them both so happy, but it was hard being the last of the pack without a significant other.
I unlocked the door of the bookshop and was instantly assaulted by a black and white ball. Kat yowled up at me, clearly still starving.
‘What was I thinking?’ I let the door swing shut and crouched before her. ‘Who needs a partner when I have you?’
I pulled off a corner of croissant and she snatched it in her pointy teeth. I liked to think her running off to find a corner to devour her second breakfast was a sign of deep devotion, rather than an entrenched unwillingness to share any morsel of food.
