Emily was extremely aware of the wolf sitting beside her. She couldn’t fathom what he was thinking, and this disturbed her more because she couldn’t think of a response to what he’d say. So, it was silent much of the way back.
“Do you think Janine might have left the keys deliberately in the car to strand us there last night?” That wasn’t what Emily thought he’d lead off with, but it was something she guessed.
“She does that every so often. Mostly when her mind’s tied up with worrying about something important. I wouldn’t see anything more than that in her actions.” Emily would not tell him that Janine used her flighty nature as smoke and mirrors for her true motives. Now Emily questioned what Janine said to her. This was exhausting.
“I hope the boy straightens out and does right by you and your pack.”
“It won’t be my pack much longer. I’m stuck between a rock
It was nearly lunchtime where Thomas lived. He should be awake by now. He’ll also be well and truly hungover. Asia would not allow this to stop her, and he’d learn not to repeat this later in their relationship. The phone rang, and she heard Thomas’ annoyed and pained growl. “What?!”With a satisfied smile on her face, she looked out into the early evening. “Well, hello to you too, future mate. Glad to see you made it through the night.” She was ready with a copy of the phone call, all set to email to him. Just in case he didn’t remember what he agreed to. “What...? Who...? Asia, is that you? What are you talking about?” “Dear, check your email and play the audio clip attached to th
Haden waited for the others to come down for dinner. However, no one else came down tonight for dinner but Janine. For Haden, this tied in perfectly with his plans. He’d spoken with James earlier and they’d agreed if they could save the old packhouse and build a proper road into it. They’d take it further and go into the private resort business. This would be a location for only wolf shifters. It’d be a project that would take years to get off the ground, but he needed to know where Janine stood on it. For she must be her pack’s representative. “Well, it’s just the two of us here for dinner. Eva and Damon are eating alone tonight to come to an agreement about their possible mating. James and Emily aren’t speaking currently. That I don’t see lasting long.” 
Emily and James finally pulled into the front yard of the packhouse. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a more welcome place than this. Ugh. Was James correct? Was this still her home? “Okay, we’re back. I’ll promise to think about what you said if we don’t talk about it again. This is hard enough and humiliating.” “It doesn’t have to be. Everyone’s made mistakes. It’s just time for everyone to take ownership of their part of it. You can do it.” Haden climbed out of the SUV, leaving Emily sitting there, and went to talk with Janine. Emily snatched the keys from the SUV and got out. Looking back, she watched James stalk to her. “We need to talk now. I just got a call from Alpha Th
Thomas struggled to plan. His mind, however, made other plans. It decidedly wanted to stay firmly in the past and run rings around the memories of the last meeting with Asia. It was a frustrating struggle. He now ran through these memories, but this time he struggled with second guessing himself and his life choices. Yes, they were mates, however, they’d not spent enough time together to go beyond recognizing it. He’d run from it and now, looking back, he wondered if he’d taken the cowardly way out. Using the pack as an excuse not to negotiate a better deal with Asia. Something they could both live with. Right now, he understood he survived rather than living. He rarely found enjoyment in anything, and it all started after walking away from Asia and any chance at a real mating. He’d never found an interest in a contract mating either. So here he sat alone in his office, regretting everyt
James noticed Damon and Eva entering the packhouse from the kitchen. Eva ran to James and hugged him as she squealed. Damon, however, glowered at James as she did that. James held his hands out away from her body and she backed off in confusion. “James, I was going to say that I’m happy you’re okay. But now I’m confused. What’s with your hands? You usually hug me as soon as you see me. What’s changed?”“I could ask you that if I didn’t smell him on you. If that’s not enough to mind where my hands go. The thunder cloud that’s his face tells the rest of the story.” James pointed at Damon. “I’ve got enough issues to take up with him. We don’t need a battle royale going on in the house right now.”“Yeah, we have things to talk about. Like, why do you smell like Emily? Touching Eva is a whole new issue
Eva poked about the packhouse and found Emily in the backroom she used to get away from everyone. “Is it that bad of a day that you’re already hiding in this room?” Emily turned and dropped the book she was writing in. “Eva! You’re back! I heard you were stuck at the lake house. When did you get here?” “I came up here straight from the car as soon as we got here. What is going on around here? I come home and everything is upside down. Care to enlighten me on what’s going on?” Eva settled on the sofa under the window. “Your guess is as good as any. Hm… I’m not sure where exactly it all started, but Damon,
After spending some time with Emily, Eva received a text message from James asking her to come to his office so they could talk. Nothing odd about that. Nope, well, nothing odder than the current drama of musical mates and social blunders. How does one tell their alpha they messed their lives on an epic scale? Or that the mistake they made damaged the lives of several others within the pack he’d sworn to protect and others outside of the pack. This wouldn’t go away with a decree and a wave of a hand. Eva entered his office. If this were a friendly visit, it wouldn’t be in the office. So, this was business or drama. She figured the latter by the way he paced distractedly about the room. “Hi. I got your message. What’s up?” She let the door close quietly behind her before she spoke. Eva noticed he k
“Hey, can we talk?” Damon stood at the doorway to Emily’s sanctuary. His hands in his pocket as he waited to hear her response. He watched the floor before looking up at her again. This wasn’t the self-confident man that talked to her for days on end during the summit. “Yeah, come in and have a seat. I guess it’s time we talked about what’s happening.” Damon could hear the regret in her voice. He’d found the time to think about this, and he expected she’d done the same. His mate was her friend, and both would hate it if he alienated them from each other by throwing blame on anyone. It was all a complicated mess, and someone needed to pull the sane card in this game of insanity. “Thanks. Be