I got to the yard before the sun did, because sleep had already given up on me.
The bell sat cold in its mold, and I ran my hand along the seam to feel if it had held.
Morag was already in the office, and her tea had gone cold beside her the way it always did.
Morag: You look like you slept in a bucket, girl.
Elspeth: Close. Floor for a bit. It's fine.
Morag: It is not fine, but I know better than to fight you before breakfast.
She pushed the bag at me. Two rolls and an apple. That was how my mother said love.
Then the gate creaked, and I knew that laugh before I saw the face that went with it.
Wade: Elspeth Bray. Thank fuck you're here.
Wade: Motor's been coughing since Tuesday. I need it running before the ceremony.
Elspeth: You need it running. That's different from it running.
Wade: You look tired, Els. Pretty, but tired.
Elspeth: That's the bronze dust. It does wonders.
Wade: You should let somebody carry you for a night. The Moon's in two days.
Elspeth: Somebody meaning you?
Wade: Maybe. Depends if you'd let me.
The words came out before I decided to say them, and my face went hot right after.
That grin got me every time. Easy and careless and aimed at whoever was closest.
Elspeth: It's the fuel line. Cracked. I can have it done by tonight.
Wade: Tonight. Good. You're a good woman, Elspeth Bray.
A good woman. Not his woman. Not chosen. Just good, like a good tool.
Wade: Bring it by the square when it's done. I'll be around.
Then heels clicked on the cobbles, and I knew that sound too.
Talitha: Wade. There you are. I've been looking everywhere.
She came through the gate like she'd never held a wrench in her life.
Wade: There she is. Just getting the motor fixed.
Talitha: You're always getting something fixed.
She laughed and he laughed with her, and the two sounds fit together like they'd practiced.
Wade: Els, I'll see you tonight. Don't work too hard.
Elspeth: I never do.
They went out the gate together, and my wolf went quiet and low in my chest.
My hands were steady on the motor. The rest of me was not.
Morag: Elspeth. Come here.
She'd heard all of it, because Morag heard everything.
Morag: That boy is a weathervane. He turns with whoever's talking loudest.
Elspeth: He's not a boy. He'll probably be Alpha.
Morag: Then he should act like it.
Morag: Your hands built that bell. Don't let a weathervane tell you what they're worth.
I wanted to believe her. Fuck, I wanted to.
Ottilie: Who do I have to kill?
Elspeth: Nobody. Wade brought his motor.
Ottilie: Ah. The famous motor.
Ottilie: He does know you're not a repair shop with tits, right?
Elspeth: Not sure he's thought that far.
Ottilie: Any wolf in this pack would be lucky, Els.
Elspeth: You keep saying it. It keeps not being true.
She bumped her shoulder into mine and gave me a chip and didn't argue, which was its own kind of love.
I worked on the motor all afternoon and got it running clean, because that was the one thing I could do right.
Two nights till the Mating Moon. Two nights till the pack rang my bell.
And some stubborn part of me still hoped that when it rang, Wade would hear it and finally turn my way.