Nothing.
Talis was probably at the main pack house, sleeping anyway.
I joined the others in the living room, flushing slightly when I caught sight of the chairs out on my patio and remembered.
Talis, wonderfully naked and unashamed.
I do love a shifter’s lack of modesty.
“Axel?”
I glanced up to find all three of them staring at me expectantly. “Sorry?”
Dathal’s smirk told me he knew exactly where my mind had gone. Had he seen us out there when Talis had shifted? I glared at him, not liking the idea of that at all.
“I asked if you’d noticed anything different out in the forest lately,” Rys repeated. “Syl thought he sensed something early this morning. He said it felt like he was being watched, but there was no scent trail, nothing that didn’t belong in the forest, anyway. And none of the others could find anything either.”
I swallowed thickly, Rys’s words bringing me back to the present in the worst way. “Syl felt someone watching him?”
“He said his hackles rose, his wolf sensingsomething, but he couldn’t be sure what, exactly.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t experienced anything like that.” Only Talis watching me from the treeline, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud. Clearly Talis hadn’t mentioned anything to Rys about our earlier talk, so I wasn’t going to bring it up.
I did have to talk to him about something else though.
He’d accepted me into his pack, afforded me the trust and protection that came with it, and I hadn’t offered him the same in return. And I should have.
I’d also promised Gabriel that he wouldn’t have to keep my secret for long.
“I’ve already spoken with Max,” Rys added, glancing at Gabriel. “And we agreed that for the next few days, at least, we’re going to step up guard duty in the forest. If there is anyone out there, we’ll find them,” he said, the edge in his voice raising the hairs on the back of my neck.
Rys’s alpha power didn’t affect me like it did the shifters in his pack, but I still felt the magic of it brush against my skin.
“Max and I will check the roads and houses bordering the pack territory,” Gabriel confirmed.
“I can stay here,” Dathal offered, and I immediately shook my head.
“No.” I held my hand up when it was obvious he was about to protest. “There’s a whole pack of shifters out there. Who the fuck is getting past that? Besides,” I added, “Lady Sarhin would be furious if she discovered you weren’t taking your joining pact seriously.”
His eyes narrowed, knowing I was right, and he had no comeback.
“I have my pack on round-the-clock watch in the forest,” Rys said. “Sasha will be moving back in here if that makes you feel better?”
“Yes,” Dathal answered for me.
I slumped back against the sofa, resigned to being babysat twenty-four seven and wondering if any of this would’ve been deemed necessary if they hadn’t found that slip of paper in Zh’alek’s cell. It had had my name on it in all capitals, and written underneath were the words that had sparked all this off.
Gatekeeper. Dark Forest Pack. Clumber Park.
They carried on talking amongst themselves as I zoned out.
If I managed to sort things out with Talis, maybe he could take Sasha’s place. Or was that rushing things? Maybe he wouldn’t want to be stuck here with me for that length of time? Maybe he’d had enough of my back and forth and would tell me thanks, but no thanks.
I needed to talk to him before the not knowing drove me insane.
“Is Talis at the main house?” I interrupted mid-conversation, and they all stared at me. “Sorry.”
“He, Syl, and Pen are patrolling the edge of our territory.” Rys’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
