Page 34 of Warwick

I took a cookie before I looked back down at my lap.

“I know I did. I don’t want to cause you to be sad. I like your smile. So does my beast. He was really upset with me because we’d upset you so much you stopped eating your lunch.” Warwick looked toward the kitchen. “Did you by chance end up finishing your food?”

I took a bite of my cookie and closed my eyes. It was perfect. How did he do that? I understood he used magic. But did he bake them? How did it work exactly?

“Cecil?”

I opened my eyes to find another cookie being held out. I opened my mouth and took a bite. It was just as delicious.

“I didn’t eat,” I told him after I finished chewing.

“Would you like to? I want you to eat enough. If we’re going to go for a run, you’ll need your energy.”

He was right; I would. Not that my bear would run out of energy. He was smaller than other polar bears around, but he wasn’t that weak.

“I’ll eat. But I was really enjoying talking to you. Unless you really need to go for a run, I’d rather stay in and talk some more.”

Not that being with Warwick in our shifted forms wouldn’t be amazing. But I already knew it would be even more so once we’d claimed each other. Then, we would be able to communicate with one another.

“We can talk. I’ll keep feeding you cookies if you’d like. Or I could reheat your food, and you could eat that, and then we could get back to cookies.”

I smiled. He was trying, and I recognized that. Warwick looked as if he was going to smile, only he seemed to stop at the last moment.

“Do you ever smile?” I asked.

“I’ve tried. It’s not pretty, according to Ramsey.”

I really didn’t like all of these people I was hearing about. They seemed to be mean to my mate, which didn’t make sense at all. Warwick was so sweet. He’d gone to my grandpa to ask for help to romance me. He made me cookies. He’d offered to reheat my food for me. He was being so sweet. Why were people mean to him?

“I’d love to eat my lunch now. I know it’s midafternoon, but I’m really hungry now that I’m eating cookies.” Not that my stomach was going to complain about a few more cookies. It certainly wasn’t. But even with me being a shifter, I needed to eat something other than cookies and the few bites of lo mein that I’d had earlier.

“Be back in just a minute.” Warwick handed me the plate of cookies. After I took it, he stood and walked off toward the kitchen area. I couldn’t help but stare. He was incredibly tall. His hair was wild and just below his shoulders. I wondered what it would feel like. Was it soft? Did he like it to be touched? Maybe not. Would he let me touch his hair? Did he ever tie it back? What would he look like without his beard?

My thoughts were running wild in my mind when Warwick suddenly returned. He had another plate, this one piled high with my lunch that I’d not eaten. In the other hand, he was holding a cup.

“I should go to the table.”

Warwick shook his head. Seconds later, there was a portable table in front of me. “Now you don’t have to. You can eat, and we can continue talking.” He set the food down on the tray, and my stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. It was protesting, I knew, but I’d eaten three cookies. Did it have to grumble so much?

“Thank you,” I said. I smiled up at Warwick, who looked down at me. I saw a bit of a smile, maybe, and I was going to take it. I needed to figure out how to get him to smile at me. And if I ever came across whoever Ramsey was, I was going to give him a piece of my mind. My mate was kind and sweet. He shouldn’t have said anything about him smiling. Now, I had to work really hard to get him to give me something that should be easy. No matter. I was determined to win Warwick’s smiles. They would be more than worth it if and when I ever got one.

“You’re welcome.” Warwick sat, and I handed the plate of cookies back to him. He placed them on the other cushion of the couch before he angled his body toward me. “What would you like to continue talking about?”

There were so many things. I wanted to know everything I could about Warwick and hellhounds, but I had a feeling that learning about hellhounds in general probably wasn’t a pretty thing.

“Do you like being an enforcer?” That was a safe question, wasn’t it?

“I do. It gives me a sense of purpose. My beast is happy to help others who need it.”

I took a bite of lo mein just then and could only nod. That was good.

“When I was in Venice, I happened across the coven there. Well, one of its members. He tried to warn me about his coven and the master. It was discovered that they might also be in some sort of trafficking ring. If nothing else, they’re selling drugs and guns.”

I sighed. “Why do people have to be so shitty?” I tried to remember that despite my parents being toxic and abusive, they could have been worse. They hadn’t ever sold me, so there was that.

“I’m not sure. I’m not exactly a nice person, Cecil. I’ve done some truly horrible things.”

I hadn’t thought about it that way. I set my fork down for a moment. Warwick noticed and scowled. Immediately, I picked it back up, and the scowl left his face.

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