Who is Magpie?

The dining room was set similarly to how it had been for lunch, but this time they had added two tables and there wasn’t a single empty seat. The counsel and their family now joined the hall with their brought staff, and Ezekiel’s family took up the end of another table. Jessamine took her expected seat beside Ezekiel, with Fiona beside her and Bronx beside him.

“You left quite the impression on the group training,” Fiona announced, speaking loud enough for others to over hear.

“Good, I hope?” Jessamine wondered what regular challenged matches looked like, and if they looked like what she had done.

Fiona nodded. “No one had ever seen someone remove their shoulder from it’s socket intentionally before.”

Jessamine smirked. “I’m sure I’m one of the few. It’s happened so many times now it goes back in easier than it used to.” She looked around to those listening in, a question brimming on their minds so she followed that up with, “it doesn’t really hurt.”

“So did they just force you to train all day?” Bronx barked, moving into the lane behind Ezekiel of wanting to protect her, and hating what she went through.

She nodded lazily, tilting her head side to side as she did. “I could only leave my room for classes, training, or .. being sent somewhere.” She hesitated, not wanting to affect the light mood of the room. “I realize now that the curfew was only for me. I don’t know what others did in the time between cult activities…” She shrugged. “If they were training they would have beat me just once in a fair fight.”

“Are not all sparring matches fair?” Fiona questioned, unintentionally catching Ezekiel’s eye as she leant forward to see Jessamine better.

Jessamine chuckled. “Depends what you call fair. I’m starting to wonder if they kept me around so they could practise fighting ….”

“A wolven?” Kai interjected, approaching the table. “Alpha Ashford.” He bowed his head toward Ezekiel before leaning on the table to join the conversation. “You don’t fight like they do, that’s for sure.”

She laughed again. “They don’t fight one on one, or barehanded.” She was still laughing while everyone else had become stoic. “You can laugh, it’s funny. It took them two or three people to beat me without weapons in most cases. There was only one person who could go toe to toe with me, and it was because I trained with her. The closest anyone else got on their own was with a stun gun.”

“Who called it?” Kai asked, remembering her words before their own fight.

Jessamine shot him the dirtiest look she could. “It doesn’t matter,” she insisted, but Ezekiel had already reached over, pulling her chair as close to his as possible like he could protect her from the memory with proximity.

Kai thought back to her shoulder, and how he had felt the pop through her arm when she pulled it out. “Did you ever call mercy?”

“It wasn’t worth it,” she replied shortly, reaching under the table to squeeze Ezekiel’s leg affectionately.

Jessamine caught Bronx’s look. She had forgotten that she had insinuated to him that she wasn’t charged in dollars, and shot him a look that warned him to be silent. Ezekiel’s hand landed on top of hers and squeezed it back, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

Kai was cursing someone or something under his breath when Fiona cuffed him upside the head. “Drop it, or next time maybe I’ll miss your tap and let her black you out.”

Kai put his hands up in retreat but his expression said he wasn’t done thinking about it. “I’ll drop it, only because I promised my ‘shutting the fuck up’ about her and the Fae, and my respect.” He bowed to her briefly. “To the new Luna, I hope your future is a thousand times brighter than your past.”

“To the Luna!” Everyone who had been eavesdropping cheered, lifting their cups into the air before drinking.

Jessamine was at a loss for how to reply to such a sentiment, but luckily she didn’t have to as Ezekiel scooped her chin into his hand. He turned her face towards him and planted his lips firmly against hers. She felt his tongue lightly at her closed lips and parted to let him in, feeling the muscle explore her mouth briefly before retreating.

It took everything she had to remember where she was even as cheers roared through the crowd and people began tapping their drink receptacles of all varieties against the table tops, resulting in a cacophony of clinks and bangs. As her eyes slowly opened she hadn’t even realized she’d closed them, but reached out to wrap her hand around the back of Ezekiel’s head, tangling her fingers into his hair. She pulled him back towards her, closing her eyes again, and resting their foreheads together.

She held him there for a few seconds, listening to his breathing and heartbeat. “Jessamine?” He asked finally.

Without opening her eyes she corrected again. “To you, that’s Jessa.”

“-mine.” He replied again, wrapping his hand around to the back of her head as well, closing his eyes and holding their foreheads together.

Cheers continued at the new couple, and Jessamine realized rather unforgivably that that was what was happening. People were congratulating their alpha at finding his mate. She realized, with more than a little irony, that she likely only survived this because she was his mate; and she likely matched as his mate because of the strength beaten into her by the Fae.

