RAFF

"Stop staring at me."

"You're gonna raise a kid."

Raff sighed and dropped the report he was reading. Lincoln was perched on the back of a chair, his chin in his hand and the same stupefied expression from earlier on his face. "That's not set in stone yet. Meribella isn't going to give up on her mother so easily."

"I don't blame her, but you and I both know there's nothing to be done- not if she won't drink the potion, and even then, we don't know if that will work."

"You're right, but Meribella is going to have to come to that conclusion herself. If it comes from me, it's going to raise ugly thoughts that I don't want to deal with."

"Like?" his Beta asked, hopping down from the chair and crossing the room to pick up the report Raff had abandoned. He scanned it and grimaced. "Are these accurate?"

"Which question would you like me to answer?" Raff rubbed the bridge of his nose and stood.

"Preferably both, but the first one if you must choose." His grin was lopsided.

Raff barked a laugh. "Leave it to you to choose the gossip and not the business. Let's go for a walk over to Joe's Pub. I'd like to see my girl, and Dorea is napping."

They stepped out into the night, the air crisp against their skin. His wolf trembled. These were his favorite evenings to go for a run through the woods, the taste of autumn on his tongue and the smell in his nose. Most of the summer tourists were gone, but the Mainstreet was busy with locals enjoying one of the last nights of moderate temperatures.

"So, you gonna answer either of them?" Lincoln asked.

Jamming his hands in his pocket, Raff found the small box he'd started carrying around. Its soft velvet surface comforted him as he considered his words carefully. "Meribella and I spent so much time being dishonest-"

"Let's be real here," Lincoln interjected, "she was the one who was dishonest most of the time. You were just creepy."

"But the things I did keep from her were big things. Like Meghan and my son. If I encourage her to let her mother pick her own path, she's going to think it's out of my selfish desire to be a father."

"Damn man," Lincoln responded. "Surely she knows better."

They paused and waited for traffic to pass before crossing the street. Even from this distance, he could hear the band playing in the bar. They weren't bad, but it sounded like they only played covers. He thought of a few slow songs he'd like to request so he could pull Meribella onto the dance floor. It would be torture, having her body pressed against his as they swayed and knowing nothing could be done about the desire raging between them, but he craved her presence like a man in the desert craved water.

Stepping into the street, Raff responded to Lincoln. "She does know better, and she'd never outright say something. I know the thought would sit in the back of her mind like a weed in a flower bed, and one weed produces others. She'd probably erupt over something small one day."

"Women, man. Why do we put up with them?"

They had reached the pub and were standing in front of the picture window that took up much of the storefront. Through the foggy glass, they could see Meribella and Thorne talking, heads pressed together and smiles curving their lips. Something Thorne said brought color to his love's cheeks, but she threw her head back and laughed. In his peripheral vision, he spied Lincoln watching the witch, all the hard lines of his face softening as his eyes remained on her.

"That's why," he whispered, before entering the establishment.

He didn't get two steps in before small fingers slid through his. "Raff, I'm so glad you stopped by."

"Mariah," he said, shaking his hand free and continuing to push through the crowd. The tiny woman followed him. She had no problem getting the patrons to step out of her way, most of them men who were mesmerized by her curves and golden skin.

With an exaggerated pout on her full lips, she hopped onto a barstool and spun to face him. "Are we not friends anymore?"

Vivian waved from behind the bar and reached into the fridge for his usual without asking a question. Whether it was her witchy intuition or his utter predictableness, he didn't care. "Why would you say that?"

Mariah leaned forward, her hands resting on her knees and her arms against her breasts- the position making sure her assets were on full display. He lifted his eyes and locked them on hers, hoping the ice in his baby blues projected his disinterest loud and clear. Even Lincoln seemed unaffected as he joined them, a trace of pity streaking through his amber eyes as he took the beers Vivian brought them.

"I just never took you for the type to abandon your old friends just because you got yourself a woman, but it looks like I was wrong. I'm disappointed in you."

"No, honey," Lincoln growled, "You're disappointed that you're not the one screaming his name at night. Let's be honest if we're going to call people out."

"Lincoln," Raff warned, though his friend's words were true. He'd not been blind to the changes in his childhood friend. She'd always been outrageously flirty, but now it bordered on uncomfortable. He hadn't been sure at first if it was him who had changed or her, but when he'd spied Mariah being mean to Meribella, he decided it didn't matter. She needed to stop.

"Lincoln, he could never get rid of you. You hang on to him like a tick on a dog." She slid off the stool and slid her hands into his pockets. "Raff, I could teach you things she'd never dream of doing."

He grabbed her by the wrists. "You're crossing the line."

"What is this?" she demanded, ignoring him as she withdrew her hands from his person. The velvet box was in her hands. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Dude, is that what I think it is?" Lincoln asked, snatching it from Mariah. He popped the lid and the diamond glimmered like fire in the dim light. "Holy shit."

"You're crazy," Mariah shouted, beating her fist against his chest before running away with tears streaming down her face.

"Good riddance," his friend said, his gaze still pinned to the large gem in the box. "You're going to do this? Even though you still don't know if you two can ever be together like that?"

"If you told me I could never touch her again, but I could hear her voice, see her face every day, I'd still do it. What we have is so much more than the physical."

"I never thought I'd say this- ever, I mean ever, ever-"

"Lincoln, I get it. You never thought you'd say what?"

His Beta handed him the ring box. He pulled Raff into a tight hug, patting him on the back before breaking apart. "I think I understand exactly what you're talking about."

"And what exactly are you talking about?" Meribella asked.