Fragile Egos

"Why not join us for dinner before you go?" Marcella asked politely.

Tessa reacted instantly, both hands lifting in refusal. "No, really. We still have errands to run."

She meant it—partly. The other part of her imagined ten grown mates sitting down at the same table, food vanishing at an alarming rate. One meal like that, and she might never recover financially or emotionally.

Marcella, accompani