The phone calls from Brix and my mama had been pouring in constantly the entire time I’d been in Madow. I’d ignored every call, even going as far as to silence my phone for several days. That proved to be a poor solution as I’d also missed calls from Lenny and Fancy as well. Finally, I blocked both of their numbers and erased every voice message they’d left. The morning after I blocked them, I woke up feeling as if a cloud of melancholy hung over me, and there was nothing I could do to get from under it.
I tried working through it, but the pups at the center could sense my mood and were fussy with me all day. After suffering through their wails for a few hours, Fancy eventually told me to go home for the rest of the day. But I didn’t want to go home. The thick, inexplicable cloud was even more oppressive there, and the last thing that I or my wolf needed was to be alone, so I decided to go for a walk along the wooded trail.
Five minutes into my walk, my phone chimed with a notification. I tensed as I read the screen. It was a reminder that in less than two hours, I was supposed to mate Brix and he would become the pack alpha. The event that had finally convinced me to leave was scheduled to happen at dusk. It couldn’t, of course, because I was here, and Brix was back in Houston, but I still couldn’t get that fact out of my head.
Lost in thought, I made my way to the nearest bench and dropped down heavily. That explained the near depressive state I’d been in all day. Although I may have let the date slip my mind, my wolf knew what was up and chose to mourn what might have been. Brix had been the closest thing I had to a friend for the past ten years. We had both been absorbed by the Elders and groomed under their archaic and strict rules and traditions. In public, we had executed each task without question, but in private we’d laugh about it together. Neither of us had any idea how other packs operated, but as teenagers, we definitely knew the difference between what was lame and what wasn’t.
I’d done everything the Elders required of me, often without hesitation. I’d trained, I’d studied, and I’d obeyed. But when Elder White informed me that my final instructions from him and the others were to mate Brix and help him achieve alpha status I didn’t just pause, I came to a complete stop. Inwardly, my wolf was raging out her displeasure, but outwardly, I did something I’d never done in the ten years I’d been in their care. I asked why.
My question had obviously disconcerted him; he’d blinked rapidly and stumbled over his response but finally, he’d told me that it was my duty to the pack, and he left it at that. That night, I began to plan my departure from the only pack I’d ever known. I’d visited Madow a week earlier and the elation I’d experienced on my trip was still fresh on my mind.
I could go there, I’d thought.
We’d be free there, whispered my wolf.
The promise of freedom had been the most enticing thought of all. And how apt was it that the place I escaped to—for lack of a better word—for my own taste of freedom was the same colony created by freedwoman? I was overjoyed at being able to live according to my own path but I was saddened that I’d had to leave everything I knew to achieve that.
I hadn’t even realized that I was crying until a fabric napkin was pressed into my hand and Lenny’s arms wrapped tightly around me. I felt the moment her compassion and warm-heartedness attempted to seep into my heart, and I chuckled wetly at the thought.
I’m fine, this crap won’t work on me.
When my friend gasped and quickly pulled away from me, I started to apologize, thinking I’d spoken aloud instead of in my head as I’d intended, but a sassy retort inside of my head made me stop speaking rigidly.
If you’re so fine, why are you crying on a park bench?
I’d been watching her face, and I knew she hadn’t spoken, but I’d heard the words in her voice clearly. Her wide eyes surely matched my own astounded expression.
“I just needed a moment to process things.”
She shook her head slowly. “I didn’t ask you anything.”
I cringed. “But you were thinking it.”
She gaped at me. “You shouldn’t know that. I can’t believe you know that.” Launching from the bench and pacing in front of me, she began mumbling to herself. “How is this even possible? What the hell!” She glanced over at me.
“How are you not freaking out about this?”
“Uh,” I shrugged apologetically. “I don’t even know what this is.”
“Oh. Right.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me up from the bench. “We have to go find Langston. I have to tell him about this.”
