Who is Magpie?

An hour later, after the cold breakfast had been eaten, and the mimosas finished, a bell sounded in the room.

Jessamine sat up, alarmed by the sudden sound, but Ezekiel pat her head down to rest back on his thigh. “It’s just the door bell, when you close the second set of doors it’s impossible to hear someone knocking.” He yelled for the person to come in but Jessamine was trying to sit up again.

“Second set of doors?!” She gasped.

Looking over at the short hallway she saw what she had thought was a framed mural painted to either side. Looking closer she saw the gleam of hinges in the light along one side and realized those frames were solid walls that could be closed to hide away the hallway. She began blushing as she realized that with those open anyone who walked passed her room could have heard her crying out Ezekiel’s name earlier.

Bronx entered, and she concealed her face by laying back down against Ezekiel’s leg, but he still knew. The smell of what had happened to her clung in the air despite her open windows. He tried not to make it noticeable that he noticed, knowing he had already pressed his luck the night before with the Alpha.

“What is it?” Ezekiel asked, barely turning to look at him as he played with Jessamine’s hair.

He had been quietly undoing it from the back of her head despite her efforts to keep it tidy. He had secretly loved the mess of willow branches that hung around her face when her wolf had emerged and wanted her to wear it wildly always.

“A pack of rogues has been spotted outside of Twin Creaks,” Bronx replied.

Jessamine’s blood ran cold though she wasn’t sure why. Ezekiel was so surprised that he moved to stand, remembered as he did that Jessamine was in his lap, and scooped her into his arms as he rose.

“Are there any casualties?” Ezekiel asked, ignoring Jessamine protesting to be put down as he turned to Bronx.

“Two humans who were camping, their bodies were found the next morning. Initial search parties found wolf tracks leading away from the scene,” Bronx informed pointedly.

Jessamine stayed silent as Ezekiel carried her out of her room. “That’s less than a day away. I want all the details sent to my office, get them to increase their patrols at night and we’ll send them 20 of ours to aid the search.”

“Yes Alpha,” Bronx returned, pulling out his phone to make the calls and arrangements.

She warmed into his chest as he made his way into his office. Ezekiel pushed the chair from in front of his desk along with them as they walked and plopped her into it when he got it beside his own chair. She ‘oofed’ into her spot and looked at him sideways.

“Stay with me today?” He asked, but he was nearly begging. “I can’t deal with this if I’m worried about you and Kai or Delano or whoever getting into a fight.”

She smiled at him, settling into her chair. “Only because my legs are too tired to take them at my best,” she bargained.

“Thank you,” he replied, and his smile was genuine.

She had only been able to sit still and watch him work for half an hour before she began searching his bookshelves for anything worth reading. She ended up with a book of battle techniques and weaponry, not exactly the work of fiction she had been hoping for, but made more than one of the wolven who had come in through the open door look twice; which she enjoyed. Ezekiel had been receiving reports all morning to the point that he had asked the kitchen staff to bring their lunch to his office as well.

“What?” Ezekiel answered his phone tersely.

It was Delano. “I thought I should warn you that Athena is on her way.”

Ezekiel groaned audibly but Jessamine barked a laugh. “This ought to be fun,” she replied, and didn’t move from her spot, slumped in her chair with her feet getting periodical massages from Ezekiel where they rest in his lap.

She could hear the heals clacking up the stairs, making Jessamine look at her bare feet considerately. She had seen shoes with the fresh clothes but preferred the silence and comfort of her feet directly on the floor. Soon enough, there stood a tall blond with jade green eyes in a dress that clung over every muscled surface and ended mid-calf with an uneven edge.

“Ezekiel!” She said shrilly as she entered, not seeing Jessamine where she slumped down, and Jessamine not caring to look and size her up. “I’ve been waiting for you to come and apologize all morning. What could possibly be more important than me?”

Jessamine bit down on her lip so hard to keep from laughing that she drew blood, and Ezekiel looked over at her with more concern than necessary at the smell. She blew him a light kiss and he smiled in spite of himself.

“I was never going to come apologize Athena, I never expected you to come all the way out here, and if you had even hesitated to make a phone call I would have told you it wasn’t necessary.” Ezekiel replied rather calmly by Jessamine’s standards.

“Are you still entertaining this ridiculous notion of bedding your attempted-murderer? It is positively absurd, and no one could take such a declaration seriously in any regard. I don’t care who she used to be, she’s never shifted, and anyone raised by the Fae is bound to be a terrible wolven, and that’s if they can even stand shifting at their age. Who would trust her?”

Jessamine thought she was greatly out of sight, but she didn’t think Athena would be so stupid. That she didn’t seem to smell another person in the room or even noticed as she turned the pages in her book astounded Jessamine. Ezekiel had returned to rubbing her feet firmly, the anger she felt from him comparable to what she had felt from him during the trial. She loved the feeling of his firm hands, but she knew him starting a fight with another alpha would be bad. After her morning with Ezekiel, from her it would be expected.

