“Was it close—”
“Did you run—”
“Did Carson carry you—”
“Stop, guys.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “He didn’t carry me. Nobody carried anybody. Nobody needed carrying.”
Violet set down the knife. “You’re yelling, which means you definitely needed carrying.”
“Ididn’t.I handled it.”
Fiona gave me a skeptical look. “Okay. And then what?”
“And then,” I continued, “we saw a pack of wolves.”
Silence.
Total silence.
Violet blinked. Fiona gasped and clutched her chest as if she’d just heard a scandal at church.
“You didn’t tell us aboutthat,” Violet said.
“I just walked in the door!”
They exchanged a long look. One of those sibling glances that meant an entire conversation passed silently, and I was not going to like the result.
I pointed a finger at them. “No.”
“We didn’t say anything,” Violet said innocently.
“I’m preemptively saying no.”
Fiona snorted. “Okay, drama queen. Keep going. What did the wolves do?”
“They watched us. Assessed us.” I swallowed hard. “I’ve never had a pack do that before. Not like that.”
“And?” Violet asked quietly.
“And then Carson dispersed them.”
Fiona paused mid-blueberry. “Carson dispersed awolf pack?”
“Yes.”
“With what? A stern look?”
“No,” I said, glaring. “Just—his presence. And snow. And calm. And… whatever.” I waved my hand dramatically. “Wolf magic. I don’t know. He knows things.”
They both stared and broke into identical smiles.
“Oh no,” I said. “No. Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” Violet asked, entirely too sweet.
“That face.”
“What face?” Fiona echoed.
