“Oh, I saw you dancing to my beats on Thursday night.”
“Must’ve mistaken me for someone else. I don’t dance.”
“Not well, but you do.”
Lucas rolled his fingers into a fist and cracked his knuckles. “Why were you even looking at me, blondie?”
“It’s part of the job. I keep an eye on my crowd. I need to make sure you’re all hearing what you want to hear.”
“Then you’re reading me all wrong.”
Sarah crossed her arms in front of her. “Really? What is it you want to hear?”
He scraped his hand through his black hair. “Anything but that crap you play.”
“You’re an ass, Mason,” she said. “A real ass.” They glared at each other for so long I started to pull her aside, but she stood her ground.
“Sarah, darling! Come greet our guests.” Nora’s voice rang over the courtyard.
Still glaring, my friend whipped around and strode over toward her mother and uncle.
“Is it completely impossible for you to be nice, Lucas?” I asked.
His gaze, which had trailed after Sarah, snapped back toward me. “Are her lips and tits even real?”
“Oh my God, shut up,” I said.
“What? Am I not allowed to ask? They don’t look real.”
“Lucas-” Liam started.
“Don’t tell me you weren’t wondering the same thing…” Lucas turned to look at Sarah again.
“I wasn’t wondering the same thing,” Liam said in a low voice.
Lucas shifted his attention back to his friend. “Right.” His eyes flashed to me then to a waiter carrying a platter of mini club sandwiches. He grabbed three and chucked them into his mouth. “See you kids later.”
I didn’t ask where he was going, because I already knew. He was going to start the hunt for the piece of decaying wood.
After Lucas left, I asked Liam, “Shouldn’t you go?”
“It would look suspicious if I left too, don’t you think?” Liam peered at something beyond me.
I turned and found the focus of his attention-Justin and his two cronies from the music festival.
“Do you have any idea why the thing we’re seeking is so important?” I asked softly.
Liam’s gaze tracked back to my face, then lower, to my collarbone dusted with glittery powder. “No.”
My heart scudded. “Not even a guess?”
He shook his head as he lifted his gaze back to mine. The intensity of his attention pressed my lungs hard against my ribcage. No one had ever looked at me so intently. Then again, no one had ever tried to see into my mind as desperately as Liam Kolane. I lowered my lids, hoping the delicate skin would hide my machinations just a little while longer.
Lucas returned a few minutes before the ceremony began-empty-handed and pissed. He shuffled past Frank and Eric and the latter’s wife to reach the seat Liam had saved.
Lucas exchanged quiet words with his friend, probably telling him where he’d looked. No doubt remained in my mind that they were performing this test as a tag team.
Liam was about to sidestep past me, when he stopped and leaned in, his breath warming my earlobe. “I’m not being very polite. Why don’t you go?”
Musk lifted off his smooth skin and slid into me, momentarily hazing my mind. God, he smelled so good. Why couldn’t I just be repulsed by him? I tried to put some space between our bodies, but the backs of my knees hit the seat of the chair.
“I want to see what the bride is wearing.” I sounded as hoarse as a heavy smoker.
Liam straightened, eyebrows casting shadows over his amber eyes. “Don’t you want to beat me?”
“Just because I’m letting you go first doesn’t mean I won’t win.”
The tendons in his neck shifted as he studied my face. Could he tell it was a lie?
He started to dip his head back toward my ear when the first notes of the wedding march began. All those who’d been sitting rose to their feet in a rustle of chiffon.
“You better go,” I whispered.
Liam stepped past me and into the outer aisle, distancing himself quickly from the ceremony.
HE RETURNED AFTER THE CEREMONY, wearing a disgruntled expression. I took it he’d failed to locate the artifact
“Wasn’t the ceremony just marvelous?” Julian was standing in the petal-strewn aisle by our row.
“It was lovely,” Eric’s wife said, tucking a short white curl behind her ear.
Unlike Eric, Frank had come alone to the ceremony. Maybe he wasn’t married. I realized I didn’t know much about the elders. All I knew was that both men had had sons, but only Eric’s was still alive, and both had fourteen-year-old grandsons who were part of the pack.
“Are there any weddings on the Boulder Pack horizon?” Julian asked.
Frank glanced at Lucas, then at Liam. “None of our boys are committing yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated, Julian.”
Our boys. Salt in my wound.
Julian smiled a frigid smile then turned his attention to me. “Ness, may I have the pleasure of your company before dinner begins?”
Prickling from Frank’s exclusion, I moved past his boysand hooked my arm through Julian’s extended one. I knew what it looked like but was too slighted to care. We drifted away from the festivities, toward the glossy green hedges forming a manicured maze.
“Ah…the Boulders and their boys.” Julian let out a soft snort. “It’s a real shame wolves can’t pledge their allegiances to another pack. I’d welcome you with open arms.”
“That’s kind of you, Mr. Matz.”
“Julian, please. Mr. Matz makes me sound like an old college professor with a penchant for tweed.” He wrinkled his nose. “How’s the contest going?”