“Hey, you,” I whispered, letting him lick and nip at my neck.
“My Felix,” he whispered softly.
“Yours,” I agreed, like I always did.
“Did you see my text?”
He hummed. “I will look into it.”
“Dina figured out why we all got ill.”
He stiffened. “How?”
“Joel used one of my plants to poison us. It’s only harmful to witches, according to her.”
His lips continued their trail, moving up to my jaw. “I still find it hard to believe Joel did all of that. I am sorry for allowing him into our home.”
I turned around, making sure he met my gaze. “He even tricked Peter. Don’t take on guilt from his actions. He did what he did, for whatever reason, but we can’t blame ourselves. We need to move forward and heal.”
“Hear hear!” Samantha agreed, her tone lighter than it had been only two days ago. She walked with her body tucked into Liam, hopping on her one remaining leg.
I hurried to stand. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
She rolled her eyes. “I need to move, if not I’ll go insane.”
Liam smiled fondly at her. It was so confusing seeing them so in love when they’d bickered nonstop when I first met them. It was Sev who told me they were fated but had had some issues. But Liam claiming her had saved her life, offering her his strength. It could’ve also cost him his life, had he been too late, death would’ve claimed them both.
We walked back inside with Liam and Samantha; they wanted to say goodbye before packing up their stuff. Their pack had already left, but Samantha’s leg had needed more time to heal, so they’d stayed behind. When they left it would just be Sev, Peter, Giro, Dina, Astrea, Claire, and me here, unless Cole decided to stay, too, which I believed he would.
“Take care,” Sev said, helping Samantha into their car. “And keep us informed if anything happens.”
She smiled at him, then at me. “We will. Even with everything bad that happened with the Silver Lock Coven, I still feel grateful for how things turned out. Now we have more friends and allies. I like that.”
“Me, too,” I said, shaking Liam’s hand. “I like knowing we have your backs and vice versa.”
“It’s how it should’ve always been,” Liam agreed, shaking Sev’s hand before getting in the car.
We stepped aside and watched their car as they drove down the road, the trees swallowing it from sight.
“Think Cole will stay?” I asked, holding Sev’s hand as we walked back inside the castle.
“I believe he belongs here.”
We’d considered hiring a new cook, because if we were honest with ourselves, we all despised cooking, and we did have the money for a fulltime cook. And we wouldn’t be risking them being another spy, since the Silver Lock Coven was no more. But even with all the logic pointing towards hiring someone new, we all still felt guilty for replacing Joel. It was stupid, considering he’d betrayed us. Feelings were hard.
“I like cooking,” Cole surprised us by saying. I hadn’t even seen him come into the kitchen. I was cooking with Giro while Sev and Peter sat and looked through some papers regarding my shop that would be sold soon, if we could trust the realtor’s word on it, that was.
“Really?” Giro asked, his toneobviously pleased.
Cole shrugged, leaning against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest casually. “I was the one cooking in my pack. It was my job.”
“And it’s not anymore?” I questioned, knowing he still hadn’t told any of us when he would return home.
He shook his head, frowning at the stove where I was grilling some chicken. “I no longer feel like I belong with the pack. Would you be okay with me staying here? I’ll gladly cook for you, since it’s my passion and hobby, and I’ll try to help out where I can.”
Sev beckoned him over to the table, tucking the papers away for now. “You are welcome to stay here, but I need to know that you are certain this is what you want. As you know, werewolves need their pack, so we would become that to you.”
Cole sat down opposite them, and nodded. “I want you to be my pack.”
