by Lori Drake
Chris’s brows lifted. His eyes tracked from the stranger to Joey and back again.
“Chris, this is Eric. Alpha of the Granite Falls pack,” Joey said.
“Ah. Nice to meet you.” Chris stepped up to offer a hand, which Eric shook firmly. Too firmly. Chris tightened his grip in response, locking eyes with him.
“Likewise.” Eric released his hand and stepped back, looking him over. “Man, you’re just the spitting image of your pops. He was a great man.”
“Uh, thanks,” Chris said, and tucked his hand back under his arm. He wasn’t sure what else to say, so he lingered there awkwardly while Jon and Sara came around from the other side of the car to be introduced. He’d known that members of his birth pack might still be around Seattle, but hadn’t expected to bump into any quite so soon.
While introductions were made, he observed the interactions between Eric and his family quietly. In his relatively short life, Chris had encountered a rare few people with whom he’d had an instant connection—people he’d instinctively liked from the moment they met. This was not one of those times. Maybe it was the way Eric’s smile was just a little too wide, or maybe it was that the congenial expression didn’t quite reach his eyes. Whatever it was, it set him on edge.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Eric said, once introductions were done. “I just wanted to drop by and invite you to a little shindig we’re having down at the lake tonight. A little ‘welcome to town’ party. Come as you are, nothing fancy.”
Joey winced. “Tonight? I wish you’d said something, Eric. Mom might have something planned already.”
“She doesn’t.” Eric grinned and wound an arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. “I asked. Loosen up, baby doll.”
Joey shot Eric a look, but held her tongue. Chris’s eyebrows couldn’t possibly have climbed any higher without merging with his hairline. His stomach twisted in knots as unwelcome thoughts sprang up like weeds in the garden of his mind.
Sam cleared his throat, and Chris tore his eyes away from Joey and Eric. His eldest brother stood nearby with a suitcase under each arm and in each hand. “Can we sort this out inside? It’s cold as a well digger’s ass out here.”
Everyone chuckled at that, even Chris. Eric, however, laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d heard in days.
“Ha! Gotta remember that one,” he said, once he’d recovered enough to do so. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to your family reunion. I don’t want to intrude.”
“Thank you for the invitation. Maybe we’ll see you later,” Jon said, and withdrew, moving toward the trunk of the sedan. Sara went with him, leaving Chris standing there awkwardly for a moment.
“You’ll be sorry if you miss it,” Eric called after them. “There’ll be a live band and everything.”
“I thought it wasn’t anything fancy,” Chris said.
Joey rolled her eyes, lips twisting in a smirk. “It’s his band. Trust me, it’s nothing fancy.”
Laughing, Eric pulled Joey closer and leaned his head down to murmur, “I’ll show you something fancy later.”
It was one of those things a person wasn’t normally meant to overhear from several feet away, but Chris’s keen ears picked up every word. Eric met his eyes from afar, and his smirk said he knew it.
Joey gave Eric a playful shove. “Get out of here. I’ve got better things to do.”
Was it just Chris’s imagination, or were her cheeks pinker? His jaw tightened and he turned away, but not before the image of Eric leaning down to claim a kiss was burned into his brain.
Eric couldn’t leave fast enough, as far as Joey was concerned. Forcing a smile, she lingered outside until he pulled off down the driveway, lifting a hand to wave before heading for the house.
Of course he’d shown up. She hadn’t specifically asked him not to—that would have been suspicious. What she had done was mention how much she was looking forward to spending time with her family now that they were finally all together again. Was it too much to expect him to take a hint? Apparently, yes. As if it weren’t bad enough that she had to pretend to like the guy, she had to do it in front of Chris without giving him a heads-up.
Joey blew out a breath and pushed inside, where she found everyone still crowded in the foyer. She unzipped her coat and wiped her feet on the mat inside the door while the others finished exchanging hugs and greetings.
“It’s so good to have everyone together again,” her mother said. “Let’s adjourn to the library, shall we?”
