Raphael was right. The wolves didn’t trust us, and I didn’t blame them. Helping them once wouldn’t erase all the animosity they felt toward us. But they hadn’t bothered us. Yet.
From the way they watched us and kept us separate, if we stepped even a little out of line, they’d be all over us before we could breathe a word of protection. Raphael stepped closer to me, and it seemed like we were on the same page as usual. With our seven witches and one semi-fey against hundreds of werewolves…
It was only when Cosette stepped into the room, her head held high, that the rest of us felt confident enough to enter. I wasn’t sure how she did it—maybe it was the fey in her—but she always commanded a calm, confident presence even in the most tense situations.
She nudged my shoulder. “Want to split an omelet?”
“Sure. Should I go with you?” The werewolf guys weren’t shy and a few of them were eyeing Cosette like a different kind of meal.
“I’m not worried about a few wolves.” She gave an enigmatic smile as she flipped her dark blonde curls. “If anything, they should probably be afraid of me.” She strutted off to the omelet station like there wasn’t an army of Weres ready to pounce on us at the slightest inclination. The one thing I knew for certain was that fey didn’t lie. So the wolves probably should be afraid of her.
That thought instilled a little more confidence in me as I started off toward the fruit station. As long as Cosette had our backs, we should be okay.
Raphael grabbed my arm, stopping me before I got very far. He was still following Cosette with his eyes. “Shouldn’t we all stick together?”
As much as I agreed with the safety in numbers defense, I didn’t want to show the wolves any weakness. Cosette had set the tone, and now we just needed to maintain it. “I’m grabbing some fruit. Why don’t you get some food, too and then we’ll find a table? Teresa is bound to be here soon and—”
“I’m here!” she said from the doorway. Her long hair hung in loose waves down her back. I’d swear her skin glowed, and her body… I’d kill for that. She liked to say that it was because she was a wolf, but she’d liked running long before she got bitten. I was curvy. I’d never get rid of my hips, even if I starved myself. And why go through life being hungry all the time? Life was too short to care that much. Still, every time I saw her, I felt a little twinge of jealousy. Seeing Dastien hovering behind her only compounded the feeling.
I pushed away all those green-tinged emotions, and focused on my brother. “See.” I shoved Raphael in the direction of the food. “Go get your breakfast.”