“Okay.” She thought a moment, then shrugged. “That’s literally all I thought I knew. I don’t even know what else to ask. I’m at the Wolf Trivia for Dummies level.”
Willow straightened with a little jolt of enthusiasm. Not surprising—they were in the middle of an information quest, after all. “Oh, I’ve got one I was meaning to ask you. There was this forum online, and it seemed like about half the people in it were reputable and the other half were ridiculous, but anyway, someone claimed that certain wolves can change form at will. Full moon or not.”
“What?” Ezra shook his head. Didn’t even have to scour his memory; he wouldn’t forget something like that. “I’ve never heard of that in my life, but I’m going to call myth.”
“That’s what I thought, but I wanted to double check. And someone else said the full moon grants you more wolf strength. Like, the days before and after it.”
He chuckled. “Hollywood. My strength doesn’t wane at any time.”
“Yay me.” She grinned. “I’m learning so much, I can spot the myths!”
Saffron laughed, her scent the most comfortable it had been since Ezra arrived. “Of course you can. You’ll be a walking wolf encyclopedia any day now.”
“Willow invests all the way if she invests at all,” he said.
Her smile faded, and she studied Ezra. “If you know that, you know her pretty well already.”
He shrugged. When they’d cleaned their plates, he was more than ready to drive back home and immerse all thought in his bins of bricks. But Saffron hadn’t meant to hurt him, and the blundering cuts of her words wouldn’t last long.
When their server passed by, before Ezra could ask for the check, Saffron waved to him. “Hi, could we get a brownie sundae?”
“Sure, I’ll get right on that for you.” The young guy bent to clear their dishes. “Anything else for your table?” He glanced to Willow and Ezra.
“I’m happy splitting,” Willow said.
Ezra nodded. “I’ll only eat a bite or two. Oh, and the check comes to me, please.”
“You’ve got it.” The server stepped away, balancing their dishes.
“You shouldn’t pay for my food after I said…those things.” Saffron’s face reddened, and her scent spiked with salty mortification.
“You came, believing those things, for Willow’s sake. If you go forward from tonight believing truth instead, then…” Ezra shrugged, smiled but of course didn’t show his teeth. “That’s worth a lot more to me than the cost of a dinner.”
“Dad’s wrong,” Saffron said. “I know he is, and I’m going to tell him. That you’re safe with Ezra, as safe as you’ve ever been in your life. Maybe I’ll tell him I’m pretty sure Ezra doesn’t even go around his house smacking walls when he’s mad.”
“Your dad punches the walls?” His arm tightened around his mate. If he’d needed one more reason Willow wouldnevergo home to Brandon Fitzgerald…
“He doesn’t usually punch,” Willow said. “Just smacks. You know, an open hand.”
“Usually?” She wasn’t telling him everything.
“I…I guess occasionally he…punches. Or…or whatever. If we make himreallymad.” Her voice had fallen and changed. She sounded like a small girl. As she spoke, she pressed herself to Ezra’s side.
“Willow, when you told me your father had never been physically aggressive…”
“He hasn’t,” she said quickly. “Not with either of us. Just objects—hits something or throws something. That’s all, really.”
Ezra glanced across the table. “If you go home and tell him you’re on our side now, is he going to hurt you?”
“No,” Saffron said.
“Throw something at you?”
“He’s never done that. If he throws something it’s at a wall. Half the time it’s not even breakable. It’s really okay, Ezra. It’s really nothing.”
“Not true.” He felt a growl rising in his chest and forced it back down.
“On the scale of anger issues, throwing the TV remote at the wall so the batteries pop outisnothing.” Saffron sounded put out. With him. “Willow, tell him.”
