Page 29 of Make Me

They got to the arena just enough to hear Malcolm tell Claire that she had to step to the side when sparring against a straight blow. Claire frowned, and Bethany could see the exhaustion and frustration on her face.

“You looked good to me!” she called to Claire.

Claire turned and her face lit up. She let out a squeal, sheathed the daggers, and ran towards them. Bethany met her halfway and wrapped her in a tight hug. Her lioness was purring strongly in her chest as she held her last packmate to her.

“You’re here!” Claire pulled back, her smile mirroring Bethany’s own.

Cody wrapped his arms around them both and swung them around. “We’re here!” he echoed.

Bethany’s eyes traced over her friend as the others explained they were here for the Summer Solstice celebration. Holly had gotten Desmond’s father, the Brandlevine coven leader and a Councilmember, to formally invite Bethany and Cody, which was the only way that they convinced their parents they should go. But it had been worth it to see Claire grin. It was like the exhaustion melted away from her.

Claire kissed all her men goodbye, and Bethany couldn’t resist teasing her. “Come on, Claire! You can kiss your men later!”

Claire laughed as she caught up with them, and they all walked to the village for lunch. It was almost like they were back at the Academy again as they filled each other in on everything that had happened in the few weeks since they had been gone. The sun’s rays stretched low across the ground by the time they headed back towards the houses. Cody was staying with Zack, and Claire had talked her Triad into a sleepover at Holly’s.

“Ok,” Bethany said, settling onto her stomach.

They had dumped all the bedding off Holly’s bed while she called for more blankets, and together, they had made a nest of blankets on the floor of Holly’s room. Her lioness curled up in her chest, content to take a nap surrounded by the scents of her makeshift pride.

“Tell me everything you couldn’t say in front of the boys.” She wasn’t dumb, she had seen how Claire blushed as she covered some of the last few week’s events earlier at lunch. Luckily, Holly had her covered.

“Claire got kisssssseed!” Holly said dramatically, throwing herself back onto a pillow, her hand on her forehead like a swooning lady.

Bethany feigned shock. She had seen how much closer Claire was with her Triad. She would be surprised if kissing was all Claire had been up to.

“What? Why in the Realm didn’t you lead with that?”

“And say what?” Claire laughed as she stood outside the nest of blankets. Bethany’s lion woke up to insist that Claire join them in the nest. “Hey, Bethany, great to see you. Malcolm kissed the soul out of me the second day we were here.”

Bethany gave into her lioness’s urging and tugged Claire down next to her. “Yes! Exactly that! Tell me every detail!”

Holly rolled over on her stomach. “Ooo, don’t forget when they eye-fucked you when you came down in that dress.”

Bethany’s eyebrows flew upwards as she stared at Holly, who was not normally that crude. She hit Claire’s shoulder playfully. “And they eye-fucked you!!! Tell me everything! Now!”

Claire groaned and Holly joined Bethany in teasing their sweet friend about how obsessed her mates were with her. Would she ever know that kind of devotion from a mate? That unexpected thought had the mating pull became so unbearable it hurt to breathe. She struggled to shove it back down and not alert her friends. This one-sided bond was killing her. Even if Cody had turned out to be her mate and felt the bond like she did, she would never be able to share that kind of devotion with him. At least, not publicly. The pride and pack, their parents—hell, even the Realm—would never allow it.

There was no use wallowing over what she couldn’t change. The few memories she had of her father, she remembered him telling her that. “You have to accept what you cannot change.” So when Claire finished her adorably cute story, Bethany cut in.

“That is the most adorably cute thing I have ever heard,” she said, groaning as if the cuteness was killing her. “All the sweetness is going to give me a toothache. Do you have any bloodthirsty stories?”

Claire laughed. “I mean, not really? Training stories but nothing bloodthirsty yet.” Her face darkened briefly, and Bethany wondered if she was thinking about the Felua that attacked Claire and Everett at the Academy.

“Boring,” Bethany complained, slumping over. A small smile lit Claire’s face. She hid her own grin as the tension in her best friend eased.

“I’m sure we can get up to some trouble now that you’re here,” Holly teased.

Bethany sprang up on her elbows, her eyes gleaming. “Now that’s an idea.”

“Oh no, look what you’ve done,” Claire complained to Holly, but laughter coated her words.

“Hey, I make your lives interesting. Admit it,” Bethany protested, although there was no heat behind her words.

“You definitely do,” Claire reassured her, placing a hand on Bethany’s arm.

“Make them interesting tomorrow, though,” Holly said, her mouth splitting open in a big yawn. “So we can keep up.”

“Fine, ruin all my fun,” Bethany teased even as she snagged a pillow, her own yawn betraying her.

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