One of her eyebrows hits the ceiling. “You can read my mind?”
“Why does everyone think I’ve become some kind of wolfy superhero? I wasn’t bitten by a radioactive moon.”
She leans in conspiratorially. “But really, can you?”
I bite my lip; the leather cover of this bench is getting sweaty under my hands. “Maybe. I haven’t really tried. I don’t really think I want to.”
Aisha mushes her lips together and squints like she’s thinking something over.
“Is it weird?” I ask.
She thinks for one more beat, then with certainty she says, “No, it’s not weird. It’s an amazing gift.”
I try to laugh but it comes out more like a sigh.
“And you know what they say about great power?” Aisha says, lightening her tone and nudging my arm.
“It comes with great responsibility?”
“Heck no! It comes with great clothes and medical insurance.”
Aisha is the best.
“Jasper invited me to the New Year’s party at the packhouse tomorrow. He said you’d be there.”
“Hold up. Jasper invited you to a party, but he doesn’t want anyone to know you’re together?”
“Yeah, that’s why I was hoping you’d be there.”
“Is Katie going?”
I tear at the corner of the cupcake box. When I asked Katie if she was going, she replied to say she was. The thing is, that was the only reply she’s sent to any of my texts since we got home.
“Yeah but she’ll probably be hanging out with Todd and Simon,” I half lie.
“I have a show that night,” Aisha says, and my shoulders drop. “But I’m coming after.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Okay, that’s amazing. So I’ll only have to pretend to fit in for a couple of hours. I just hope Clayton isn’t there.”
Aisha’s expression turns dark; she crosses her legs and shakes her head.
“He better not be.”
I raise a questioning brow.
She huffs. “Ever since he came back from the Rocky Pack, I’ve been hearing rumors about some of the shit he’s been saying. Some people think he’s trying to poison his parents against Jericho.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I dunno—to overthrow the alpha, maybe, so his daddy could take over the pack.”
This all seems like a lot for how casual Aisha is being. “Could that really happen?”
“I hope not. Jericho still has his allies. If he can keep them sweet, I’ve got to believe he’ll be fine. Plus, why anyone would listen to that slimeball, Clayton, is beyond me.”
Something has been tugging at the side of my brain, like a loose thread hanging from a shirt.
“Why do you hate him so much? I mean, I get that he’s the worst, but every time I mention him to you, you go all…storm-cloudy.”
