“I’m having dinner with a UCB jock. What about you?”
“A UCB jock?” He straightened up, which seemed to give him an extra inch. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
He grunted. I flicked his pec. He didn’t rub the spot I’d flicked.
Instead, he crossed his arms, tendons pinching underneath the skin. “What’s the guy’s name?”
“Why?””Just wondering if I know him.”
I smiled a little. “You know him.”
His pupils pulsed. “Really? Is it David?”
“David? Who’s David?”
“Dexter’s cousin. The kid with the birthmark under the eye. He plays football at UCB. He’s a junior.”
“Oh. No.” If David’s a junior, thus two years older than I am, and you think he’s a kid, what does that make me? “My date’s actually the former running back for the Colorado Buffaloes.”
August’s gaze narrowed.
“Might’ve heard of him. Jeb Clark?” I winked at him, and his eyes went wide. Then I added, “No dating for me in the near future. I’m taking some time off men. Like a year, or a decade.” I slid past August. “Anyway, I promised Jeb I’d eat with him tonight since I stood him up yesterday.” I stopped halfway through the warehouse and spun around. “Want to come?”
He studied the lid of the mug. “No. I’ll get some more work done.”
I was a little surprised he preferred staying in the office over a warm meal with family friends. But then I realized something. “You don’t have to worry about me, August. I’m not depressed or anything.”
He glanced up from the mug, brow knitted as though I’d misconstrued his concern. He opened his mouth to speak just as a shrill howl pierced the night, and then another and another. My chest tightened, and my skin bristled, the fine hairs thickening. I’d never heard it before yet knew it was my Alpha’s call. The insistence of it had me gaping at August.
“You’re going to have to postpone that dinner of yours,” he said, setting the travel mug down and yanking off his shirt.
The urgency of the moment was momentarily supplanted by the sight of August’s bare chest which gave new meaning to the term washboard abs-you could most probably do laundry against his abdomen.
“Ness? Three howls means something serious has happened.”
I snapped out of my daze. Had the Sillin been stolen again? Or maybe they were dummy tablets? I lowered my gaze to the swirls of sawdust beneath my feet and swallowed, my throat feeling as dry as those corn husks Evelyn filled with masa dough.
August strode over to me and cranked my chin up. “You’ll be okay. I’ll be there.”
I nodded, fumbling to remove my bag. When the strap caught in my hair, August assisted me in hoisting it up and off. Flustered by his proximity and nakedness, I backed away. My hands trembled as I dragged off my necklace and then my T-shirt, and then my navel pulsed chaotically when August’s eyes, which were on me, began to gleam brighter.
He turned away, Adam’s apple working in his throat.
A howl tore through the night, seemingly nearer. Was the pack headed here? I ducked behind one of the work desks, and, keeping my back to August, I unclipped my bra and pushed down my jeans.
Claws clicked nearby, and it made my own claws jolt out of my cuticles. Making sure I wasn’t in August’s line of sight, I scraped off my underwear before my tail could shred it. My bones shifted and my muscles swelled, and I fell onto my knees, back arched as the rest of the change rippled through me.
When it was done, August bumped his wet muzzle into my shoulder.
Ready? he asked.
I dipped my head in assent. At least I’d face Liam in fur tonight. I felt less vulnerable in fur than I felt in skin, as though my thick white pelt could somehow shield me better than my pale hide.
Another howl stirred the air.
We trotted to the door. With his mouth, August jerked the handle, then shoved the door open with his shoulder. For a moment, I wondered how we would find the pack, but then I felt the tug of something in my chest. Like the tether that bound me to August, there was another tether inside me.
One that tied me to Liam.
One that led me straight to him.
In a part of the forest where the trees grew as dense as the underbrush, the pack had assembled. Most were in wolf form, but a few had stayed in skin-the few being the elders. The moon wouldn’t be full for another week, so I imagined they hadn’t been able to shift. And yet they’d still come. They wouldn’t understand what was being said, unless Liam spoke to them through the mind link.
Could he, in wolf form?
I saw Jeb, or rather I recognized the gray-blond fur, the light-blue eyes, and the lemony scent of his body. I walked over to him, squeezing my scrawny self between him and Frank’s grandson, who was as big as me in fur. Not in skin, though. I wondered why that was. But then I pressed that contemplation away.
I felt Liam’s glowing amber eyes on me, but I kept mine trained on the squashed pine needles beneath his giant paws. His lupine body had grown in bulk and breadth since he’d become Alpha.
A nose pressed against my haunches, shifting me a little more toward Jeb, and then another large body sidled in next to me, lining up between Little J and me. August.
Liam’s gaze moved to my neighbor’s. For a moment, they just observed each other. Then August took another step forward, and his pelt bristled, ostensibly making him seem bigger. It was an illusion. He hadn’t actually grown, but he was sending Liam a message not to look at me.
I nudged my friend’s flank to tell him I was okay. That he didn’t have to make such an aggressive show. God only knew how the others would interpret it.
He didn’t back down, but his fur smoothed, and Liam pivoted to face another part of the circle.
The Creek Alpha finally made contact, he said. She will be coming to Boulder with a delegation of Creeks tomorrow. She says she’s coming in peace and will be staying at the inn.
Aidan Michaels is allowing that? someone asked, interrupting Liam.
He probably doesn’t know they’re shifters, one of the men said.
Aidan Michaels knows, Lucas growled out. He has fucking files on the entire werewolf community, but I guess he isn’t above taking money from our kind.
I glanced at my uncle. His stare was unflinching, but I could hear his heart beating a little more strongly than the rest of the hearts around me. I rubbed his shoulder with my cheek in a show of affection and support. He turned his head and rested his own cheek against my forehead a moment.
What do they want? August’s deep voice quieted the whisperings that had kindled like wildfire around us.
To meet with the Alphas and their packs. She is convening us to a meeting at the inn tomorrow night at sundown, Liam answered. I want you all to be there.
I peeked around the large brown wolf and met Liam’s hardened gaze.
We need to present a united front, Liam said, and I swear I felt that comment was directed only at me.
Will the Pines be there? someone asked.