The moment I heard Langston’s name, I perked up. Ever since we shifted together I had been finding it increasingly difficult to even pretend that I wasn’t interested in accepting all that he was offering every time he looked my way. I wanted him—severely—and my wolf had already laid claim to him. At this point, I was giving him the space to get back on track with his duties as the Alpha of Alphas, and then I would collect what was mine.
Lenny dragged me through the park but not toward the parking lot. Instead, she pulled me to one of the other main buildings alongside the Welcome Center.
“Where are we going, Lenny?”
“To the Meeting Hall. Langston called The Summit a couple of days ago, and it was held this morning.”
“Oh. Okay.” I didn’t want to be too presumptuous, but it was nice to hear that Langston was inspired in some way and finally did what he needed to do.
We walked along the pathway that traversed the buildings and up a short flight of wooden steps. I walked through the door behind Lenny and immediately, all the audible chatter going on inside the room came to a halt. The large room was about half full of people standing around in several small groups. The way that everyone stilled suddenly, with their eyes trained on us, caused my hackles to rise. Lenny—apparently oblivious to the awkward silence—motioned for me to follow her to where her brother stood with their pack beta and two other men whom I’d seen around Madow over the past couple of weeks.
Langston faced the door with Adrian standing on his left while the other men had their backs to us. He was engaged in quiet conversation and didn’t even look up as we approached him. Though outwardly, it looked as if he had no clue we were there; I knew better. I saw his nostrils flare almost imperceptibly and felt the squeeze of energy in the room as he took a silent, deep breath to inhale our scents into his chest.
We stopped just behind the two men, and Langston’s gaze flicked to us, his deep brown eyes catching and holding my own. I felt a thump behind my ribcage as my heart flipped over, and I immediately broke our connection. Dropping my chin to my chest, I looked at the floor before swinging my gaze to Lenny who stood a couple of steps in front of me and to my right. I saw the corner of his mouth tilt up in my peripheral, and my lips rose in response.
The conversation trailed off as the rest of the group acknowledged our presence. That’s when Lenny spoke.
“Langston, a word please?”
He nodded and the men in front of us stepped aside as he stepped forward. Lenny turned and caught my hand to pull me with her. The three of us had not even reached the hallway when a voice spoke out from the back of the room.
“Why does the stranger need to speak with the Alpha?”
A few groans were heard and somebody muttered, “Aww shit.”
I knew that voice, had been hearing it—in the same annoyed tone—every day since I’d chosen the pupcare as my career path. How in the hell did she get over here so fast? Alicia weaved her way through the remaining clusters of people and came to stand right behind me. I turned around, already feeling my wolf bare her teeth in response to this perceived challenge.
One thing that never made sense to me was what exactly it was about me that made Alicia hate me on sight. At first, I thought it was her obvious feelings for Langston, but when I really thought it, that couldn’t be it. Alicia had been giving me attitude since I first walked into the pupcare with Lenny, and Langston was nowhere to be found at that time. No, it was something deeper, but from the way she made no attempt to hide her dislike for me, it was clear I’d never find out. Which was a shame because Alicia seemed like she could be a cool person if she’d just chill the hell out.
She was a few inches taller than me but had a similar curvy shape with more weight in her bust than in her behind. Her bone-straight, brown hair was down and fell past her shoulders. With flawless honey-toned skin and almond-shaped eyes, she was beautiful except for the distrusting look on her face that was—always—aimed at me. Her arms were folded in front of her, and it made her red stiletto nails look like they were digging into the skin of her forearms. She tapped her foot a couple times for effect before tilting her head to the side and assessing me from head-to-toe.
“What could she possibly have to say to him?”
I arched an eyebrow at her choice of words. She was making it a habit of speaking about me as if I wasn’t in the room, and it was just the sort of disrespect that made me want to give my wolf my skin for just a few minutes. She was curled in my belly, scratching at my skin, begging to be free and bite this woman’s head off.
Bani Dowd, please give me the strength to deal with this insane woman today.
My wide, surprised eyes swung in Lenny’s direction as her voice whispered in my mind. Not only did I hear her thoughts as clear as a bell, but I could feel the moment Alicia’s materialization made her tense with frustration. That was crazy.
