by Lisa Edmonds
“Thanks,” he replied, taking a step closer to me.
Her gaze moved to my face. “Well, this must be Alice. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Sean turned and smiled at me. “Yes, this is Alice, my consort.”
Lily’s smile vanished. “So I’ve heard,” she said shortly. She turned her attention back to Sean. “Can I have a word with you?”
“We don’t have anything to discuss,” he stated. “I’m not sure what prompted you to crash the party, but—”
“I think you should hear me out.” Her expression was dark. “I’d rather we talk in private, but if you want to do this in front of the entire pack, that’s your choice.”
Sean’s shoulders were rigid with tension. “Two minutes.” He glanced back at me. I smiled to show him that I had nothing to worry about. Let her talk; I knew where things stood.
He smiled back, but it disappeared when he turned to Lily. “Let’s walk to your car so you can leave when we’re done talking.”
They headed off across the yard and disappeared around the corner of the house.
About a month ago, Sean had almost died after a cuff that turned out to be an ancient shifter relic attached itself to his arm. It was one of a pair designed to be worn by the alpha and his mate. Without the second cuff, the broken spellwork was killing him. I’d obtained the second cuff in time to save him, but Jack had been searching for it too. His intention was to give it to Lily, who was the daughter of an alpha from a nearby pack, binding them together for life and cutting me out of the picture. He very much wanted Sean’s mate to be a werewolf, not a human, and had gone to great lengths to try and keep us apart.
While Sean was trapped by the cuffs and held in a cage in Jack and Delia’s basement, I’d unintentionally contacted his wolf through their pack bonds in my sleep. When Jack attacked me, defending against what he saw as an attack on the pack, I’d slashed his face in self-defense, not realizing it was anything more than a dream. Though werewolves’ healing ability meant they rarely had scars, wounds created with magic were the hardest to heal.
Ben touched my arm. “You good?”
“I’m fine,” I assured him.
I realized the pack had closed ranks around me, with the exception of Jack, Delia, and Caleb, who’d stayed at their table. Ben had taken the spot to my right, as Jack would have stood beside Sean.
Karen joined me at the railing and handed me a glass of iced tea. “I can’t believe she came here. The nerve of some people. Now I smell her in my yard.” She growled quietly and wrinkled her nose.
“So now I’ve met the famous Lily.” I kept my tone light. “I liked her shoes.”
“They were pretty great,” she admitted. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Of course.” I winked. “Sean told me long ago that he prefers brunettes anyway.”
She laughed.
The others moved away, talking quietly. Some went back into the house while Patrick, David, and Felicia joined the kids in the yard to continue the soccer game that had been interrupted by brunch and Lily’s arrival.
Karen and I chatted for a bit about her due date, seven months from now, and her secret hope that she might be having twins, which ran in Cole’s family. True to their word, Ben and Casey seemed even happier to share their big day with Karen and Cole, and the atmosphere on the deck was joyful despite Lily’s unexpected appearance.
Finally, Sean reappeared around the corner of the house, his eyes bright gold and jaw set. Whatever Lily had said to him, he was angry about it. When he saw me, though, he smiled.
Karen excused herself to go back inside as he met me at the railing.
“What was—” I began.
He picked me up and kissed me hard, causing catcalls and shouts of “Get a room!” from the younger members of the pack.
Finally, he put me back on my feet. “We’ll talk about it later,” he assured me. “Nothing to worry about.” The last seemed directed at everyone, not just me.
I took his hand and squeezed it. “Okay. What do you want to do now? Go inside or stay out here and enjoy the weather?”
Sean lowered his head and brushed my ear with his lips. “I’d like to go home and pick up where we left off.”
“Let’s not be rude,” I admonished him with a smile. “We need to socialize.”
He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. “Alice, the social butterfly,” he teased. His eyes glowed softly. “I love you.”
The conversation around us quieted. I realized this was the first time he’d said those words in front of an audience and the first time the pack had heard them. I wondered if it was spontaneous or to make a point in the wake of Lily’s unexpected appearance, or maybe a little of both.
He entwined our fingers and tugged me toward the patio door. “Let’s go inside and talk to Ben and Casey about possible wedding dates,” he said. “A pack wedding is a very big event—almost as big as a birth. It’s a great day for the Tomb Mountain Pack.” Another round of cheers from those outside.
We headed into the house. Just before we stepped inside, I caught Delia’s eye. In the moment before she looked away, I saw raw, unadulterated hatred. Then it disappeared and her expression was impassive once more. Beside her, Jack watched me too, but he looked thoughtful rather than angry.
There were wonderful changes on the horizon for the pack, for sure, but there was trouble too. A month ago, Malcolm had overheard a conversation between Jack and Delia in which Jack had said that if his plan to bind Sean and Lily together failed, they would have to find another way to deal with me. I’d been on guard ever since, but so far they’d both been perfectly polite around me whenever we crossed paths. Delia’s expression was a clear indicator that her feelings about me hadn’t changed; if anything, she was more resentful than before. For right now, though, I chose to focus on the good and save worrying about the bad for later.
I might have known that decision would bite me right on the ass.
