He was on his phone, based on the narrow portrait image. The room behind him spun crazily, the picture catching and freezing again for a second. The sound of loud knocking came through the speaker as the view swung again to show a random patch of ceiling.
“Hey, wake up, you guys! I’ve got Tony on a video call. He says he’s joining a pack!” The video swooped again, settling on Nat’s face. “Okay, now give me those details. The others will be here in a minute.”
I swallowed hard. This was why I’d needed time to edit the story. Somehow, blurting out that my ex-best friend, who’dsecretly murdered my stepdad, had also tried to murder the head of the pack I’d been doing odd jobs for, didn’t sound like a good way to open.
“Um...” I said. “It’s kind of complicated?”
Nat snorted. “You think so? I hate to say it, but you’re talking to the king of ‘it’s complicated,’ when it comes to relationships.”
“Well, he’s not lying about that,” said a familiar voice, rough with sleep. Byron shoved into the camera frame.
“Hi, Byron,” I said weakly.
“What’s this about a pack?” Zalen said, squeezing in as well.
Maybe I could just fast-forward past the awkward parts. “Well... uh... there’s this pack who runs a business here in Chicago. I started taking odd jobs for them to make extra money, and...”
I ran through a heavily sanitized version of reuniting with a close friend after losing touch with her for more than a year, only to discover that she was scent-matched to the pack I was working for, after I’d already fallen into bed with one of the alphas.
“I thought he only wanted a one-night stand,” I finished. “And I would have been okay with that! I mean, mostly okay? But it turns out, he wanted more, and one of the other alphas was also interested, and Jez is okay with it, so...”
I trailed off.
Emiel, the hulking alpha who fought in cage matches for fun, tilted the phone until I could see him.
“Are they good people? They treating you right?”he demanded.
The first part was a loaded question, especially when it came to Jez and her murderous tendencies... not to mention Heath and his familiarity with scrubbing the evidence from homicide scenes. But the second part was easy.
“I’ve never felt as safe and cared for as I do with these people,” I said honestly.
After a moment, Emiel nodded. “Okay. That’s good. But you know if that ever changes, you gotta tell us right away.”
I smiled a watery smile. “I don’t think that’s going to happen... but thanks.”
Byron tilted the phone back toward himself. “When do we get to meet this pack of yours?” he asked.
Mia, the pack’s female omega, ducked under his arm to get in the frame. “Can you bring them to St. Louis one of these days? You could bring them to the restaurant. I’ll have a word with Shaniqua.”
Mia and Nat had owned an award-winning restaurant together before they’d met Zalen’s pack. They’d since stepped back to focus on running a culinary arts program through Zalen’s youth center, but they were still close friends with the family that had bought the restaurant from them.
“I’ll ask,” I said. “I’d really like that, actually. It would be great to see you all in person.”
A knock sounded at my bedroom door, nearly making me jump out of my skin.
“Tony?”Heath’s muffled voice filtered through to me. “You up? You’re going to want to see what’s on the news!”
“Is everything okay there?” Zalen asked.
I blinked my attention back to the video call. “Yeah, I think so. Apparently, there’s something on the news I’m supposed to see.” I leaned away from the screen and raised my voice. “Just a second! I’m on a call to St. Louis!” I turned back to the screen. “Seriously, I’ll ask if there’s a way we can all come down and see you. Take care, you guys. And thanks for being there. Give the kiddos my love.”
“Don’t be a stranger,” Zalen said. “We’re really happy for you, by the way. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” I told them again, unable to hold back my sappy smile this time. “Talk soon, okay?”
After closing the call, I set the laptop aside and went to the door. Outside, Heath was pacing restlessly in the hall.
“Hi,” I said. “What’s on the news?”
