I scrambled to my feet. “Ceel, what the fu—”
Apparently, my BFF wasn’t done. She clenched my arm and shifted me into the frozen ground. My body burst into a gazillion molecules, small enough to pass me through the earth like sand through a colander. I jerked, struggling to break free except all I managed to wiggle was my damn head. It was no use, her weird mojo had buried me from the neck down. I groaned. “Come on, Celia. You know I was only messing with you.”
Celia stalked around my head as if debating whether to kick it out into the forest behind me. “Were you messing with me when you embarrassed me in front of Aric and his entire pack?”
My jaw popped open but I quickly shut it. I should’ve known. The goddamn Warriors had either ratted me out to Celia’s sisters or phoned her themselves. That’s when I knew it was time call in a favor to my buddy the wereskunk. The Warriors were in for a big surprise next time they climbed into their vehicles.
“Sorry, hot-stuff,” I muttered.
She rounded on me. “Sorry that I found out, or sorry for acting like a monstrous prick?”
Was that a trick question? I shrugged . . . well, I tried to anyway. “Both, I guess.”
“You guess? That’s seriously all you have to say to me.”
“Come on, Ceel. I said I was sorry. Aren’t you done yet?”
“No, I’m not done! I can’t believe you would talk about me in such a repulsive way to Aric and his entire gang of midnight streakers! You’re supposed to be my friend!”
“For hell’s sake, you know I didn’t mean a damn word of it. I only meant to distract him so I’d win the fight.”
“Couldn’t you have distracted him another way?” Celia bent and slapped me upside the head. “Did you have to say that Misha and I do it like orangutans?”
“I would never say that . . . I said you did it like monkeys.”
That earned me the ultimate glare. Beneath the rising moon, Celia’s green eyes morphed into that of her beast and fired with anger. Her fangs had also begun to protrude, a neat trick and not something weres could do unless they were trying to turn someone into a werebeast. Her body’s reaction told me two things: One, her inner golden tigress was itchin’ to unleash and beat my ass. And two, shut the hell up, jackass.
“Whatever, Bren,” she hissed. “Trying to win a fight at my expense is dirty and unfair. I would never do that to you!”
“Celia, everyone there knew I did it just to bust his balls. Besides, that ass**le deserves a few jabs to his ego for dumping you.”
I should’ve stuck to the “shut the hell up, jackass” game plan. Celia stilled, her eyes resuming their round human shape and her fangs dissolving back to into average incisors. She stared hard at her worn shearling boots. Shit. Way to go, idiot.
“What happened between Aric and me is no one else’s business—do you understand me? Save your lewd comments for your drinking buddies and watch your mouth when it comes to me and him.” She veered around slowly and headed toward her deck, her hips swinging in that catwalk of hers . . . though I didn’t miss how her shoulders slumped slightly. Misery had that effect.
“Where you goin’, Ceel?”
Celia didn’t bother looking back. “To Misha’s. The vamps aren’t perfect, but at least when they insult me, they do it to my face. I may or may not be back to free you tonight. Enjoy the view of the backyard.”
“Aric referred to you as his mate,” I said quickly before she could bounce up the steps.
My comment froze her in her tracks. When she glanced over her shoulder, I thought for sure she’d let loose the waterworks. Had I been free, I would have kicked my own ass.
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Don’t you dare play with my feelings like that.”
I swore a few times in my head. “Ceel, I may be an ass**le. But you know I’d never intentionally hurt you. Look, get me out and I’ll prove it to you.”
She crossed her arms over her perky bosom. “Bren, I swear, if this a trick—”