by Dannika Dark
“How come no one told me Auntie Naya was coming over?” she asked gruffly.
“I’m just here for a minute, princess.”
Denver swiveled to face her. “Come here, birthday girl.”
She flashed her blue eyes at him with a growing smile. “It’s not my birthday yet.”
He glanced at his watch and masked his humor with a serious expression. “You’re right. Only birthday girls get to stay up past their bedtime. That means you need to go back to sleep.” He reached out his arms. “Come on, Peanut. The express train is going upstairs, so all aboard.”
“The express train is going to crash with that heavy cargo,” Lexi quipped. “She’s getting too big to carry.”
Denver hunched over, letting Maizy leap onto his back and wrap her arms around his neck.
“She’ll never be too big for me to carry,” he choked out, his face turning red from the lack of circulation. When he hopped and shifted her higher, he was able to grab her legs and release the death grip around his neck. “Say good night, Peanut.”
“Good night, Peanut,” Maizy replied sleepily. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
Denver turned around and glanced at Lexi. “Tomorrow I need a few hours sleep before we head out, so can you tell everyone to keep it down when I get home from work?”
“I’ll kick them out of the house,” Lexi promised, pulling her hair out of its ponytail. She threaded her fingers through the top until it was disheveled. “We have to be there at noon, so if you get home early enough, you should be able to sleep for about five hours.”
“True that. I’m going to take her upstairs and then I’m outta here.”
“G’nite, Maze. I love you.” Lexi watched Denver carry the sleepyhead down the hall.
“He can be the biggest dickhead, but he’s so good with her,” Izzy said. “I used to think it had to do with his lack of maturity, but she’s getting older and he treats her differently. Still attentive, but in a different way. I would have never imagined a guy like Denver being such a good watchdog.”
“I can’t lie,” Lexi said. “He’s the best. He really listens when she has something to say, and that’s not easy in a house like ours when we’re all talking over one another. Last week I drove out to Wes’s grave. She never got to meet her big brother, but I still want her to know about him. I guess his death is sinking in now that she’s older, because she was in such a sullen mood when we got home. She wouldn’t talk to me about it, but Denver took her out front and they sat down on the steps. He wrapped his arm around her and just listened to everything she had to say—stuff she’s never admitted to me, like how sad she is that she never got to meet Wes. She wondered if he’d like her.” Lexi’s lip quivered and tears glossed up her eyes. “I can’t imagine the absence she has to live with of having never known her brother, and on top of that, coming to grips with reality that her own father didn’t love her.”
“She has all the love she could ask for in this house,” I reminded her. “That’s all the family she needs.”
Lexi wiped her wet cheeks. “I know, but tell that to a ten-year-old who just wants to know why. Why couldn’t she have met her brother once, and why couldn’t she have had a father who took her to the zoo. The first time she met him was when he dragged her through Austin’s house and then shot me in front of her. I healed, but that affected her in a way I’ll never understand. How do you explain stuff like that to a kid? Mom does a good job, but Maizy will never have those questions answered, and that’s a heavy load to carry in life.”
“What did Denver say to her?” April asked.
Lexi turned a playing card in a circle on the table. “I couldn’t hear everything through the window. He just kissed the top of her head and let her do all the talking. Maybe that’s my problem—I talk too much, and Maizy doesn’t want me to put a Band-Aid on everything. I’m just glad there’s someone she can go to when she needs to get stuff like that off her chest. I tell her stories about Wes all the time, and what our family was like when Wes was alive. But I don’t glam it up; I guess I don’t want to make it sound so great that she doesn’t appreciate how wonderful things are now, you know? We just went through life thinking she’d forget all that, but kids don’t forget. It just takes them a few years before all that trauma catches up and they start thinking about it on a different level, trying to figure out what kind of person they are because of it—or what’s wrong with them.”
“Princess?” a husky voice said.
April peered around me. “Yes?”
“Are you coming up?”
