She shrugged. “I decided I wanted to do what I loved.”
“Which is?” I prodded.
“I wanted to be an influencer,” she said, her eyes brightening and smile growing wider.
I stared at her, trying to figure out what the hell she meant by that. Influence what? Was that some sort of politician or something?
Tanya must have seen my confusion. Her face went red, and she put a hand to her head. “Oh, shit, sorry. I forgot you’ve, like, lived off the grid forever. An influencer is sort of like a marketer on social media. Posting fun and interesting videos, and if you do well, companies pay you to mention their products. It’s really tough to make money from it, but I’m doing all right.”
“Social media?” I frowned. “I’m not following. What is that?”
Her face went slack, and she stared at me as though I’d told her I didn’t know that fire was hot. Thankfully, the uncomfortable silence was broken by a knock at the door. Turning, I spotted Anders on the porch, an aloof look of boredom on his face. As much as I didn’t want to talk to him, I was grateful for anything that would get me out of the misery of this conversation.
“Oh, looks like your alpha is here,” I said apologetically. “I guess we’re done. It wasreallynice to meet you.”
“Uh, sure. Thanks.” I could see the disappointment on her face. We’d only spoken for five minutes, but that was long enough for me to mark her off my list of potential mates.
I led her to the door, and opened it. She stepped out and nodded to Anders.
“Tanya Melrose?” Anders said with a wicked grin. “Didn’t think I’d see you trying to get into Levi’s pants.”
Tanya blushed furiously as she hurried down the steps. “See you later. Nice to meet you, Levi.”
Anders had embarrassed her, apparently on purpose. That wasnotthe way an alpha should act toward his people. From my limited experience with the man, June’s description of him being a bully rang wholly true. I didnotlike him. It gutted me that June had left me for him, even if it had been partly my fault that she’d felt the need to leave in the first place. If I didn’t need him, I’d never have agreed to work with him.
“’Sup, big guy,” Anders said, strolling into the house before I even invited him. “Any luck finding a new piece of ass?”
Gritting my teeth, I closed the door. “Not as of yet.”
“Eh, I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.Lotsof available ladies in town. The arrangement ceremony scheduled for next year should have a hell of a lot of people slated for pairing. If you’re lucky, you’ll snatch one of the hot ones.”
“Is there a reason you’re here, Anders? I thought you were going to give me space to find my mate.”
“I am.” He leaned down to inspect a newspaper sitting on the counter. “Came by to give you a heads-up about something important that might be of interest to you, especially since you haven’t seemed to find your long-lost mate yet.”
“And that is?” I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms.
Anders gave me a cocky grin. “My and June’s mating ceremony. We’ve started planning it.”
If he was hoping to get a rise out of me, I was the wrong guy to play that game with. Did I loathe the idea of June being this man’s mate? Of course, but I wasn’t going to give him the enjoyment of seeing my discomfort or anger.
Instead of reacting, I simply nodded, and said, “Okay. What does that have to do with me?”
Anders appeared a little taken aback that I hadn’t given him the reaction he wanted. He frowned and went back to scanning the newspaper.
“It concerns you because it’ll help you widen your net.”
“Go on.” I wasn’t sure where this was going.
Straightening, Anders shrugged. “I want the ceremony to be a big deal,” he explained. “You and I have decided to form an alliance, but I’m still a little worried about this Red Maw threat. I’m looking to expand that alliance to other packs. Part of my initial attempt at that will be to invite several of those packs to the ceremony. I’ve tasked June with planning it, and I’m going to send her a whole list of things I want. This is going to bethepremier shifter event in the state. Tons of people.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Lots of ladies from surrounding packs will be in town that week. Lots of options for the big bad wolf, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t want to admit that he was right, but my heart leapt at the idea of dozens of other women being in town. More chances to find Naphele’s reincarnation and try to put my heartbreak over June behind me. It was actually more than I could have hoped for.
“I’m intrigued,” I admitted grudgingly.
“Thought you might be.” Anders moved to the door. “I’ll send word when we have the official date. I think most of the other packs have online forums where you can put the word out for them like you did here. You should have lots of hot tail swinging through here looking to latch onto a famous alpha.”
“I’m sure that will work,” I said, doing my best not to glare at the other man. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
