“Oh, no. I’ve got it. It’s no big?—”
“Wow.” Anders let out a hearty laugh as he looked into the box. “Dirty Sexy Nights in Morocco? A Duke’s Mistress?This looks like some spicy stuff. Mrs. Hollis, you surprise me. I like the way your store is branching out.”
Gran’s face went red, and she hurried over to glance into the box, clamping her hand to her mouth as she saw the covers. “Oh, goodness. I didn’t realize… Well, I suppose they’ll sell regardless. Dear, maybe we shouldn’t put them in the window display. Maybe tuck them in the corner over there?”
“Sure, Gran,” I said, hauling the box to the opposite end of the store. Anders followed. “So, what brings you by?” I asked, giving him my most winning smile—at least, that’s what I hoped it looked like.
Anders took the box from me and put it down on the counter. He leaned his hip against it and crossed his arms. He glanced toward Gran. She had her back toward us as she worked on a display by the cash register. Once he saw she wasn’t looking, the smile fled from his face, and his eyes turned dark and menacing.
A chill crept up my spine, and it was all I could do not to take a step back.
“I came to let you know we’ve got a big meeting,” Anders said, keeping his voice low. “I need you ready,” he added, his attitude completely different from what he’d shown around Gran.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, unsure why he was being like this.
He let out a derisive snort and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “Holy fucking shit. Yeah, you could say that.”
“Are you mad about this meeting? What’s it about, anyway?” I still tried to be as calm and easygoing as I could.
“It’s a diplomatic group.” He shrugged and glanced toward Gran again before leaning in close. “Did you and Leviathan fuck?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Did you fuck him?” He stared at me, fire flashing in his eyes.
There was no way I could tell him the truth. All I’d allowed Anders in the three weeks since I’d returned to Idlewild as his mate were kisses—I’d let him touch my breast through my shirtonetime, and even that had been too much. Though, I’d slept with Levi after only a few days. A flash of memory flickered into my mind.Levi, his hands grasping my hips, his face a mask of carnal bliss, slamming his hips against me.
Shoving that thought away, I realized that tidbit of information wouldn’t go over well. Instead of answering the question directly, I decided to tell the truth, but in a roundabout way.
“I went to Levi to learn to shift, Anders. That’s the whole reason I left Idlewild,” I said. It was the truth, and it would hopefully alter the trajectory of the conversation away from more…uncomfortabletruths.
Anders snorted and shook his head. “Well, what was the guy like, anyway? Was he a strong alpha? Real hard-ass?”
A hard-ass? I guess he could be, but from what I’d seen, Levi led the pack with kindness and honor rather than fear and strength.
“Uh, he was kind of scary,” I said. That part was true. I thought about the way he’d fought off and killed those Red Maw men who’d chased me. Levi was scary as fuck when he was angry—possibly the scariest person I’d ever seen.
Shrugging, Ander glanced out the window. “Yeah. Whatever. Big bad Demon Wolf. Probably a pussy in a real fight.”
Why was he asking about Levi? Had Eugenia told him that Levi and I had been together? Maybe that was why he was pressing so hard for us to have sex? He wanted to, like, reclaim me or something?
“Look, Anders, Levi is old news. There’s no reason to worry about him,” I said.
“Worry?” His face twisted with disgust and he snorted a laugh. “Not a chance, babe. Anyway, be ready for the delegation. We’ll be meeting at my place.” He checked his watch. “They should be here in about three hours. See you then?”
“Sure. Yeah,” I said, thrown by the way he was acting and the weird line of questioning. “I’ll be there early, okay?”
“Good.” He pushed away from the counter and headed for the door. “See you then.” He raised a hand, plastering the smile back on his face, and called to Gran. “Bye, Mrs. Hollis. Have a good day.”
“Goodbye, Anders, dear,” Gran said, waving back.
The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur as I helped Gran with the store, then my grandfather to change lightbulbs there and upstairs in our home. I hated watching him climb ladders at his age, and so I took over doing most of that work. Anotherreason I was happy to be home. I hated to think of what might have happened had I never been able to return.
Once that was done, I headed up to get ready for the meeting at Anders’s place. While I showered and dressed, I wondered about the diplomats Anders was hosting. Shifters from a nearby pack? Maybe humans? Or was he trying to make allies with other shifters farther away? Anders had always been power hungry, and it was an open secret he wanted to increase Idlewild’s strength and influence, which meant any of those options were on the table.
As I dried my hair, I gazed out the window at the street below. My grandparents’ shop was on the bottom level of a three-story building. The upper levels were the living quarters. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the top floor, and the kitchen and living room on the middle floor. It was small, but it had always worked for us. After my parents died, my grandparents had brought me here and raised me. It was much different from the only other place I’d lived in for any length of time. Hidden Grove. That bunkhouse in that tiny, secret village had been austere, but also somehow cozy, warm, and comforting. Strange to think back on that now. Being back in Idlewild made my time there seem a bit dreamlike and unreal.
After changing into fresh clothes, I headed out to Anders’s place, again shifting and running. The enjoyment, the awe, from this transformation hadn’t faded yet. Every time I did it, I was exhilarated. Melding my human and wolf sides like this was liberating. It made me wonder how I ever lived without it. Being a full shifter had already become such an intrinsic part of me that I could barely remembernotbeing able to do it.
