“Nope. I doubt he can even shift what with all that Sillin still in his system.”
I stuck my chopsticks into the carton of rice. “Sillin changes a werewolf’s smell, correct?”
“Yeah, in substantial quantities, it dims it.”
“Does Sandra still smell like a wolf?”
Sarah frowned.
“I mean, Cassandra.”
“I got who you meant. I’m trying to remember.”
I stuck my wrist in her face. “Do I still smell like a wolf?”
She sniffed my skin, then pushed my arm away. “Yeah, you do. You’d have to be away from your pack and taking a lot of Sillin to stop smelling like a wolf, Ness.”
I sighed. “Do you think we’re wrong in considering Sillin’s how she defeated Julian?”
“Gosh, if I had the answer to that question, you’d be the first to know.”
“I bet her family knows. The day of the duel, when Liam said he wanted to fight her straight away, Alex didn’t look concerned at all. It was as though he knew his mother couldn’t lose. Which is why I’m convinced it wasn’t just skill and luck.”
Sarah sat up a little straighter. “You just gave me a brilliant idea.”
“I did?”
She nodded, her springy corkscrews popping out from behind her ears. “I’m going to flirt with Alex Morgan.”
I hissed. “Sarah-no. He drove Everest off the road! He’s insane.”
She stared at the crystal chandelier dangling over her leather coffee table without really looking at it. I prayed she was reevaluating the soundness of her decision.
I leaned over and trapped her fingers. “Sarah, I’m serious. Don’t do this.”
“I’ll be careful.”
A smile, which I imagined was supposed to be reassuring, graced her mouth. “I can’t go out to dinner with you tomorrow night, though. Alex will see right through me if I dine with a bunch of Boulders. And you and I can’t hang out for the duration of my stint.”
“Sarah-”
“Why didn’t I think about this sooner?”
“Because it’s crazy, not to mention dangerous.”
“And fighting in a duel is oh-so-safe?” She pried my fingers off hers. “I’ll be fine. I promise.” She rose and walked over to the island to root through her handbag. She came up with a cell phone. “I’m going to tell him about your visit out East to win his trust. Don’t tell Liam or Lucas or anyone else the reason I’m betraying your pack, though. It’s better they all think I’m trying to be a good Creek.”
“I hate this.”
“Well, I hate your lack of style, but you don’t see me making a fuss about it.”
“My lack of style? Seriously?”
She raised a wolfish grin. “All you wear is denim and tank tops-in a variety of blues and whites and blacks. Granted your clothes are skintight, so they’re not horribly unsexy, but you could have so much more fun gussying up your hot self.” She tossed her phone on her bag, then went into her bedroom.
Doors slid on rails, metal hangers clinked, heavy things thumped.
She returned a couple minutes later, lugging a huge bag filled to the brim with clothes. “Since you and I won’t be hanging out for a while, here’s some stuff. Most of it’s too small for me-”
“We’re the same size.”
“-on top. Or no longer my style.”
“Sarah . . .”
“Stop saying my name all breathily. You sound blonde.”
“I am blonde. And so are you. And the only reason I’m saying your name like that is because you’re not letting me finish any of my sentences, and you’re behaving like you just broke out of the loony bin.”
“I want Cassandra Morgan dead, Ness. And so do you. And unless you want me to creep up on her in her sleep and murder her, which would just make her heart useless for the taking-if I even manage to make it stop beating-I’m going to seduce her son to help you guys.” She forced the bag into my arms. “Now go. I need to fumigate my apartment to get rid of your smell.”
I got up, clutching the bag. “Why would her heart be useless for the taking?”
“Because only Alphas can take another’s heart.” When I frowned, she added, “Their hearts are already open to connections.”
“So Liam could sneak up on her and kill her in her sleep?”
“He could, but there’d be no honor in doing it. He’d just be considered a coward and a thief. No self-respecting Alpha would resort to murder in order to steal a foreign pack.”
I mulled this over as I walked toward her front door. Before letting myself out, I said, “If Alex tries anything, you let me know straight away, and I’ll get you out.”
She nodded, but excitement glimmered in her eyes. I understood her desire to help-if the tables had been turned, I would’ve been the first to volunteer-but I feared what the Creeks would do to her if they discovered her duplicity. Even though Morgan claimed she wasn’t out for blood, she’d punished her defectors-Everest, disloyal Aspens, the River Alpha’s daughter-with murder.
Matt decided to test my endurance and friendship the following morning. Instead of a one-hour trek, he took me on a two-hour tour of Boulder’s rockiest mountain roads and most treacherous hiking trails.
“Heard we’re all doing dinner tonight,” he said as he hydrated in my kitchen, his big forehead flushed and sweaty.
At least the exercise hadn’t been too easy on him either.
“Not sure I’ll be able to peel myself out of bed after what you just made me do. Did Liam ask you to torture me, or was it all your idea?”
“All my idea, Little Wolf. Glad you enjoyed it.”
I stuck out my tongue as I refilled my glass with cold tap water. “Not to pry, but what’s going on between you and August?”
“Nothing’s going on between us.”
Matt cocked one of his very blond eyebrows. “He almost ripped me a new one for hammering the wrong baseboard into a wall yesterday when just last week he was discussing bonuses, so I don’t buy that nothing’s going on.”