Around five thirty there came a knock on the door. Willow ignored it, thinking it was Joe or Scott again. But whoever this person was didn’t stop. A female voice yelled, “It’s Tess, Willow. Open up.”
Willow frowned, undecided. She didn’t know if Tess really considered Willow a friend and wanted to stop by to talk, or if the woman planned to tell Willow to keep her mouth shut about their kind.
No self-esteem issues here.
The knocking turned into pounding, then kicking. “Open up, little piggy, or I’ll huff and puff and—”
Willow yanked open the door. “Did you just call me a pig?”
Tess lowered her booted foot and hiked her skirt back down. She looked fabulous as usual, dressed in a long, tight denim skirt, a cream and tan turtleneck top with a luxurious brown, cream, and green sweater jacket over it that reached to her knees. She held a blue felt bag in one hand. “Whatever it takes.” Tess eyed Willow. “You gonna let the big baddie in?”
Rolling her eyes, Willow stepped back, allowing Tess to enter. “So, could you really kick down the door?”
Tess looked from Willow to the door and back again. “Nah. It’s solid core steel. Now, the door frame, that’s a different matter.” She held out the bag. “Earrings to go with the dress.”
Crap. Willow sunk back onto the couch. “Oh.” She eyed the bag, then Tess.
Now Tess rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I’m still the same girl you went shopping with, Will. Or do you consider me a freak now?”
“I take it you spoke with Ben.”
Tess settled into the chair on the other side of the wood coffee table. “I don’t know what you said to that poor man but I’ve never seen him so dejected. Like someone stole his smile. And put his heart through a paper shredder. Then fried the pieces just for spite.”
Willow gaped. “I didn’t...”
Tess tilted her head. “Didn’t what? Reject him?”
Willow tossed her hands in the air. “I just said I needed time to think. To leave me alone so I could think.”
“He’s still a male, Will, and has a bucketful of pride. All the male shifters do. Especially the ten. They have dominant, alpha, chest-beating genes programmed into their DNA. They can’t help it.”
“The ten?”
Tess hummed an affirmative. “Kaylie told me you meet them all your first night here, at her place. I can’t believe you didn’t feel the testosterone overload when you stepped into that room.”
Actually, she had. A room full of big, masculine, and yeah, proud men. And very gentle, considerate, protective men as well. Willow slumped back on the couch. “Maybe I did.”
“And maybe you never answered my question.”
Frowning, Willow asked, “What question?”
Hazel eyes leveled with blue. “Do you consider me a freak because I’m a shifter? Because I was born with more strength, speed, and sharper senses—and, believe you me, the scent thing can be a real downer at times—than a human?”
Willow looked at the woman who sat motionless in the chair. The woman whose gorgeous face and killer body had once graced thousands of magazine pages, and not less than twenty covers.
A light bulb suddenly blazed bright inside Willow’s head, making everything crystal clear. “No. It’s like saying you’re a freak because you’re beautiful, or because you have hazel eyes instead of blue, or that your boobs are huge...”
Tess waved a regal hand in the air. “Yes, I know the outside package is phenomenal. I’m talking the inside, Willow. The inside package. Just like the men, I carry a beast inside me, so I’m not one hundred percent human like my sister. My DNA is different. My blood is different.”
“Is it still red?”
Tess visibly relaxed, her lips curving in a tiny smile. “Yes, it’s red.”
Willow nibbled on her bottom lip, considering. “And your wolf really can’t come out?”
A sad shake of Tess’s head. “No, and trust me when I say that the thought of turning furry once a month is a bit much on top of my monthlies, but every now and then I do wish for the ability to produce a sharp set of claws.”
Willow smiled. Exactly what she thought last night, minus the claws part. Except now that Tess brought it up, Willow could see how that particular talent could come in handy.
“So what are you going to do about Ben?”
Willow’s smile died. “What do you mean?”
“You’re his mate. If you don’t accept him, he’ll either wither away and die or hound you until you either beat him senseless or give in out of sheer irritation.”
Her smile was back. “That what you did to Caleb?”