Page 7

“There’s nothing to tell,” Dad gritted out as he rose. “Peanut has nothing to do with pack business.”

Zoe recoiled, her gaze finding mine, but the others didn’t bat an eye.

To react that way, she must not have been with the pack long.

Most everyone else was used to how I existed on the fringes, pack but not.

Living at home, in the house I was forbidden to leave without an escort, I had felt like the plastic ballerina in a music box, twirling when the lid was lifted but hunching in the dark the rest of the time.

“You’re right.” I smoothed my palms down my pajama shorts.

“I have nothing to do with pack business, and pack business has nothing to do with me . ” I saw the moment Dad realized he had misspoken bloom across his features, but it was too late to take the words back.

“I am not closing my business. Not for the next week, the next day, or the next hour.” I smiled at him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready to open for the day. ”

With a jaunty wave at the others, I strolled into my bedroom, shut the door, and snatched up my phone.

We’re in the clear.

Thank God.

I lost ten pounds in sweat this morning when Mercer started asking questions.

Thanks for last night.

Would you think less of me if I admitted I had a blast?

Ha. No. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

I fell asleep with cow blood on my face, which is even better, imo.

Murmured conversation broke out in the living room, and a minute later, the front door opened.

Dad just left, so I’m going to get ready for work.

See you soon.

Eager to check out the potting shed in daylight, I rushed through dressing in my embroidered scrubs and sleeked my hair back into a bun.

Once I had my sneakers on, I scooped Myrtle under my arm then hit the sidewalk.

I reached GSG in record time, let myself in, a smile for Sloane on my lips, but she wasn’t the one who strolled in from the kennels.

No.

I wasn’t that lucky.

Bowie, not Sloane, gave me a wink and a grin, offering me a cup of coffee and a donut.

Sidestepping him, I dug out a collar and leash for Myrtle from a cabinet. “What are you doing here?”

“Just checking in to let you know I’ve been assigned to your security detail.”

“Congrats.” I fastened Myrtle’s leash to the stainless pad eye mounted on the counter for that purpose.

“Welcome to the most boring job you’ll have in your entire life.

” I selected a dog bed from storage, and I don’t think I imagined Myrtle sniffing with disdain.

“Look, the fancy-pants bed from yesterday belongs to someone else. You’re going to be stuck out front, with me, on a perfectly nice store-bought bed. ”

Unimpressed, Myrtle curled up on the cold floor rather than step paw on an off-the-rack bed.

“That dog is a diva.” Bowie thrust out his offerings. “What was her owner thinking, stashing her here?”

“That they only wanted the best for their beloved dog?” I accepted the bribe, set it aside, and began my half of the opening routine. “Where’s Sloane?” I kept the question casual. “I haven’t seen her yet.”

“That fat tabby got sick, so she’s cleaning up in the cat room.”

“Toblerone’s GERD always acts up when his owners leave him for longer than a week.”

“That’s…” Bowie tilted his head. “Cats get acid reflux?”

“Yep.” I blew out a breath. “I better go check on Sloane before I get started with my first groom.”

Dimple winking in one cheek, Bowie asked, “Do you have lunch plans?”

“I’ll probably work through lunch today. Nothing like expressing anal glands to ruin an appetite.”

A hard swallow later, he backed out the door with a subdued nod, and I went in search of Sloane.

“That was evil,” she said, slipping out of the cat room smelling like blood from the myriad scratches crosshatching her arms. “You could have just said no.”

“The only reason he asked was to obligate me into participating in a Q&A session.”

“Maybe he likes you.”

“Bowie is ambitious, and he stuck his foot in it with Dad with the sister-knocking-my-tooth-out thing.”

Concern pinched her features. “Are you still holding that grudge, though?”

“Life’s too short.”

“That’s very mature of you.”

“It’s not like Lyra was the only one who took a swing at me after her first shift.

Once it became obvious I was a dud, the bullying was brutal among my peers.

Our whole lives we’re taught to fight our own battles or we can kiss our ranking goodbye.

The wolf in them wanted to pit itself against their alpha’s daughter. ”

“The wolf had nothing to do with that.” She grated her jaw back and forth. “That was human behavior.”

“Well, anyway, I survived them, and now I have my own life.”

A twist of her lips warned she was about to hit me with more truth, but I couldn’t stand to hear it yet.

“I’m going to check on the owl situation.” I aimed for the side door. “You’re welcome to the breakfast on the counter. I’m not a big fan of the sausage and English muffin combo.” I stepped out. “Back in a few.”

Excited dogs barked or wagged hello as I passed, and I paused to scratch each of them.

None of them followed me to the end of their enclosures, and a few whined as I approached the potting shed.

Part of me expected one of the sentinels had scoured the property before I arrived, probably while Dad kept me occupied, but I was careful in case my guest had returned to sleep off the day in the dark.

Casual, as if I had every right to be there, which of course I did, since it was my business, I flipped on the overhead light and stepped in.

Bleach swamped my senses, and I saw why a second later.

The blood was gone. Not a trace left behind.

Nothing remained to prove the vampire had ever been here.

Except for a long gold chain strung with a single charm.

My charm.

The one I placed on the vampire to conceal his scent until I figured out what to do with him.

I picked it up, brought it to my nose, but he had bleached it too.

“Hey.” Sloane shoved in. “Ms. Moretti wants to know if you can dye Lulu yellow and not green.”

“Yellow always reminds me of urine stains,” I said stiffly, as she stood right where the vampire had been.

“I’ll see what I can do to convince her green will bring out the blue in Lulu’s eyes.” She coughed into her shoulder. “Keep the door open if you’re going to be much longer. These fumes can’t be good for you.”

“Thanks.” I clenched my fingers over my find. “I’ll do that.”

Alone in the shed, I growled at myself for not confiding in her, but old habits died hard.

I wasn’t even sure what I had hoped to accomplish in hiding the vampire, or the note.

But I was growing surer, intrigue aside, that I wanted to come clean to Sloane.