"More than there were in that pizza." I eyed the garlic butter again.
Nope.
Couldn't go there.
Gwen handed me a grocery bag of premade electrolyte drinks, and I decided that I was at least a tiny bit glad I hadn't killed her.
"Your nose is bleeding, by the way," she added.
I lifted a hand to my upper lip, and felt the dried blood there.
Whatever.
I chugged one of the drinks she'd brought me, and she took the empty bottle before I could tuck it away in the bag.
When she didn't leave with the pizza box and the tempting butter, I eyed her with suspicion.
They'd already played me. What did she want now?
"Do you think Kat would be willing to let me use her branding on more businesses?" she finally asked. "We came up with it together, but I'm sure she's filed something to maintain the rights. I think we could make a lot of money if we expanded. We could have The Werewolf Restaurant. The Werewolf Winery. The Werewolf Bakery."
"I think you should be asking her that question, not me. If I were her, I'd tell you to fuck off."
That was exactly what I should've said when she asked me to save her orchard.
Gwen grimaced. "Is there a good way I could approach it, or…"
"Nope."
"Right." Gwen took my pizza box. "I'll send someone out with another meal soon. Your stomach is still growling."
That seemed like a nice way to say that I'd been eye-fucking garlic butter for five minutes, but I looked down at my stomach and realized it was making sounds after all. "That would be great. Thanks."
"Of course. I really appreciate this." She gestured to the trees around us, looking at them with something in her eyes that I almost wanted to call hope.
"Why did you say yes, when Simon picked you to be the Alpha?" I asked suddenly. "You had to know he was an asshole underneath the charm. Kat even tried to warn you."
"I didn't realize he would be anywhere near as bad as he was, and I thought I could still mate with Jonah while I was the Alpha," she admitted, her gaze still on the trees. "Before I took the mantle, I walked through this orchard and thought that surely werewolves were worth more than this, and maybe I could help get us there."
"You were dreaming," I said, not entirely rudely.
She gave me a small smile."Always."
She finally left, and I went back to the trees.
seventeen
LIV
I feltbad for my car by the time I fell into the driver's seat around midnight, drenched and filthy. My headache fucking raged, andmy phone had died sometime earlier, while I was focused on the trees.
I'd lost count of how many I'd grown after a thousand, but that was fine.
I'd survived it, at the very least.
I was going to have to bring an overnight bag tomorrow and stay at the villa for however long I kept working on the orchard, though. I couldn't keep driving back and forth.
I'd get a few solid hours of sleep after a quick shower, and when my energy recharged enough to make me miserable in the early hours of the morning, I'd pack up and get back to work.
