Chapter 26
I needed a vacation. Well, okay, I was being dramatic, and honestly, the hiking thing, the less than an hour of hiking, hadn’t been too bad.
The issue was Steven, turning up in my day like a maggot in a piece of cake I’d just taken a big bite out of. I was starting to regret ever giving him a second look.
I blinked into the light when we finally got back to the werewolf house, which was definitely what I was going to call it from now on. Linc was behind me, and Ell had been nice enough to let me lean on him for the dicier parts of the walk.
“Ah, finally,” I said. “I’m really looking forward to that tea.”
Dom looked at me over his shoulder, sneezed as if he really were a dog, and ran off. Huh. Odd timing for him to be embarrassed about changing in front of me.
Linc appeared on my right. “That’ll be Smith. He works for me. I asked him to change your lock—the lock in your apartment, I mean. Just in case.”
He was rubbing his neck and looked kind of flustered.
“Who are we talking about?”
Ell woofed. I had no idea if that was the correct term, let alone what it was supposed to tell me.
“Oh.” Linc huffed. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I smelled him.” He pointed back to where Dom was trotting back toward us, a blond man following him. “That’s Smith.”
Well, Smith certainly was a hunky hunk. His hair and beard were short, and he wore slacks with a windbreaker and a tie poking out. It made him look like a federal agent character from a movie.
I very nearly jumped into Linc’s arms when, on my other side, Ell turned back into a human.
“Holy hotpants, bark before you do that!”
Linc chuckled and put his arm around me. “Wolves don’t really bark, you know?”
Ell, now looking all person-shaped, gave me a sheepish look. “Sorry. Linc, hand me my clothes?”
Linc tossed them over, and I tried not to stare as Ellis quickly put his shirt and pants back on. He didn’t even bother with the shoes.
That Smith guy stopped about two bike lengths in front of us and raised a hand. “Hi there. Marcus Waite, right? So nice to meet you. Boss.”
They exchanged one of those slightly hot, slightly macho nods.
“You got here okay?” Linc asked.
Smith nodded. “Yup, checked into the Hiker’s Lodge.” He looked at me. “I broke into your place and changed the lock. Was a piece of cake.”
Dom shook himself, and then of course he turned too. He was closer to Smith and right in my line of sight, and he had that wide, mischievous grin on his face that told me he wasn’t going to get dressed.
He cocked a brow. “Oh, sorry. Woof.”
I crossed my arms. “Very funny.”
Linc tossed Dom his bundle of clothes. “Put those on.”
Dom shrugged and did as he was told while Smith looked around. “You all went for a swim?”
“Unfortunately not.” Linc nudged me forward. “Let’s talk inside.”
About twenty minutes later, we were having coffee and tea at the big dining table in the former conservatory, with Smith, the sometimes burglar with the locksmith skills, sitting as far away from me as he could. Unlike Vi, he didn’t try to take his clothes off in front of me once.
I had my freshly made oolong in one hand and my new keys in the other, and for some reason, I was starving. There was a big tin of very healthy and organic nut cookies on the table, which Ell had already pushed within my reach when he’d seen me eye them.
“So you broke into my place,” I asked Smith. “And you’re also a werewolf.” I slurped more tea. Dom was getting really good at making it just right. “What color fur do you have?”
Smith laughed. He had a good laugh. It made him look less like a federal agent side character and more like the best friend you can party with side character.
“Chocolate brown. A bit like the boss’s.”
Dom put his elbow on the table. “You wish.”
Linc moved the cookies even closer to me. Had I looked at them again? Yup. There were three different kinds, and the one in the center had chocolate chips. I put the keys down and picked up one of those.
“Smith moved here with me. We used to belong to the same pack back in New Harbor,” Linc said.
I nodded. The cookies were really good. I put a bunch more on my plate.
Dom sighed. “We should’ve gotten some extra cinnamon buns. Really, that was my bad. I guess I can ask my sister-in-law for her fluffy coffee cake recipe to make up for that oversight.”
My mouth watered even while I was munching on the cookies. “Coffee cake?”
Dom grinned. “Let me go text her now.”
He walked away. That left Linc and Ell on either side of me.
Linc steepled his fingers in front of him. “I think we just ran into a group of hunters.”
Smith’s fun party bestie demeanor changed, and he went right back to the federal agent persona. “That a joke?”
“Afraid not.”
Ell put his arm around me. That was nice. I took another cookie from the tin.
Smith tapped a finger on the table. “Do you have an ID?”
Linc shook his head. “Dom might have an idea of their car. Marcus’s ex was with them, but they were…not exactly peas in a pod.”
