It was more acknowledgement than Isaac was expecting, and for a second he wondered what the fuck had happened to Paul recently to make him almost a decent person, if only for this moment.
Then Paul’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket, checked the screen, shoulders stiffening at whatever he read there. “Enough staring at the fucking sea. My team will need food and refreshments before we search the house. I assume your hospitality extends to that?” He fixed Isaac with a flat stare.
And the arsehole was back in force.
“Of course.” Isaac headed back towards the path. Whatever truce they’d enjoyed on the beach was well and truly over.
* * *
Michael crouched on the sand,back resting against the cave wall, taking deep breaths and trying desperately not to shift.
“All right?” Sam knelt in front of him, hands gripping Michael’s knees painfully tight to give him something to focus on.
“Yeah.”
In through the nose, out through the mouth.
At least in here, he couldn’t smell them anymore.
The others hid well toward the back of the cave, giving the pair of them a wide berth.
“You sure?” Sam asked, frowning. “Because for a minute there—”
“I know.”
As alpha, Michael’s senses were sharper than those of his pack. He’d only taken a couple of steps out of the cave, just to feel the breeze on his face, but with the wind blowing in their direction, it was enough.
“He was there... with Isaac, and I just—” He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Sam had already talked him down from shifting once. They didn’t need to go there again. The flare of possessiveness had caught him totally off guard, and he was woefully unprepared for the effect it had on him.
On his wolf.
“Do you think they could smell us?” Sam bit his bottom lip, and Michael was hit with a wave of anxiety.
He shook his head and gripped Sam’s shoulders. “Not with the wind going that way. And Paul’s senses aren’t as refined as mine and Isaac’s.” He managed a wry smile. “Besides, I think we’d have had visitors by now if they had.”
Sam sat back on the sand with a sigh. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
Michael rested his head against the rock behind him, watching as Logan decided now was a safe time to approach him. Sam left to join the others.
“Hey.” Logan stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Everything okay?”
Michael snorted. “If you mean, have I got over the urge to shift and scale that wall of rock between us and Paul and Isaac? Then yes. Everything’s okay.”
Logan nodded. “I don’t blame you. If it was me and Cole was out there with Paul? I’d be exactly the fucking same.”
Michael was about to protest that he and Isaac weren’t like him and Cole, but he swallowed the words back down. If he had his way, they’d be exactly like them.
“Thank you.” He sighed. “But I shouldn’t have lost control like that.”
I know better.
I am better.
“This isn’t exactly a normal situation,” Logan said, voice quiet. “No one expects you to be unaffected by any of this.”
Michael smiled. “Good to know.” He looked behind Logan to where Cole, Sam, Aaron, Nick, and Smith sat around the unlit firepit. “How’re we doing for food and water?”
Isaac had left them with supplies, but who knew how long Paul and his team were going to stay?
