“What are those kids singing?” Miles’s voice rumbled behind her. He held out a plate piled high with ribs, and she took it and handed it to Naomi.
“Ignore them. There’s a strong streak of insanity running through that family,” she said.
“But they’reyourfamily,” Miles pointed out.
“Yes, exactly, so you should be careful,” Dakota said. “I might snap and run amok at any moment.”
Miles smiled. “Please call me when you do. I want to watch.” And he walked away again, heading back to the crowd by the grills.
Dakota took a swig from an ice-cold soda and half-twisted around to watch him.
Miles stood with his back to her, talking to his packmates. Anders handed him a beer, and he took it and stood there chatting with him. The minutes dragged by.
She remembered that she had food sitting in front of her, and reluctantly reached out and picked up a rib. She chewed it but barely tasted it.
What was wrong with her, anyway? She’d told him to stop hitting on her and leave her be, and he had. And now she was annoyed.
And a woman was talking to him. A woman who wasn’t a member of the pack. A woman who was tilting her head to the side and giggling at him and stroking his biceps. A woman who would look much better if her head were separated from her body.
“You don’t like the ribs?” Naomi asked her, looking puzzled.
Dakota started at Naomi. “Of course I do. Why?”
“You’re glaring like they’re the worst thing you ever—” Naomi followed Dakota’s stare. Miles was walking away from the woman, but she was following him, still talking to him. “Oh. I see.”
“You see nothing.” Dakota scowled and glanced around. “By the way, here’s Sailor, Sarah, Mary… Why are there only three cubs with us?” she asked. “Why are we missing a cub?”
Across the clearing, Miles was walking away from the female, who was following him and tugging on his arm with a pout on her face. Miles shook her arm off. She tried to grab at him again, when John, in cub form, sailed through the air, landed at her feet, and latched on to her ankle. She screamed and shook her leg, trying to kick him off.
Dakota ran over and grabbed at John as the woman kicked at him and swore. Naomi was right behind her.
John dodged away from Dakota and crouched low, snarling.
“My ankle is bleeding! That’s going to take hours to heal! He ruined my pants!” the woman wailed.
“He’s a cub, you’re a shifter. Deal with it,” Dakota said scornfully.
The woman tried to kick John again as he snarled at her, and Naomi jumped in front of her before she could respond.
“If you try to kick him again, I will chew your face off,” Naomi snapped.
“Go, Naomi ! You even scaredme,” Dakota said admiringly as the woman whimpered and cringed away from her.
Naomi picked up John the cub and scowled at his furry little face. “Do not bite that woman again,” she said. “You don’t know where that leg’s been. You could get food poisoning.” He stuck his tongue out at her, which looked adorable since he was still in cub form. And she carried him off, heading back to their seats.
Miles put his arm around Dakota’s shoulders. “Will you please come sit down and eat dinner with me? I get that you’re rejecting my sexual advances – well, no, I don’t really understand, because I’d be amazing. But anyway. If you leave me all by my lonesome, then these annoying women will keep hitting on me, and I’m not in the mood.”
“She can hear you,” Dakota observed, inclining her head at the woman, who was glaring at Miles now.
“I know.” Miles grinned fiercely. He looked into her eyes. “Please help me. I’m so afraid. You’re not going to leave me alone and unprotected, are you?”
Despite herself, Dakota burst into laughter. “Fine,” she said. “On occasion, you are somewhat charming. And I could never forgive myself if you were hurt because I wasn’t here to protect you.”
She let him lead her over to a couple of chairs that were set apart from the rest of the group, and Anders walked up to them with a plate full of ribs.
Normally, Dakota felt awkward enough just eating in front of a guy, much less eating something messy. For some reason, with Miles, she found herself completely at ease. He made her laugh. He didn’t make her feel judged at all.
She loved the way he looked at her. The gleam of arousal in his eyes…it was genuine. All these women flitting around him, and he’d chased them away and chosen her. He’d done that without knowing who she really was, or how much power and money was connected to her name and her lineage.
