Page 39 of Dragon Tempted

She nodded. “Food is always better when someone else makes it. Marilyn is our cook. Tessa insists that she’s a gastric artist.”

John couldn’t keep his lips from tipping up. “Of course she did. Tessa is…”

“A force. Yes. She is. And not scared of voicing her opinions.”

“I found that out quickly when she came to my cabin and told me that I would be teaching her what it meant to be a witch. I didn’t have much of a say in the matter.”

She chuckled. “Which is not something you’re used to.”

“I’m not used to a lot of things.” Damn. Why had he said that?

She looked at him for a moment before taking another bite of food, as if she wanted to think through whatever her response was going to be. He appreciated that about her. She weighed her words. That was the sign of a good leader.

“I can’t imagine the challenges you’ve faced,” she said. Her eyes held understanding and not pity, which would have had him shutting down.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t deflect the conversation away from him. “We all have challenges, right?”

Again with the stare before she smiled. “We do.”

He appreciated her dropping the conversation thread. “So what brings you here? Has Megan found something? Or has something else happened?”

Sienna hesitated for a moment before answering him. “We had someone try to fly a drone over clan land.”

He scowled. “Templars.”

“That’s what we think. We dismantled it quickly, and the footage was stored in the drone. When we reviewed it, the drone hadn’t captured much of our land before it was taken down.”

He shook his head. “Did they catch who was controlling it?”

“The guards saw an SUV on a side road take off after we grabbed the drone.”

His stomach dropped. “They have to be looking for me.”

“Possibly.” Sienna continued before he could speak. “Which is why it’s more important than ever to figure out how to break this curse. You leaving isn’t the answer.”

Sienna stood and walked to the sink with her empty plate. “But that’s not the reason I came here. I thought you would like a home-cooked meal versus a sandwich. Ryan said you haven’t reached out with any additional grocery requests.” She turned to face him. “You can come to the main house and eat dinner with us if you’d like.”

He couldn’t control his frown.

She held up her hands. “If that doesn’t work, we can pack up some meals for you. Marilyn will make anything you request.”

“I’ll think about it,” he gritted out.

She smiled again and he felt his mouth try to smile in response before he tamped it down.

She leaned against the counter. “Have you had a chance to check out the valley?”

“No.”

Sienna grabbed two bottles of water from the basket and held one out to him. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“Are you sure we should be walking around the property?”

She sighed. “We have safeguards in place. We quickly stopped the drone. As a precaution, we’ve added some new security measures. We can’t stay locked away forever.”

John followed her out of the cabin and to the side of the clearing. She walked confidently through the woods as if on a mission.

“You taking me somewhere specific?” he asked.