War of Hearts(124)
Thea felt the fluttering of butterflies as she moved around the kitchen, making coffee and heating the oatmeal Conall had left her. Porridge, he called it. He ate it plain.
Blech.
Thea drizzled a generous amount of honey over the top of hers as she slid onto a stool at the island.
Once the Blackwood Coven had evidence she wasn’t fae, Thea could only hope that would be the end of her story as one of the fae children being hunted. That finally she would be free to live her life as a werewolf in Pack MacLennan. She would lay low for a while until they felt the coast was clear, but then she would have to think about what she wanted to do with her life.
“Would it be crazy if I went back to school?” Thea had asked Conall the night before as they laid together on his sofa, listening to the rain beat against the roof.
“Why would it be crazy?”
“Because I’m twenty-five years old and I don’t even have a GED.”
“If you want to go back to school, go back to school.”
“I like architecture,” she’d admitted a little shyly. “Traveling around so much, I was always fascinated by the way architecture told a story about the history of a place. I don’t know.”
Conall had tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “You can do anything you put your mind to, Thea. And you have options now. If you want to go back to school so you can go to university to study architecture, then that’s what you’ll do.”
“I’ll get a job too,” she’d assured him. “I don’t want you to think I’m just going to live off you.”
He’d scowled at that. Fiercely. “Every member of this pack gets a stipend from the proceeds of the pack businesses. If you think that doesnae include my mate, you’re wrong. And if I want to spoil the fuck out of you for merely being grateful that you fucking exist, I will. No arguments.”
Thea snorted, outwardly, while inwardly she squirmed with pleasure at his words. “You got it, Chief.”
She smiled around a mouthful of oatmeal.
Had they only known each other a month?
That was kind of crazy.
It might have only been a month, but Thea didn’t care. Not only had Conall brought love and friendship into her life, he didn’t make her feel like she’d come to their relationship with less than he had. He gave her his trust, which few people had done in her life. It was strange how a person didn’t realize the impact being trusted and respected had on the psyche. In fact, Conall trusted her enough to leave her behind in charge of the pack when he traveled to Colorado with James next month to meet with Peter Canid.
They were planning on working out a new alliance between them. Callie was going too as Conall’s lead warrior. Conall asked Thea if she wanted to come—in fact, he would have preferred it because he was still a little cagey about letting her out of his sight after Castle Cara—but Thea was still afraid of flying, even if she couldn’t blow up a plane anymore. Moreover, she was ready to just be in one place for a while and was interested to see how the pack reacted to her when she didn’t have Conall at her side.
Upon her mate’s return from the States, he’d promised they’d begin their search for the woman from Prague whom Thea was convinced was fae. She needed to be protected, and she needed options, like Thea had been given. Conall had warned her not to get her hopes up regarding finding the young woman. At this point, she was a needle in a very large haystack. Still, Thea couldn’t help but hope.
A knock at the door brought Thea’s head up but before she could make a move, it opened and Callie strolled inside, carrying a shoulder bag.
“Morning,” she announced with a pretty smile.
Pleased to see her, Thea responded in kind. “Did your brother send you to distract me from the fact that there are three powerful witches waiting at the Coach House for me to make my wolfy appearance tonight?”
“Pretty much.” Callie slammed the shoulder bag down on the island and flicked open the flap. “And what better way to do that than force you to help me plan my wedding.”
As she removed the piles of wedding magazines from the bag, her diamond-and-moonstone engagement ring flashed on her finger. James had given it to Callie in front of everyone in the Coach House pub a few nights ago.
It had amazed Thea that she was there to witness and celebrate it when only a mere few weeks before, she’d had no family to speak of.
“Does it bother you?” Thea asked as Callie slid onto the stool beside her.
“Does what bother me?”
“That you and James aren’t mates per se?”
Callie wrinkled her nose. “Not really.” She grinned at Thea. “Do you know how rare it is to find your true mate? I mean, the fact that Conall has found his after our mum and dad found theirs is practically unheard of. Not finding your true mate doesnae mean we cannae find deep, abiding love. I know it for a fact because that’s what I have with James. Even if I did miraculously find my true mate, I’d tell him to bugger off. I only want James … but dinnae tell him that.”
Thea chuckled. “He’s a lucky man.”
“Yup.” Callie didn’t disagree. “So, I was thinking for bridesmaids’ dresses … emerald green.” She looked Thea up and down. “Yes, emerald green would work lovely with your hair and as a nice accent to mine.”