I glanced at Reno. He was an impressive man who resembled Austin in some ways, but tougher, if that was possible. Reno had the hard edges of a man who had experienced a lot of pain in his life.
He was also wearing a pair of silk pajama bottoms with no shirt.
April smiled approvingly as she stood up, and I had a feeling that ensemble was all her doing. “I think I’m in the mood to listen to some blues music in bed. Good night, everyone. I’ll see you tomorrow at the party, Naya?”
“You can count on it.”
Reno curved his arm around his mate and kissed the top of her head as they walked off. Somewhere down the hall, I heard her squeal followed by the sound of kissing and whispering.
Out of nowhere, a pang of jealousy struck me. Where on earth did that come from?
Being here at this intimate hour gave me a glimpse of what it must be like to live in this house. I adored the way they all treated one another. Sometimes in my quiet apartment, I would sit on the balcony and listen to the neighbors below. It was why I liked having parties. Panthers didn’t live in groups and rarely had more than one child, but I still longed for companionship. I missed Lexi; we used to play gin rummy and go shopping on a whim.
“So why are you really here?” Lexi asked, dipping her pretzel into a can of processed cheese dip. “Hiding from another boyfriend who’s sitting on your doorstep with a bouquet of roses?”
Izzy spread the cards out before her, turning them in circles and mixing them up.
I rubbed my finger over a small indentation on the table. “I felt a Mage following me tonight. It happened on the human side of town, and I was alone. It could have been one of the customers from the club, but I didn’t want to chance leading anyone to my home.”
She laughed. “Oh, so you brought a lunatic here?”
“Girly, I’m sure your big strong men can take care of themselves if someone’s brave enough to drive up that creepy dark road full of potholes. I needed to get out on an open stretch of highway to make sure I wasn’t just imagining things. I didn’t see anyone follow me here, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt to swing by and see what goes on in the Cole house at this ungodly hour. It’s nothing to worry your head about, but a girl can’t be too careful.”
“Do you have any alarms in your apartment?” Izzy asked in a serious voice. “When I was a rogue, I had a few crazies follow me home. It helps to have alarms—especially if you live alone. Maybe you should ask Reno to install something. He’s good with security systems.”
“Not a bad idea,” Lexi said. “Something is better than nothing.”
I decided I’d give it a little thought. But in the back of my mind, I knew if someone really wanted to get at me, a noisy alarm wasn’t going to deter them.
Chapter 3
Driving in a car full of balloons wasn’t something I’d ever done before, and I added it to my short list of things I’d never do again. Once I managed to get them out of the car, I made my way inside Pizza Zone, wrinkling my nose at the heavy smell of pepperoni. Since this was a casual event, I’d dressed in a pair of black shorts and a turquoise button-up blouse.
Two little boys hurtled by and almost knocked me down. “Oh!” I clutched the box in my arms and kept moving forward, desperately looking for a familiar face in the sea of humans.
“Aunt Naya’s here!” Maizy rushed over from a long table on the left side of the room. The lights
were low, drawing all the attention to the colorful machines.
“Oh, my. You look astoundingly beautiful today, Maizy.”
She twirled in a sleeveless white dress that made her appear older than eleven. Her hair was in loose waves, and the shimmering lip balm she wore was a pale pink.
“Is that for me?” Her blue eyes widened at the size of the box wrapped in shiny red paper and garnished with a white ribbon.
I glanced around. “Well, I can’t imagine who else it would be for. Think you can carry it for me?”
She wrapped her arms around the box and stumbled toward the table. “Can I open it?”
I heard a flurry of chuckles, and my stomach twisted into a knot when I saw the pack. This wasn’t a party with outsiders and friends; this was a family gathering. I didn’t belong, and the shiny balloons laced around my wrists only called attention to that fact.
“Let me take those,” Lynn offered. “I’ll tie them on the chairs, and you can put the pretzels in one of the bowls. She’s so excited to have everyone here. Even Lorenzo came, and you know how he’s always bickering with Austin.”
