“Well, I hope you know your stuff. I finished this one, and I need another one.”
Evelyn was wrangling the three kids who’d decided to play dragons and unicorns, and one was swooping over the others, trying to eat them.
The man held out the book. It was a murder mystery, maybe one of the original books that had been donated by pack members because it was well-worn.
“What did you enjoy most about the book?”
He turned the book over and studied the cover. “The detective. She was feisty, and she didn’t take any crap.”
“Oh, that man said a bad word.” The child pretending to be a dragon stopped attacking the others.
“Sorry, kids.” The guy leaned toward me. “My children are long grown up, and I sometimes forget about young impressionable ears.”
“I saw a couple more books from that series on the third shelf.”
His face lit up. “There’s aseries? Oh my goodness. Lead me to them.”
He plucked three books off the shelf and tucked one into his coat. He put a finger to his lips, telling me to keep quiet. No, no, he was planning on checking out two and hiding the third one. I held out my hand, and he rolled his eyes and gave me the third book.
“Henry, you know there’s a two-book rule.” Evelyn was standing behind him, and Henry’s legs quaked.
“I forgot.” His cheeks were pink with embarrassment.
“Of course. That’s why you hid one.”
Evelyn shook her head as Henry left, saying if anyone borrowed the third book before he read it, he’d shift and demand they fight it out.
“He doesn’t mean it.” Evelyn took the book from me and replaced it on the shelf. “He loves reading since he retired. This is his happy place.”
I spent the rest of the morning making book recommendations, putting returned books on the shelf, and reminding the kids touse their inside voices when they demonstrated how dragons breathed fire.
I met so many pack members, and some told me, after I found them the perfect book, they hoped I was sticking around.
Evelyn explained what she expected of me tomorrow after Roland poked his head in and asked if I was done. I had no idea if I’d be back the following day, but I hoped so. And when I left, I thought I might get an answer as to our future because Creven and Auden were with my mate.
“We’ve come up with some ideas as to how to handle the possibility of poachers.” My mate put a hand under my elbow. “I’ve already told them my methods of mingling other scents with mine and sprinkling urine to confuse any trackers.”
“My idea was to perpetuate a rumor that the horn loses its power when it’s removed from the unicorn,” Auden said.
The poachers would know that was a lie. But the older shifter said, while it might not help Roland, if it got enough traction, it may prevent other unicorn shifters from losing their horn. I loved the idea that we might be helping future generations of shifters.
“And if we could get the authorities involved, perhaps they can dismantle the buyer networks,” Auden added. “But again, that’s far into the future.”
“We could hunt them, I suppose.” Creven rubbed his chin. “But that would take a lot of manpower.”
“No, I'd prefer that no one lose their life in this process.”
I didn’t want there to be a process. I wanted us tucked away in the pack but free to go outside whenever we chose. Neither of us wanted to be hiding away forever.
“For the moment, I’d double the guards, especially at night, and we need to plan an escape route in case you need it.” Creven was aware of the danger, but us escaping would make us more vulnerable than now. “Coming onto pack land without an invitation would leave them open to trouble.”
“But we’d just waltzed in on the day we arrived.”
“But my scouts had already noted you getting out of the old truck and trudging up the hill toward us.”
If Emerson were here, I’d feel more secure. He was a fighter, and despite what my mate said, I’d decapitate a poacher before I let him take Roland’s horn. I’d asked newcomers to the pack if they’d seen or heard of him and Dex, but no one had. If our Alpha had caught them, would I have heard or sensed it? Probably not.
I tried and failed to hide a yawn. How could I be tired after putting books away?
