Willow:Well, actually, she did.
Ezra:Ah. Yeah.
She hastened to clarify, thumbs flying over her screen.
Willow:I said no! Just in case that was in question!
Ezra:It was either that or you were breaking up via text at midnight, so I wasn’t too worried.
Again the little smirk between the lines. A smile tugged her mouth, and she waited, too eager, when he began typing again.
Ezra:Sorry you were disappointed.
Willow:No, it’s okay. I knew better and I let hope get the better of me. Won’t happen again. I’ve got to mount a slow and deliberate campaign of information. It’s all I can think to do.
Ezra:Is she like us?
Perhaps it was the late hour. Willow stared at the words and could not parse their meaning.
Willow:Umm, sorry, I’m non-sequitur-ing over here.
Ezra:A campaign of information would be successful with you or me because we value information. But for example…if I wanted to persuade Cassius of something, I’d have to use practical application. If it was my friend Malachi, his main concern’s going to be ethics and/or safety. And Trevor’s a whole other angle—he’s got to be following his feelings at all times.
Wow. He was right. She’d known already, knew Saffron better than anyone else in the world, but the argument had knocked their sisterhood loose for a minute. No doubt Willow would have righted her relational balance on her own, maybe after a good night’s sleep. But for Ezra to guess right, to have paid attention to her stories of the person who meant the most to her… Her marshmallow heart grew warm and melty.
Definitely time to sleep.
But first she typed.
Willow:You’re right. Saffron’s got to have more than book knowledge of you. Of wolves, I mean, but also of you. She has to get to know you for herself.
Ezra:I need a day or two to think about that, please.
Willow:Oh, of course. I know it’s early for meeting a family member, especially with how you feel about your privacy as a wolf.
Ezra:Yes.
The vulnerability in his single-word response made her want to hug him. She hugged her phone to her chest instead. Then she shut her window, at the loss of the sporadic mockingbird song.
She checked her phone. Ezra hadn’t texted anything else.
Willow:I really probably should try to sleep now. Thank you for talking me down.
Ezra:Thanks for interrupting my thought loop. G’night.
Willow:Good night, Ezra.
Some crazy squishy impulse wanted to add a heart to her text, but she caught herself in time.
Ten
Hemadehimselfwaituntil eight in the morning, time for the sun to finish rising, time for Malachi to wake and be ready for the day. Then he drove to the alpha’s home and parked his green pickup truck beside the khaki-colored pickup sitting in the driveway.
Ezra’s face tugged into a smile. Today was a landmark in his life. A small one, several larger still to come, but he would mark this one in his mind too. January 8, the day he spoke to the alpha on behalf of his mate.
He didn’t have to knock. As he stepped up onto the broad log porch, the cabin door opened. Malachi stood in the doorway of his home, his breadth and power so immense that Ezra’s inner wolf compelled him to bow his head a moment. The show of deference complete, his body settled into ease, and he lifted his head to meet Malachi’s eyes.
“Had a feeling I’d see you today,” the alpha said.
