His pack mate moved a little slower than normal because his legs were still healing—and hurting. For werewolves, broken bones usually repaired themselves within an hour or two. The fact that Hale was still dealing with the pain was an indication of how seriously those magic users had messed him up. They hadn’t merely broken the bones. They’d shattered them. Which didn’t exactly bode well for the next time the Pack ran into those bastards.
Before Connor could say anything, he felt a thud against his leg and looked down to see Tuffie staring up at him, giving him the sweetest puppy eyes on the planet. Damn, the pitty mix could melt the polar ice caps with that gaze.
“What’s wrong, girl?” He dropped to a knee at her side to ruffle her ears, then ran his hands along the dog’s side, giving her a good rubdown. “You’re missing Kat the cat, aren’t you? You’re used to her being your full-time wingwoman and partner in crime.”
Tuffie looked at him, and Connor swore the girl nodded, like she was totally agreeing.
“Well, as I’m sure you’re aware of, Kat is dealing with a lot right now,” he told the dog seriously, gently cupping her furry face and looking right into those intelligent eyes. “She’s getting used to her human form again, and on top of that, she just found out that the guy who turned her into a cat is probably here in Dallas. He might even be looking for her. So you need to give Kat some time. I promise I’ll let her know you want to see her, okay?”
Tuffie let out a soft bark of agreement, then licked his face, confirming once again that dogs are smarter than people. And way cuter.
After giving him a doggy grin, Tuffie turned and ran toward where the rest of the Pack was hanging out at the far end of the compound, happily barking the entire way.
“That was incredibly adorable,” Hale said. “But it brings me back to my original question. Why aren’t you home right now instead of hanging out with us? You could be spending your free time with Kat, helping her reintegrate into the land of walking on two legs if nothing else.”
“And before you answer that,” Trevor added, watching Tuffie follow their teammates around the obstacle course, “I should probably tell you that we know you and Kat are sleeping together now. Her scent is all over you.”
“Speak for yourself, dude,” Hale said with a chuckle. “I had no idea you two had gotten together. In fact, I got the feeling you were attempting to keep Kat at arm’s length for some dumb reason. What changed?”
Connor opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again, unsure of what to say. “I honestly don’t know what changed. I’ve been trying so hard to maintain my distance from her, but I guess I got tired of fighting it.”
Complete silence settled over the compound at that. He looked up to see that everyone out on the obstacle course and the rappelling building had stopped what they were doing and were looking expectantly at him. That was the obvious drawback to working with a pack of werewolves who could hear a penny hit the grass on the far side of a football field. Especially when dealing with a particularly nosy pack of werewolves.
After he glared at them for a while, his teammates turned their attention back to what they were doing. Not down with the idea of continuing his conversation with Trevor and Hale out here in the open, he jerked his head toward the training building, then headed in that direction.
Once inside, Hale immediately made a beeline for the boxes of donuts on the conference room table. They’d been rifled through, and Connor heard his pack mate mutter something about people always eating the cream-filled donuts first and leaving behind the plain and the stupid sprinkle-covered ones. The complaint didn’t stop him from grabbing one of them though.
“You obviously like Kat,” Trevor said, picking up their conversation where they’d left off. “Hell, I think we all know it’s gone way beyondlikingher. There isn’t a person on this compound that doesn’t know she’sThe Onefor you.”
The Onewas that one special person supposedly out there in the world for each and every werewolf who could accept them for who they were—fangs, claws, and all.
For years, everyone in the Pack thought the whole thing was an urban legend until Gage stumbled acrossThe Onefor him two years ago, proving the myth true. Since then, one pack mate after another had found the person they’d spend the rest of their lives with. That was twelve soul mates in the past two years.
As each of his friends foundThe Onefor them, Connor couldn’t deny hoping there’d be someone for him someday. At the same time, he’d been terrified he’d be the one wolf in the Pack left out.
“You’re right. And Iamcrazy about her,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I be? She’s beautiful, graceful, smells like a dream, and is strong as hell. The crap she’s been through would destroy most people ten times over. But she keeps getting up every time she gets knocked down. And yeah, I think it’s obvious she’s my soul mate.”
“Great, so you’re capable of seeing what’s right in front of your face,” Trevor said. “But if that’s the case, why do I get the feeling you’re fighting this thing between you and Kat?”
“Because it’s complicated,” he growled.
He knew that sounded lame, but there was no other way he could think to describe it.
“Doesn’t seem all that complicated to me,” Hale murmured, most of his attention focused on flicking the yellow, pink, and white sprinkles off a chocolate-covered donut. Apparently blue, red, and green sprinkles were acceptable since he wasn’t bothering with them. “She’s great, you’re hot for her, and you’re soul mates. What’s the problem?”
“I’d like to say that the problem is that I spent nine months giving belly rubs to a furry black cat,” he said in exasperation. “That I bought her fresh tuna and cooked her tiny little portions of Wagyu beef night after finicky night. That I laughed along with everyone else when she liked to hang out in the weight room, watching raptly as we worked out. Or maybe the problem is simply that I’m pissed she didn’t even try to come up with some way to tell me that she was a woman trapped in a cat’s body.”
“But?” Trevor prompted impatiently, looking like he thought Connor was being a moron. Which was entirely possible.
Connor sighed. “But that would be a lie. The real reason I’m fighting this thing with Kat is that I’m falling like a rock, and she doesn’t even have a week left before she turns back into a cat again. And if I’m being totally honest, I don’t think I can handle seeing my soul mate turn into a cat, knowing she’ll be trapped like that for another year.”
“You haven’t even talked to Davina yet,” Hale pointed out. “You don’t think she’ll be able to help?”
“She might,” Connor said, though his first thought was pointing out that Kat had been trying to find some way to stop turning into a cat for four years and had all but given up. “But what if she can’t? What do I do then? Just stand there and watch her run around the compound on four legs so I can have a few days a year with her?”
Trevor crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl. “So what are you going to do? Turn your back on the best thing you’ve ever had because it’s not enough for you?”
Connor stared at his teammates. He’d expected some supportive words out of them, not anger. His inner wolf bared its teeth even as it whimpered in anguish. “What the hell do you expect me to do? WhatcanI do?”
