Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 158

**Charlotte**

By the time morning comes, I have decided English is a personal attack against my soul and my eyeballs. Blake sits cross-legged on the bed in front of me in those tempting grey sweats and a hoodie, with my textbook open across his lap. I sit opposite him in one of his shirts, the sleeves pulled over my hands, staring down at a page full of highlighted paragraphs. He taps the pencil against the book. “Okay, so this question is asking you to explain the author’s intention.”

I blink at him while letting out a groan and throwing my head back. 

“Lotty.”

“I heard you.”

“What did I say?”

“Something about invading the author’s privacy.”

He presses his lips together, but his eyes betray him.

I point at him. “Do not laugh at me. I have fought monsters.”

“You have.”

“And I’ve had to drag people back from madness.”

“Also true.”

“And now society expects me to know what some dead poet meant when he wrote about the rain?”

Blake’s laugh finally breaks free, and he reaches out to tug me closer by the ankle.

“He might not be dead.”

“He feels dead.”

By the time Mara calls from downstairs, my brain feels bruised. “Breakfast!”

“Saved by toast,” I whisper.

He leans over and kisses my forehead before sliding off the bed. “Come on.”

Downstairs, the kitchen is warm and bright, smelling like buttered toast, eggs, and coffee. I desperately need coffee this morning. Charlie is already at the table, grinning as we enter. “Ready for the test?”

“No.”

“Good. Me neither.”

Blake gives him a flat look. “You’re not even in that class.”

Charlie shrugs and throws a piece of toast at him, but Blake catches it in his mouth. “I was trying to be supportive of my little sister, asshole.”

I grab a piece of toast from the plate in the middle of the table and thank Mara before I take a bite. Mara turns from the stove with a soft smile. “How’s your head this morning?”

“Full of poems against my will.”

Mara laughs and sets another plate on the bench. “Make sure you eat properly before school.”

“I will,” I say, then look toward the back door. When I look back, Mara is already reaching for a clean plate. “We’ll take a little of everything down there for Emily.”

Together, we make a plate with buttered toast cut into triangles, a small scoop of scrambled eggs and a little bowl of porridge with honey on the side. Mara adds sliced banana, then pauses, considers the plate, and tucks a muffin onto a napkin. “Perfect,” she says, and I smile. She fills a travel mug with tea, then adds a second cup of coffee for herself and pulls her coat from the hook near the door. Blake stands, reaching for his coat beside me, and Mara turns on him. “We’re only going to a building in our backyard. I think we’ll survive the trip ourselves.”

I want to giggle at the possessive growl Lex lets out, but I think better of it. I step close and hold on to his arm as I kiss his cheek. “I’ll be right back.” I pat his chest, and he growls again.

“Five minutes.” He says.

“Ten.” I counter.

“Seven.” He crosses his arms.

I smile and roll my eyes. “Eight.”

“Power couple negotiation,” Charlie mutters through a mouthful of eggs.

Blake points at him without looking away from me. “Chew.”

Mara and I laugh as we step outside with the tray between us, heading towards the temporary. I spot Theo standing near the outer line of trees. He looks tired. Dark smudges sit beneath his eyes, and his hair is messier than usual, but he straightens when he sees us. His gaze flicks to the tray, then to the little building, then away. I try to give him a small smile, but I’m not sure he sees it.

Emily opens the door after my second knock. She looks like she hasn’t slept at all either. Her hair is damp from a shower and combed as well as it can be, though the ends still look tangled. I step forward a little, and she moves aside, allowing us to pass. “This is Mara. Blake’s mum. Alpha Gareth’s mate and Luna”

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Mara says as she passes Emily. “I brought breakfast. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s hot, and the boys never seem to complain.”

I hover near the door while Mara moves to set the tray on the table. She checks the heater, adjusts the blanket folded at the end of the bed and opens the curtain before she turns back to Emily. “Did you sleep at all?”

“A little,” Emily whispers.

“That’s alright. First nights in new places can be strange.”

Emily sits slowly at the table, and I don’t miss how her hands shake as she looks at the little spread. “Thank you for this.”

“You don’t need to thank me for breakfast.”

Mara sits in the other chair, and I plop myself down on the bed as Mara continues to work her magic. “Charlotte tells me you like hot chocolate.”

Emily glances at me, and I lift one shoulder. “It came up.”

“I also brought over a puzzle,” Mara says, nodding toward the box under her arm that I somehow didn’t notice until now. “Only if you feel like it. There’s no pressure, but Charlotte seemed to enjoy doing them with me, and I happened to like having someone to do them with.”

Emily’s fingers slowly reach for the fork as she eyes the box that Mara sits between them. “A puzzle?”

“Yes! This one is a little snowy Christmas village. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

I see exactly what she’s doing, and honestly, I’m loving every second of it. One day, if I am even half the Luna she is, this pack will be alright.

Blake’s voice touches my mind a second later, warning me of my two-minute countdown. I roll my eyes and stand, looking between Mara and Emily. “I have to go.” I see Emily’s panic written all over her face, but I know she will be more than fine with Mara. “I’ll come back after school,” I promise as I step close and squeeze her hand. “You’re safe here.”

Her fingers hold mine for one second longer than I expect as she looks up at me.

“Good luck with school,” she says softly.

I pull a face of disgust that makes her smile a little before I step back. “Thank you. I’ll need it. There’s English.”

I carry the feeling of that smile with me all the way back across the yard, where Blake waits by the door with my bag over one shoulder.

“You’re cutting it close,” he says, looking at his nonexistent watch.

“I was doing important white wolf things.” I give him a playful shove. Then Blake takes my hand, and I let him pull me toward the school day, waiting for us.