One eyebrow rose again. “Seriously?”
“Very.”
“They didn’t when I was last here.”
“Lots of things have happened since you left, Mia.” I paused. “Do you still have a common law husband?”
“I wouldn’t have come back here if I did.”
There was an edge in her voice that made me believe her, but nevertheless I reached out for Belle.
It’s true, Belle said. They split up not long after she returned to her pack.
So she lost both the men in her life?
Yes. Belle paused. Can’t say which one she regrets more, though. She definitely cared for Aiden, but I’m not sensing any great degree of love.
Caring can develop into love, given enough time together.
Belle didn’t reply to that, but her emotions swirled down the link, a warm and caring telepathic hug that had me briefly blinking back tears. I dropped my gaze and drank some tea until I got them under control.
“If you know the story,” she continued, anger evident, though I suspected it was aimed more at the situation she’d been forced into rather than at me. “Then you know I had very little control over all that.”
Because her parents were at the bottom of the wolf rung, and she was bound to obey her alphas’ ruling or see them suffer. “You could have told Aiden what was going on, Mia.”
A smile twisted her lips. “A comment that shows how little you understand pack structure and life.”
“No doubt.” I studied her for a second. “So, do we have an agreement?”
She hesitated, and then nodded. “We do.”
I held out my hand and quickly but silently raised a binding spell. “Shake to agree. But be warned, an agreement shaken on is an agreement that is best upheld when dealing with a witch.”
She smiled. “As I said, I am no relationship breaker. I’m all too aware of the pain it causes.”
Because her common law husband had another on the side, Belle said.
Damn it, Belle, I don’t want to feel sorry for her. And yet there was a tiny piece of me that was starting to.
Probably because she isn’t the ogre we’d painted in our minds.
No. In fact, her pack’s alphas had treated her as badly as my father had me. Which wasn’t news—Aiden had mentioned she’d been forced into it—but my reactions to the situation had been clouded by his obvious pain and hurt. I hadn’t actually thought about what it must have been like for her.
Which didn’t at all mean she was completely exonerated of guilt. She had a voice, and she’d been far enough away from her pack’s influence to have said something. I might not understand pack politics, but I knew Aiden well enough now to know he would have confronted her alphas on her behalf.
“Do we have a deal?” I repeated.
She reached out and gripped my hand. The spell activated, a binding that would ensure she held to her word.
I might feel sorry for her, I might be inclined to believe her, but I wasn’t a fool. If Aiden did break up with me, it wouldn’t be because of any undue influence on her part.
“Deal,” she said. “And may the best woman win.”
“This isn’t a game, Mia.”
The amusement fell from her features. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so glib.”
I dismantled the silencing spell from around the table and then rose. “I’d better get back to work. Please feel free to stay and finish your coffee and pie.”
“Thank you,” she said. “It is rather good pie.”
“Good coffee and cake is the reason this place is always so full.”
That, and the thrilling prospect of a confrontation between rivals, apparently.
Belle squeezed my arm as I walked around the counter, but didn’t say anything. Of course, she didn’t need to. Her empathy and love washed through my mind, a wave that offered courage and strength.
I’d need both before the next few days were over.
Mia finished her coffee and pie and left about ten minutes later. The crowd quickly thinned out after that, leaving only a few stragglers left by the time closing time came around.
I was locking the door when my phone rang, the tone telling me it was Aiden. I sucked in a breath, gathering courage, and then answered it.
“Hey,” I said. “Everything okay?”
“I’ve been at the hospital all day with Dillon. They told him yesterday he’ll have a limp for life, and he’s not coping well at the moment.”
Tired frustration swirled through his voice, and my heart went out to him. “He’s a teenager, Aiden. They’re all about appearances at that age. He’ll be fine in the long run.”
“I hope you’re right.” A soft scraping came down the line, and I had a mental image of his rubbing a hand across his bristly chin. “Are you right to find your own way home tonight? My parents have demanded I make an appearance at some goddamn dinner they’re throwing. Heaven only knows why.”
To welcome Mia, I thought. To reintroduce her in the safe surroundings of the compound, where there was absolutely no hint or reminder of my presence. It was tempting, so very tempting, to warn him, but it wouldn’t change anything and only serve to get Karleen more offside.
Maybe I needed to rethink letting Belle rain curses down on the bitch’s head.
“Are you coming home afterward? Or will you stay up there the night?”
“I’ll probably stay. It’ll be safer than driving home when I’m bone tired.”
I swallowed and found myself nodding, even though he wouldn’t see the movement.
“Breakfast at the café, then? Or are you going straight back to the hospital?”
“Breakfast would be lovely.” He paused. “I’ll see you in the morning, hon.”
He hung up before I could reply. I sucked in air, trying to control the thick rise of fear and hurt, anger and love, then turned and ran across the room, straight into Belle’s waiting arms.
And sobbed for a relationship that hadn’t yet ended.
I was of two minds as to whether I should stay at the café or go back to Aiden’s, but in the end decided that if I was going to spend the night alone, it’d be better to do so in a place where there weren’t so many happy memories to tear at my still fragile emotions.
Belle came out of her bedroom, an overnight bag slung over her shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and keep you company?”
“Positive.” I gestured at the extra-large slice of black forest cake sitting on my lap. “I have all the company I need right here on this plate.”
A smile tugged at her lips, though it didn’t really lift the concern swirling through her thoughts. “A mountain of chocolate cake is the perfect cure for a sore heart.”
“Indeed.” And it was a cure we’d both used more than a couple of times over the years—though I did have more of a tendency to fall for the wrong man than she did. “Can you remind Monty that if he gets that tracker spell working, he has to call me? If this bitch is capable of magic, it might take the three of us to bring her down.”
“Is that precognition speaking? Or common old sense?”
“According to some, I haven’t got a whole lot of the latter, so it has to be the former.”