Page 25 of Shared By the Werebears
I could feel her hurt, even though she didn’t show it. She sat up, covering her breasts with the blanket, her big eyes wide and unreadable.
“But you did,” she said quietly. “Last night. You didn’t just do it—youfeltit. We all did.”
Ronan didn’t respond. He just walked to the tent flap and looked out, like he could ignore what had happened between the three of us the night before.
I let out a sigh and reached for my jeans—which some benign magic had washed and folded for me—thanks, tent. The spell between the three of us had softened but not vanished. Being close to Goldie, touching her…it stirred something deep inside me. Something that wasn’t just lust. I liked this—liked the three of us together. I wished Ronan could feel the same way.
“Guess we’re skipping round two,” I muttered.
“Maybe later.” Goldie gave me a wink. But the laughter didn’t quite reach her eyes.
13
FINN
Breakfast was weird.
The tent conjured a little cooking setup when Goldie said another one of her rhyming spells—a tiny stove, a pan, even some spices. She made breakfast burritos that were the best I’d ever tasted, and the scent of bacon and peppers and eggs filled the enchanted tent.
We ate in silence. I couldn’t stop glancing at Ronan, who was chewing like he was mad at his food. Goldie kept her voice cheerful, chatting about how amazing the tent was and what a clever witch Goody Albright was—but I could tell she felt the distance too.
It was hurting her.
I frowned—was I actually feeling her emotions now? Was it some kind of lingering after-effect of the sex we’d shared the night before? I didn’t know—I only knew I didn’t want her to be hurting like this. It made me want to punch Ronan—how could he be such an asshole?
But I didn’t want to fight—it would only make matters worse. So we ate in silence except for Goldie’s occasional remarks.
After we finished, we left everything in the tent and stepped outside. Goldie held out her hands dramatically.
“Ready?” she asked. “Here goes.”
She pointed at the tent and recited:
"This tent is small and travels light,
Shrink it down and make it tight!"
With a shimmer and a pop, the whole setup—bed, stove, pillows—folded in on itself like origami and grew small enough to fit into the palm of her hand.
She picked it up and then slipped it back into her jacket pocket.
“All right—ready to go.”
I gave a low whistle.
“That’simpressive.” Even though we Weres don’t usually trust Magic Users, I had to admit being able to do spells like that was damn handy.
Goldie smiled at me.
“I’ll be sure to tell Goody A you said ‘thank you.’” She made a gesture. “Well? Lead the way. You two are the ones who have been to the Blighted Forest before—I’ve never even been near it.”
“Fine,” Ronan grunted. “This way.”
He started through the forest and I fell into step beside him, letting Goldie take the rear for a while. I felt like I needed to clear the air between us.
“You okay, man?” I asked him quietly.
“No,” he said flatly, not meeting my eyes. “But I’ll deal with it.”
