“What shit?”
“Being too good for a tall glass of ale,” she said in a country accent.
I shook my head, smiling at my sister for the first time in years. “If they made it taste good, I’d drink it.”
“Ugh.” Latoya threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “So blasphemous.” She pulled out a can of cola,raising it toward me with a tilt of her head. “Is this boring drink still your go-to?”
I nodded.
“Goddess, help her,” she mumbled, grabbing a rock glass from the top of the mountain of drinkware on the island. “There should be rum on that counter, behind you.” She continued to shift things around in the fridge while I wandered to the counter on the far side of the kitchen.
It didn’t take long for me to pick out the bottles of rum amongst the horde of alcohol, but as I read the labels to choose between gold, black, or spiced, I stared so hard at them that the letters danced.
Such a dizzying thought, but I was in more danger than I’d ever been—surrounded by werewolves who wanted exposure, not to cop a feel on the dance floor.
I’d known infiltrating Club Luna was risky as shit when I did it. And I’d gone in with no help, only a dagger hidden in my boot. But here… I’d traded in solitude and my dagger for two werewolves who swore they’d protect me… Yet I couldn’t shake the ominous cloud looming over my head.
“Toya?” The piercing squeal startled me, and I caught the bottle I almost dropped to the floor.
“Heather!” Latoya reciprocated the excitement.
I turned to see my sister and a tall blonde squeezing the hell out of each other.
“Girl, what’s up?” Heather pulled away and scanned my sister’s outfit. “Dayum, I see you.”
Latoya laughed, her head whipping toward me. “Joey, come meet the blackest white girl you’ll ever meet.”
Heather wore an off-shoulder sweater dress that only looked short because her sizeable ass stretched it to its limits. “I told you I don’t like that shit, Toya,” she huffed. “How the hell am I acting Black?”
Latoya smacked her on her behind. “I told you it’s a compliment, bitch.”
“I think my sister’s trying to say that you have swag?” I added with a chuckle, setting the bottle of rum on the island.
“No, damn it. She hasrizz.” Heather broke out in laughter, forcing Latoya to speak over her. “You see that ass? She’s lucky I don’t like pussy.”
Heather poked Latoya in her side. “You buggin’.”
When her laughter tapered off, Heather held out her hand for me. “Joey, wow.” I hesitated, but not long enough for her to feel it. Heather’s smiling eyes flicked to my sister while we shook hands. “I’m happy for you, sis.”
My sister straightened, a proud grin taking over her face as she swiped the rum from the countertop.
“I feel like I know you,” Heather continued to me. “She talked about you all the time.”
“Heather and I only get to see each other at the parties,” Latoya clarified, taking a swig of rum straight from the bottle. “Her boss is a total dipshit.”
“My boss?” Heather repeated, raising a brow.
With a nod of her head, Latoya gestured toward me—the human.
“Oh,” Heather said once realization hit. She gasped, the magnitude of Latoya’s words also hitting. “Shut up!” she shrieked in a whisper. She shoved Latoya’s arm and caused my sister to choke on the alcohol. “You know he’s somewhere in this fucking house.”
Latoya burped without covering her mouth. “I do.”
Heather shoved her again, but the corners of her mouth rose. “Latoya, you play too much.”
Heather and Latoya continued their conversation, catching up after almost a full year apart. As I listened to themgossip, I swallowed hard, trying to coax my heartbeat down from my throat.
Heather had an alpha… Of course she did.
