“Judginess isn’t even a word.”
Anger and something else flashed across his face. “Do you think you’re superior to everyone or just me?”
I halted. “I don’t think I’m superior to anyone.”
“You certainly act like it.”
My breastbone prickled from his comment. “I just want to be considered an equal.”
He stared at the rug with such intensity I expected to see flames curl from the long fibers.
“There are forty of you. One of me, Lucas.” My eyelids stung. “You try being the odd one out.” I hated how my voice broke.
I spun around and left, attempting to rein in my emotions. As I tidied rooms, I thought about the Creek Alpha. Lucas might not want to meet her, but I did. Did my curiosity make me disloyal? It wasn’t as though I could pledge myself to her pack-Boulder blood ran through my veins, and unless she beat our Alpha in a duel and stole his connection to us, I’d remain a Boulder.
Besides, I didn’t want a new Alpha. I trusted Liam, and I didn’t trust many people. But how was I supposed to prove I was their equal when he’d stuck me with a freaking guard dog?
Maybe if I found Everest first…
As I readied the conference room with refreshments for the meeting and tidied up the living room, I racked my brain for reasons Everest could be in Denver.
“What’s in Denver, Everest?” I murmured to myself, watching the sky outside the inn’s bay windows darken to a glittery periwinkle.
I felt there was something I was forgetting, but what was it?
At 7:45 p. m., the men started trickling into the inn. First, Nelson arrived. He embraced his wife as though he hadn’t seen her in days instead of hours. I couldn’t help but stare at them, remembering a time when my parents would stand that way, cheek to cheek, heart to heart, whispering to each other. Because I didn’t want to pry, I averted my gaze, rearranging the green apples in the wooden bowl I’d added on the corner of the bell desk.
I heard Nelson ask Isobel if she wasn’t too tired. From the corner of my eye, I caught her shaking her head no. After kissing her on the forehead, Nelson moved toward me in those fluid, long strides of his. Like his son, he was long-limbed, but where August’s legs and arms teemed with muscle, Nelson was on the slender side.
He touched my shoulder, making the apple I was trying to place on top of my artful pyramid skid down.
He caught the fruit before it rolled off the counter and popped it back on top. “How are you holding up, Ness?”
“Great. Thanks to Isobel and Mrs. Rogers.”
Isobel smiled at me. “By the way, I asked Skylar to man the bell desk after I go home. She said it shouldn’t be a problem and that her wife could cover the dining area. I hope that’s all right with you.”
“It’s more than all right.” I hadn’t even thought about finding a night manager. I would hunt Skylar down after the meeting to ask how long she could cover the night shift-hopefully, until my uncle felt “better.” Would he ever feel better, though?
The revolving door spun again, carrying in the crisp, blue scent of evening and the musky smell of male bodies. Liam was among those arriving males. At the sight of him, my hearing dimmed to a faint buzzing. He walked straight to me. After greeting Nelson, Liam threaded his fingers through mine and pulled me away from August’s father.
How was the rest of your day? he whispered inside my head.
I lifted my gaze to his. “Never-ending. And yours?”
What I really wanted to know was what Aidan had said.
I heard Lucas gave you a history lesson.
“He did.” Had Lucas also told Liam how the lesson ended?
Passing a couple guests on their way to dinner, we turned toward the staircase that led down to the conference room. He didn’t let go of my hand until we reached the head of the oval table. As he took his seat, he tipped his head at the chair next to his.
“Maybe an elder should sit here, Liam.” Or someone higher up on the pack pyramid.
His dark eyes held mine. Your place is next to me now.
Worrying my lip, I slid into the seat. Dating the Alpha meant something; sitting next to him meant something more.
As wheels rolled over the hardwood floor and jeans whispered against the smooth leather seats, I drummed my fingers on the tabletop, studying the row of shiny glasses I’d aligned in the center of the table.
The chair next to mine stayed vacant for so long that I began to think no one would sit next to me. But Matt took pity and dropped into the seat. I exhaled a quiet breath.
A knot formed in my abdomen. Stress… I was feeling stressed. And nervous. Or was it-
I lifted my eyes to the doorway just as August strode into the room. He took a seat next to his father and scanned the room, his gaze hopping right over me.
My heart pinched from that tiny action. What had Liam said to him? I lowered my gaze back to the row of glasses, finding solace in the quiet study of inanimate objects.
“Where’s Jeb?” Liam asked.
I blinked up at him, then whisked my gaze around the table. My uncle was the only person missing.
“Hasn’t left his bedroom all day,” Lucas said.
“He needs to be here,” Liam said. “Lucas, Matt.”
Both boys rose and marched out of the room.
My heart was beating double-time. I wanted to ask Liam if dragging my uncle down to this meeting was truly necessary, but bit my tongue. I didn’t think it judicious to challenge the Alpha before the meeting even started.
Frank tipped his head toward Liam. Where the Alpha wasn’t speaking out loud, Frank was answering with nods and yeses, so a conversation was happening.
Muted grunts and heavy footfalls sounded just outside the room, and then Lucas and Matt were back, my uncle wedged between them. They released him in the last free chair before returning to their respective seats.
Jeb slumped forward, complexion as gray as his salt-and-pepper scruff, and forehead as puckered as a raisin. He seemed to have aged years in the space of a couple days.
“Close the door, Little J,” Liam told one of the youngest members of the pack, a boy with acne and shoulder-length copper hair.
The boy reminded me of Everest the year I left Boulder. Everest, too, had worn his red hair long, and he, too, had had a bad bout of acne. I remembered wondering how he could stand the chemical smell of the cream he’d rub into his face every day to clear it up.
“Thank you all for coming.” Liam’s voice rang clearly in the low-ceilinged room, echoing against the clay-colored stone walls. “We have two matters to discuss tonight. Let’s begin with Everest Clark, my father’s killer.”
Frowns pleated foreheads, and gazes narrowed on me. My pulse spiked as I realized people still saw me as Everest’s willing accomplice.
“Unless you can live without eyeballs, I urge you all to stop looking at Ness that way,” Liam growled.
The men averted their gazes.