A general murmur of assent followed, but as the family started to migrate in that direction, Joey caught Chris’s arm and held him back.
“We’ll be right there,” Joey called after them. “I just want to talk to Chris for a minute.”
Chris extracted his arm and arched a brow, but held off on comment until the others were out of earshot. “What’s up?”
“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know Eric was going to show up. I wanted to tell you—“
“It’s fine.” His flat tone belied the words.
Joey winced and put a hand on his arm. “Just let me explain…”
He shrugged off her hand and shook his head. “You don’t owe me an explanation. It’s your life, do what you want.”
“That’s where you want to leave it?” She pressed her lips together and frowned at him, fists on her hips. The concern she’d had for his feelings swiftly evaporated when annoyance flared.
“It’s… where it has to be, I guess. Come on. We should catch up.”
Joey ground her teeth as he walked away, swallowing a growl. He wouldn’t let her explain. Sure, she could have forced the issue, but that wasn’t the point.
Fine. Think what you want, you infuriating man-child.
She caught up with him when he stopped in the archway the rest of the family had disappeared through, probably uncertain where to go from there. Joey stalked past him and led the way. The library at the lodge wasn’t as impressive as the library at the house in San Diego had been, but that was in part because it was bigger, and even with all of the books unpacked, there were still some empty shelves.
The only one to look their way when they entered was Ben. The youngest of Joey’s older brothers caught her eye and arched a brow. She shook her head slightly and mouthed “later” as she prowled over to a wing-backed chair and flopped onto it.
Jon cleared his throat once everyone found a seat. “Well, now that everyone’s here…” he began, reaching for his wife’s hand. “We have some news to share.”
Joey straightened in her chair, studying Jon and Sara with sudden interest. The breadth of Jon’s smile and the pretty blush his bride wore suggested one very interesting development.
“Holy shit. You’re pregnant!” Joey blurted, incapable of restraint in the excitement of the moment.
Jon shot her a “thanks for stealing my thunder” look, but Sara just laughed and nodded quickly.
“Oh! That’s wonderful!” Adelaide rose and walked over to stand in front of the happy couple. She leaned down and took Sara’s face between her hands. “Congratulations, my dear. Did you hear that, Reginald? We’re going to be grandparents!”
Sara’s pale cheeks flushed a deeper shade, but her smile couldn’t be dimmed. She stood and let her mother-in-law wrap her in a hug.
Truth be told, Joey was somewhat surprised. She’d thought Sara might be unable to conceive. After all, Sara was closer to Sam’s age than Jon’s, and she’d been married once before. The lycanthrope fertility rate was fairly low on the whole, but the odds weren’t that bad.
Joey hopped to her feet and ran over to hug Sara too, not bothering to wait for her mother to finish. Sara laughed, and an air of joviality lingered in the room long after the hugging and shoulder-clamping ceased.
“My goodness, I don’t think I have any news that could top that,” Adelaide said, once everyone migrated back to their seats.
“I passed my first round of EMT exams with flying colors,” Ben supplied, but
even he probably knew it didn’t come close. Nonetheless, murmurs of approval abounded.
“Really?” Chris said. “I had no idea you were interested in thrilling heroics.”
Ben grinned, lips peeling back in a Cheshire Cat smile. “It’s a great way to meet cute firefighters.”
Joey laughed and shook her head. “Like you need to meet cute firefighters now that you’ve got Brandon.” She said the name breathily and batted her lashes like the pesky little sister she was.
Chris’s brows lifted. “Brandon, eh?”
“You’ll meet him eventually,” Ben said.
“Is he…?” Chris asked, tilting his head.
Ben grinned. “One of us? Yeah.”
“Speaking of which,” Joey said, then cleared her throat and transferred her attention to her Alpha. “Eric’s throwing a ‘welcome to Seattle’ party.”
“Mmm, yes,” Adelaide said. Her lack of surprise confirmed that Eric had indeed spoken with her about it. “I think I’ll pass. I have to be up early in the morning, and I doubt it’s something I’d enjoy anyway.”