As he held her head to his with the same sincerity that she held him to her she whispered without any hesitations, “I’m glad that I failed.”

He choked a short laugh at the statement before returning, “I’m glad you were sent to kill me.”

They slowly released each other, each reaching for a cup of wine that had been poured and tapping their cups together. Fiona had believed that their alpha had lost his mind in loving his sent assassin. Even after she had met Jessamine to take her for her shower and given her the pin, she had thought the girl acted coldly about her ‘mate’ until the next time she saw them in the same room. The connection was unmistakable, and her unconscious actions watching Ezekiel’s challenged had clinched it. Fiona could say irrefutably that they were in love, and Jessamine would never do anything to intentionally harm Ezekiel.

On the other hand, Bronx felt guilt in knowing that there were several ways the evidence could have led that would have had him voting guilty. Seeing her now, Jessamine not Magpie, his happiness was hers.

As food was brought out Ezekiel could feel nothing but Jessamine projecting love towards him. He began to dish her plate before she could reach for the tray, filling it until it matched what he intended to put on his own. This time she didn’t argue, hoping to avoid revealing any more of her sordid or sad past by keeping her mouth full.

No one asked her any more questions, not even if she wanted more wine but the cup never emptied. Each time she set it down and turned to talk to either Ezekiel or Fiona when she looked back it would be full again.

Before they left the hall Fiona let her know that she put some fresh clothes and pajamas in her room so she no longer had to wear the shapeless clothes she had borrowed from Ezekiel. Ezekiel then promised to help her get clothes of her own soon, which she thanked him for but secretly feared. She had always just been given clothes and they were always the same. She couldn’t begin to know where to look or what to pick.

He walked with her up the stairs, passing his room, Bronx’s, and the ones occupied by his family. He would rather she was closer, but they both agreed making his pregnant mother and father move rooms was silly to move her door two closer to him. He wanted to make Bronx move, which she venomously disapproved of.

“I’ll see you tomorrow," Jessamine said lightly, looking at Ezekiel.

He brought her in for another hug, breathing in the smell from her hair and kissing her cheek. "Bright and early," he assured. "I'll bring you breakfast."

She nodded, closing the door but listening to his steps walk down the hall before moving. The room was large. Much larger than even Kay's in the Garden had been. Walking into the it was like walking down a short hallway, with the walls for the walk in closet and bathroom being on either side, with the doors facing into the room. A large queen bed sat in the middle of one wall, and across from it was a small sitting area with sofas and a table. The wall opposite of the entrance was entirely windows, and Jessamine went to them first, looking out into the dark with more clarity than she had ever had before.

She could still see the wolven outside, pacing around and around the grounds, two passes and then switching. With the light she turned on when she entered she imagine that she was a clear beacon standing in the window and closed the curtains uncomfortably. The room was uncomfortably large for someone who was used to living out of a space that could fit in the closet, but she found the piles of clothes on the bed and decided a shower couldn't hurt.

The bathroom offered fine soaps with smells like fresh linens and vanilla, and she used all of them. When she was through washing her hair and skin, she wrapped herself in the largest towel she had ever seen. Moving to the sink, she brushed her teeth and then hair, feeling a little sad at the jagged hack job she had done earlier. It was hair, and it would grow, but the rough line and split ends caused by the blade made her wish she had taken just another moment to think about it.

Through in the bathroom, she left the door open to air out the steam and went to put on the pajamas. They were a soft lilac coloured material, just a pair of pants and a tank top, but it was more colour than she had been allowed before. After getting dressed she regarded the bed thoughtfully. It looked entirely too big for one person and even with the lights out she was too restless for sleep.

At one point she had considered re-locating her pillows and blankets into the closet to sleep. The smaller space without a wall of glass would make her considerably less nervous, but she didn’t want Ezekiel to bring breakfast in the morning and find her sleeping there on the floor.

After trying unsuccessfully for two hours to get some sleep she gave up. Unsure of exactly what time it was she decided a walk wouldn’t be a terrible idea, and if she so happened to hear Ezekiel was also still awake she could knock and see him.

That was enough motivation for her, and she left her room, bare feet tapping on the floor as she went as quietly as she could passed all the rooms until she reached his door. She could hear his voice, and happily raised her fist to knock but then she realized he was talking to someone and hesitated. She listened for a moment, not meaning to eavesdrop but wondering if he was still visiting with his family, or perhaps meeting with Bronx, but she didn’t recognize the voice and her hopes fell.

Lowering her hand she put both of her curled fists into her pockets and decided some fresh air would be better to help her sleep.