Page 52 of A Forest Witch

“Go ahead and go, sweetheart. They’re waiting for you. Don’t listen to my daughter. She means well, but it’s time for her to mind her own business now.”

“Dad—”

“No,” he said in a stern voice, cutting her off. He pushed gently on my shoulder, guiding me in the direction of the door. “Go claim your men, girl. They’re waiting.”

My men.

Yes.

I liked the sound of that a whole lot. It set a flurry of butterflies free inside my belly.

I grinned at him nervously and gave him a little hand wave bye before I ran out the door, completely ignoring Ariel and her negative attitude.

When I entered the greenhouse I stopped dead in my tracks because the space was always magical to me but tonight it had truly transformed into something so special it threatened to rob me of breath.

The space was beautiful and had been transformed but it was the men standing there, the coven waiting for me, that really did it for me.

They were hopefully my future and everything I truly wanted. Everything I truly needed.

I just hoped they wanted me as much as I wanted them.

I had never been a girl with hopes and dreams before and now that I had them I didn’t want to get them crushed before they were ever really able to be fulfilled.

Liam was the first to greet me and he smiled shyly at me as he took me by the hand and pulled me into the room. “You look beautiful tonight, Autumn. Come on, let’s go sit down with the others and eat.”

I smiled back at him but for once I wasn’t so sure if I actually could eat. I was so nervous and I just wanted to blurt out that I wanted to stay with them just to get it and their reactions out of the way. Then maybe I would be able to eat.

They all greeted me sweetly as Mason pulled my chair out for me. I sat down at the table with Raven on one side of me and Liam on the other, with Raven being at the head of the table. Gunner and Mason sat across from me with Scout at the end of the table, across from Raven.

Raven handed me a glass and said, “It’s champagne. Tonight, hopefully, we’re celebrating. But drink it slowly because I don’t want it to go to your head straight away.”

I frowned at him as I took a sip of the drink. It was sweet, bubbly, and I immediately loved it.

Liam leaned into my ear and whispered, “It’s alcohol, that’s what he meant by that.”

Ah.

Okay.

So this was my first drink of alcohol. We didn’t have anything like it back at the camp.

“What are we celebrating?” I asked as I sat the glass down on the table instead of gulping it down like my nerves wanted me to.

“Hopefully you staying with us on a permanent basis,” Scout blurted out.

Everyone but me turned to glare at him. I grinned because he seemed as nervous as I was and I couldn’t believe that.

“Not cool, brother,” Mason grumbled. “She deserves a little more finesse than that. You’ve got no skills, obviously.”

I laughed at them as Liam placed his hand on my thigh under the table, making my heart race.

Raven sighed as if he was being harassed and picked up his drink that had dark brown liquor swishing around inside it. He drained it dry and sat his empty glass back down onto the table.

“I wanted to ease into this for your sake but it’s clear that no one at this table, including yourself, seems to have the patience for all of that.”

I almost felt bad for him because he had all of us to manage all of the time and it seemed like all of his wants always came in last.

Still, I didn’t feel as bad as I probably should have though because I was as impatient as he claimed everyone to be.

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