August didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned on the radio, tuning into a jazz station. August had always been a great fan of jazz. I used to tease him about it, telling him he had the taste of an old man. Unfortunately, I didn’t consider him such an old man anymore. Would’ve been a heck of a lot easier if I did.
Speaking of old men… “Did Frank have a mate?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Does anyone else in the pack have a mate?”
“Eric. He and his wife are going on fifty years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“My parents are celebrating thirty next month.”
I appreciated his reminder that true love existed outside of mating bonds. Not that I’d doubted it. After all, my parents had loved each other, and they hadn’t been fated mates. “That’s crazy.”
“Yeah.” He studied the dusky road ahead. “So what are your plans for the big eighteen?”
I rubbed my palms against my jeans to stop myself from fidgeting. “That’s still a long time from now.”
“Five weeks isn’t that long.”
I moistened my lips. “I’m not much of a birthday person.”
“You used to love birthdays. You used to request fireworks. I almost set myself on fire lighting one up for you. Remember?”
“I remember.” The bottom of his jeans were still smoking when he’d jogged back to us. “You cursed so much your mom joked she would go on a huge shopping spree thanks to all those pennies you owed her.”
The memory made me smile, but it also made my eyes heat up and my lips wobble. This year would be the first birthday I’d spend without Mom.
He must’ve sensed my sudden sorrow, because he touched the top of my hand. “How about we don’t talk about birthdays?”
“Yeah,” I croaked.
“Tell me more about LA.”
I discreetly wiped my wet lashes before feeding him tidbits of the years we’d spent apart.
“It wasn’t all bad,” I said, flipping my phone over and over. Its screen suddenly lit up with a message.
LIAM: Don’t worry, but don’t leave your patio door unlocked, okay? I’ll be there in an hour.
How was I supposed to not worry?
ME: You think Everest will ambush me?
LIAM: Just lock up OK?
My nerves churned. OK, I typed back.
August glanced my way, and the car swerved a little. “What?”
I stuck my elbow on the armrest and cradled my head. “It’s nothing.”
“You forget I have an internal lie detector. You’re scared. Why are you scared?”
“I’m not scared.” I shook my head because my words didn’t seem to convince him. “Annoyed, but not scared.”
“Why are you annoyed?”
I sighed. “Liam seems to think Everest didn’t flee Boulder.”
August side-eyed me.
“You know what he did to me, right?”
“I heard pieces of the story. How about you start from the beginning?”
I glanced over at my uncle, who had drool leaking from his mouth. Even though he was asleep, I kept my voice low as I recounted how Everest convinced me I’d killed Liam’s father with the three anti-shifting pills I slipped him the night I’d paid him a visit. Which led me to tell August about the escort agency, about my alliance with the Pine Pack Alpha, about Evelyn’s kidnapping, and my cousin’s blackmail.
I scratched a fleck of dried blood off the inside of my wrist. “I can’t figure out if Everest was wishing I would die or if he was hoping I would kill Liam.”
Although splashed with moonlight, August’s face was too dark to read. “Your cousin was always shifty.”
“The shifty shifter.”
August didn’t smile at my little play on words.
“I know you two never really got along, August, but he and I did. I’m holding out hope he wasn’t rooting for my death. I’m holding out hope he wasn’t hoping for Liam’s either… That he did this to test my loyalty to Liam.”
After a long beat, August said, “You should stay at my parents’ house tonight. Every night for that matter. At least Dad can keep you safe.”
I shot him a smile. “I’m not going to hide. If anything, I plan on hunting my cousin down.”
He gripped the steering wheel tighter.
“I’d rather be the hunter than the hunted.”
“No,” August barked.
Jeb released a loud snore.
“I’m not scared,” I said, dropping my voice.
“Let the pack bring him in. Liam’s the Alpha now, and that’s what Alphas do. They exact justice in the name of the pack.”
“He’ll rip out Everest’s throat before hearing him out. I want answers, August. I need answers.”
“Maybe I should stay… “