“Mm hm,” Vivi says knowingly.
But she doesn’t know.
You don’t truly know until you’re attached to a super alpha’s oscillating knot for days because it won’t let go.
I fear something like what happened with us could happen to Bailey if this situation doesn’t sort itself out soon. Because these two areend game. Of that, we’re sure. We just don’t know how long it’ll take for us to get to the end of this unusual game.
Jase is following her after that scene. Bailey is mostly demure and happy-go-lucky, except from what I can tell so far, whenit comes to people she cares about. Case-in-point: when she punched Sherry in the mouth at Ivy and Tyson’s wedding. It sounded like Sherry not only had it coming, but she’d had it coming for decades. Bailey put up with a whole lot of bullying and never stood up for herself, but when Sherry set out to hurt Amelia and by extension caused a scene at Ivy’s wedding, Bailey let Sherry have it. And now here, with Jase. We heard Caroline’s comments just before Bailey grabbed her by the hair. And if we heard it, Jase definitely did, too.
And as for the way Jase looks at Bailey, Vivi is absolutely correct. He tracks her every move. He stares at her longingly. If Bailey could have glimpsed into a crystal ball and seen the Jase of today a few weeks ago, she would’ve swooned. Hard.
Uh oh.Riley is stalking in this direction. And he’s ticked. I see it and feel it.
“Here we go,” Vivi mumbles.
“Uh huh,” I agree.
Riley is kind of pissed at us. And he’s not hiding it.
He’s still my Riley, my sweet, doting, ravenous soulmate who rocked my world both last night and this morning, but outside of the ravishing, he’s made it no secret he disapproves of my coven getting between Jase and Bailey.
“Release that poor fucker from this misery or he’s going to snap, Rikki,” Riley warns.
“He’ll survive,” I say and it comes out more blasé than I intend.
He growls. And my panties become saturated.
“I’ll just give you two a minute to talk,” Vivi says, moving toward Ivy, Amelia, and Stacy, who are in a huddle.
Caroline has gone back into the town hall, looking angry but wobbling a little. Pretty sure she’s had too much to drink.
I had a conversation with Addy today and she’s worried about her pack friends. Many of those women are like her, suffering with the aftermath of the abuse they endured. I’ve had a conversation with Stacy about it too, and I think I’ll suggest we have Dani come in and do a talk circle tomorrow morning, offering any abused former Silver Hills pack members counselling while we’ve got easy access to them. Dani is great at counselling and at mentoring young women; she minored in psychology when she went to school after her witch training.
“What happens tomorrow?” my guy demands.
“We’re meeting at Bailey’s folks’ solarium where we’ll hear Bailey’s case as well as Jase’s. Then the coven will talk and go from there.”
“You five get to decide whether or not Jase is off the hook? That’s bullshit, Erica.”
Uh oh. He’s calling me Erica. Not a good sign. I’m Rikki. Rik. Baby. Little witch. Little Witch and Rikki are my favorite nicknames from him. When he pulls out my given name and aims it at me, it’s generally not good.
“This doesn’t need to be a Riley and his little witch problem,” I advise cheekily, trying to inject some levity.
My efforts fail as he folds his arms over his muscled chest and shoots me a dirty look. “This isn’t fair to Jase.”
I raise my hand. “Let’s not do this, Mr. Wolf.”
“He’s–” he starts but I cut him off.
“I’m doing my job,” I tell him. “Me and my coven are doing what we need to do right now.”
“Looking after this pack ismyjob, little witch.”
“This situation has been taken up by the coven in conjunction with Fate. Please trust that we can do our job, honey. We’re all on the same side.”
“So, this is how it’s supposed to go?” he asks. “Jase is suffering. Bailey’s moping around on the verge of tears.”
“Yes,” I tell him.