Page 68 of Good Luck Charm for the Wolf

But Carina crouches in front of me, grabbing my hands in her warm and steady ones.

Her eyes are soft when she speaks, no judgement there at all. Only patience and understanding.

“Dina, honey,” she says quietly. “Magic exists. It does. I mean, of course, it does. And the Fates? They’re real, too. But none of that replaces the hard stuff. Relationships still take work.”

I sniff, frowning.

“But if you’re fated, shouldn’t it just work? Shouldn’t he know?”

Carina smiles gently, shaking her head and squeezing my hands.

“No, sweet girl. Fate may push you together, but love? Real love? That’s a choice you make every day. It takes communication. Honesty. You can't expect him to read your mind. Or to even know what he’s feeling right away.”

“True,” MJ adds, stretching out her legs with a sigh. “Guys are dumb. And from what you all tell me, Shifters seem especially dumb. Doesn’t mean they don’t love hard. They just process on a delay.”

I laugh weakly, because that is painfully true.

“But I mean, he had this text message all ready to send. Like at any moment, he was just gonna drop the ax.”

“Wow. Brutal. But,” MJ adds, “maybe he was just scared? Like maybe the big dummy thought you’d reject him, so he was contemplating rejecting you first?”

“What? That makes no sense.” I scoff. But then again. She could be on to something.

Carina tilts her head, her face turning serious again.

“You know. That might actually be it. I mean, Doug is Doug. Of course, he was going to mess this up, Dina,” she says, and I swear she seems actually happy about it.

“Well, gee, I’m glad my heartbreak has opened you two bozos up to your inner psychotherapists. I’ll be sure to hang up a shingle!”

“Oh my God. We’d be so good at that,” MJ snorts, and we all chuckle.

“Stop it. All I meant was it was bound to happen. Doug fucked up. So what? We all do. No one is perfect.”

“I’m not saying I’m perfect, but I didn’t lie about wanting him.”

“But did you tell him you love him?” she asks with surprising clarity.

“Um, how do you know—you know what, never mind. The answer is no. I haven’t told him.”

The confession hangs in the air between us like a heavy cloud.

Doug hid his doubts, true. But I’m just as guilty of hiding my own emotions.

“Then don’t you think cutting him off completely without giving him the chance to fix it is a little premature, honey?” Carina pauses, letting that sink in.

“That’s not fair either. Not to him, and not to you.” MJ nods and crosses her arms.

I wipe my eyes, feeling so small and foolish in that moment.

“You’re right. You’re both right,” I admit, my voice soft.

“Of course we are. Big sisters are always annoyingly right.”

Carina grins and tugs me into a hug.

“It’s literally our job,” she adds.

“And mine is to bring snacks while you cry!” MJ waves the second coffee like a trophy.

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