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“How’s Lena? Have you done any seer-sitting lately?” she asked, digging for details. She couldn’t help it. The nymph in her could never get enough gossip.

“Nope. I think I got fired.” Theo couldn’t stop the grin on his face when he thought about the look on Lena’s face when he’d shifted in front of her. A werewolf had to find fun where he could these days.

“What did you do?” Phoebe raised a brow, tension coiling her muscles. Jealous. She was jealous of what he might have done with the seer. And Theo was just enough of an asshole to run with it.

“Nothing.” Theo shrugged, pulling down his mug from the cabinet. “Just had a little fun.”

“God, Theo.” Fee thunked her mug down in disgust. “Is there no one you won’t… You know what? Never mind.”

He turned to her, leaning his back against the counter, a slow grin crossing his face. “Just you, I guess. But only because you won’t let me.”

Pink bloomed across Phoebe’s cheeks. “You know why it’s not a good idea.”

“Remind me.”

He knew exactly why. He’d screwed that up a year ago, but Theo was a glutton for punishment.

She huffed out a sigh. “We’re friends, Theo. If we sleep together, it will ruin everything.” She held his stare until he had to look away, knowing he revealed too much when he looked at her. It almost hurt more that she never said the real reason. He’d broken her heart and she would never forgive him for it. He’d never forgive himself.

He didn’t deserve her. He never had.

“I can’t have you falling in love with me,” she said instead, as though she didn’t know that he was already so in love with her it hurt. “Nymphs aren’t built for that.”

He held up his hands. “Hey, neither am I. I’m offering a fun night, Fee. That’s it.”

She smirked like she could see his lie from a mile away, like she knew he wanted to keep her. Like she knew that he hadn’t actually slept with anyone else in months and currently had the worst case of blue balls just from looking at her in her chunky sweater and leggings.

Of course she knew.

“There was another attack,” he said, needing a change of topic.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Rafe took out three wolves on his own.” It had been nearly a month since Rafe killed the wolves from the Highland pack that had been stalking Ruby and her sister, but Theo hadn’t had a chance to talk to Fee about it.

Phoebe’s eyes widened, impressed. “Maybe he should have been the Alpha, after all.”

Theo shrugged. He didn’t feel like rehashing the events that led to Knox becoming Alpha and he and Rafe becoming exiles. “That’s what happens when someone attacks your Mate, I guess.”

Phoebe shook her head. “Mates.”

“Yes, I’ve heard your thoughts on the matter many times.”

“It’s just a fairy tale, right?” Phoebe sipped her tea, challenging him to deny it. To say he believed the fairy tale. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever agreed with your father about.”

Theo groaned. “It’s way too early in the morning to talk about Devon.” Especially with Phoebe. He shouldn’t even have said the M-word in front of her. It made him feel all squirrelly, like his insides were trying to crawl out. Maybe he should lay off the caffeine.

He turned to pour himself some cereal and avoid Phoebe’s gaze. There was a time he thought maybe Fee could be his⁠—

“So, what do you think these attacks are about?”

Theo shook his head, willing that painful idea from his mind. “Uh … don’t know.” He spoke between bites of cereal. “I figure they either want Lena and Ruby dead or want to use them for their ‘abilities.’ Right?”

“Could be.”

“You mean you haven’t heard anything through the extensive nymph grapevine?”

The little dryad blinked innocently. “Nothing too out of the ordinary. There’s got to be ramifications of Rafe killing three wolves, though.”