2
The party broke up around noon. We helped Karen and Cole clean up and then headed out after a last round of congratulations, hugs, and high fives with the newly engaged couple and the beaming expectant parents.
As we bumped down the gravel drive toward the road, I turned down the radio. “Well?”
Sean sighed. “Lily pleaded her case and I told her I wasn’t interested. I reminded her we’d gone on two dates at the behest of her father and Jack, but I hadn’t felt any kind of spark between us then and I still don’t. She told me that she fell in love with me at first sight. I don’t believe a word of it, though. She’s spoiled and used to getting anything she wants, and she wants me. The more I refuse, the more determined she gets. It doesn’t help that she found out about Jack’s plan to give her the second cuff, so now she thinks she’s been cheated out of what’s ‘rightfully’ hers.”
“How’d she hear about that?” I asked.
“Delia told her, of course. Lily tried arguing that I owe it to my pack to choose a shifter mate and that mages of any sort can’t be trusted. There are a lot of members of the Were Ruling Council who agree, but they aren’t going to interfere in internal pack issues, or in an alpha’s selection of consort or mate.” His hands gripped the steering wheel and it creaked. “She seems to think they might in this case, but I think she’s over-estimating her father’s influence on the Council. Zachary’s brother is on the Council and his voice has power, but he’s only one of seven. There’s no precedent for them to involve themselves. They might not like it, but shifters tend to stay out of each other’s business, generally speaking. I told her that I loved you and she should look elsewhere for her mate.”
I read his expression. “So what’s bothering you?”
“When none of her arguments worked, she extended a formal invitation from her father to meet for a meal. I had to accept the invitation or it would have been perceived as an insult.” He squeezed my knee. “Like I said, it’s nothing to be worried about. Zachary isn’t unreasonable; h
e’s just a doting father who’s never said no to his daughter. If I had to guess, I’d suspect he told her I’d be head over heels for her, because what fool wouldn’t be, and now he’s trying to save face and get his daughter the one thing she wants that she doesn’t have.”
“This is a love triangle straight out of a soap opera,” I complained. “Wait until Malcolm finds out. We’ll never hear the end of it.”
Sean chuckled. “Your ghost will think it’s hilarious, I’m sure.” He shook his head. “Lily wouldn’t be a bad person if she’d been a little less spoiled. I would like to see her happy, but as long as she keeps chasing someone she can’t have and trying to win instead of looking for real love, that won’t happen.”
I rubbed my eyes. He put his hand on my leg, sending little tingles running along my skin. “You look worn out. How much sleep have you gotten in the last thirty-six hours?”
“What’s sleep?” I sighed. I’d had energy when we were at the party, but now I felt every ounce of my exhaustion.
“You need a nap.” He winked at me. “Eventually. I have a couple of things I want to do first. I might let you get some sleep later.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re insatiable, you know that?”
He grinned. “Anytime you want me to leave you alone, all you have to do is say the word.” His hand slid under the hem of my dress and up my bare thigh. His fingertips teased the lacy edge of my undies and I shivered hard. “But I don’t think you will.” He withdrew his hand from under my dress.
“You don’t know how tired I am,” I said, but we both knew I wouldn’t be saying no—not today or anytime soon.
When he turned into his driveway, I grabbed my messenger bag from the floor by my feet. He pulled into the garage, parked, and turned off the engine. I opened my door to hop out—
—and fell.
I hit the garage floor on my hands and knees with a yelp, startled, confused, and disoriented.
“Alice!” Sean was around the truck and at my side in a blink. He crouched next to me. “What happened?”
I blinked at him. My brain felt sluggish, and it took a moment for his question to compute. “I don’t know. I went to get out of the truck and then I got dizzy. I think I fell.”
“You did fall.” He studied me closely, clearly worried. “You look dazed. Did you hit your head?”
“I don’t think so.” The only thing that hurt was my knees. “Maybe I slipped or tripped getting out of the truck. I guess I must really be tired.”
“Here, let me help you up.” He put his hands under my elbows and gently lifted me to my feet. “Can you walk?”
I shrugged out of his grip and took a few hesitant steps. My knees would be bruised but I didn’t think anything was broken. “Yes, I’m all right.”
Sean shut the passenger door of the truck and picked up my bag. He tried to help me with one hand under my elbow, but I pulled away and walked into the house on my own.
He went to the back door and let my dog in from the backyard. Rogue, a Husky mix who was sixty-five pounds of energy and love, bounded inside and headed straight for me. He skidded to a stop several feet away, his nails scrabbling on the hardwood floor, and whined.
“What’s the matter?” I asked him, frowning. I held out my hand. “Do I smell like a bunch of werewolves or something? That’s never bothered you before.”
He approached me cautiously and licked my hand, then whined again. He backed up and went to his bed by the window, his eyes on me.
“What’s gotten into that dog?” I wondered.
“You must smell like something he doesn’t like, but I don’t know what that would be.” Sean followed me upstairs, radiating concern as we went into his bedroom. “I take back what I said about keeping you awake. Why don’t you take a nap now? I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.” He wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled my hair.
I pushed his hands away. “I’ll be okay.” My cell phone rang from inside my bag. “Grab that for me, will you?”