She stood up slowly, enjoying the look of surprise that took over the other woman’s, otherwise beautifully elegant, face. “Please don’t stop on my account, I’d love to hear more of your strong opinions of me, Athena Gilan.” Jessamine gleamed, watching as the woman lost her tongue with embarrassment. “Say it,” Jessamine hissed, none of her earlier restraint at the trial remaining. “Only cowards would prefer to talk behind your back.”

Athena seemed to swallow a breath before continuing. “You are not one of us, you cannot be trusted, and you don’t deserve a man like my Ezekiel.”

She could feel his anger swelling with the words and she swung her leg up and over, showing off her inner thigh bruises as she moved to sit in his lap and calm him. Her words hurt, running deeper into her insecurities than she was ready to go right now, but put a pin in that for later. One of her hands found the inside of Ezekiel’s thigh and the other found his hand as she smiled.

“That is up to Ezekiel and the Ashford pack to decide. I don’t really think your opinion is needed here, though I love your confidence, infectious.” Jessamine winked at her and she thought the other woman might fall over with shock.

“Charming,” she sneered, eyeing Ezekiel thoughtfully. “Can’t we talk alone?”

Jessamine spit a laugh she had honestly meant to hold in to reply with some dignified retort. “Oh I’m sorry, I’m assuming you didn’t hear about this morning? I just assumed, since you had someone inside that was checking in with you that you’d have heard. Ezekiel has already learned his lesson, and though I love how he apologizes I’d like to be able to walk by dinner.”

Bronx walked up behind her, distracted by something on his tablet. “Oh hey Athena, can we have a minute?”

She looked between the men, and then to Jessamine who smiled wryly. “You don’t mind do you, Athena?”

The woman gave a shrill, frustrated sound before stomping out. When she was gone Bronx closed the doors behind her and Ezekiel began stroking his nose alongside Jessamine’s face with a smile on his lips.

“You are fantastic.” He praised, moving his hand on the inside of her thigh the way she did on his.

She moved her face to lean into his praise, but she was distracted. “Thank you.”

“What’s wrong?” He held her a little tighter, believing meeting Athena had made her nervous or that she had been hurt by her words.

She nodded, taking a breath before closing her eyes as she thought. “I was just wondering who was giving her information that isn’t anymore.”

Bronx pondered as well. “Were her and Mrs. Orman close?”

“I find it hard to believe that woman was close with anyone.” Ezekiel returned, and Jessamine wondered which woman he was referring to.

“There have been two more sightings, but it looks like they’re moving farther east.” Bronx informed, but Ezekiel looked confused.

“Yes… I know. I’ve been making calls and in contact with people all day,” he replied, reluctantly releasing Jessamine to move back to her own chair.

“I thought I better break it up in here, it seemed as though Jessamine was seconds away from challenging Athena,” Bronx muttered, flipping through different tabs and apps.

Jessamine sat up surprised. “Wow you’re right.”

“Mmhmm,” Bronx murmured affirmatively. “I thought as much.”

Not wanting to leave right away, Bronx joined the two for lunch and then stayed to talk about business. Jessamine was listening intently but didn’t respond to any of their business matters, instead only adding small anecdotes from her book. They both assumed she was bored but she couldn’t have been more interested, only wanting to give them the semblance of space.

They remained in the office until the sun began going down and they were called to dinner. The hall was full again, and Jessamine moved to her chair alongside Ezekiel. The smells from the kitchen had her mouth watering in anticipation.

Rosemary roast, potatoes, carrots and a rich salad, full of spinach. Jessamine had a feeling that Ezekiel had requested the iron rich food for her, but everything was far better than the food she had at the Garden. While they had used spices for flavouring every meal was thin and light, nothing was ever cooked in butter or gravy and she never got cheese.

The smells brought her a feeling of home, comfort and of safety. Her body felt warmer with the filling meals she had been given here, and though she knew that was likely more of a wolven thing the food still made her beyond happy. Ezekiel had, embarrassingly, caught her taking her first bite and moaning out loud at the juicy texture of the meat that she had enjoyed so rarely.

She looked away from him, finishing the bite, and then took a large sip of water before sitting forward. She would compliment all of the kitchen staff later, maybe after she had been there a little while longer so they believed her. She knew from her time at the Garden that you should always be extra kind to those who provided your living needs, should anyone want to kill you, they were the easiest way of getting in close..

She was happy this meal was absent of most conversation. Instead people told stories. Useless stories like why Bronx had learned to sew, or why Fiona always carried her keys, but Jessamine loved every one. She had none to share, not that she didn’t have stories, but she had drank a lot of wine, and wasn’t sure she could tell the difference between a good story and a bad one.