Lynn was in her fifties, although I’d never asked her age. I could tell she dyed her hair blond, because sometimes the roots would show scattered grey hairs. Today she had on a dark blue dress with a nice sheen to the fabric. Lynn had class in a natural and effortless way, and she’d always reminded me of a movie star from the golden age of cinema.
Lynn unwound the balloons from my wrists and circled around the long table, tying each one to the back of a chair. Each time she walked near Maizy, she would kiss her on the cheek like a doting mother. Then Lexi would teasingly pout so her mother would give her a kiss on the head and then point out how silly she was behaving. I didn’t think she would sit down for a moment; it seemed like there was always something to put up, set out, adjust, or refill.
I rubbed the red marks on my wrists that the balloon strings had left behind. They were nothing compared to the scars on Izzy’s wrists, but I’d never asked what the story was behind those. Something terrible must have happened to her, but I admired the courage it took her not to hide them.
One interesting observation was how the pack had split up with the women on the left side of the table and the men on the right. I wondered if they had chosen their seating arrangement or if Lynn had strategically separated them so there wouldn’t be any flirting between couples. Only Trevor sat on the women’s side. The birthday girl enjoyed her spot at the head of the table, and it looked like she had gone through half her gifts already.
I gave Lexi a hug when she took my purse and added it to the pile.
Before taking my seat, I stopped behind Trevor and peered over his head. “Look who’s a big girl,” I said to the little angel sitting on Lorenzo’s lap.
Lorenzo gave a close-lipped smile that showed his pride. “She’s turning three this summer.” In a tender motion, he pulled Hope’s long hair back so I could get a good look at her chubby cheeks and beautiful long lashes. Unlike Ivy, who always wore a braid, Hope wore her long hair loose and nicely combed. She had Lorenzo’s dark eyes and intense features, but her mother’s good nature and lovely smile. Such a uniquely beautiful child, sweetly humming a song as she played with the tassels on a leather bracelet he wore around his wrist.
“Naya, come sit next to me. I saved you a seat,” April said from the far end. I passed by Izzy, who was holding hands with Jericho across the table. He brushed his thumb over her knuckle while they watched Maizy excitedly unwrapping her pile of gifts. A pretty dress, a game, a drawing kit, and someone had bought her a tall cylinder of candy. She about died when she peeled the wrapper off, and Lexi’s mom scowled at Denver, who merely laced his fingers together as Maizy popped off the lid and immediately ate a piece.
The only person absent from the festivities was…
“Sorry I’m late,” Wheeler said, his voice dark and smoky as he took the chair across from me. He glared at me for a nanosecond before turning his attention to Maizy.
Wheeler had rubbed me the wrong way when he disrespected April a few years ago. Maybe they’d buried the hatchet, but I still felt infuriated each time he flicked a glance my way. Wheeler was probably a man who berated his women and treated them like submissive dogs.
Yet I found myself secretly peering up at him. Wheeler normally kept the circle beard around his mouth and chin neatly groomed, but it looked like he was growing it out along his jaw. It wasn’t thick but trimmed close, like a heavy five-o’clock shadow. His white tank top fit his body like a second skin, and every hard curve on his chest created a ridge in the fabric. Wheeler had an average frame with anything but an average build. Not an ounce of fat showed, just lean muscle. There was something dark and desirous about him I couldn’t put my finger on, although perhaps it had to do with him being the opposite of every man I’d ever been attracted to. My gaze skated across his tattoos, and when he flashed his amber eyes up to mine, I leaned against April and pretended to ignore him.
I found it immensely distracting to be sitting across from Wheeler. I’m not sure whose twisted idea it was to place us together, but it kept our end of the table silent. His presence made my panther restless as she circled in the dark shadows within my mind.
After the ceremonial opening of gifts and extinguishing the candles, Maizy walked around and gave everyone a big squeeze. Then she reached under the table and handed Denver a brown box with a round lid.
His brows drew together. “Did you forget to open one?”
“No, silly. That’s yours.”
Denver looked at her with a bemused expression. “That must be yours, Peanut. It’s not my birthday.”
