Chapter 19
Delilah wasn”t sure, exactly, why she’d decided to accept Ben”s offer and meet some of the other pride members. Pride members, he”d called them. She still didn”t quite believe any of this, despite what she had just seen.
The truth was, she had been nursing a tiny crush on Ben—a crush she had barely admitted to herself before she’d suddenly watched him turn into a mountain lion.
Ben told her he was taking her to Hart’s, the “best bar in Belnedge.” While he texted people, inviting them out, Delilah looked through her clothing options. Should she dress up? No, she had been to Hart’s once before, with Chase. Some people dressed up, sure, but it wasn”t necessary. She found her old favorite jeans in the bottom drawer of Chase’s dresser. She had unpacked a few things, even though she knew she shouldn’t make herself too much at home here. The bottom drawer was the one where she had put everything she didn”t plan on actually wearing.
The jeans had been her favorite before she’d gotten pregnant. Would they still fit her? She looked at them doubtfully. If she tried and they didn”t fit, she might cry.
But she was brave. She had just seen a man turn into a mountain lion, sure, and she had fainted. So maybe she wasn”t super brave, but she wasn”t going to be scared of a pair of pants.
She stripped down to her underwear and tried to pull them on.
They came up around her hips, and she could just barely button and zip them. Dammit. She could wear them, but she’d be uncomfortable for the whole evening.
”You ready?” Ben knocked on her door.
”No, don”t come in,” she said in a panic.
”I”m not, I”m not. You know you don”t have to dress up, right? I was just kidding about this being the best bar.”
”Yeah, I know.” She scrambled out of the jeans and listened for Ben”s footsteps to go back down the hall. Once she was sure he wasn”t listening in, she glared at the crumpled denim on the floor and pointed a finger at it. ”One day soon, I will wear you again.”
She found some black leggings and a dark green sleeveless dress. She didn”t usually wear a lot of makeup, but she spent some time on her eyes. If she was going to be meeting people—shifter people—she wanted to make the best impression possible. Strange as the idea was, this was McKenzie”s family. Delilah would need to make an effort for McKenzie”s sake.
She came out of the bedroom to see Ben waiting for her near the front door. He barely seemed to glance at her, and she had to shove aside her disappointment. The disappointment was a clue, though. She wasn”t just trying to impress Ben”s friends, she had wanted to look good for Ben. She felt a flash of irritation with herself.
He held the door open for her, but as she stepped outside, he reached for her arm. The unexpected touch sent a shock through her system and she looked up at his face.
He stared intently down at her. ”You okay?”
”Of course.”
He stepped closer to her and inhaled deeply. ”One thing you”ll learn about shifters is we can sense lies. We can sense moods, too.”
She put her hand up to his chest, thinking she would shove him back, but she couldn”t do it. She left her hand there, over his heart.
His amber eyes widened. He covered her hand with one of his and pressed it more tightly to his chest. She could feel his heart beating.
The tension was changing between them, and the moment stretched on. A moth fluttered against the porch light, an owl called in the distance, and Delilah felt herself surrounded by Ben”s warm, sandalwood scent.
Something made a low buzzing sound and Ben dropped her hand, looking surprised. ”My phone.”
He pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen. ”Looks like Viviana and Hudson are waiting for us.”
Delilah wasn”t sure she could speak, so she just nodded.
Hart’s was just like Delilah remembered. The former farmhouse had been remodeled into a bar, with pool tables downstairs and an arcade upstairs. The old wooden floors creaked and their polish had faded long ago. Delilah wondered about the people who used to live here, back when it was a real farmhouse. They’d swept these floors, they’d rocked their babies on the front porch.
She and Ben walked in together, but not together. What would it be like to go somewhere with him and hold his hand like she had once held his brother’s?
Only it would be different with Ben. It would mean something more.
She didn”t understand where all these thoughts were coming from, but thankfully they were at the bar and Ben was ordering them each a shot of tequila.
She smiled up at him. ”It”s like you read my mind.”
He shrugged and the dim lamps along the wall created shadows on his face. His teeth flashed briefly in an almost-smile. ”Not really. Last week, I heard you telling my mom that you missed tequila.”
So he was paying attention, even when he looked closed off and aloof.
A couple waved at Ben from a corner booth, so Ben ordered four more shots. Delilah peeked at the couple. The woman was blond like Delilah, although her hair was golden instead of pale like Delilah’s. The man sitting next to her had light brown hair and brown eyes. He was just as muscular as Ben, and Delilah wondered if it was a shifter thing or what.
