He waited.
And waited.
For me to deny this. Or perhaps he waited for me to scrub Julian’s hand off.
I did neither.
I could see the exact moment it registered with him that he’d wasted his time playing the savior. His entire face hardened, and he backed away. And then he shook his head, lips curling in disgust.
I kept my face blank of emotion as he stepped back and back until he disappeared.
I’d made an ally tonight, but I’d also made an enemy
Istayed at the engagement party another hour. I’d made it a point not to leave with him, just as I was making it a point not to stay too long. I wasn’t looking for a replacement pack.
Not that this was a possibility. I dug my phone out of my bag to ask Everest for a lift, but Julian pre-empted my demand by clicking his fingers. “Sarah!”
The wild-haired werewolf who’d told me Boulder whores weren’t allowed on Pine territory got tasked with bringing me home. From the annoyance tightening her brown eyes, I could tell she was as glad about this arrangement as I was.
Midway home, she asked, “Did you blow him?”
I pitched my gaze off the dark road and onto her. All her features were fine, especially in contrast to her mass of tousled curls, but I could tell her delicateness was skin-deep, and that her personality matched her wild hair.
I guessed she meant Julian, but I needled her anyway. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
She wrinkled her pert nose. “God, really? Eww.” She narrowed her gaze on the starlit forest. “I meant Julian.”
“No.”
“But you did do something to him, or he would never have helped you.”
“Do you know where Liam Kolane lives?”
She raised one of her already peaked eyebrows. “Is this a trick question?”
“No. I left Boulder when I was eleven. Liam still lived with his father then.”
A dimple appeared in her cheek. She must’ve been biting it. “I do know where he lives.”
“Can you drop me off there?”
“Why?”
“I don’t owe you an explanation, Sarah.”
“If you’re two-timing my Alpha, you do.”
“Two-timing your Alpha would mean I was one-timing him. Which I’m not. I just need a word with Liam.”
“I’m not waiting on your ass, though. I’m not your chauffeur or anything,” she grumbled.
“Because you think I’d want you to wait on me?”
“Are you screwing Liam?”
“Do I look like I’m screwing him?”
“Babe, you look like you’re open to screwing a lot of things.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Who wears a dominatrix dress to an engagement party?”
My eyes snapped a little too wide. I realized I hadn’t fit in with the tulle and silks in my skintight leather but hadn’t realized what impression it gave others. Then again, I hadn’t been too concerned with fashion when I’d donned it.
“I didn’t buy it.”
“One of your lovers got it for you?”
I tugged on the hem that was riding up. “My cousin bought it for me.”
“Yuck. If my cousin ever bought me shit like that, I’d tell her to wear it herself.”
I snorted as an image of Everest wearing my dress snuck into my mind. “It’s a him, not a her.”
“An even better reason to get him to wear it.” She smiled, and it thawed some of the stiffness padding her small red Mini.
“You’re a wolf, right?” I wasn’t sure why I was asking. She smelled like one. Perhaps it was to get confirmation. Confirmation that I wasn’t the only female werewolf in the world.
“Damn right.”
“How many of you are in your pack? Females, that is?”
“Twenty-eight for seventy males.”
The Pine Pack was more than twice the size of my pack.
My pack
The thought caught me by surprise. I shook my head, but like a fly, the thought stuck to the web of my mind. Boulder blood ran through my veins, but that was it. The Boulders weren’t myanything. Even if I became their Alpha, I’d never truly belong.
I stuck my elbow on the armrest and cradled my head as what I’d agreed upon-becoming Alpha of a pack I loathed-dug its talons inside of me. My deal with Julian wasn’t fair to the Boulders, but fairness wasn’t a value upheld by my pack anyway.
I massaged my temple. What was I supposed to do? If only there was someone I could ask. I thought about speaking to Everest, but he’d all but forced me to meet with Julian, so his counsel would be far from objective. I thought of Evelyn next. Perhaps, in not too many words, I could paint a clear enough picture of what was going on so she could advise me.
“We’re here. That’ll be a hundred bucks.” Sarah turned toward me in the car, her eyes glowing in the semi-obscurity.
I raised my head off my fingers. “You’re kidding, right?”