Joey nodded. “You’re probably right.” Eric’s parties usually involved loud music and kegs of beer, not string quartets and wine tastings.
“I’ll go,” Chris said. “It sounds fun. Maybe I’ll get to meet Brandon.”
Joey grimaced, less than eager to get Chris and Eric in the same room again. “Are you sure? You had a long flight today…”
Chris shrugged and glanced her way. “I’ll take a nap.”
Just like that, it was settled. It wasn’t like Joey could tell him not to go.
“Well, if anyone else wants to go, we should probably head that way about six thirty,” she said, rather than try to dissuade him further.
The gathering dispersed soon after. Joey lingered in her seat, arms folded and thoughts far away until Ben nudged her ankle with his foot. “You okay?”
“Eh.” Joey unfolded her arms and pushed herself upright. Her eyes slid toward the empty doorway.
“What happened?” He moved closer and perched on the arm of the chair.
“Eric was here waiting for us when we got back. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Chris about him, and when I tried, he didn’t want to hear any of it.”
Ben winced. He was the only one of her brothers that knew about what had happened between her and Chris, largely because he’d guessed, asked her about it, and she hadn’t had anyone else to confide in. He’d always been too intuitive for his own good, rather like their father in that regard.
“How do you feel about that?” he asked.
“Fuck, I don’t know.” She raked her fingers through her hair and sighed. “I didn’t even know how to broach the subject. Maybe it’s better this way. At least it’s done. He doesn’t want to talk about it. Neither do I. Win-win, right?”
Ben grunted softly, clearly unconvinced. “Has any good ever come of you two not talking about things?”
“I dunno, we had a pretty good twenty-six years.”
“If you want twenty-six more, you should consider talking to him.”
Joey thought about it a moment, then shook her head. “Meh. Let him stew for a while. If he thinks I’m that over him, maybe it’ll be good for us both.”
“So you’re not?”
“Hm?”
“Over him.”
“I didn’t say that.” Joey grumbled and pushed to her feet. “You’re coming to the party, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Good. I have this sinking feeling I’m going to be glad there’s an EMT on hand before the night’s over.”
6
They pulled up in front of the lake house at quarter to eight. Chris could hear the music emanating from the big house, even with the car running and all the windows up. There was a light on in every window, and the party had spilled out onto the wraparound porch despite the chill in the air.
“Just how big is the Granite Falls pack?” Chris asked, studying the surprising number of people with a frown.
In the back seat, Ben laughed. “Not that big. Eight, I think.”
“Nine,” Joey corrected, killing the engine. The music outside got louder as the quiet hum of the Audi’s engine faded.
“Right, nine.” Ben unbuckled his seatbelt; it whirred softly as it retracted. “In my defense, Itsuo is pretty forgettable.”
Joey snorted and shook her head, looking over at Chris. “Eric’s house parties are kind of legendary. He usually invites everyone in a five-mile radius to reduce the chance of someone calling the cops about the noise.”
“Real party animal, eh?” Chris said, looking out the window again. Truth be told, he wasn’t super stoked about attending this little fête, but there was no backing down now. He reached for the door handle.
“Are you sure you’re up to this? We can go back home if you want,” Joey offered, but it only firmed his resolve.
Instead of answering, he opened the door and climbed out of the car.
Inside, the music was so loud that the air seemed to throb with each drum beat. Smoke hung heavy in the air, and not all of it was tobacco. Chris focused on shallow breaths, not particularly wanting a contact high, even if his lycanthrope blood would burn it off quickly. As he followed Joey and Ben through the crowded house, he looked around curiously. It was dark, so he hadn’t gotten much of an impression of the outside, but the inside wasn’t what he expected. It looked like someone with good taste had decorated it decades ago, but it hadn’t been kept up. The carpets were threadbare and stained in places. The furniture had worn-through patches with tufts of foam padding poking out. Wooden pieces were scratched and pitted. He looked up and wished he hadn’t, spotting a few water stains of indeterminate age.
