Page 86 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

“So the heat was good then?” Claire asks, getting us back on track.

“So good,” I say, then grimace. “Except…”

Bea lowers their phone and pins me with a look. “Except?”

I cringe and fiddle with the twig I pulled from Daisy’s fur. “One of the alphas, Jayce, kinda accidentally bonded me. And then I kinda bit him back.”

“Oh my gosh!” Sage squeals, all excitement.

“Where?” Bea asks at the same time as Claire says, “Are you okay?”

“I’m good, yeah. Just kind of… embarrassed, I guess.” I bury my face in my hands and brace myself to finish telling them what happened. “I might have gone a bit feral and bit himonhisdick.”

Silence.

“Say that again?” Wren says, her tone all polite concern.

I peek out between my fingers to see four stunned faces staring at me. No blinking. Not a single muscle twitch. Not even the wind is blowing through any stray strands of hair.

“Yeah. His dick. I bit it.”

“And that’s… where you… I mean, that’s how you…” Bea trails off, clearly unsure how to ask what they’re all trying to figure out.

“Uh-huh. Yep. That’s where I bonded him back.” My voice has never been so high-pitched in my life.

“Holy shit,” Bea whispers. Then they pull a clear crystal from their pocket and hand it to me. “I think you need this more than I do.”

I laugh, surprised to find tears in my eyes. I reach into my own pocket and pull out four different crystals, one for each of them.

“You know we all have plenty by now,” Claire says. She takes the tiger eye regardless; a balancing stone for the mother hen of our group.

I pass out the others: sunstone for Sage to bring her all the joy she missed out on early in life; turquoise for Wren so she can find her truth; and blue sodalite for Bea who doesn’t need any help focusing but would probably appreciate it anyways. They take them without complaint, and I relax.

“I have something else to tell you all too,” I say. “Should we take Vee up on her offer of the staff lounge?”

“Definitely,” Sage says, jumping to her feet. “I’ll run Daisy back to her pen and meet you all there!”

The gardening club was so understanding and supportive with everything that my heart feels like it’s going to explode as I drive home. I told them about my potential new pack, and then about Hels Spells AKA Helen AKA my new least favorite person—and witch—ever.

They all agreed it’s probably better to do the video and then distance myself. I’m worried not following through on it will push viewers away or create a rift I won’t recover from, and this is my livelihood. They reminded me I’ve been doing this for years and have come back from other challenges. I’ve had people try to tear me down before, and I didn’t let them. This situation might be different, but the outcome will be the same. I will prevail. I will get through this. I will succeed, and I will keep getting to do what I love.

Plus, it would be shitty to cancel this last minute. The full moon is only a few days away.

When I get home, I set up my tripod in my filming room. I check the lighting, rehearse what I want to say, and grab a tarot deck for emotional support.

Then I hit record.

“Hi everyone! As you probably know by now, Helen of Hels Spells and I have been discussing the possibility of a collab! So exciting, I know,” I pause and grin at the camera, then continue. “So I wanted to check in with all of my favorite witchy followers on what you want to see! Obviously, I work mostly with crystals and tarot, but I’d love your ideas on how we can incorporate our two witchy styles into one amazing extra-magical video for all of you. Drop a comment with your ideas, and we might do it!”

I click the button on my remote to stop recording and the smile drops from my face. I slump back in my seat, giving myself a moment to breathe and let the anxious adrenaline settle. I film videos all the time, literally for hours every week, but for some reason this one really stressed me out. It doesn’t take long to edit, even with Bunny trying to lay on my keyboard or swipe at my hands for pets. I adjust the lighting and sound, add captions, tag Helen as a collaborator, then throw a glittery filter on top before posting with quiet, trending background music.

Within a couple hours, my followers have flooded the comments with requests for tarot and readings, yet they’re somehow drowned out by Helen’s followers. They’re demanding a ritual she’s been teasing but unable to do because it requires two people with varying skills.

“Ugh,” I groan, throwing my head back. I shut my phone off, toss it on the kitchen counter as I walk by, then head into my reading room to get lost in a book with my new fluffy companion for the rest of the day.

Chapter Forty-Six

Aury