“Meaning they will wait us out. That note wasn’t there when we got here; they could still be around, so we need to movenow.”
* * *
Dylan grabbedFlora’s bags and led them all to his car.
Willow, Luxe, Dylan, and Flora stood outside the Enchanted Packhouse. Flora never thought she would have to step foot on Pack grounds again. While Dylan unlocked the door, Flora watched Willow stare at the rocking chair tempting her from across the wooden porch. Willow tapped her platform Mary Jane heels, fidgeting. Flora knew of the love Willow had for rocking chairs, so much so Flora put a rocking chair in her own bedroom so that their frequent meetings were more comfortable for her. Flora couldn’t take all the credit though, it was Luxe’s effort of finding the perfect rocking chair that would fit both Willow’s obsession and Flora’s taste for comfortable modern design. Flora would be lost without them. She needed them as much as she needed Dylan. If anything, she wasn’t as much of a lone animal as she thought.
The door shot open, revealing another man just as good-looking as Dylan and a gigantic smile. His eyes made direct contact with Willow’s.
“I knew I smelled the tea-spilling girl outside. What are you doing here? I told you don’t worry about it.” Willow's face showed signs of recognition, confusion, then embarrassment in rapid succession. Willow’s gaze fell to the floor as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Flora knew she'd have to pry juicy gossip out of Willow soon.
“Let’s do these introductions inside, Eddie,” Dylan grumbled, pushing the man inside the house so the girls could follow.
“I guess it is cold outside; what’s going on here?” Eddie asked as he eased the crowd into the house, jumping over the couch to sit, and waving them into the living room.
“Welp, my stalker problem has gotten worse. My production crew has been stalking me, and now they’ve tried to kidnap me,” Flora explained, practically floating over to the couch opposite of Eddie. Crossing her legs and straightening her outfit, she held her head up high. All she could do at that point was to look confident. Letting her negative emotions show was a no-go. That would only increase the worry Luxe and Willow had for her, increasing the chances of them getting more involved than they were already. This washermess to deal with.
Dylan rested his hands along the back of the couch, standing behind Flora, and it felt as if he was standing over her.
“Not to be offensive, but if Flora is the one that was attacked why are Luxe and…”
“Willow,” Willow answered shortly, crossing her arms before taking a seat on the other end of the couch.
“Yes, Luxe and Willow, here also? Actually, why are you all here?” Eddie added, shaking his head.
“How could I not be here to help protect my friend?” exclaimed Luxe, her gaze melting into a liquid fire of anger. If Flora hadn’t seen her wolf already, she would assume Luxe was some sort of Hellhound.Hellhound Shifters were rare but with as quickly as Luxe gets heated, she must have a hellhound in her family tree somewhere.
Dylan sighed, “This is a lot bigger than we thought. I…I need help. I need my Pack. Her apartment isn’t safe. The attackers know too much, including what her animal is —”
“And we know theirs,” Flora murmured, sliding her gaze towards Dylan. They knew who and what they were up against. That was better than where they were a mere 24 hours ago.
“I can’t do this alone.”
“It’s unnecessary to do it alone,” Jackson said, striding into the room. Luxe visually softened her stance, sneaking glances at him. Flora could tell Luxe was hiding a smile. “Follow me.”
They strode right past Jackson’s office into the room next door. Flora’s heels clinked as she stepped inside the room where the rest of the Pack was waiting. The Enchanted Pack consisted of seven men, including Jackson, Dylan, and Eddie. Meeting the Pack was a big deal in the Shifter world. It was like meeting your partner’s parents; something as such required an enormous amount of trust between all parties. To think that Jackson trusted her, someone he only knew through a friend encompassed her in a warmth that filled her body, warmth of family and belonging.
Dylan slipped his hand into Flora’s, leading her to the right side of the long oval table that sat in the middle of the room. There wasn't any decoration in the room, just the table surrounded by chairs and a projection screen hanging from one wall. Dylan pulled out a rolling chair for Flora, then pushed her in before taking his own seat between her and the head of the table, where Jackson sat. Luxe sat on Jackson’s left and Willow next to her. Eddie took his seat beside Willow, sitting quite close to her. Willow kept her eyes down but couldn't hide the tiniest smile. Flora would’ve never guessed her friend was into the joker type, but Willow had never been as flustered around a man as she was with Eddie. What in the world happened between them?
“As you know, we’ve had a situation go bad, then worse. Before we get too far into it, it's about time we introduced ourselves,” Jackson announced.
“I’m Jackson, the alpha of the Enchanted Pack. You know Dylan and Eddie by now. Next to Eddie is Felix, and next to him is Leo.” Jackson said, pointing to the East Asian man covered in tattoos and muscles, Felix. Next to him was a South Asian man who was slim but lean with mid-length dark hair and stubble along his jaw to match.
“On the other side of Flora, are the brothers Ryder and River.” The brothers had matching molten dark eyes, with dark, midnight-like skin. The younger-looking one, River, had short braids in his hair similar to Eddie’s. Ryder, the older brother, had a buzz cut, just long enough for small waves to form in his hairstyle. One thing every Pack member had in common was muscle.
“So, let’s debrief the situation at hand,” Jackson said.
* * *
“Let me get this straight,”Eddie began, confusion written all over his face. “Flora was followed on her way home from Lust Lane which led her to believe that the man following her just had no boundaries. Then it happened a second time at a store, and she called Dylan. So then, there was an attempted kidnapping at the parking lot, and a sighting outside her window.Thenthere was another attack at the hotel and now a note has appeared at her apartment.”
“Sounds about right,” Flora confirmed, shaking her head.
“You only now decided to get our help? Are you crazy, you should’ve called a long time ago.” Eddie said, dramatically waving his hands as if it should’ve been common sense to seek their help. Was it really so common to seek their help? Packs were loyal to their members, but they weren’t known to be saviors. She’d already asked them once and didn’t have the nerve to ask again. She had to lay out everything on the table if the whole Pack was going to get involved. This she knew but man did her throat become dry and achy.
“I’m not part of the Pack. On top of that, I’m a panther. Let’s be for real for a moment — who would’ve helped out a panther?” Flora said shortly, embarrassed about the whole situation.
She tried to be nonchalant about revealing her animal, but she couldn’t even look any of them in the eye at this point. Asking these men and her best friends to risk their lives for her was a lot to take on. It seemed like this was the only way to get this problem resolved cause living life on the run was out of the question.
