Page 10 of Bad Witch

I shoved him with a growl. “As soon as I’m fighting fit, yours will be the first ass I’m kicking.”

Jag smirked. “Looking forward to it.”

Willow was smiling, then it slipped away. Since the virus hit and the city became all but a ghost town, her smiles were less frequent, and I scented her fear and despair every day. War curled his fingers around the back of his mate’s neck and leaned in, kissing the top of her head before murmuring something in her ear. Her pain and worry affected him as well, though they tried not to show it around Violet.

Willow leaned into him, her gaze coming to me. “If you like her, ask her out. There’s still a handful of restaurants open around the city. Well, there were a week ago.”

“We’re just messing around,” I said to her, purposely avoiding the topic of our dying city. It only heightened the scent of her pain. “Temp isn’t someone you fuck, she’s someone you mate. The female has a soft heart. I get the feeling she’d get attached.” I ignored the way my dick jerked and my beast stirred.

Wills narrowed her eyes at me. “You don’t know that. Not all females are desperate for a picket fence, you know.” She leaned against the table. “Though, you’re probably right. If she’s helping you, probably best not to fuck that up by using her to get your rocks off.”

Warrick shook his head, his lips curling up. “Try not to hold back, dove. To think, I used to be the hard-ass in this relationship.”

She gave War a shove. “I like Tempest, she’s sweet, but she wouldn’t know what to do with a male like Fender. He’s had more females than he’s had hot dinners. He’d scare the hell out of her.” She shrugged. “Then again, the world could end tomorrow, so what the fuck would I know?”

“Dove,” War said roughly.

“Shit, sorry.” She ran her finger over Violet’s cheek. Her hand trembled, not with fear now, with rage. “None of us are going down without a fight.” Then she turned to me. “You’re right. Tempest isn’t someone you fuck with. She’s been through enough. She needs gentle, patient.” She smirked. “Not someone slamming her headboard through her bedroom wall.”

Jag and War burst out laughing.

I paused, focused on the first thing she said. “What’s she been through?”

Willow shook her head as she sipped War’s beer. “I don’t exactly know. I can feel something, though, when I’m around her. She’s been through something pretty bad. And she’s almost…I don’t know, naive? Like she’s not used to being around people.” She took Vi back from War when she got wriggly. “Like I said, I don’t know. I just think we need to be kind to her, help her if we can. And after what happened with that wolf, the shit he said to her, we need to tread carefully.”

My spine stiffened. “Gonna need you to back up, Wills, and tell me what you’re talking about. What wolf? And what did he say to her?”

Wills jiggled Vi when she started to fuss. War took his pup back again and blew a raspberry against her neck, making her giggle.

Wills smiled at them, then turned back to me. “I’m not sure I should tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because you look ready to commit murder.”

That would depend on what Willow had to say. “Just looking out for her. Like you said, the female’s like a lost lamb, and I owe her for her help.” Hopefully that convinced her, because I needed to know what she was talking about.

“You won’t go and cause a scene?” she said.

“I won’t.” Not tonight anyway.

“It was Raiden from Silver Claw.”

I bit back my growl. Draven had already been forced to reprimand the wolf several times for being a prick. If he’d said shit to Tempest, there was no way I was letting that go. It was past time that fucker was dealt with properly. “What did he say?” I was impressed with how sane I sounded, because I sure as fuck wasn’t feeling it.

“Apparently, she had a bit of a crush on him and tried to talk to him when he was at the clinic. She asked him out, he declined, so she called the keep to talk to him, then asked him out again when he came in to the clinic a few days later.” Willow’s expression changed to one that would make lesser males take a step back. “He blew up at her, told her to stay the fuck away from him and said some shit about her looks and her weight. I know the wolves are under stress with everything going on, but the shit he said was just plain cruel.”

I gripped the edge of the table, my beast snarling in my skull.

“I don’t think she’s had much experience, you know? Not just with males, but in general. It’s like she’s stumbling around trying to work a whole lot of stuff out. Mags noticed as well, and that’s why she took her under her wing, that and she just likes the female. Apparently, until recently, she lived a pretty isolated and sheltered life.”

Yeah, I’d noticed. But the fact that Temp was even interested in that fucker Raiden said all I needed to know about how naive the female was. And yeah, the wolves were freaked with this virus, but to yell at her like that? No fucking way.

I frowned, pissed off but also confused at something she’d said. “What did he say about her looks and weight?”

“Yeah, what the fuck’s Raiden talking about?” Roman said. “I don’t get it?”

He’d arrived with a couple more of my brothers a few minutes ago and had been listening to our conversation.