“You should just let it go to voice mail and get some rest.” Sean got my phone out of my bag. He glanced at the screen and blinked in surprise.
“What?” I asked.
Instead of answering, he handed me the phone. The screen read Natalie Newton Calling.
It was my turn to look surprised. Natalie had been my client a few months back. She’d hired me to find out who had stolen some books from her library. The case involved a murderous aunt and a magical weapon of mass destruction called the Kasten, containing the bones and vengeful spirit of a long-dead blood mage named Adelbert. I’d gotten stabbed and nearly died, and the case had left some serious emotional scars.
Though Natalie and I had spoken a few times since, I hadn’t heard from her in almost two months, which meant this was not likely to be a social call.
I swiped the green button and answered. “This is Alice.”
“Alice, it’s Natalie Newton.” Her familiar voice was strained. “Have I caught you at a bad time?”
“Not at all. What’s wrong?”
She took a deep breath. “I need your help. Can you come over to my house right away, please? Just you and Malcolm.”
I hurried over to Sean’s dresser to grab clothes. “I just got home, so I need to change clothes, and then I’ll be over. It’ll take me about forty-five minutes to get there.”
“Please hurry,” she begged.
“Hang on a second.” I set the phone down on the dresser while I pulled the dress off over my head. I picked the phone back up and held it between my chin and shoulder as I went to the closet to grab a shirt. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t want to say over the phone. Just get here as soon as you can.”
I reached for a pair of jeans and came back out into the bedroom. “I’m on my way.”
“Thanks, Alice.” She ended the call.
Sean was standing beside the bed. “What do you think that’s about?”
“No idea.” I put on the jeans and zipped them up. “Can you make me some coffee to take?”
He crossed his arms. “Sure. You want me to come along?”
“She said just me and Malcolm,” I reminded him as I pulled the shirt on over my head.
“It sounds serious.” Sean plainly didn’t like that I was walking into the situation blind.
“I’m sure Malcolm and I can handle it, whatever’s going on.” I sat down on the bed to put on my socks and boots. “If I need backup, I’ll call you.”
Looking unconvinced, he headed down to the kitchen. I finished getting dressed, brushed and braided my hair, and hurried downstairs.
Sean met me at the foot of the stairs with a travel mug of coffee in one hand and my keys in the other. “Be careful,” he said, kissing me quickly. “Call me if you need me.”
“Will do.” I slung my bag over my shoulder, took the coffee, and headed out the door.
On the way to Natalie’s house, when I was stopped at a red light, I found the cool blue-green trace of magic in my mind that was my connection to my bound ghost. I gave it two light tugs, our prearranged signal that I needed him to jump to me. I was tired enough that doing so brought a wave of dizziness and nausea.
I swallowed hard and gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Don’t puke, don’t puke, don’t puke,” I muttered until the feeling passed.
Just as the light turned green, one of the crystals on my bracelet buzzed, indicating Malcolm had jumped into it from wherever he was. I touched the crystal with my other hand. “Release.”
Malcolm appeared in the passenger area of my car. As usual, he appeared to be wearing wire-rimmed glasses, a button-up shirt, and jeans. “Hey, Alice,” he said cheerfully. “Welcome back. How was your weekend with Arkady?”
“Terrible.” My tires squealed as I took a corner too fast. “I just got a call from Natalie Newton asking us to come to her house.”
“You got a call from Nat?” He looked surprised. “What about?”
“She wouldn’t sa
y over the phone. She just said to bring you and get there as fast as I could.”
“That does not sound good,” he muttered. “You want me to see what’s going on?”
I hesitated. I didn’t like the idea of Malcolm facing whatever was happening without me, but I was trying not to be overprotective of either of Malcolm or Sean. Both of them understood why I wanted to keep them safe, but they’d made it clear I had to let them make their own decisions about what dangers to face.
“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “Do some recon. Be careful.”
“Roger that. Meet you there.” He vanished.
Due to light traffic, I reached Natalie’s house in record time. Her red Mustang was parked in the driveway next to a gray SUV I didn’t recognize. I parked on the street and hurried to the front door. Everything seemed quiet.
Natalie’s house wards buzzed lightly on my skin. I recognized her familiar magic in the wards. She’d evidently come a long way from the day we’d discovered she had magic. I’d found a mage to teach her how to control and use her magic. Her training must be going well.
The door opened just as I reached the porch. When I’d seen her last, Natalie had been thin and pale and struggling to cope with all of the ways in which her life had been turned upside down. Now, she looked healthy and full of energy, and her bright red hair was long and wavy. She wore a summer dress and her feet were bare. It was a complete transformation from the fragile and uncertain young woman she’d been, and I was glad to see her looking so much better.
At the moment, however, her green eyes were dark with worry and her expression was grim. “Alice, thank you so much for coming over so quickly. Please come in.” She ran her fingers along the doorway, granting me permission to pass through her wards.
I stepped into the house and she closed the door behind me. “What’s going on? Are you all right?”
“I’m okay. It’s my friend who needs your help.” She lowered her voice. “Malcolm is here, but he’s staying quiet. Come on; we’re in the living room.”
