Who is Magpie?

Bronx had been moments from crawling into bed when he heard his phone begin to ring. “What?” He answered irritably but Delano wasn’t phased.

“Can you go rap on the Alpha’s door. I’ve tried calling him but he’s not picking up.” He returned, only sounding minutely frustrated.

Bronx sighed. “Why? It’s late. What’s the problem?”

“It’s the Luna. We’re supposed to keep an eye on her, well she left her room twenty minutes ago. I thought she was going to his room but she stopped and never went in and now we can’t see her on any of the cameras. We know she hasn’t left the property, but much longer and I’ll have to get someone else to look for her.” Delano informed, though he seemed distracted, like he was trying to multitask and just barely succeeding.

Bronx huffed, more frustrated then before. “Don’t report it. I’ll handle it.”

He made his way to Ezekiel’s room but, like Jessamine, heard the ongoing conversation and avoided knocking. Instead he followed her scent left behind, down the stairs and through short hallways outside. She had followed the curve of the house to the garden she had seen outside the meeting room during the trial. There was a small bench situated in front of a large hydrangea where she had stopped to sit. Jessamine had closed her eyes and while listening to the sounds of the night, surrounded by the smell of plant life, she tried to silence her breaths

“There you are,” Bronx said suddenly, but she had heard his heavy feet on the stone path long before he got there, not assuming he was looking for her.

"Am I not allowed outside here either?" She said lightly, not opening her eyes as she maintained level breathing.

"What? Oh yea, no, you're allowed." He sat on the bench beside her, wondering why Ezekiel hadn't told her himself. "But they're still a little on edge about you. You were seen wandering off and then no one had seen you for a while and they were worried..."

"That I was somewhere I shouldn't be, or fucking something up.” She finished for him. "I should have figured that. I just wanted some air. Sorry they woke you, I'll go back inside now."

She moved to stand but Bronx rest his hand on her leg and held her there. "Don't worry about it, I wasn't even asleep yet," he insisted, looking over her expression as she admired the flowers like she wasn't seeing them at all. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She sighed, wanting to say no but instead saying, "he's engaged?"

Bronx took the longest breath in and out that his lungs could hold. "You heard them?"

She nodded. "I know it's all been pretty... chaotic. But that was the last surprise I was expecting today."

Bronx nodded, agreeing with her. "He should have told you. He's not so much engaged as it was a contingency plan. Neither of them had found their mates, so neither has an heir to their territories. From what I’ve gathered, she had been informed of the... unalive attempt but nothing afterward."

There was silence, and Bronx found it oddly foreign for Jessamine to be quiet about anything. "Does he love her?" She finally asked, not looking to see his expression.

Bronx coughed a laugh. "No, absolutely not, and truthfully I think she only cares about him because she views him as an investment.... she’s technically your cousin, but I do believe she had a hand in helping us gather those aid supplies," he added, more of an after thought since it didn't seem like Ezekiel would be preparing her for the upcoming conversation.

"Of course," she muttered, burying her face into her hands. "That's fun, that's super fun for me, I love it." She continued to mutter sarcastically before sitting up again.

Jessamine glanced at him, and he thought she looked tired. He glanced over her as she did him, both in their pajamas, though Jessamine wearing decidedly less and visually appearing cold. She turned away before he did, plucking a flower off the bush beside her.

He was distracted by her chest through the thin shirt. Knowing he ought to look away, he pulled his gaze in another direction before he was caught. Ezekiel would kill him if he knew he was checking out Jessamine, but his wolf was having a hard time ignoring her, unmated, so close to the full moon.

"I almost kicked the door in," she admitted after a moment. “I was so furious that there was another woman in his room.”

“What stopped you?” He asked, honestly thinking that he would pay money to have seen Jessamine enter the room like a bat out of hell and kick Athena’s ass.

She took a calming breath before replying, “he hasn’t officially chosen me, and he is the alpha. I don’t know much, but I would assume entering his bedroom like that and interrupting him wouldn’t have been good.”

