She picked at a loose string on the blanket. “So, you accepted the Alpha position, huh?”
“I did.” He cocked his head. “You okay with that?”
“Yes.” She pressed her lips together. “What about Erik? Can you see him with Emily?”
Seth shrugged. “Not really, but they have time to figure things out. Her father isn’t going anywhere for a while.” He didn’t see them together, but who knew what could happen? Here he was, the Alpha with a mate—a human cop, no less—and nobody could’ve predicted that. In fact, they probably had a challenging road ahead of them, and not for a second had he forgotten that she might have a human criminal after her.
For now, he was going to enjoy the fact that they were both alive and had a decent chance of staying that way.
She set down the glass. “Let’s get out of here.”
Sweeter words had never been said.
After a good night’ssleep at Seth’s house, Mia headed over to Pete’s cottage to fetch him some decent clothes. It was the least she could do. Her arm ached like somebody kept poking her with a needle, and she’d scratched at the bandage enough at breakfast that Seth had threatened to wrap it with duct tape.
Then pack members had started arriving with gifts to show their support. More than half of the pack was on Seth’s side, so that was a good thing. But that left a lot of unhappy wolves, as well as distrust from the other packs.
The rain had disappeared, leaving a sunny summer day with a bright blue sky in its wake. She breathed in the fresh air, her windows down. First, she’d take clothing to Pete and thank him for trying to save her life. Then she’d give him the story about Alice dying from his bullets, which the coroner would back up. After that, she’d go home and talk to Dotty and Gena about her feelings for Seth and admit that they were dating. They’d have to go out for a while, just for the human population in town.
The idea of courting was kind of sweet. She grinned. Would he bring her flowers?
Something told her that Seth would go all out—even with the gifts.
She parked the car at Pete’s silent cabin and walked past untended flower beds to the front door, which was locked. A quick glance around had her finding his spare key beneath a rock by the first step. The guy was nothing if not predictable.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She looked out at the quiet trees, not seeing anything amiss. Shaking it off, she used the key and walked inside the cabin, sneezing instantly. The place was a bachelor’s dusty dream. Leather furniture, newspapers stacked wherever, a couple of empty bottles of beer on the table. A stack of mail perched on a side table with several pieces falling onto the floor.
She shook her head. The guy needed a cleaning service. She picked up the mail and stacked it, kicking a pair of his shoes toward the mat.
Then she took the only hallway to his bedroom, passing a guest bathroom that she didn’t examine. He had a big bed—unmade. She sighed. “Pete.” What a total bachelor.
She flipped on the light, noting more dust and more unopened mail on the dresser. A sound outside caught her attention, and she stiffened, listening. Nothing. Was probably the wind.
There were two doors to the right of the room, and the first was open to a small bathroom with dirty clothes littering the floor. If she were a decent friend, she’d clean the cabin and do some laundry for the guy. Maybe after she picked him up at the hospital, she’d help him clean the home. Yeah. That was a good plan. He had tried to save her life, after all.
She snorted and opened the closet door, hoping he had something clean to wear.
Her hand fumbled on the wall and she turned on the light, sighing in relief at seeing a few pairs of clean jeans hanging below a bunch of T-shirts to the right. His uniforms were lined up to the left.
Straight ahead was a smaller dresser with letters and cards scattered across it. She stopped cold at seeing the blown-up and framed picture above it. A lump settled in her throat. She walked toward it, her heart hammering, her head all but exploding. A much younger Pete sat on a dock at the local lake, his arm thrown carelessly around a stunning young woman with unreal blue eyes.
Seth’s blue eyes.
Ashlynn Volk. Mia shook her head, trying to make sense of the photograph. They were both young, and it had to have been taken before Seth was born. Why hadn’t Pete said anything about knowing her? About knowing her well enough to keep her picture in his closet for all these years? A quick look verified that the cards and letters were from Seth’s mom, poems and notations of love—young puppy love.
Mia’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she shrieked. Damn it. “Hello?”
Silence came over the line. “You sound funny. What’s wrong?” Seth asked.
Mia rapidly backed out of the closet, shaking her head, trying to convince herself that the photograph didn’t mean anything. Her butt hit the dresser, and the pile of mail wafted to the floor.
Her mind reeling, she leaned over and picked it up, stacking everything back in place.
A plain white envelope sat on top, addressed to Pete with a written return address for Ruby Redbird. Her stomach cramped. She ripped open the envelope to find a cleaning bill.
Ruby had cleaned Pete’s home.
She’d probably seen the picture of Ashlynn Volk.
