Chapter 8

Perrin

“Hey there, beautiful!”

She was wearing sunglasses, outside in some sunny courtyard. Then sun was setting though, and her skin practically glowed in the dusk of early evening.

“Hey handsome,” she said, her smile wide and genuine. My heart practically leapt at the sight of her.

“How was your day?”

She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and adjusted the phone, which I believed to be sitting on some type of table in front of her. “Busy. Between the late flight and the early start, I’m pooped.” She went on to tell me about her day, how she and Gia had gone out to breakfast after her mother had left a note on the counter for her, saying that she’d be gone for the day.

“What’s that about?” I asked.

She shrugged. “No clue. She barely gave me a hug when I got back last night.”

“Do you think she’s avoiding you?”

“Most likely. That and from the inquisition she knows I’m going to give her.”

“Go easy on her, won’t you?” I chided, knowing full well she wouldn’t.

She lowered her sunglasses to look me straight in the face. “You’re kidding, right?”

“She’s still your mom,” I said. “She’s just looking out for you.”

“By dating a sadistic, meddling creep!” She squealed.

I had to laugh. “Yea, you’re right.”

“I’m supposed to have lunch with her tomorrow, so we’ll see. But I don’t want to talk about that right now. How was your day?”

I sighed before launching into a recollection of my own, sharing everything I could remember. Her eyes widened as she digested it all, gasping at all the right points to my story.

“Poor Marge!” she said. “I should send her a care package. Do you remember what types of cookies she likes?”

I tried not to roll my eyes. I had just told her about a possible assassination attempt against my father and she was concerned about sending cookies to the librarian. But I laughed instinctively; it wasn’t because she didn’t care about my father. It was because she recognized that Marge was in a place of need, and didn’t have the same type of support that the Alpha did. That kind of perspective was just one of the reasons that I loved her.

“So you really think Nael is behind it?” She asked, returning to the larger problem.

“We’re not sure. We’re trying to figure out if Nael or Jesamine may be involved.”

Lo’s lips pursed and tucked to the side, lost in thought. “What about the Ididorahds?”

She had a point. We hadn’t discussed it earlier, having jumped to the immediate conclusion of my ex-girlfriend or her father, intent to extrapolate on the most likely culprits. “Justin was telling the truth about Brad, you know.”

“About him working with Nael?”

“Yes. Although, there could be more to it.” She flicked her sunglasses up into her hair, pulling it back from her face. The sun had set now, casting her in a light orange glow.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw some stuff on his desk when I was there the other night. I was trying to find the keys after Justin and I had been waiting for–”

She didn’t need to finish that sentence. I felt the instinctive lump in my throat growing at the thought of her thinking I had been exiled. “Waiting for you,” she said, a little tensely. “Anyway, I was getting the keys on his desk and there were messages on his voicemail machine.”

I was surprised. “Lo! Did you listen to his messages?”

She turned slightly pink, as if embarrassed. “Would you think I’m terrible if I told you that I had?”

“No, not at all!” I said, eager to hear. 

“I feel a little guilty about it. But everything that he had done, between Justin and Gowan–I was just trying to help–”

“Lo! Lo, calm down. I’m not mad at all. He’s public enemy number one as far as I’m concerned. I’m glad you listened to the messages. I’ll take any lead we can get.”

She seemed to brighten a little at that. “Well, I definitely heard a message; the voice was Brad’s for sure. But I can’t tell you who the others were.”

“Others?”

“Yes. There were three or four messages and they all confirmed a meeting of some kind.”

“A meeting? Did it say what for?”

“No, but it could have been the one at the archive, right?” She said, a little excitedly now.

“Did it actually say it was at the archive?”

“No, but it could have been,” she said, thoughtfully. It was set for yesterday though, so that’s something.”

“Did it specify a time?”

She paused, trying to remember and replaying the message over in her mind. “No, I don’t think so.”

I paused, my father’s voice of reason kicking in. “We can’t just find evidence and make it fit the puzzle,” I said evenly. “Not to deter you or think that you’re wrong. It just seems like a stretch, right? He could have been making arrangements for his return to Texas.”

Lo paused, then smiled excitedly. “Perrin, when did you banish Nael?”

“The morning after the Sacred Call, why? Justin agreed to deliver the message. You were there, remember?”

She cocked an eyebrow and folded her arms. “That’s what you call an agreement?”

“That’s not the point,” I said dismissively. “Why do you ask?”

“Why would Nael make an appointment for a date when he wasn’t still in town?”

I considered this. “Because he didn’t know he was going to be exiled?”

She slapped the picnic table she had been sitting at. A flutter of birds in the background of the courtyard scattered at the noise. 

