“It’s getting late…” I went to look at my watch and realized I wasn’t wearing one.
“C’mon bro. It’ll be fun. She can get to know us,” Dustin offered, cringing as soon as the words were out and I began togrowl. “From six feet away. We’ll create a barricade around her so no one can touch her.”
I appreciated the offer, but my wolf was bristling at the idea of her snug between my brothers.
Angie’s excitement deflated. “Actually, we can stay in. If it’s going to be hard on you—"
She was perfect—for my instincts, my wolf, every bone in my body.
“We’re going.” I walked into the living room, taking one of Mom’s coats off the hook and handing it to her. “But there are some things I need to warn you about.”
I put a hand on her lower back, guiding her out the front door and to my SUV before I could change my mind. My index finger found Dustin and I snapped, “You’re driving Ross. See you there, asshole.”
Now he couldn’t get wasted and wander off with some lonely she-wolf. Dustin could be irresponsible, but he would never leave Ross to find his way home.
Angie listened attentively as I explained what to expect. Shifters weren’t uncivilized animals the way the news portrayed us, but we weren’t like humans either. Extreme PDA was common, and most unmated shifters were perfectly comfortable with casual sex.
Personally, I didn’t get it. Even in a pack this big, eventually that kind of fooling around would catch up with you. What was Dustin going to do if he ever found his mate and she realized he’d seen half the females in this pack naked?
“Other than the aggression part, I don’t know if humans and shifters are all that different. I’ve been to some pretty crazy parties.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn’t have the right to be angry that my mate had a life before we met. That didn’t mean I wasn’t bothered.
“Mostly sitting on the couch, trying not to touch anything. My friends in college knew I don’t drink, and somehow they always roped me into being the designated driver.”
I exhaled. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I was imagining.
“I do love music, though. And dancing. Do you dance?”
“With the right partner.”
She settled into her seat, watching the black silhouettes of trees pass.
“I don’t think we fooled your mom,” Angie blurted. “And she’s so nice. I feel bad about lying to her.”
“I think she got exactly what she needed from your visit.” I knew I wasn’t going to fool Cindy. It was never really my plan. But after my reaction in the kitchen, no one was going to doubt that Angie was my mate.
Except Angie herself, who was adorably oblivious.
“So, that was it? Tomorrow we’ll go deal with my ex?”
I hesitated. I should never have agreed to that. But what was worse? Going with her to confront him, or letting her go alone?
What if he asked for a second chance, and she gave it to him?
My wolf would be rabid, completely uncontrollable.
It occurred to me that I’d been so busy teaching Angie about shifters that I hadn’t asked nearly enough about her ex. About her life in general.
“What’s the deal with this guy?” The soft, pale lights of the pack neighborhood cut thin lines through the trees. The pack house came into view before Angie had a chance to answer.
I parked in the lot on the side of the house, where two dozen other cars were parked. Some steamed in the cool night air. Others had a thick layer of snow on the windshield, having sat through at least one winter storm.
Shifters living in the pack neighborhood had no reason to drive anywhere. Everything they needed was within walkingdistance. That was the appeal of Glacier Run for many of the shifters here.
I let the car idle under the guise of waiting for my brothers, keeping the heat blowing on Angie, even if I was sweating in the artificial warmth.
“What’s the deal with this guy?” she echoed. “He was my boyfriend for a year and a half. Then he proposed. Then he vanished off the face of the earth.”
