“Everett Gathin!” A woman’s shriek pierces the overcast sky.
Maddox chuckles darkly, leaning back with his hands clasped behind his head like the fool he is. “Sounds like someone already did.”
Never one to run from a fight, I toss the empty box into my house and prepare for the inevitable argument. If I ever find out who told Leah, he is going to regret the day he was born.
Leah stalks down the lane, the bottom of her brown skirt sweeping across the muck. She looks fearsome, with her short, straight hair the color of a midnight sky swinging against her sharp cheekbones.
“What is this I hear about some Seelie bitch baking for you?” she snarls, coming to a stop at my bottom step, her dark eyes alight with fury.
“Leah…”
“Do not ‘Leah’ me, you lying, cheating prick.”
I might be a prick, but I neither lied nor cheated. “You and I are not engaged.”
Her nostrils flare, and her ears darken with anger. “You think I want to be reminded that you still have not accepted my proposal? I gave you that jerky three weeks ago!”
I push to my feet and offer her my hand. “Come with me.” There is no need to have this conversation where everyone and their brother can hear.
The problem with living in such close quarters to one another is that there is never any privacy.
Refusing my hand, she stalks ahead of me to the forest’s edge. When she turns her back to the trees, fury paints every plane of her sharp features.
Leah knows as well as I do that what lives within these woods could tear her to shreds, and turning her back is akin to a death sentence.
What the beasts of the forest do not realize is, Leah Locke is more lethal than all of them put together. And right now, she wants my head on a pike.
“This is not about the Seelie, is it?” I venture.
Her chin lifts. “Of course it is about the cursed Seelie. I demand you tell me her name so that I can cut her from ear to ear. Give her a pretty, new smile.”
The thought of Leah getting her hands on soft, sweet Kerris floods my stomach with icy dread. She might claim this is about the gift, but I would wager my best cooking pot that she is lying. “I am sorry I have not given you an answer yet.”
“Then soothe my ire by giving me one now.”
Leah might be the only female in our clan who sees me as something more than the son of the village pariah, but I would rather remain single forever than be tied to a woman whose temper rivals Gryffin’s.
For some reason, she set her sights on me when we were ten years old and has not swayed since.
When I do not respond, she huffs out a breath. “Is this because of Robyn? Dammit. I told you I was sorry.”
“You stabbed her.” It is not me she should be apologizing to. If we had not had the water on hand to heal her, Robyn very well could have bled out and died.
If Leah’s father was not the chieftain, she would have been exiled instead of being forced into laundry duty for six months.
“Because she brought you those almonds.”
“Almonds I gave to the elders. As I said before, I did not reciprocate.” Even if I did, it would have been my prerogative. “You and I are friends, Leah. Nothing more.”
Leah takes a menacing step forward. “I see. And do you bed all your friends? Is that why Maddox and Gryffin are so loyal to you?”
“You know what I mean. You deserve better than me.” Everyone deserves better than me.
“Maybe I do. But I want you, Everett Gathin.” Her hands meet my chest, rough from countless hours churning butter and curing hides. “Think of all the good we can do for the clan. Think of the strong home we can build.”
With only ten females of marriageable age in our clan and more than thirty males, it is an honor to be chosen. Yet the thought of marrying Leah eats away at me, which is why, when she moves closer, I step back in retreat.
The coy smile on her lips matches her honeyed tone. “Give me the night to convince you?”