Who is Magpie?

Surprise and shock circled the room, and Delano who had been shuffling ended up spirting the cards into 52 pickup. Jessamine bent to start gathering them up off the floor immediately.

“Why would you do that?” Chey asked.

Already five shots in Jessamine answered immediately. “My task was to empty the building, and only three people came over when I ‘fell’. So I needed to fake a more serious injury.”

“But it wasn’t fake.” Jessamine handed Delano the cards and he stared at her, nearly appalled. “I could smell it, and see it. Why would you do that?”

Jessamine took a voluntary shot, and then another. “It’s a bit like going on a hike and getting a snake bite. Most would turn to bandages, think about getting treatment, and whatever plans were made will have to wait. I didn’t have that kind of mentality, my mind would go through, ideal to worst case scenarios and pick which one was faster and not compromise the plans. Cutting off the whole hand would be bad, but a finger is survivable.”

“What!?” Bronx yelled, and Jessamine misunderstood, thinking he didn’t understand.

“Killing two wolven for some papers would be terrible, stabbing myself was… easy.” She pulled her shirt over, showing the side of her rib cage. “See? Barely a scar, thanks to Kay. If I hadn’t stitched it myself there would be none at all.” The named slipped.

She hated that a few sips of alcohol had been all it took to say that name out loud again. Hoping no one heard she tried to hide her emotions from the surface, the way she had been told to again and again.

“Why?” Delano asked, but again Jessamine misunderstood.

“Because I’m not left-handed, and I struggled holding the skin together under my own arm….”

“No, why, before you knew any of this, or any of us, would you do that?” Delano asked again.

She froze, wondering if there was a correct answer here. “It was easier.”

Everyone else took a shot, including Kai who then asked, “help me understand.”

Jessamine mulled over her tongue, her brows pinching together, and she looked to Bronx to save her answering, but he looked just as invested in her answer.

“If I couldn’t get them outside for long enough that’s at least two bodies. Bluejay wasn’t… kind. If anyone went back in early he’d have killed them It’s a lot more steps for everyone than jab, job done, clean coat, stitches.” Jessamine moved to look up, but Bronx was in front of her.

He wrapped his arms around her and her face became buried in his chest before she knew what was happening. Her arms had been in front of her and now they were squished up between her and him. She blinked in confusion, expecting her words to disband the party and ruin the evening.

His breathing was slow and considerate when he spoke. “You didn’t even know them, under heavy drug control, but you still considered their lives over your own pain.”

Jessamine felt embarrassed. “Bronx, it wasn’t as noble as all that.”

“It doesn’t matter, you have the heart of a strong leader, why you picked my brother I’ll never know.” She could feel his smile where he pressed his cheek to the top of her head . “But if it comes to hurting yourself or coming up with a new plan, Luna, never let yourself be hurt.”

“I…” She blushed feeling a warmth creep up her chest but pushed him back gently. “We’re not that close, I think you’ve had too much to drink.”

He chuckled. “Not half as much as you.” He made eye contact with her, brushing hair away from her face the had mussed against his shirt, and she looked away. “Come on, a new game!”

“Poker!” Kai shouted, and Chey smacked him.

“Only if you want the Alpha to gouge out your eyes when he returns.” Chey accused, eyeing him a little too knowingly.

He pouted. “I actually meant poker.”

“If the aim is drunk, high card low card is the fastest.” Jessamine smirked, “but I’m not sure the table can take it.”

They sat on the floor, each taking a section of the deck. On three they flipped their cards and tried to smack the highest card flipped first, to be the only one not to drink, but everyone else still needed to slap a card to add back to their deck.

They switched to drinks for this game realizing quickly as the rules were explained that that many shots would kill them. Assuming correctly that getting drunk wasn’t part of Jessamine’s regular life before she started getting wine with dinner, she was glad no one asked how she usually played this game.

Jessamine was thankful for her wolven metabolism as she finished her first drink and could feel herself getting flushed. Bronx noticed too, having had the fewest shots of anyone, he was the only one to notice. When Delano left for the bathroom the game was paused but Chey and Kai were immediately distracted in each other.

Their apparent disregard for the others in the room over their apparent interest in each other’s back molars had Bronx pulling her up off the floor. He directed her into picking her favourite spirit and they took the bottle outside into the night and cool air. There was a bench on the corner that they both migrated to.

“They mated a few full moons ago and card night hasn’t quite been the same since.” Bronx muttered, flicking off the cap and handing her the bottle.

She took a swig and handed it back. “Does Ezekiel ever join the games?”

Bronx hummed. “Not as much as he used to. A lot had been going on in the tri-cities, doesn’t leave much free time for an alpha.” Jessamine nodded, and then as if he read her mind he said. “But you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

She startled toward him, taking the bottle he offered back. “What are you talking about?”

“Seven years… and the Fae only really started to be an issue four, maybe five years ago. Is two years enough time to train a poisoned wolven into being a problem?” Bronx asked, surprising her yet again into choking on the drink.