Ell shifted in his chair. “We know the hunter or hunters were here first. They must’ve run into him, or vice versa. If we have group chats, hunters have them too.”
Linc nodded. “I agree.”
I swallowed and reached for another cookie. “You guys have group chats?”
“Pack elders always exchange information,” Ell said. “Dom, can you bring over the snacks we packed? I think Marcus is still hungry.”
I shrugged. “Was a long hike.”
Ell huffed and shook his head in amusement.
Smith took a swig from his coffee cup. “The area is good for hiking. With a guide, of course.”
“I don’t think we’re going to be doing any hiking while those guys are still in town.” Linc looked up when Dom came in with plates full of food. “Need any help?”
“All good,” Dom said, putting a plate on top of my used one that seemed to have a selection of everything—fruit and sandwiches.
I didn’t really care what was on there. I was just so hungry.
Had to be because I was recovering from that cold.
“Steven—that’s the ex—drives a Hyundai. Dunno which kind, but dark blue.
Smallish, typical city car. With the other guys, I don’t know.
I don’t make a habit of memorizing cars.
It was three people with him though. When we ran into them yesterday. ”
I nodded. “Right. Almost forgot.”
Smith picked up an apple slice from one of the plates Dom had spread out while Dom sat back down on my other side.
“What do you want me to do, boss? Look around town?”
Linc took a long swig of his own coffee. “Yes. I’ll let the A-Team know we need a full background check on the ex. Ell?”
“I’ll tell Vi. She’s not going to like this.”
Dom put a hand on my knee. “No one likes this.”
Smith took another apple slice. “We’re sure they didn’t come into town together though?”
Dom leaned forward. “Couldn’t have. I found the dead wolf when we found Marcus.” He frowned. “I wonder how she’s doing, you know?”
I stopped halfway through a pre-peeled mandarin orange. “Who? Vi?”
Dom snorted and looked at me. “No. Vi can take care of herself. When we found you… The dead wolf was a male, and I guess his mate tried to get me to help him.”
My mouth fell open. “You can talk to real wolves? Really?”
“No, Little Red. We can’t. But they’re smart. They know what we are. They stay out of our way, but I guess she was desperate, so she…came up to me. Then she showed me.” He shrugged. “I can understand that. Wanting to do anything for your mate.”
He wasn’t joking. He looked like he was actually feeling for that wolf, who couldn’t change but always was what he could be at will.
“Wolves—I mean, the real ones. They live in packs too, right?”
I brushed his shoulder, and he looked at me as if I’d given him a huge teddy bear at a fun fair.
“They do. I guess she’ll be fine.”
Smith, who’d been watching us, cleared his throat. “Boss, I’d like to take a look around if that’s okay with you? Just around the territory, and maybe where you ran into the hunters.”
Linc nodded. “They were across the river.”
Smith cocked his head. “Wolf territory.”
Linc turned his coffee cup in his hand. “That’s right. Try not to disturb them too much.”
“Will do.” Smith finished his coffee and got to his feet. “I’ll be on my way, then. Marcus, nice to meet you.”
He looked all fun again when he gave me a mock salute, and then Linc walked him to the door.
That left me with Ell and Dom.
“Looks like the picnic really would’ve been a good idea,” Ell said.
Dom sagged in his chair. “I liked the idea of getting Marcus wet a lot more.”
I cleared my throat, hyperaware that I’d already made it through more than half of my plate. “Look, hiking really makes you hungry. No, wait, nature does that. Isn’t that what everyone says? Or is it fresh air?”
Ell ran a hand over my back. That felt nice. “I’m not judging you, Marcus. Hey, we’ll still have that party. You don’t mind staying in, do you?”
My parties had never been about staying in. Grabbing a few cocktails with a few people and staying out till three in the morning was more like it, but clearly, such bacchanals were not an option out here in the wild.
But after seeing Steven again, the idea of just doing something quiet with these three was…kind of nice. The worst that could happen was that someone slapped my ass, and that just meant I’d get more chai latte.
“No, that’s fine. Let’s do it.”
Dom clapped his hands. “I know exactly how we’ll celebrate.”
I heard Linc groan back in the living room. Ominous.
Ell cleared his throat. “Marcus, please remember that you do not need to partake, and you can put a stop to it whenever you want.”
My eyes went wide. “Are you guys actually going to sacrifice to the goat-headed one?”
Dom laughed so hard he ended up wheezing.
“Worse,” Linc said. He’d walked back from the living room and was looking all kinds of sexy as he stood there with crossed arms. “Twister.”