Page 4

The rest of the A-Team had already arrived by the time Julia and I made it to Ferris town.

It was tradition at this point: if the Solstice was taking place on one of our islands, the others would arrive early to help set up.

We had it down to an art at this point, and when I pulled into town, they were busy building up the bonfire.

Julia was out of the truck before I’d even cut the engine, racing toward the guys with a grin. They greeted her with equal fervor, and I tensed as Xander swept her up in his arms.

“Hey, squirt! Long time, no see.”

It shouldn’t bother me that they touched her freely.

None of us had sisters of our own, and my friends had adopted her as their honorary little sister.

None of them thought of her as anything more, but we were stricter about touch between males and females on Ferris.

If a woman wasn’t family or your mate, you didn’t touch her unless it was absolutely necessary, and the liberties my friends took with Julia made me uneasy.

The moment she was out of Xander’s arms, Leo’s arm was around her waist, and he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“You’re looking lovely this evening,” he told her, and she beamed up at him, slipping out of his hold to give him a spin.

The movement caused the light cotton of her skirt to flare out, revealing even more of the pale skin of her legs.

My jaw clenched; she might be my responsibility for the evening, but she wasn’t my sister or my mate or a member of my Pack.

I had no say in how she dressed or who she showed herself off to.

Jace, at least, was more reserved, opting for a fist bump and a simple,

“Hey.”

It was only then that I realized we were missing someone.

“Where’s Noah?” Julia said, just as I opened my mouth to ask the same question. My friends’ faces darkened.

“His dad says he can’t come this year,” Jace told us. “They’re getting worried that he won’t mate in-Pack. There’s talk of marriage.”

In a rare moment of absolute agreement, Julia and I both grimaced.

Cunic was known to be a secretive Pack—unlike the rest of us, they didn’t allow freedom of movement through their land, so protective were they of the rich seem of coal that ran through their land and powered the entire archipelago.

Noah had mentioned before that mating out of the Pack wasn’t an option for him, but I’d never thought his father would go so far as to arrange a marriage.

Shifters didn’t marry often; it was a ritual for those whose mates had died or rejected them or for those who had given up on finding their mate at all.

Noah was only twenty-two, though. He should have had plenty of time.

“He said to have fun tonight,” Jace added, attempting to lighten the mood. “He’s with us in spirit!”

“He’ll get a blow-by-blow of the night the next time we see him,” Xander promised, punching Jace in the arm. I didn’t always appreciate Xander’s reckless, carefree attitude, but I was glad of it now.

With wood for the bonfire piled up higher than I’d imagined possible, the guys moved on to carrying tables out of the hall for food and drink while I was pulled away by one of my Betas to greet the Alphas from other islands as they arrived.

As we walked through the town, there were a hundred delicious scents in the air; every mother on Ferris would be in her kitchen now, preparing something to offer for the Solstice party.

The following hours passed in a blur. Between welcoming the arriving Alphas—no representatives from Arbor or Cunic, as expected, but everyone else was in attendance, even the First Pack—and the ceremonial lighting of the bonfire, it was getting to be dusk and the celebration was in full swing before I had the chance to check in with the guys, and with Julia.

Thankfully, she’d stayed close to them, cracking jokes in between sips from a bottle of beer.

I tried to tell myself that I didn’t care as Julia chatted animatedly with our friends.

It wasn’t that I was desperate for her affection—far from it—but it was frustrating not knowing why I was singled out as the subject of her ire.

I supposed I could ask her, but after four years of hostility, I wasn’t about to prostrate myself at her feet and beg forgiveness for something I didn’t know I’d done.

I was an Alpha. I didn’t need her approval or her friendship.

I did, however, need her to behave herself.

I might be her guardian tonight, but I had other responsibilities as Solstice host. I needed to talk with other Alphas, tend to established relationships, and manage the ones I knew didn’t care for one another.

I simply did not have the mental energy to be worrying about where Julia was or who she was getting into trouble with.

It was, however, what I spent most of my evening doing.

In the middle of my discussion with the Alpha from Telaxis—he’d been hosting the First Pack for the last two years, and was full of wisdom regarding their customs and ways to ensure a successful stay—I heard her scream with glee from somewhere to my left, and when I looked over she was doubled over with laughter at something Xander had said, one hand resting on his bicep and the other holding the neck of her now-empty beer bottle.

I wondered how much she’d had to drink so far.

The night was still young, and I didn’t need to take care of a sloppy drunk girl who hated me for the rest of the evening.

The Telaxis Alpha had only smiled indulgently when I explained my distraction; he was one of the older Alphas on the islands, nearing sixty and preparing to step down when the First Pack moved on so that his son could take his place.

His Heir was here somewhere, too, and I made a mental note to seek him out as I excused myself from the conversation with his father.

I couldn’t find the Telaxis Heir, but I did find the Alpha of Tritica lingering on the edge of the improvised dance floor, watching two of his Betas try and fail to flirt with a couple of Ferris females.

We laughed together at their audacity, but that didn’t last long.

Not far from where the Tritica Betas were striking out, Julia was dancing.

Her hair had come loose from her signature ponytail and now ran in a smooth black river to her waist. Leo turned her under his arm while one of his Betas looked on, and I didn’t miss the way the Beta’s eyes traveled up and down her body as she danced.

I tamped down a growl that wanted to grow in my chest, not wanting to give the Tritica Alpha the wrong idea, holding up my empty cup instead to let him know I was going for a refill.

At the drinks table, I took a second to collect myself.

Julia was only having fun, and the guys were with her.

They wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

Unbidden, that Argent Beta’s face filled my thoughts, his eyes hungry as they scanned the smooth length of her legs, and my fist closed around my paper cup. Shit. I was going to need a new one.