“He chooses you Jessamine, believe me he…”

“He doesn’t know me,” she interrupted. “Right now his wolf chooses me because of this bond between wolven, and honestly if they hadn’t abused me into being as skilled as I am I don’t think we would have matched.”

“He does,” Bronx interrupted. “He used to talk about having a dependent and obedient mate like it was the only way.” Jessamine grimaced, that definitely wasn’t her. “But he met you, and didn’t question it for a second. Even after you tried to kill him, even believing you were human. “

“That’s nice,” she muttered, now resting her feet up on the bench and her elbows up on her knees, fully believing he was exaggerating.

“You don’t believe me?” He asked and she shook her head. “You should talk to him, get all of your worries out before the full moon.”

She nodded in agreement. “I know, nine days isn’t long.”

Bronx’s laugh was loud. “Keeping count eh? Must be looking forward to it… owe!”

Jessamine socked him in the arm. “Still not that close.” Returning to her sitting position before muttering, “more nervous.” She yawned despite not wanting to return to the house.

“Ready for bed?” Bronx asked, not missing it despite her best efforts.

“It was easier to sleep downstairs,” she replied after a thought. “The cell lacked the wall of plants, and the sound of the wind through the shutters that my old room had, but it felt similar." She laughed, and it was lighter than Bronx would have expected. "As terrible as that sounds. The rooms here are so big and empty... I wish I had stayed in my room."

Bronx didn't know if she meant her room here or her room there, but he knew she didn't mean it. "You grew plants in your bedroom?" He asked instead.

Her smile was much warmer now. "Yes, as terrible as it was, they were my rewards for taking on certain assignments. I'm not sure how it began, but I coveted my plants. I imagine many of them will be dead soon, but that's just how it goes." She chuckled again. "I hope they rot and the smell drifts through the pipe delivery system. For as little as most of them remembered that I was up in the attic they won’t know where it’s coming from.” Her thoughts drifted over Kay, but she couldn’t allow herself to feel sympathy for all of them because of her, not after what she’d been through.

“The attic?” Bronx asked suspiciously.

She nodded. “They have servants hallways that run between the walls and underground, that was the only way in. You know where the roof would pitch, and you’re left with a dead space for storage? They put in a bathroom, though I’m sure that was just to keep me out of common spaces as much as possible.”

“Basically a crawl space.” Bronx returned angrily.

She shook her head. “I could stand fully almost everywhere in it.”

He had a bad feeling when he asked, “a dresser? Could you even fit a bed in there?”

She laughed at him for getting angry. “Of course not, I had a bed roll on the floor. I know now that’s weird unless you’re camping, but I was told I was fortunate to have my own room… Don’t let my stories anger you.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Bronx demanded, thinking back to Ezekiel padding her cell floor. “How could I not be? That they would treat anyone the way they treated you…” he drifted off, not sure how deeply he wanted to get into this conversation with his brother’s mate at this time when they were, as she said, not that close now.

“Because it’s worse.” He looked at her, startled by the words, but, again, she laughed. “It’s so much worse than what I’ve mentioned, but I could live my life in fear of them getting me back and starting it all again.. or I can embrace what the pain gave me.”

“That’s one way to look at it,” he bargained, still not approvingly but rationalizing telling someone to hate their life more wasn’t exactly the goal either.

She stood suddenly, offering him her hand to pull him up. “I’m still sorry you got delayed from sleep to find me, I assume it was because Ezekiel was too busy with his fiancé.”

Bronx rolled his eyes, though standing above her now he wasn’t sure she saw it. “I told you he…”

“You did, but he didn’t. So for the sake of arguments you still haven’t, he should have told me. And if he had told me or not brought her to his bedroom near midnight to talk to her, you wouldn’t have to be out here with me; so we can both be mad at him. Come on, you look cold.”

She walked ahead of him, leaving him wondering how he appeared cold before becoming possibly unnecessarily self-conscious.