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“Well, maybe it takes time for letters to come from another dimension.” Fen was teasing, but not meanly, he thought.

“Maybe…you know, maybe…it does.” He hadn’t thought about it too terribly hard.

What the hell did he know about magic? About dimensions…

It stunned him, how much he didn’t know about…the things he didn’t know about.

“It doesn’t matter. I can’t change anything that happened there.” Rory shrugged, then straightened, refusing to make himself small. “I can make things better for you though. I knowI can. I think I can smell the food coming.” Rory concentrated, breathed deep, his nostrils working. “Yep, I can totally smell your lunch.”

“Our lunch,” Fen corrected. “What do you think it is?”

“Lamb stew with tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes.” Then he sniffed again. “Oh, and there’s cornbread with cheese. Possibly green chilies, but just a hint of them.”

He could barely smell the fruitiness of it.

Fen smiled at him, watching him with glowing eyes. “Amazing nose, mate.”

“My brothers always said so.”

Whoa. Mate.

Was that mate as in ‘Oh, good on you, mate’ or mate the way that Jameson said mate or Keegan said mate. Those were two totally different things.

I meant it like I meant it, mate.

His body went hot, his fingers and toes tingling. He couldn’t be a wolf’s mate. Could he? He was just…a guy. A human.

“Sweet Fen, then you have to know. I’m not a wolf. I don’t want to lead you on. I’m just a person, a human.” Just a boring, normal, nonmagical human.

Fen tilted his head again. And then the door opened, Nita hurrying in. “I have brought stew and cornbread. Oh, Fen! I’m so glad to see you up and around. Do you feel better?”

“I do, thank you. I think—I think I feel much better.” Fen’s smile was warm, and it started a fire deep inside him. “Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

“I think Rory took care of you more than I did, but you’re more than welcome.” She nodded at him, smiled. “I’m going to get you some clothes that will make you feel even more comfortable. And then? If you feel up to it. We’ll find you a place here in the pack somewhere where you can really start to recover.”

Oh no. No, not somewhere. Not for his Fen. “He can stay with me until he finds something that he would rather have. I have an extra room in my house.”

He had been honored to build a big house, because he did so much trading for the pack. So it seemed only fair to share his space, to use the room that he was blessed with, not to mention that was all he wanted to do anyway. “If Fen is happy with that, of course.”

“Excellent. Then we have a plan. Let me find you some shoes, some soft comfy clothes. While you have lunch, you think about whether you feel like you can start moving around.”

“Excellent. When can I go to Rory’s?” Fen asked.

Nita smiled at him. “You can go after lunch and getting dressed. Or if you think that you need to just stay here, that’s also an option. Always. Now, let me get you some clothes.” She bustled out just as quickly as she bustled in.

“I wasn’t trying to pressure you, but I just… I want you with me. I want to be with you.”

“Of course, I’ll come, mate.”

There was that word again.

What on earth was he going to do about it?

Chapter

Four

Fed and clothed, Fen unfolded from the pallet he’d been on for days and stood, his legs as shaky as a newborn foal’s. He took a deep breath, then took a step, his shoulder aching, but not badly.