Chapter Two #2
And they had goats. Of course they did. They were currently being tempted away from the food by a young man in a college hoodie, who was talking to them like they understood him.
“I know, but we have guests,” he was saying.
“And unbelievable though it seems, not everyone wants a goat sharing their plate. Look, I’ll save you some of the good stuff. Come on, Chaos—just once, be good.”
Leon’s gaze snapped away from the goats and to the trees bordering the yard.
He felt the unmistakable prickle of being watched.
And he’d already moved, already reacted, damn it.
He adjusted his stance subtly, angling to put himself between the watcher and Luna, as he scanned the trees.
There was nothing to be seen except shadows and the slight ripple of leaves.
But the sensation remained, a low-level hum under his skin.
He looked around the wolves. Surely they’d feel it if someone hostile were on the territory. Even wolves weren’t that unaware. Matt returned his gaze for just a moment, and gave a slight nod, so slight Leon wondered if he’d imagined it. But he knew he hadn’t.
Somehow, Matt knew what he’d felt and was letting him know there was no reason to worry. Well, Leon would make up his own mind on that. But he did relax a little. Must be another pack member in the trees. Seemed improbable, though, because there was no way Leon would miss a wolf.
He concentrated on the wolves close to him, assessing them further.
As Luna moved slightly away from Leon, deep in conversation with Matt, Jesse sat on the porch steps, tearing at a bread roll like it had offended him personally.
Bryce was gesturing animatedly with a drink in one hand, making the tall, dark wolf beside him laugh helplessly.
Leon had taken particular notice of that dark wolf as he’d come over to them because, despite his calm exterior, he moved with ease and power.
Not one to be ignored, for all his equanimity.
Everyone was relaxed. Too relaxed.
Luna caught Leon’s gaze briefly and gave him a nod—permission to stand down, or at least ease off the internal alarms. He didn’t. He never did.
Matt’s voice was low but not secretive. Leon edged a little closer. He wasn’t eavesdropping, just information gathering. Urban wasn’t hiding his conversation with Luna from his pack, which told Leon a lot about how he ran things.
“...think we need more time to go over scenarios,” Matt was saying. “There’s too much to cover in an afternoon. If you’re willing to stay a couple of days, we can get some plans hammered out, just in case.”
“Makes sense,” Luna agreed. “If things go wrong, we’re going to need to move quickly. Leon?”
He raised his eyebrows to show he was listening.
“Find us somewhere to stay in town?” she asked.
The phone was barely out of his pocket before Matt spoke. “There’s no reason for you to spend time going back and forth. We’ll sort something out on-site.”
“There’s the spare bedroom in the house for Luna, and if Karl can move back in with Jason and Riley for the duration, that’d be enough space for, what—three, if they’re cozy? And if they don’t mind roughing it,” Bryce said.
“We’re cats. We don’t rough it,” Leon muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Luna to hear and level a quelling glance at him.
“We adapt,” she said smoothly. “And it makes sense to maximize time together. We’d be happy to stay.”
Leon definitely hadn’t agreed to this, and his cat was spitting somewhere deep inside at the prospect of actually living among wolves.
He tucked his hair behind his ear as he schooled his face into neutrality, wondering just how long it would take Luna and Matt to work through various scenarios and wargame their responses.
Looked like they’d be here a minimum of one night.
He sniffed in disapproval, which was about all he could do to let Luna know his feelings without alerting the wolves to them. She, of course, ignored him.
Turning his attention back to Jesse, he tried again to get a read on him. He was still curled loose-limbed on the steps, in a faded plaid shirt and jeans with shredded hems, and looked completely at ease.
But as Leon studied the line of his shoulders, the angle of his head, he revised his opinion. Something haunted lived behind that slouch. Or maybe he was just remembering the hoarseness of Jesse’s voice when he’d answered Luna’s question about where he came from.
“Got split up from my pack as a pup,” he’d said. “They’re gone now.” Then he’d shrugged, like that was all there was to it.
Not missing but gone. And no one said gone like that unless they meant dead. He didn’t understand what could have happened to an entire pack, but that scarcely mattered. What mattered was that it had happened.
Matt had taken Luna’s glass back into the kitchen for a refill, and Leon took advantage of his absence to move closer to Luna, even as he wondered at Matt’s action. It wasn’t a very alpha thing to do, getting her a drink himself rather than ordering one of his wolves around.
“Do you think Turner actually wants this?” he asked Luna softly. “All this attention, the legend treatment.”
Luna didn’t answer for a moment. Then, she said quietly, “I think he didn’t have a choice. So now, he’s trying to control the outcomes of the one made for him.”
Leon nodded slowly. He understood that far better than he liked.
Bryce appeared at his elbow, holding out a glass of something purple. “Hey, Catman. Want some of Jason’s famous berry soda? No actual wolves were harmed in the making of it.”
Leon stared at him, wondering why the hell this wolf thought he had the right to call him a nickname.
Bryce grinned. “That’s a joke. It’s a joke.”
Luna cleared her throat, just enough to remind him not to hiss at the damn wolf. With an effort, he bit back his annoyance and tried to be friendly. “You named one of your goats Chaos, and you expect me to find your sense of humor funny?”
“Technically, Tristan named the goats. I just lean into the brand.”
“Hard,” the tall, dark-haired wolf said dryly, slipping up beside them. “You’re scaring the guests, love. I’m Tom, by the way.”
“Pfft. They’re not scared. Just naturally suspicious, like cats always are.”
Leon raised an eyebrow. “You know we can hear you, right?”
“Yep,” Bryce said cheerfully. “Wouldn’t be fun if you couldn’t.”
Tom rolled his eyes but smiled. “Don’t mind him.”
Leon took a slow sip of the berry soda. It was sweet and cold, and somehow not awful.
He glanced around the yard again. A bunch of relaxed wolves and stressed-out cats, two smug goats that had somehow reappeared, and one scruffy, legendary wolf curled on the porch.
And that feeling again. Eyes on him.
He didn’t flinch. He just turned casually toward the trees, slow and deliberate, scanning shadows that didn’t move and branches that didn’t stir.
Nothing.
He turned back. But he knew someone was there.