Ofcourse. . .
Cole and Matt suddenly snapped their heads toward the evergreens behind them. Glowing eyes stared back at us from the cover of the forest. I squinted to make out any distinctive markings on the wolves’ pelts, but they stood at a distance. I sniffed the air. Sure enough, these wolves weren’t Boulders. In case I hadn’t come to this realization on my own, the sweaty T-shirt smacking my bare thigh followed by the sight of the two Rogers’ naked backsides would’ve alerted me to the fact that we weren’t in the presence offriends.
August stepped closer to me, the lines of his face and body as taut as the spines of the two giant blond wolves now standing guard next to us. The six Creeks trotted out of the shadows but kept their distance from us. One of them—a lemon-yellow wolf—whined. Mattbarked.
How I wish my human ears could’ve grasped wolfspeech. . .
The only thing I could tell from Matt’s raised hackles was that they weren’t exchangingpleasantries.
“Do you recognize any of them?” I whispered toAugust.
“No, but the yellow one with the violet eyes could be Alex.” He tipped his chin up and smelled the air, and a rumble of frustration ripped up his corded throat. “I can’t fucking smellanything.”
A penny for his Mom’s curse jar and a punch to my already guilt-riddengut.
The yellow wolf—Alex?—craned his long neck and peered at us over one of his companion’s pelts. Had they picked up on what August had justsaid?
I sidled closer until my hipbone hit the side of August’s thigh, feeling my wolf scratching against my envelope of skin, desirous to come out. I bridled her back, because one, I didn’t want to get naked—yes, I know . . . incredibly silly—and two, because I wanted to offer August some solidarity. His anger at not being able to morph agitated thetether.
The Creeks made more whiny noises. When one took a step closer, Cole charged her, bumping her back a couple steps with his shoulder. The brown wolf yelped and stuck her tail between herlegs.
The fair-colored wolf growled at Cole but didn’t attack. Even though Matt’s fangs were bared, he didn’t lungeforward.
Cole gnashed his pointy teeth, and the wolf in front of him soared back. The yellow wolf emitted a shrill howl, which got the attention of the five others. He swung around and sprinted into the copse of trees, and his packmatesfollowed.
Matt and Cole waited a good five minutes before shifting back into skin. Once their fur had receded, they straightened, eyes wild with energy andferocity.
Keeping my gaze on their torsos, I asked, “What did theywant?”
“They said we were trespassing on their property!” Coleexclaimed.
“Put your clothes on.” August plucked dark mesh from the grass and lobbed it at Cole, before stepping in front ofme.
“You do know I have to get used to nudity?” I whispered against his shoulder blades that were pulled in like metalwings.
He grunted, so I flicked the base of his spine. He tossed me a hooded glance over hisshoulder.
“What?” I asked allinnocently.
He didn’t say anything, just slowly returned his attention to theRogers.
After a few seconds, I walked around my muscular blockade. “Werewetrespassing?”
“No. This is neutral territory,” Cole said, spearing his arms through his muscle tee. “The Boulders and the Pines signed an agreement a long time ago about boundaries. This part of the forest belongs to noone.”
If the land was for sale, Aidan Michaels would surely snatch it up with a briefcase ofcash.
“Who was here?” Augustasked.
“Alex Morgan, his sister Lori . . . She’s the one Cole knocked back. The other four were Creeks I’m not familiarwith.”
“Why did you leap at her?” I askedCole.
“’Cause she was trying to sniff youguys.”
My head jerked back. “Sniffus?”
“She said you had an oddsmell.”
