Page 101 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

I pull it out and glance up at my friend with narrowed eyes. They pinch their lips together, clearly trying not to laugh. I huff and open the folded notecard, finding a receipt from the local coffee shop taped inside.

Sage walks out from between some of the shelves behind Bea, grinning like a cat who caught all the fucking mice. I sigh, because I simply can’t with her. Everyone knows Sage is the sweetest and it’s impossible to not give in to her bright, happy face and pleading doe eyes.

So when she says, “Come on! I’ll walk with you.” I have no choice but to follow.

Hayden holds their arms out, and Bea passes the stack of books to them. Then they both depart, Hayden back into their car, and Bea deeper into the library.

“What’s going on?” I demand of Sage as soon as we’re out the doors and far enough for Hayden not to hear. As Aury said earlier, this might be the last warm day of the year, so I don’t mind the walk. Especially through town with all the pretty trees lining the street. I ignore the big white truck following us at a snail’s pace, knowing it’s Sage’s alphas being obnoxiously over protective.

Sage mimes zipping her lips, then giggles and leans in to whisper in my ear. “I’m not supposed to tell you, but it’s really stinking cute!”

“Oh my Goddess,” I hiss. “You can’t say that and then not tell me!”

Unfortunately for me, she can. We’re already at the coffee shop and she opens the door, gesturing dramatically for me to enter. Wren is sitting at a table near the door with three drinks in front of her, which I assume match the ones on the receipt I’m still holding.

We sit down and she passes out the drinks. I open my mouth to try to get answers from her, but before I can, her and Sage start chatting about the weather. I gape at them as they pout over not being able to garden anymore, then talk about which trees are the prettiest and have I seen the one over on⁠—

“Mother Earth and all her slutty creatures!” I say. They both stare at me with wide eyes, as I’m sure everyone else in the coffee shop is also doing. “I cannot handle this. Someone needs to tell me what’s going on.” More silent staring. “Now!”

“Um,” Sage squeaks unhelpfully.

“I think perhaps you didn’t see this,” Wren says, twisting my cup around.

I glance down at it. There’s another receipt tucked into the cardboard sleeve. My heart patters in my chest and a confusing mix of excitement and anxiety swirl through me. I search out Jayce’s side of the bond, but he has it locked down tight.

“Are you not having fun?” Wren asks, her brow furrowed.

“I mean,” I sigh. “I don’t know. This is… a lot. For me.” Emotionally, is what I don’t say.

They both nod, and I’m surprised to see understanding in their eyes. Both of them somehow empathizing rather than judging me for not having fun with this pseudo-scavenger hunt.

“I can see how it would be overwhelming,” Sage murmurs. “But keep in mind who is doing this for you. People who care about you. People who would do anything for you.”

Wren nods. “You’re almost done. We can go to the next stop now, then you’re at the last step. Okay?”

Relief floods my system, and finally I feel like I can enjoy this. Perhaps I don’t do so well with surprises after all.

“Yeah, okay.” I take a sip of my drink, only now realizing it’s a sweetened chai latte that somehow has smoky undertones. It tastes like all four of us smell, and my heart feels like it grows two sizes in my chest. No one has ever put so much thought or effort into something for me before. I think that’s why I’m not having fun, because it all feels so big. But that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying myself, or that I don’t appreciate this.

Because I do. So much so that I can’t face it right now or I’ll burst into overwhelmed tears.

“Come on,” Wren says, standing and nudging her seat in.

I push back from the table, and Riley, Sage’s beta, bounds up to take my seat. “Have fun!” they say with what I can only describe as a shit-eating grin. Sage tugs them down to sit with her, and I follow Wren out of the coffee shop.

“Well?” she says, turning to me.

“Oh.” I take a closer look at the receipt. It’s from Mystic Market, so I turn left and we head a couple blocks down the road. When we get there, Wren holds the door open for me, and I step inside to be greeted by Claire.

I shake my head and grin.

“You’ve got this,” Wren whispers, then backs quietly out of the shop.

Claire walks up to the counter with me and the woman working the shop grins and passes me a bag. Inside is a pair of gorgeous rose quartz earrings, which I immediately put on. Then I pull out a second item.

“A wand?” I say, looking up at the woman.

She shrugs. “Only the earrings are from here. The alpha requested this be included in the bag. There’s a note in there, too.”