Who is Magpie?

There was a necessary detour to wash their hands as they had all helped fill in the hole but then they were sitting at the head table. This time Jessamine was winged by the Alpha and Beta, one on either side of her. Shepherd’s Pie was brought out in large baking dishes placed on every table alongside pitchers of thick gravy. Jessamine, for the first time, beckoned for Ezekiel to stay his hand when pouring the gravy.

Victor came out after a few minutes and approached the head table. “Is it to your liking Jessamine?”

She ‘hummed’ around a small bite she had just consumed until she could speak. “It’s perfect, just like I.. remembered it?” She put down her fork confused. “Have we had this here before? In the last few weeks while I’ve been here?”

Victor shook his head. “I don’t believe so Luna.”

“Well, it’s wonderful,” she mused. “Though if Ezekiel finishes that plate I think he’ll be more ready for a nap than trying to find me.”

“I’m a big guy,” he reminded. “I’ll need all the energy I can get to go with you all night.”

She looked away from Ezekiel and Victor with that statement, feeling the inappropriate tinge to his words longingly. Victor dismissed himself and Jessamine helped herself to the wine.

“Careful my Luna,” Ezekiel warned jokingly.

“I’m just trying to level the playing field for you,” she smirked, getting the appropriate foreboding sounds from those around.

While they are Bronx teased her, asking if she was willing to roll in the mud to lose her scent or if she wanted to make it easy on him to get to the end faster. Throwing the game wasn’t in her nature but she wasn’t sure mud was the answer either. She hushed ideas with him, getting an idea for the terrain she had to work with. That would be her biggest challenge, trying to hide in his home turf.

Dinner under the full moon was more lively than the other nights. Some of the wolven had brought instruments into the hall and were playing upbeat tunes that people were dancing too. The tables had been angled slightly differently to make a space in the middle for dancing and Jessamine watched all the people dancing and twirling with more freedom than she had ever witnessed.

“Do you want to join?” Ezekiel asked, but that was all the invitation she needed.

She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the cleared area floor without another word. She had left her shoes under the table and as they approached she led Ezekiel through spinning her around on the balls of her feet. If he had assumed her sheltered life meant she couldn’t dance he had underestimated the extent of her training so she could blend in.

The dress she wore flared out like like a flower in bloom as she spun, literally spinning circles around Ezekiel so quickly he thought she was sure to get dizzy. When she returned to stand in front of him he moved his hands to her hips, hoping to keep her there for a minute. She continued to sway and dip her hips in his grasp letting the trill of the fiddle and the thrum of the guitar steer her tempo.

She wrapped her arms around him, encouraging more movement from him. Leaning forward she nipped at his ear with her top teeth and bottom lip, then pulled away and looked up at him through her lashes. A low roll sounded from his throat and she was incredibly aware that it was edging him on for later.

Her eyes met Bronx’s over his shoulder and she smirked. “Does Bronx not dance?”

He spun her around so he could look over her shoulder. “Why don’t you invite him over?” He offered, dipping her back to beckon him over.

Bronx found he could ‘t refuse the Luna looking back at him like that. Joining them on the dance for Ezekiel spun her over to pull him in to the gathering of people. By the point the floor was crowded and half of those dining were dancing all together on the floor. No one brought up the run, while th eh dance and Jessamine had begun to forget about it in the fun until Ezekiel nipped at her neck and surprised her.

“Later,” she teased more as a joke until she recalled the truth in those words. She would be marked tonight.

He pulled her along towards the door. “Ready? The moon is high in the sky now, or we could keep dancing,” he suggested.

A warmth rose in her chest that she would have like to pretend was from her glass. “No, let’s go,” she agree, wrapping her arm around his and twisting their fingers together.

Bronx followed them outside, waiting until the door closed behind them before speaking. “I volunteered to watch the forest gate tonight,” he offered by way of explanation. “If you get lost or need help you can call out and the Alpha will call us for backup. He has a longer range of communication with the members of the pack, you’ll be able to talk with him like that after you’ve been marked.”

She nodded, accepting this as fact but replied. “I highly doubt I’ll be getting lost.”

Ezekiel took off his shirt before walking over to Jessamine and wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her lips passionately, pulling her face into his and her fingers wove into his hair. As she became absorbed into kiss even as his hands moved to her back, but they she felt him unclasp her bra.

“Hey,” she laughed, catching her boobs as the dropped in her dress.

He winked. “You wont need it much longer.”

She smirked back, first delicately pulling her underwear down and handing it to him. Ezekiel shook his head at her, grinning tightly as he tried to control himself. She slipped her arms out of the sleeve and straps while keeping the dress on, and then pulled it all over her head at once and tossed it at Bronx’s face. She shifted at the same time, landing four heavy paws onto the ground.

Ezekiel was chuckling at Bronx, and when Jessamine looked over at him she realized she had thrown it harder than she meant to. She walked over to him, resting her forehead against his apologetically.

“It’s fine, go. Ezekiel isn’t the most patient man, you’re losing your head start.” Bronx chuckled, shooing her off.

She nodded a large furry head, tapping her head against Ezekiel’s on her way passed to the gate. Jessamine gave a short taunting howl before taking off.

Bronx chuckled when she was out of sight. “I’ve never seen someone take off so fast for this. You think you’ll still be able to catch her with a twenty minute head start?”

Ezekiel laughed too. “Oh I’ll find her if it’s the last thing I do,” he growled aggressively. “I appreciate you taking over the guard tonight, though I know why you really did it, it means a lot to me.”

Bronx tried not to let the words affect his expression. “Even if you weren’t the Alpha, I would do anything for my brother.”

The two men stood in relative silence until Ezekiel was through waiting. He dropped his clothes onto the ground, shifting with a long, loud howl into the night, warning her that he was coming.