She folded her arms. “You won’t tell me when your birthday is, so we’re going to share a birthday. Don’t you want to see what I got you?”
For a moment I thought I saw his lip tremble. He quickly tightened his expression and shook his head. When he removed the lid and pulled away the white tissue paper, he huffed out a laugh. “A straw hat? I’m not wearing this silly hat.”
Denver must have thought it was a joke, because his look altered when he noticed the visceral disappointment glittering in her eyes.
“I’m just teasing.” He quickly settled the cowboy hat on his head. “I love it so much that I’m going to sleep in it. My little Peanut bought me a hat,” he said proudly.
She smiled wide and gave him a hug so big that his hat fell on the table. “I love you, Denny.”
He looked a little embarrassed. “Go spend some of those tokens. Skedaddle!”
As Maizy ran off toward the arcade games, Denver held the hat between his hands, brows drawn together in a scowl. “Whose idea was this?”
Lexi sliced another piece of white cake and put it on a pink paper plate. “Maizy insisted on buying you a present, and she came up with that idea all by herself. Maybe you should just make her happy and tell her when your birthday is.”
He put the hat on his head, pulling it low in the front so it sexily obscured his eyes. “No, then it’ll be a big thing with her.”
“Do you want a slice?” Lexi asked me as she passed down a plate. Apparently, they were doing cake before pizza, which was fine by me.
“Cut me a large slice. And heavy on the icing. No… bigger!”
April gaped at me.
“A girl has to keep her figure.” I took the plate they passed down to me. “Don’t you agree?” I asked Wheeler.
It was time that one of us behaved like the adult in this awkward situation, so I played nice.
“I agree,” Reno piped in, finishing his cake in almost one bite. “I like a woman with meat on her bones.” He winked at April.
I wondered how much difficulty he would have extracting his foot from his mouth.
“Are you saying I’m fat?” April tipped her head to the side and Reno chuckled.
“No, princess. I’m saying I love the way your thighs wrap around my neck nice and thick.”
The men chuckled and April
couldn’t mask the blush rising on her cheeks.
“What about you, Wheeler?” I pressed. “Does the wolf like a bone or a juicy steak?”
He drew his index finger into his mouth and sucked off a slather of white icing. His brown eyes rose to meet mine, and a shudder rolled through my body. “I like my women skinny, blond, tall, and quiet.”
“I think I saw one of those for sale in a magazine advertisement once. Does she store easily under the bed, or do you have to deflate her?”
Jericho spit out his soda and choked from laughter.
I averted my eyes, hoping that would put an end to his indirect jabs. The last thing I needed was for this party to turn riotous, and I’d already made a promise to Lexi. I engaged in small talk with April, ignoring his reply.
“Where’s Ivy?” I asked.
April leaned in close, lowering her voice. “She’s not feeling well.”
Which translated to: Ivy was in heat. I couldn’t fathom how women lived in a house full of virile men in that condition. Lorenzo undoubtedly sated Ivy’s every need, but did she mingle with the pack? If so, the men must have scattered, afraid of looking at her the wrong way and suffering Lorenzo’s punishment. A Shifter couldn’t get near a woman in heat without his divining rod pointing the way.
“How’s Ivy’s business going?” I asked. “I’ve always envied girls with her talent.”
“Keeping her busy.” April grimaced after taking a sip of lemonade from her paper cup. “The last time I spoke to her, some big shot was offering her a lot of money to restore a houseful of antiques. They’re in poor condition, but he can’t let go of them because of the sentimental value.”
I bristled when someone brushed up against my back and sat beside me. Ben casually leaned on his left arm and watched me, mischief twinkling in his pale brown eyes. He kept his dusty-brown hair trimmed and his face shaved as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Of all the Weston pack, he dressed the most casually, and I don’t mean that in a raggedy-jeans and T-shirt way, but rather a man who preferred cotton shirts with collars, and khaki shorts. He might be what Wheeler would look like if he were a normal citizen.
