Raven was cooking dinner in the kitchen when I walked in. I immediately felt guilty. She’d made breakfast for all of us, and now she was cooking, too. “Don’t worry,” she said, closing the oven. As if she was reading my mind, she explained, “I’m just heating up some of the leftover casseroles.”
“Oh, good,” I said, glad s
I continued to stare at my pack members for a few minutes, waiting for someone to say something about my proposal that we add more wolves to the pack. When no one did, I finally said, “I guess you guys think it’s a bad idea?”There were a few glances exchanged among them, as if they were trying to decide who should speak up. I wasn’t surprised when
Sitting on the swing with Ben was calming. I hadn’t realized how tense I’d become discussing the future with the pack until we sat down together, and Ben began to slowly push the swing back and forth, back and forth, creating a steady rhythm that might’ve lolled me to sleep if I’d closed my eyes.“How was work?” I asked Ben, deciding I n
I couldn’t tell if Sam’s expression was frustration or anger as he stood there with his arms crossed, blocking me from going up the stairs. “What’s the matter?” I asked him.When he shook his head, his dark curls danced, making me want to reach up and run my fingers through them, but I didn’t know if that would be a welcomed gesture at t
It might’ve done me well to go out to the woods to get myself together, but I didn’t. Instead, I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling, until I decided to go to sleep. I hadn’t heard Sam or Ben come back into the house, and not long after I closed my eyes, I heard their howls, along with a few others, fill the night air.Despite my unsettled thoughts, I m
It was the feel of Sam’s lips on my skin that woke me in the morning. When I opened my eyes, the sunlight was streaming into my bedroom through the window, and his arms were still around me, his lips gently peppering soft kisses along my neck and shoulder. It felt so nice, I didn’t want him to know I was awake for fear he might stop.I couldn’t fool him,
For the next few weeks, I spent a lot of time in the forest, trying to figure out whether or not Sam’s concern that I had imprinted on Ben, and he on me, was true. While I felt more at peace when I was in the forest, more empowered, I didn’t feel like this was something the forest wanted me to be concerned with at the moment. She continued to steer me in the direction of enlarging the house, growing the pack, and forcing Verina out of the woods.
The two strangers in front of me, the same individuals I’d seen in California in their wolf forms in my back yard that had caused us to have to leave to come to Montana, looked just as menacing as humans as they did as wolves. The girl had short, dark hair, wild with curls, and narrow eyes. She was tall and muscular. She wore the same sort of outfit Raven had when she shifted, and honestly, they looked a little similar, though I wasn’t about to declare they were related. The male was even taller than her, with broad shoulders, though not as muscular as Sam, and shoulder-length, dirty blond hair that fell in uneven waves. He was scruffy even as a human.
After a dinner of stew, which Raven had put on hours ago, with plenty for all of us, including our visitors, When we were all done, and the dishes were clear, we gathered in the living room. I was hopeful Everly and Ronin would tell us about my dad. Over dinner, they’d chatted about how they spent most of their time traveling in their wolf forms from forest to forest, never staying in any one place very long. They said there were a few other members of their pack still out there, but not many, and most had given up on their wolves long ago, trying to blend into regular society. The other shifters at the table, my wolves, had made faces at that, and I got the impression it must b