I blinked at him some more.
“Oh,” I said eventually.
“I figured you should at least know about it,” Nat said with a shrug. “I don’t get the impression that it’s widely discussed.”
“I’d have to think about it,” I said, after another long pause. “I’m not sure I’ve got room inside my skull for any additional layers of crazy, beyond what’s already baked in.”
Nat snorted, ducking his face to hide his smile. “Fair. If you ever want more info, I can link you to some forums and other resources. Nothing scientifically published, unfortunately—but for what it’s worth, it doesn’t seem to have done me any harm so far.”
“Good to know,” I replied, filing that away as something to think about later. Possiblymuchlater.
I loved my new pack with every fiber of my being—but they were also a bunch of psychologically twisted-up bastards. For now, I was more comfortable having them inside me in a physical way, as opposed to a psychic way.
Still, it was nice to have options. Maybe someday, I’d feel differently about the idea.
It was getting late by the time all the goodbyes had been said, and the high-end leftovers boxed up for storage in our hotel suite’s refrigerator.
The stretch limo Knox had hired for the night was beyond ostentatious, but I was tired enough and stuffed enough that it didn’t even bother me anymore. Once we’d all piled inside and left Soulard, bound for the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton, Knox leaned forward and took Jez’s hands in his.
“I’ve arranged a surprise for you, back at the hotel,” he said, looking into her eyes.
A furrow appeared between her eyebrows. “A surprise? Is that why you were texting back and forth like crazy while we were waiting for the car to pull around?”
“It was,” he admitted. “Do you trust me?”
I watched with interest as all four of my packmates did the silent telepathy thing for several seconds.
“You know I do,” Jez said softly.
Knox nodded. “Thank you. In that case, your surprise will be waiting for us in the hotel suite.”
Despite my best efforts, I ended up fidgeting almost as much as Jez for the remainder of the trip. Meanwhile, the alphas looked positively smug. Once we arrived, we carried our plastic bags full of Styrofoam food containers to the elevator bank, and took a car up to the insanely expensive set of rooms, which I’d been informed wasn’t technically a penthouse suite.
Knox led the way down the hall to the end, swiping his keycard and opening the door. Gage took Jez’s leftover food and ushered her forward, while Knox stood to one side to let her pass. Consumed with curiosity, I hovered behind Jez’s shoulder with Heath standing next to me, both of us peering past her into the room.
Inside, a careworn middle-aged woman with dark blond hair going gray leapt up from the comfortable sofa in the sitting area as though she’d been propelled from a Jack-in-the-box.
Jez gasped and froze in place. I was sure that if Gage hadn’t taken the plastic bag of food from her hands earlier, she would have dropped it on the floor in shock.
“Jezzie?” the woman asked in a wavering voice. “Baby? Is it really you?”
Jez’s breath hitched—almost a sob.
“Mom?” she said, her voice shedding a decade or more in the space of a single breath.
