Chapter 1
Irapped my knuckles against Melody and Lakota’s bedroom door. “Wake up, lazybones. You’re working the early shift today, remember?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Melody grumbled.
I drifted down the hall toward the kitchen to see if the coffee was ready.
“Hope!”
I whirled around. When Lakota poked his head into the hall, I giggled. His hair looked like it had been through a wind tunnel.
He squinted from the light in the living room behind me. “What time do you get off tonight?”
“Nine at the latest. It depends on how busy we get.”
He eased into the hall and shut the door behind him, his red shirt halfway tucked into his boxers. “We need to do something about those hours. It’ll be fall soon, and I’m not having you two working after dark.”
I snorted. “You’re my brother, but remember that I’m not someone you can order around. Be sure to let me know when you break the news to Melody that you’re deciding our business hours, because I’mdyingto see her reaction.”
“Hire the twins. They could use some part-time work.”
I loved Melody’s younger brothers, but that wasn’t going to happen. “You don’t think it’s inappropriate to ask two alpha males to work beneath me in a low-paying position? How will that groom them for a leadership role in a pack? They have their own destiny to follow.”
He rubbed his face. “Just be sure to come straight home instead of going to see Mother.”
Lakota and Melody had recently formed a fast and permanent relationship, and shortly afterward, Lakota had moved in with us. It was wonderful having my older brother around, but the apartment was quaint, and a couple needed privacy that the thin walls couldn’t provide. I respected their needs and occasionally went straight from work to visit with my old pack, which my father led. I loved having wolves around me, but Lakota and I weren’t a pack, and hearing the carnal cries of my best friend and brother wasn’t my idea of a fun Friday night.
Or almost every other night of the week for that matter.
“I planned to visit with Mother before they left town in the morning, but if you insist, I’ll be here. Now dress yourself. A sister shouldn’t have to see such things.” I smiled, shading my eyes as I turned on my heel.
He chuckled before closing the door.
Lakota was my half brother but my whole heart. We hadn’t grown up in the same house, but he’d always been my protector, and we visited every chance we got. For the past few years, he’d taken on a job as a bounty hunter, and that meant seeing him less often. But after mating with my best friend, Lakota was in search of a new beginning. No rush. He had plenty of money saved and wanted to extend his honeymoon with Melody for as long as possible before figuring out his life. Even though we occasionally bickered, I loved having my big brother around. He was a good man who took care of those he loved.
If only he took care of his dirty laundry instead of tossing it on the bathroom floor.
I swept my long hair behind my shoulders and padded down the hall, the wood floor chilling the soles of my bare feet. When I reached the living room, I swung right toward the kitchen. I loved early morning regardless of the weather. There was something spiritual about the start of a new day—a time when I felt the most connected to my wolf.
Since our apartment building had interior halls and elevators, it was safer than most places in the Breed district. A beautiful row of tall windows spanned the living room on my left, all the way to the kitchen. I approached the short pony wall that separated the two rooms and poured a leftover bottle of water into one of the houseplants on the ledge. Mel and I had different tastes when it came to decorating, so she claimed the living room, and I had dominion over the kitchen. I’d selected every dish, and the trivets and pot holders were handmade by members of my former pack as going-away gifts when I moved out. Melody’s grey room and hot-pink couch might have clashed with my earthy tones, but I loved the visual contrast between our personalities.
Melody strolled into the room in her favorite patchwork jeans and a cotton shirt. She yawned noisily and plopped down on a barstool, yesterday’s makeup smeared beneath her heavy-lidded eyes.
“Did you at least brush your teeth?” I asked.
Mel scratched at her messy ponytail. “I’ll brush them after breakfast. I don’t know why you bother waking up this early when you don’t have to work until the afternoon.”
I smiled and slouched on the stool across from her. “Do you really need to ask? I’ve always liked getting up with the sun.”
“Maybe we should have called our store Sunbeam instead of Moonglow.”
I chuckled softly and gazed at the suncatcher in the window. Because we managed the business together, we had the luxury of managing our schedules. We could have made them fixed, but we’d decided it wouldn’t be fair for one person to always work the late shift and miss the opportunity to go out on dates.
Not that I went out on dates, but Mel and Lakota enjoyed having drinks at Howlers or seeing a late show at the Alamo Drafthouse.
When the coffeepot beeped, I set the carafe on a trivet between us and retrieved buttermilk biscuits and bacon from the warming oven. Mel poured coffee into a mug she’d bought as a souvenir on her last trip to Dallas.
Lakota appeared, scratching the scar on his bare chest before hiking up his loose jeans. He leaned on the island and swung his keys around his index finger. “I’ll drive you to work.”
