head. "My goodness, you two are sex freaks and I don't even want to think about Neo joining the equation."
"I think if we tried to explore that territory any more, it would end up with a few consequences," I confessed, and Aurelia's phone went off for a third time. "Answer the phone!"
She giggled and hugged me for dear life before kissing my cheek.
"I'm being a little rebellious," she whispered in my ear and moved back to give me a loving smile. It finally clicked what she was doing, and with a wink, she answered the phone and spun around.
"Aurelia Clementine," she answered and paused as the person on the other side seemed to be going off in a yelling rant. "If you think I'm going to apologize for not answering my phone, you best go find someone else who gives two hoots about your hurt feelings because I'm not in the fucking mood."
I put my thumbs up in glee as she looked over her shoulder to see my reaction.
"Besides, I made it very clear I had something important to do today. Make whatever you have to say quick. I'm not skipping this for anything, so if you're trying to persuade me to come and do something preposterous, better ask another witch who gives a fuck."
She continued to walk away, and I decided to take advantage by heading to the lingerie store. It didn't take me long to reach a section of colorful sets that fit my interest, even though my thoughts were on Aurelia.
Bria opened her eyes then, her attention on me as she seemed to assess me for a moment.
"You worry that she's being treated poorly."
Oh no, I know they're treating her poorly. They've treated Aurelia like trash for years, and it's her crazed sanity to take things lightly, like a grain of salt with the addition of her very mature wolf that keeps her from saying "fuck it" and killing them out of spite,
"They obviously acknowledge her immense magic but do not wish for her to execute the same control they wish to bind her with?"
I stopped in front of a rack of various lingerie, noticing the ruby red set that switched to black depending on the way the light hit it.
Aurelia's family is rather toxic. It's one of the reasons why we broke up.
"You two dated?"
Yes. For a solid year. It was an amazing experience, and I don't regret any of it. We grew close and relied on one another, but her family was disgusted by it. Even Roberto didn't give a fuck after a while as long as I did my shit on the business side of things with me slowly integrating myself into his business and putting up with his temper tantrums.
Bria stared at me for a long moment.
"You still love her."
Her thought made me smile.
My heart will always be open to Aurelia, but I'm not sure we can go down that road again. Not because I don't love her or can't see myself loving her as Willow or William, but because I want her to get out of her comfort zone and be drawn to those who will lift her up further.
"You're comfortable to her?"
In our relationship, she didn't fear losing me. Our breakup was a mutual agreement, but I think it was because she was suddenly pressured to do so because things were beginning to go sour and we vowed to never lose our friendship due to the strain of loving one another. With me, she knew that I'd always be there, but she needs someone who will take things further. Someone who will go the extra mile to acknowledge her worth and pull at all those strings. Besides, she had a mate. He was her best friend way back. He's back in her life, but I'm unsure how things are now. I don't like to pry into that department. Aurelia only knows so much about my relationships because Onyx is her friend too, and well, she's always getting involved in my life due to my reliance on her medical creations. I don't care, but the world of magic and witches is a dark one.
"Darker than our shifter world?"
Tricky to answer, but to be honest, yes. As a shifter, if you hate someone, you fight against them that way. Witches don't fight head-on. They're sneaky and will do everything they can to set you up so that by the time you realize what's hitting you, you're fucked.
"Like assassins."
Essentially.
"I hope she can find the