Page 39 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
“It’s loyalty,” she said. “Fealty. Honor to the blood.” She cocked her head at me.
“Surely you understand that.”
“Yes, but we don’t send our own out to retrieve a heart.”
“Neither do we,” she laughed. And the fact that her laugh rang out and I had never
made her do that before burrowed deeply in me. “I was teasing you. But we do give them
some sort of test of fealty.”
“What was yours?” I asked.
“I was different,” she answered. “I’m bloodline sworn.”
“That doesn’t always mean a lot, though, right?”
She shrugged. “I suppose not but it’s different with witches. It’s hard to fake loyalty. As you can imagine, we hold it in high regard.”
“Yeah,” I answered. “So what’s with the island, then? I know there were demons, shifters, and witches at the start, but—”
“That’s all there is.”
Her shut-down on my question took me by surprise, but not entirely. If the softness from earlier had drained between us then I had to understand that.
“But were the Lindells born here?”
“We are born everywhere,” she answered noncommittally. “Like I said, we exist in all the states. Our leaders are spread out.”
“And the Matron? Where does she stay?”
Her eyes narrowed on me suspiciously. “I’m not a fool, Zephyr.”
“I’m not trying to incite anything.”
“All you’ve done since you arrived at Azure Cove is incite arguments and fights between us.” Her voice was accusing. “Why would I trust you now?”
Hadn’t she felt that change between us earlier?
Or was that why she was acting this way?
“Fine,” I muttered. “Don’t tell me. I was only curious.”
She snorted. “Right. Yeah.” She finished off her meal. “Like, I’ll believe ashifteris only curious about a witch’s location.”
“I meant only if it tied in with the Cove.”
“Don’t call it that,” she snapped.
“Why?”
“Locals call it that. You’re not from here, Zephyr.”
“Once upon a time, I was,” I answered. “Or my bloodline was. At least we made a home here. Made it safe for other people to inhabit. We both know the demons only stole the land, too. Shifters were first.”
“Along with witches,” she warned. “Why do you hate witches so much, Zephyr?”
I stared across the bed at her. “It’s complicated.”
