“Yes,” Mom says to the ground. “We’re delighted to be invited.”
“Please,” Jericho booms, his voice cutting through the music. “There is no need for such formalities.”
Mom and Dad return to their upright positions and Jericho slaps a hand on my shoulder, knocking the wind out of me.
“After all,” he continues, “we’re family now.”
“So gracious,” Mom says in awe, then slaps Dad’s chest with the back of her hand. “Isn’t he gracious?”
“Uh, yes, very,” Dad says, about as bemused as I am at how Mom is staring at the alpha.
“I must apologize for the vandalism done to your property,” Jericho says, unbothered, clearly used to being stared at.
“It needed a new paint job anyway,” Mom says, giggling.
“We are working on finding the culprit and mending the cracks within our pack that would allow such distasteful actions to occur.” Jericho’s grip on my shoulder tightens. “Max will be very important to the future of the pack. I’m glad he has parents like you to guide him. We’re all very lucky.”
“Well, we’re very proud,” Mom says. “And Jasper seems like a lovely boy.”
“Yes,” Dad agrees. “A little high-strung maybe.”
This time it’s Mom who elbows Dad in the ribs, only she’s not as gentle.
“Oof, I mean—that is to say”—Dad stumbles over his words—“he takes his role very seriously.”
Jericho waits a beat, nodding ever so subtly. “He does. Now my daughter is around here somewhere. If you’ll excuse me I need to make sure she hasn’t gotten to the cake before it’s been cut.”
“Yes of course,” Mom says, almost curtsying again but stopping herself and instead shooting the alpha her most winning smile.
Once Jericho is gone they both breathe a huge sigh of relief.
“He’s very impressive,” Mom says, fanning herself, while Dad rubs the back of his neck the same way I do. Guess that’s where that comes from.
“He cuts quite the figure,” Dad says. Is he a little red in the face as well?
Now that that minute of torture is done I really need to find Jasper. “Are you guys fine if I go?”
They nod and encourage me to enjoy the party. “We’re fine,” Mom says, in a way that makes me thinkI’mthe one crampingtheirstyle.Okay you two, have fun, don’t get into too much trouble.
As I search the party for Jasper the noise presses in harder and more aggressively than before. My head swims and my legs are unsteady. I climb the stairs, assuming Jasper must have slipped onto the next floor while I was talking with my folks. By the time I reach the top I’m out of breath and dizzy. I grit my teeth and swallow back a wave of nausea. Then my eye catches on a familiar face—a long, slender nose, a wide forehead, an impressive swoop of formerly blond hair now turned gray—and the pain hits me like an ice pick.
Walter Bridgers is standing across the room talking to Stefan and Maria Lykos, one hand tucked into the pocket of his suit trousers, the other clasped between two buttons of his waistcoat. He has a snide upturn in the corners of his mouth, a smug, entitled grin that looks too much like his son’s.
Why is he here? I assumed after what Clayton did his whole family would have been demoted or excommunicated.
Why is the father of my attacker at Jasper’s birthday party?
LET THEM EAT CAKE
Walter Bridgers throws his head back and laughs.At least someone is enjoying the party.
My hands clench into fists and for a moment I think I’m going to storm across the dance floor, interrupt his conversation, and tell the smarmy douche exactly what I think, but just then the doors to the patio slide open and Tobias Volk enters the room.
“Excuse me, Ladies and Gentlewolves,” he proclaims, his handlebar mustache wriggling like a caterpillar and his nasal voice piercing through the hubbub. “If you would please join me outside, we would like to celebrate the birth of our future alpha with you.”
With a grand gesture he steps aside and ushers people outside. The crowd begins to flood through the doors. Already people are streaming up the stairs.
“Max!” Jodie is among the stream of wolves ascending from the ground floor, her two friends, also in dresses that would fit in at a human quinceañera, on either side of her. “What are doing just standing there?”