Lenny stepped forward, coming from behind me to move in between Alicia and me, and immediately, the suspicion on Alicia’s face melted into an almost pleasant blankness. Then, the weirdest thing happened. My skin began to tingle, and I felt a prickling sensation all over as if someone was lightly dragging steel wool over my skin. I looked down at my arms, confused about what was happening to me, and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, which made the sensation even odder.
“Alicia, I asked to speak to my brother, and I am bringing my friend along. It should not concern you, nor is it any of your business. Please don’t allow your mind to race to conclusions about something in which you know nothing.” She reached out and pulled Alicia into a hug. I saw the other woman take a deep breath before stepping back with a smile on her face. When she spoke again, her tone was significantly less harsh than two minutes prior.
“I’m not jumping to conclusions; I just want to know what business she has with him.”
Lenny nodded in understanding, but I heard her suck her teeth in my head. It was so uncharacteristic of her that I had to stifle a grin. Alicia cut her eyes at me and narrowed them for a second before focusing her attention back on Lenny.
“You will learn everything you need to know in due time.”
Alicia rolled her eyes but shrugged. “I guess that will have to be okay for now. Thank you.”
When she turned to face the room, effectively dismissing us, Lenny didn’t hesitate to grab my hand and high-step it out of the common room, practically dragging me to the hallway where Langston had quietly relocated to. He was leaning against the wall, staring at us with something that resembled surprise, but I couldn’t be sure.
He straightened, turned, and led us down the hallway to an empty room that looked like an office space. There was a desk on one side of the room with two chairs sitting in front of it, and on the other side of the room—the side closest to the door—there was a small, two-seater couch. Lenny and I entered first, and he closed the door behind him. Lenny immediately dropped my hand and threw herself face down on the couch. Shaking my head at her dramatics, I cautioned a glance at Langston and sucked in a startled breath.
His gaze was trained on me with a focused intensity. Our eyes met and I felt that thump in my chest again. I had the urge to shift once more, only this time, it wasn’t to let my more aggressive side have her way, but was instead so that I could avoid the queer feeling in my stomach that only Langston’s silent gaze could give me. Averting my eyes, I hurried over to the couch and pushed Lenny’s legs to the floor so I could sit beside her. I heard him chuckle, and I rolled my eyes at the husky sound that only increased that fluttering in my belly. It felt like he was teasing me, as if he knew what I was experiencing and found it amusing.
But that was crazy, right? He couldn’t possibly know what was going on with me—the weird things taking place with my wolf. I hadn’t even mentioned anything to Lenny yet, and I had spent most of my time with her since I had arrived more than two months ago.
But still…
It felt like he knew. Like he could see inside of me and witnessed each moment that my heart galloped in his presence. Like he couldn’t just smell my wolf, but he could see her as well. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and tapped Lenny on the shoulder. We were here for a reason that had nothing to do with her deciding to check out on us. With a deep sigh, she sat up and faced her brother.
“First of all, Langston-Alpha of Alphas, why didn’t you say something back there? Alicia was tripping.”
Langston took a few steps to perch on the edge of his desk and folded his toned arms across his chest. “I knew you could handle it and you did. Next?” He gave her a pointed look.
That sounded a lot more like an act of trust instead of the abandonment it may have felt like. She pursed her lips at his concise explanation before continuing.
“Something weird is happening between the two of us.” I nodded as she gestured back and forth between us.
Langston straightened quickly and raised his hands in the air, palms facing out, a mischievous smirk on his face. “Hey now, I don’t need to hear this. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me.”
My jaw fell open, and I scooted to the edge of the couch. “Wait a minute; what are you trying to say?”
“Langston!” Lenny tossed a cushion from the couch at his head, which he caught and launched right back at her swiftly. She clearly wasn’t expecting his fast response because it hit her square in the face. With a screech, she fell back against the back of the couch.
