Page 16

My fingers traced the hard outlines of his muscles, and he kissed the top of my head. My eyelids felt heavy, and I yawned, looking forward to a much-needed nap with my alpha.

“I need to head back to Chicago for a few days,” he said, breaking the silence. “I didn’t think I’d be up here so long, and I have to check in at the office and my house. I want you to come with me.”

I pulled away slightly and he spoke before I could. “I know it’s a selfish request and that you have other obligations here. But I think it could do you some good, too. Wouldn’t you like to be back in a big city, where no one knows who or what you are, even just for a few days?”

That did sound appealing. I was tired of being on edge every time I walked out the door. Being around humans, who didn’t know what I was and ignored me like I was a regular person, sounded amazing after having to navigate unwanted attention from pushy alphas. But aside from my pack obligations, there was something else

I needed to take care of first. “On one condition,” I started.

Elias looked at me expectantly, and I gave him a reassuring smile. “I need someone to help me get my stuff from San Francisco, and I’d like to do it soon before I possibly run into Mike’s family. Would you go out there with me before we go to Chicago?”

His pride and joy at being asked to help me was screaming down the bond. “Of course, we can leave as soon as you’re ready.”

“Absolutely not.” Cam slammed his fist down on the table. “Elias, you have no right to take her away like this. She needs the entire pack’s protection now more than ever.”

Julian flinched, Nolan seethed, and Archer observed cooly. Elias, however, was unshakable. “I happen to think getting out of town is the best thing for her right now.”

Cam snarled. “Oh, do you? Well, I’m pulling rank—as pack leader, I forbid it.”

Elias chuckled, looking towards his bonding mark on my shoulder. “Yeah, that’s not going to stop me and you know it.”

Before Cam could leap clear across the table I stood up, shooting Elias a dirty look. He didn’t need to antagonize Cam like that.

“Alright, that’s enough!” I didn’t have a commanding bark like my alphas, but they still listened and obeyed me like I did. Once I was sure I had everyone’s full attention, I continued. “I need to go to San Francisco, full stop. Mike’s family may have already been contacted about his death, and could go out at any moment to clear out his things. I want to get in there first, and it shouldn’t take me longer than a couple of days.”

“Babe,” Cam entreated. He reached over and placed his hand on top of mine. “I understand that, but any one of us could go with you. Hell, we could all go with you. Why do you only want to go with Elias?”

It broke my heart for him to feel like I was playing favorites, because that wasn’t what this was. “It just makes the most sense logistically. Besides, our pack is going to attract way too much attention if we go out together. Do you have any idea how insanely hot you all are? Half the women and the men in that city are going to lose their minds when they see you all walking down the street, and I’m not strong enough to fend them all off.”

Cam’s mouth twitched into a smirk at the compliment, and I bit my lip to keep from smiling myself. I had a feeling appealing to his ego would help soothe the sting. “I would love to go on trips one-on-one with each of you, and doing this with Elias right now just happens to work out the best. It’s not about liking him more than anyone else…”

Elias winked. “It absolutely could be, California.”

“You’re not helping!” I snapped at him, trying to nip the chorus of growls that had erupted from the rest of the pack in the bud. “Anyway, as I was saying—I need to go to SF, Elias needs to go to Chicago, so we might as well make one big trip out of it. And then we’ll be back before the Wolfcrest holiday party. You wanted me to go, right Cam?”

Cam grunted, crossing his arms and looking away from me. “Maybe.”

It was so hard not to laugh, he really was such a baby sometimes. I walked around the table and crawled onto his lap, scratching his beard with my fingernails. “I’m going to buy the hottest little dress I can find for you. What’s your favorite color?”

I felt him soften—well, everything aside from his cock soften—and he sighed, mumbling under his breath.

“What was that?” I asked sweetly.

“Green,” he said louder. “Dark green.”

I nibbled on his earlobe and then giggled. “You got it, babe.”

As Cam started to calm down, the outrage in the bonds settled and the rest of the pack responded in kind.

Nolan sucked in a sharp breath. “I guess I wouldn’t really be able to go anyway, I’m still putting out fires from last night.”

“Last night” being when Nolan shifted during a Town Council meeting. It had barely been twenty-four hours since the attack, and my mind felt fried. I was already looking forward to getting to zone out and sleep on the flight that was leaving tomorrow morning.

“The newspaper released a short article today about the vamp attack, and I’ve been on the phone almost nonstop today,” he sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. “The city manager would kill me if I told him I needed another couple days off right now.”

Archer nodded in agreement. “I have to get grades in the system before Wednesday myself, so I can’t really go at the moment, either.” He shot Elias a look and then continued. “However, I hope you haven’t forgotten that I planned on staying at your home while I was doing some research over the break at the University of Chicago. We may overlap.”

Elias shrugged. “I didn’t forget, that’s fine by me.”