“But I don’t know anything about shifters!”
“I’ll coach you.” He plucked the photos from her hands, holding them out of her reach. “Don’t worry, it’s easy. Just periodically stare into space like you’re talking to yourself, and remember to act like you have slightly fewer brain cells than the average lemon.”
“Youhave the brain of a lemon.” Giving up on trying to get the photos off him, Honey started ripping down strings of fairy lights tacked up around her bed. For someone who had indeed been at camp for less than a day, she sure had settled in fast. “Buck, this will never work. I can’t pretend to be a shifter.”
“It won’t be for long. I lit a fire under Conleth’s ass. The man may be made of snark and sarcasm, but he gets crap done. Knowing him, he’ll come up with a replacement counselor in a matter of days.”
Honey made a choked, somewhat hysterical sound. “Oh good. You only need me to pretend to be a shifter for a few days. Buck, the kids arrive tomorrow!”
“So?”
“So?” Honey whirled on him, her hands full of tangled fairy lights. “How am I supposed to deal with a bunch of kids who can turn into animals?”
“All kids are animals. Look, you wanted to be a counselor. You work in a damn school, for that matter. You know how to handle hyperactive brats. I don’t see that it makes any difference if they sometimes happen to be bears.”
Honey shoved past him, dropping the fairy lights into the already overflowing suitcase. “But they’ll be expecting a counselor who can, can turn into a wolf!”
“You won’t have to shift. Trust me on that one. I wouldn’t be standing here if it was a requirement.”
She blinked at him. “But you do turn into a wolf.”
“Not voluntarily.” Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, he tipped the suitcase over, unceremoniously dumping all the contents onto the floor. “You’re staying. End of discussion.”
Whatever response she might have made was forestalled by a rap on the cabin door. They both froze, staring at each other in mutual horror.
“Honey?” Leonie called from outside. Buck heard the creak of the external door opening, followed by footsteps approaching Honey’s room. “Are you in here?”
Honey looked paralyzed. Buck cast a swift, wild glance around at her jumbled possessions, and made an executive decision. He opened the door the tiniest of cracks.
“Oh!” Leonie had clearly been about to knock. She dropped her hand, her eyebrows shooting up. “I wasn’t expecting to find you here, Buck. Is Honey with you?”
“Yeah, she’s here.” Buck kept his body angled to block Leonie’s view of the room. “But she’s, uh… resting.”
Leonie’s gaze traversed down his body. Too late, Buck realized how he looked—out of breath, hair still windswept from his inadvertent shift, clothes all-too-obviously thrown on in a hurry.
“I… see,” Leonie said slowly. The corner of her mouth twitched as though she was fighting very hard not to grin. “Well, I came by to ask if she was ready for me to give her a tour of the facilities. If she’s not too, ah… tired.”
“She’s had a rough morning. Long journey and everything, you know.” Inspiration struck. “How about I show her around myself? I can give her the crash course in Camp 101. I’ve listened to Zeph bang on about the place over enough family dinners to know how everything works around here.”
“I suppose you are familiar with the camp,” Leonie conceded. She was making a heroic effort to keep a straight face, but her eyes sparkled. “And with Honey’s experience, she hardly needs to sit through basic training. Under the circumstances, I think I can give you both a pass. As long as you promise to listen to her advice on how to handle the kids, okay? I need you both ready to take charge of your pack when the campers arrive.”
“Deal,” Buck said in relief. “Thanks, Leonie. And don’t worry. We’ll be there.”
Leonie was a seasoned professional. Shealmostmanaged to get out of earshot before bursting into laughter. Buck had a sinking feeling he was about to find out how fast gossip spread through camp.
“Oh my God.” Honey collapsed onto the bed, putting her head in her hands. “I thought it was all over. My heart is going a mile a minute.”
“At least now you don’t have to walk out there and fool dozens of full-grown shifters.” Buck slumped against the back of the door, his own pulse still thundering with adrenaline. “The further away from the other counselors we can keep you, the better.”
“I’m not going to be able to keep away from the campers, though.” Honey pushed both hands through her hair. “Buck, this isn’t going to work. I can’t do it.”
“Please.” He kneeled in front of her, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Please, Honey. For the kids.”
Her brown eyes searched his face, and her expression softened. “You really would do anything for those kids, wouldn’t you?”
“I’ve known those four since before they were born. Worked with their parents for over a decade, and they were the best damn crew I ever led. You spend that long literally walking through fire together, you start to feel like family.”
Honey looked like she’d just figured something out. “Finley said his folks were firefighters. You were too?”