“I’ve done nothing but tell you how I’m a problem,” she muttered, taking the drink solemnly. “And I’ll tell you anything you want to know, honestly.”

“How much of that uprising are you responsible for?” He nearly demanded, trying, unsuccessfully, to make her angry.

Jessamine turned to look out over the field toward the gate that backed on to the wood. “I wouldn’t know. I can only tell you as many assignments as I can remember and you tell me how important they were. Considering we were told you were subjugating the people and collecting warehouses full of weaponry to extend your communist empire, I’d hardly call anything they told me a trustworthy source.”

“What about Kay?” Bronx asked. It was so plain, like a name he had said a thousand times.

Jessamine hated that more than her saying it. “Kay is not responsible for the lies.” She growled lowly. “She was the only friend I ever had.”

Bronx scoffed. “Some friend, still saw all you went through and did nothing, but still, if she’s that important to you you’ll need to learn to shift. If you aren’t there when the fight goes down she’ll likely be killed, so you need to figure it out.”

“I’ve tried!!” Her voice nearly broke but she contained it. “I’ve tried until I couldn’t even stand anymore. I don’t know what else to do.”

“So that’s it? Seven years of not being able to even think on your own, feeling like you’re a character in someone else’s play. I didn’t think you were the giving up type.” He mocked, chuckling as he took a drink.

His head felt just as fuzzy as hers, but neither showed the other just how bad that was, trying to drink until the other looked how they felt. It made Bronx’s plan of trying to rile up her emotions as pointless as trying to get a duck wet, as all her cares rolled off her back like water.

“What more can I do?! Last night was the first time I’ve really slept in a while of late nights trying to shift. I’m not strong enough.” Jessamine almost felt angry at his minimization of her problem, but knew that she had been trying, putting in so much effort that her body had felt as though it had been put through the blender.

“That’s it though isn’t it? You’re an over thinker. You think Kai thinks when he shifts? pfft, I think if he ever started he’d loose the ability.” Bronx spoke so plainly, words tripping off his tongue without any formality.

They both began to slouch. The alcohol felt the opposite of the teas, making her feel looser and more at ease.

She sighed, “You’re probably right.” He looked at her. “Kai’s head would probably explode from the effort.”

They both chuckled and then Bronx stood up, pulling her along, and then lifted her to stand on the bench with him. “Close your eyes.”

She did as instructed and found the bottle placed back in her hand. She took the sip, and handed it back towards him, hearing him take a rough breath, the bottle slosh, and then get placed onto the stone path. She waited for him, absorbing the sounds of the night. The forest was so nearby, the smell of pine drifting on the wind like a call begging her to run with the breeze.

He touched the sides of her arms lightly. “Are you listening?” He asked and she answered that she was. “Is your wolf listening?… good. Use every sense except your eyes. Take in the smells of the forest, it’s sounds, the way the fresh air feels as you breathe.” His hands stroked her bare arms lightly. “How might that rough ground feel if you were the size of a horse with paws like as big as your face. You are a wolven, regardless if you’ve ever shifted before. You are wolven”

She thought about it. Her bare feet could already feel the rough bench beneath them, and she could recall the walk up the stone path. She could picture it, her wolven, like she was looking in a mirror in her mind. Her fur was the same colour as her hair, and shaggy, blowing in the breeze that called her to the forest.

Bronx’s hands gripped her arms suddenly and he tossed her sidelong into the air. Panic set in but her wolf had already been in her mind, ready, and she burst from within her all at once like an explosion. Her paws landed on the ground, sliding through the grass with the momentum of her new weight.

She was a wolf. She gawked goofily at Bronx, a sort of chortle sound coming from her in place of a laugh. She strut around in a circle, trying to get a good look at herself, her paws flattening the long grass like a crop circle.

Everything was more. Her hearing, the smells, she could taste the air on her tongue like it was a thin soup. She had been thinking about it all wrong. The change wasn’t something that started anywhere over her body, she was already the wolf, and the change happened all at once. She could recall the pain as she landed but in an instant it was gone, her wolf prancing around happily in her new skin.

Bronx watched with a grin, pride welling up within him that he had been able to help her and make her so undeniably happy. She ran towards him, and he braved himself for her to not be able to stop, but she shifted back just in time and wrapped her arms around him.

He was firmly aware that she was naked, and he became consumed with the question of where to put his hands.

“I thought we weren’t that close,” he mocked, making sure his arms didn’t cross around her too fully and to keep his hands facing away.

He could feel her chest against his as she giggled. “I’m willing to amend that statement.” She squeezed him, with more gratitude than she thought she possessed. “Thank you.”

Her soft words hooked him, bringing him into her unhindered happiness, still affected by the alcohol. His arms pressed against her back, and he smelt the smell his brother had talked about, the deadly lilies, drawing a breath like it was a work of art.

A loud growl roared across the open field and where Bronx stiffened, Jessamine didn’t. “Why is my mate, drunk and naked, alone outside, with you?”