“Of course! He was supposed to be there! And he was the one who didn’t show up, don’t you get it?”

I nodded, eager not to get too excited, but it all made sense. “I’ll have to tell Mark and my father.

“And Kira,” she said. “Don’t forget your Beta.”

“Yea yea yea,” I said, but then a jolt of guilt as I considered my visit with Jack. “Kira needs to learn some boundaries,” I added, redirecting the conversation. 

“Boundaries?” Lo laughed. “You and Ethan had no boundaries.”

“Except our sex lives,” I grinned.

Lo grinned back. “That better be a boundary. What happens in the bedroom is between you, me, and the sheets.”

My smile widened. “Or the stacks. Or the shower.”

She blushed, and it made my chest swell to see it. “I miss you,” she said. There was no mistaking the longing in her voice, and I felt a tug on the inside that had nothing to do with my sexual attraction to her. 

“Me too,” I said. “This is going to suck.”

“It’s not that long,” she said, trying to reassure both of us.

We sat in silence, just taking in the view of the other on our phones. It wasn’t enough. This was never going to be enough. And I had a sudden appreciation for Ethan’s momentary dilemma after having mated with Justin about whether or not to live apart. He would never have lasted. Not if it was anything like this.

We moved the conversation to easier, lighter topics. I just wanted to hear her laugh. Goddess, I missed her.

“How’s it going with Kira?” Lo finally asked.

I hadn’t gotten to the part about my visits to Jack, Thomas, or Gowan. Goddess, how could so much have happened in a day? I needed Lo there, by my side. I glanced at my watch, aware that we had been on the phone for almost an hour. It was getting dark now, her face dimly lit in the dusk of the Texas sky. 

“Remember what I said about boundaries?” I asked.

Lo’s forehead creased with lines. “What is it?”

I sighed, then launched into the story about how she had embarrassed me in front of Thomas. “She was practically drooling on him, Lo! He was such a good sport about it and at first I thought he was just being a good guy because of our alliance but now I just don’t know. Maybe he thinks I’m crazy and my Beta’s crazy and all of this is just completely nuts. She can’t go salivating after every pack leadership member she comes across.”

Lo had crossed her legs on her chair, listening intently.

“I know that she’s probably still upset about Justin and Ethan to some extent. Maybe she just needs to find somebody, I don’t know. But I don’t need her looking at every man in her life like some type of thirst trap. 

Lo scratched at her nose, continuing to listen.

“She needs to take Beta seriously. It’s not that much to ask, is it?”

Lo looked calmly at me, waiting for me to finish.

“What?” I asked her. There was something in the way she looked at me, something too knowing. 

“Perrin, what’s this really about?”

And there it was. Lo, reading through all of it and seeing the forest through the trees. I sighed.

“Apparently you already know.”

“Yes, but pretend that I don’t.”

I didn’t mind being admonished by her. She really helped though. She didn’t lecture, didn’t prod. But made me a man that owned my emotions. I was going to have to start getting used to that.

“I already lost one of the twins to another pack,” I mumbled. “I can’t lose another one.”

She smiled softly, in partial sympathy and understanding. “Kira’ snot going to leave you, you know that, right?”

“Then why get all hot and bothered over Thomas?”

“Perrin, I wasn’t the first she-wolf you slept with. And Kira’s been through a lot.”

I thought about what Kira had said in the hallway; the implied pressure and changes she had been through in the last few months. As usual, Lo was more right than she knew.

“So you’re saying she needs to…” I didn’t want to say it out loud.

“She needs to be able to let off some steam,” Lo said gently, though there was a knowing twinkle in her eye. “You deal with pressure in your own way, and we both know how much it helps us, too.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I had rarely slept better than after a night with Lo in my arms. 

“Give her a break, Perrin. Letting her get some extra curricular physical activity isn’t the worst thing in the world.”

I grinned. “Is that what we’re calling it now? Extra curricular physical activity?”

“Yes,” she grinned. “If you want.”

“I’d like to engage in some right now,” I said, my voice lowering. I could feel the blood rushing to my hips, and saw the distinct pink of Lo’s cheeks at the suggestion.

“Perrin!” she squeaked, her voice a poor attempt at a whisper. “I’m in public!”

“That’s a shame,” I said, and I meant it. “I would love nothing more than to try a little video foreplay right now.”

Her blush deepened, despite the darkening evening.

“I’m going to turn in early,” she said, standing and taking the phone with her. “I think you should, too.”

“I’m already in bed,” I said, lowering the phone suggestively down my body.

She laughed, covering up the phone with her hand.

“Later this week, ok? I promise.”