The rock music got louder as they made their way to the back of the house, where a stage had been erected in a large family room with tall French doors open to the deck out back. Eric’s band was on stage, and Chris managed to tear his eyes from the surroundings to watch them play while they finished out their set. As much as he didn’t want to like the music, he ended up bobbing his head in time with the beat anyway. They were good, and good music made Chris’s feet itch to dance. Unfortunately—or fortunately—there wasn’t enough room in the crowded living room for it.
The lead singer was a willowy woman with long black hair that fell in inky waves across her shoulders while she played her guitar and sang. She dominated the stage with her presence. Now and then Eric chimed in with a harmony, but the woman held center stage like she owned it. They played off each other well, ending up back to back at one point during an instrumental bit.
The song wound down. Applause and cheers from the crowd drowned out the fading final chord until Eric called for quiet by holding up a hand.
“Thank you, thank you. We’re going to take a little break here, but before we do, I’d like you to give a warm Seattle welcome to our guest of honor: Chris Martin! Come on up here, Chris!”
Chris froze momentarily, but Ben gave him a nudge and set him in motion. While applause, cheers, and whistles sounded around him, Chris slipped through the crowd and climbed up onto the platform. Eric stuck out a hand, and Chris shook it, forcing a smile.
The applause died down as Eric spoke into the mic again. “Chris just moved here from San Diego, so you’ll have to forgive him if he doesn’t take his coat off for a few months.” Laughter rose in the wake of that announcement. Even Chris chuckled.
The raven-haired singer slipped the microphone from its stand and sauntered over to Chris, eyes raking boldly down his form and back up again. “I’ll keep you warm, sugar.” She practically purred into the microphone, and Chris’s brows lifted.
Eric laughed. “Better jump on that while you can, that’s an offer you won’t get twice.” The crowd laughed again.
Generally, Chris didn’t mind flirtatious banter, but he wasn’t accustomed to doing it on a stage in front of a room full of strangers. Then again, how different was it from performing a dance ro
utine? That’s all this was, after all. A performance, for the crowd. Surely.
Chris swallowed his discomfort and put on a smile, offering a hand. The woman placed her hand in his, and he lifted it to brush her knuckles with his lips.
“Ohh, a looker and a charmer,” she said, eyes twinkling.
“I guess we’re taking five.” Eric slipped the strap of his guitar over his head.
“Hopefully more than five,” the woman said, and gave the audience an exaggerated wink, setting off another round of raucous laughter. But the crowd lost interest quickly once the microphones were turned off. A hum of conversation rose to fill the silence.
Chris made his way off the stage while the musicians stowed their gear and found his way back to Joey. “Where’s Ben?”
“He went looking for Brandon.” Her arms were folded, expression shuttered as she watched Eric and the others slip offstage.
“Okay,” Chris said, and slipped his hands in his jacket pockets. Eric may have been joking about him not taking off his coat, but with the front and back doors open, the house was decidedly drafty. “She’s one of us, isn’t she?” He nodded toward the singer as she hopped down and started toward them with Eric on her heels.
“Yeah. Eric’s second.”
Someone cranked up a stereo to play some fill-in music, curtailing the conversation temporarily.
“Hey! Nice to meet you!” the woman called as she drew near. She clasped Chris’s hand and pulled him in for a hearty handshake and pound on the back. “Thanks for being such a good sport up there.” She smiled, showing two rows of even, white teeth.
He smiled back. “No problem. You guys are pretty good!”
Eric laughed and draped an arm across Joey’s shoulders. “Don’t sound so surprised.”
“Ignore him, he doesn’t know how to take a compliment,” the woman said. “I’m Jessica, by the way. Have you met the rest of the crew yet?”
Chris shook his head. “Not yet. Is there somewhere quieter we can do that?”
Jessica grinned and nodded. As she tugged him by the arm in the direction of the back door, Chris looked over at Joey.