As I reached for a fresh cup, I reminded myself that—despite her many flaws—Julia was a beautiful woman.

I couldn’t stop males from looking at her, and I couldn’t stop her from returning those looks if she wanted to.

I simply would prefer that she do so on her own island.

If something happened to her here—if she looked too long at some good-for-nothing male who took it as permission—then it was my fault, and how would I face Caleb knowing that I’d allowed his sister to get hurt?

And there went the second paper cup. Sighing, I reached for a sturdier bottle of beer, taking a long swig before heading back toward the party.

The bonfire was really raging now, and shifters danced, laughed, and drank in the heat and light it gave off.

The summer evening was already balmy, and sweat was shining off the dancers’ skin as they moved together.

I spotted Leo again, doing some silly moves with Jace, but Julia was gone.

I certainly didn’t panic as my gaze swept over the party.

There were too many shifters here to be able to pick out any particular scent, so I was dependent on sight alone, and I hated it.

When my eyes finally landed on her, the growl that I’d been suppressing roared to life in my chest. She’d moved to stand next to one of the cottages, leaning on the side of it away from the heat of the bonfire, and the Argent Beta was standing next to her, a shit-eating grin on his face and a hand on one of Julia’s hips.

He might have thought he’d won the lottery tonight, but he was about to lose his teeth.

Hardly aware of the rest party around me, I stormed through the throng of celebrating shifters until I was standing in the shadow of that same cottage.

Julia’s eyes widened as I approached, and she stood up straight—no doubt preparing to dismiss me—but I paid her no mind, going straight for that upstart Beta.

My hands were balled into fists at my sides, but I couldn’t use them now.

Not even Leo would forgive me for attacking one of his guys unprovoked.

“Scram,” I said through gritted teeth. “Now, before you regret it.”

My voice was thick with Alpha authority and unbridled aggression, and the Beta wasn’t dumb enough to miss it. He made himself scarce pretty quickly, not dumb enough to square up with a furious Alpha for the sake of some girl he’d just met.

The girl he’d just met, however, was exactly dumb enough to start a fight.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.

“You didn’t see the way he was looking at you,” I told her through gritted teeth, but she only squared up to me, stepping into my space so that I couldn’t miss it when she said,

“Maybe I did. Maybe I liked it.”

I wanted to grab her, shake her, and tell her it was dangerous to wander off into the dark with males she barely knew, but I was better than that.

“Make whatever stupid decisions you want on your own island,” I said, “but not while I’m responsible for you.”

That made her step back, eyebrows raised.

“I’m sorry, responsible for me?” she said. “I’m a full-grown woman, Ethan. I’m responsible for myself.”

She didn’t understand, she would never understand, but I was trying to make her anyway.

“If something happens to you on my watch—”

“God forbid I have a good time.”

“If something happens to you—”

“Like what, Ethan?” she snapped. Her voice was full of venom, and her blue eye flashed with loathing. “Like I have fun? Like I get fucked?”

The word hung in the air between us, and it was all I could do not to picture his hands on her naked flesh, his lips on her bare skin.

“Don’t be crude,” I bit back, unable to summon anything else.

We were both saved from whatever her response was going to be by the arrival of Leo. His usual smile was absent, replaced by a concerned frown.

“Cody said you nearly bit his head off,” he said to me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” said Julia, at the same time as I growled,

“He had his hands all over Julia.”

Leo’s face fell, his eyes scanning Julia for any sign of injury.

“What? You okay? That’s not like him at all, I’ll—”

“I am fine,” Julia insisted, putting a gentle hand on his arm. “Or I was until this psycho showed up and spoiled my perfectly nice conversation.”

“He was looking at you like—”

“Like I’m an attractive woman who can choose who she wants to spend her time with?” Julia interrupted. That wasn’t the point, though. The point was—the point was that she shouldn’t be doing it here.

“You can spend time with as many men as you want once you’re no longer my responsibility,” I told her.

We were going in circles, and I didn’t know how to end it or make her see.

Clearly, she refused to understand because her face was flushed with anger, her eyes red with frustrated, unspilled tears.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not your responsibility!

” Julia replied, her voice finally cracking into a shout.

It was only the music, the laughter, and the noise of the party that prevented anyone else from hearing.

“You’re not my Alpha, you’re not my brother, and you’re not my fucking father!

You’re just some asshole who doesn’t know how to mind his own business. ”

She had stormed away before I could retort, and Leo caught me by the arm as I made to follow her. My wolf growled at the imposition, but he graciously ignored it.

“Let her go,” he said quietly. “We don’t need a scene.”

That brought me up short. In the car, I’d warned Julia about making a scene, but here I was about to cause one. I took a deep breath, reining in my furious wolf.

“Cody’s a good guy,” Leo tried to reassure me. “He wouldn’t hurt her.”

I couldn’t find the words to articulate why that didn’t matter, why the thought of his hands on her body made me want to rip his arms off.

“She’s Cal’s sister,” I managed. “It’s not—he shouldn’t be—she shouldn’t—you saw—”

To my surprise, the clouds drew back from Leo’s expression, and his sunny smile reappeared.

“Got it,” he said. “Look, give her a minute—maybe a few minutes—and then go apologize.”

“But—”

“Just do it, idiot.”

Then he left me. I should have followed him, should have returned to networking with the other Alphas and keeping an eye on the festivities, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Standing in the shadows, I could scarcely believe what I’d just done; the others might consider me “old-fashioned,” but I wasn’t a dinosaur.

I’d never gotten between a male and a female who was clearly interested.

I’d been out of line, but my wolf was still growling and slavering in my chest; I didn’t know what it was, but something about that woman made me feral.