Ben looked from the two glasses resting on the counter to Delilah. ”Cheers?” he asked.
She picked up her shot glass, knocked it on the counter, then lifted it to her lips. Ben did the same.
The alcohol flowed over her tongue, intoxicating with its warmth. She grinned. ”Definitely, cheers.”
They carried the four new shots over to the table where Ben”s friends waited. The woman stood up immediately and, without being introduced, pulled Delilah into a hug.
”I”m Viviana,” she said. ”I”m really happy to finally meet you.”
Delilah smiled back at her as they separated. ”Glad to meet you too.”
”And this handsome gentleman back here is my husband, Hudson.”
Delilah leaned across the little table to shake his hand.
”Let”s have a seat,” Ben said.
”Always so serious now,” Viviana said, giving Ben a solemn look.
Ben shrugged.
”It used to be impossible to have a real conversation with this guy,” Viviana said. “Everything was a joke.”
Delilah looked over at Ben in surprise. She would never have guessed that about him.
”People change,” Ben said shortly.
”Yes, they do,” Viviana said. Sighing, she looked back at Delilah. ”So, my mom isn”t happy, but it turns out Ben recently told you more about us?”
Wow, they were really doing this now. Delilah nodded and said, ”I think I”m gonna need that second shot.”
Everybody laughed. Hudson sent her a sympathetic smile.
”I”m human, too,” Hudson said. ”I know it”s a little weird coming into this.”
”Yeah, it definitely is.” Delilah threw back her shot. ”Okay then, what do I need to know?”
Ben spoke up. ”Keep in mind, guys, she just learned about this like two hours ago.”
”No problem,” Viviana said, smiling at Delilah. ”Why don”t we start with you telling us what you know?”
Delilah recounted the few things Ben had told her, and she described watching him change before her very eyes. She left out the part about how she had fainted, but Viviana didn”t seem to need that detail. Viviana shot an irritated glance at Ben and said, ”You know there are easier ways to prove what we are.”
”Like what?” Ben asked.
”Like...” Viviana trailed off. ”Like, I have no idea. But that was poor planning.”
”Didn”t plan it,” Ben said.
Delilah felt loose and warm, thanks to the tequila. Something about what Ben said resonated with her. He hadn”t planned to turn into a lion in front of her. He hadn”t thought it through. And why not? She thought back to the moments leading up to his change.
He had panicked. He had panicked because he’d thought Delilah was leaving.
Did he want her to stay that badly? Couldn”t be. Whatever small mutual attraction they were feeling, there was no denying that she had totally overturned his way of life by showing up at his place. This was nothing but fantasy, playing house like she was a little kid.
Viviana, Ben, and even Hudson took turns telling Delilah more about their way of life. She learned there was an alpha who was in charge of the pride. The current alpha was Viviana”s mother, Marlana, but that was about to change, as Marlana wanted Viviana to take her place.
”And luckily we’re not one of those other groups that has to fight it out every time there”s a new alpha,” Viviana said.
”Other groups?” Delilah asked.
”There are different kinds of shifters,” Hudson said. ”My human mother married into a wolf pack, and that”s where I grew up. There are wolves, bears, mountain lions. That”s mostly what you”ll find in North America.”
”All predators,” Delilah said.
The others nodded. Next to her, Ben moved slightly on the bench seat. She could feel his warmth against her body and it made her want to lean into him.
“And it’s supposed to be a big secret,” Delilah said. “Which is why Chase never said anything.”
The table got quiet all of a sudden. Maybe Delilah shouldn’t have brought Chase up.
Hudson nodded. “Right. The only time humans learn about shifters is when they’re mates, or like me, if they grew up in this world.”
“Mates?”
“It’s like a shifter’s one true love,” Viviana explained. “It’s a strong attachment that can’t be broken.”
“And Chase and I weren’t mates,” Delilah said.
“No, probably not,” Viviana said in a low voice. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”
Delilah nodded. It was never great to hear she wasn’t special, but she hadn’t been led to believe anything different, either. “It’s fine. It wasn’t…it wasn’t like that for us anyway.”
Everyone looked distinctly uncomfortable. Ben’s gaze went somewhere across the bar, and Delilah wanted to tug him back to her somehow. She needed to salvage the conversation, but she didn’t know how.
To Delilah’s relief, Viviana stood halfway up and waved wildly across the bar. ”It”s Fraze and Gracie,” she said.
Next to her, Ben seemed to hold his breath. He brought his gaze back to Delilah, but there was a panicked look in his eyes. What could possibly upset him like this?