My eyes narrowed and I opened my mouth to protest his distasteful joke when he looked my way. Those deep brown orbs found me once more, and whatever response I might have spoken dried in my throat. I was finding it increasingly difficult to formulate complete sentences when he stared at me like nothing and no one was around us.
“Langston.” Lenny stood up. “I’m serious. We can hear each other’s thoughts.”
That got his attention. His eyes shifted from me to his sister, and I could see he was shocked by her words. That didn’t make me feel better. What in the world was going on?
“What do you think that means?”
He tugged on the ends of his beard, seemingly contemplating Lenny’s question, but he didn’t answer her.
“Well?” Lenny prompted impatiently.
“Well… I have an idea… but I don’t want to say anything until I’m sure.”
Both Lenny and I frowned. “Why can’t you just tell us what you’re thinking?”
He smirked and I was momentarily distracted by the curve of his plump brown lips.
“What’s the fun in that, Little Lenny?”
Lenny rolled her eyes and looked over at me. “Come on, girl. I know who can tell us something worth listening to.” She moved toward the door, and I glanced at Langston before standing up to follow her. There were things I wanted to say, but even after spending so much time with these two, I still didn’t fully understand the dynamics between them. Langston was Lenny’s alpha, but the way she regarded him was only that of an annoying older brother and not the reverence of her superior. It was baffling.
As I reached the door that Lenny had already exited through, I felt fingertips trail down my exposed forearm, leaving a wave of tingling flesh in its wake. I released a stuttered breath before turning to find Langston standing mere inches away from me.
“Hey. Don’t let Lenny’s frenzied state make you nervous. It’s nothing bad.”
I looked at him, eyes roving the smooth skin of his forehead and cheeks before tripping over those aforementioned lips to meet his eyes. If I wasn’t mistaken, his pupils had lightened from nearly black to chocolate-brown and were slightly blown out, indicating his wolf was close to the surface, hovering just out of sight and probably waiting to be let out. The sight made that previously unexplainable feeling in my stomach turn into the rumbling awareness of my own wolf as she reacted to the proximity of Langston’s hidden canine.
“I thought you didn’t want to say anything yet. You reached clarity that quickly?”
His cheeks lifted, stretching those lips into an enticing smile that I suddenly wanted to put my mouth on. The beating of my heart increased almost instantaneously and his nostrils flared before he took a step closer to me, eating the already minute space between us until his chest brushed against mine, causing my nipples to pebble in response. My center liquefied, and his chest rose as he inhaled deeply. His eyes fluttered closed for a second, but when they reopened, a fire was present in those lightened depths, and all pretenses fell away.
I dug my fingers into his shirt and pulled, meeting his mouth with my own to satisfy the craving he’d awakened inside of me. His arms found their home around my waist as I pushed up onto the tips of my toes to deepen our connection. The scent I’d come to associate as undeniably his became a tangible thing as I tasted the grass and the sun and the magic of his existence on his tongue, and I needed more.
Well, well, well. Is this what y’all are up to when I’m not around?
Gasping as Lenny’s sassy voice sounded in my head, I pulled away from Langston and craned my neck, expecting her to be standing in the open doorway but finding it empty. I returned my gaze to Langston to find his imploring eyes on me.
“You heard that?”
I nodded silently as I released him from my grasp as I tried to get my breathing under control. His hands fell from my waist, and he took a step back, running both of his hands down his face. I felt magnetized to him, almost moving toward him until the sound of a throat clearing stopped me.
I looked behind me to find Lenny standing where I’d expected her to be moments earlier.
She gave me a knowing look. “Are you ready?”
I licked my lips, chasing the lingering taste of his scent, and glanced at Langston. The hungry look in his eyes threatened to weaken my knees, and I knew that I needed to leave that office immediately or I wouldn’t any time soon.
“Yeah,” I said breathlessly, “I’m ready.”
Langston nodded, hearing the double entendre in my voice, and Lenny laughed for the same reason. Then her hand was wrapped around my bicep, and she was pulling me out of the office and down the hallway, away from her brother.