Today has been the best day of my life so far. Everything is coming together just the way I want. Micah and I finished our job at the MacEntire house early, which left me plenty of time to take a shower and get ready for my evening out. He agreed to let me venture into town on my own with Amelie so we can shop. When you think about it, it sounds ridiculous. I’m in my mid-twenties and going out alone without my protector for the first time in my life. Then again, I deserve the freedom. There is much to celebrate tonight.
I can hear Amelie’s car turn down our driveway. We both joined the Teton pack around the same time, and now we live together. As soon as her car comes into view, I rush out onto the front porch. I received an important phone call earlier and have yet to tell her.
She gets out of the car and whistles at me. “Don’t you look sexy showing off those long legs of yours.”
Since it’s summertime, I chose a pink sundress with a sleeveless denim jacket to add to the outfit. Even though the temperatures are warm, it still gets chilly at night. Not that it matters to a shifter. Amelie walks around to the passenger’s side where a box filled with school supplies sits in the front seat.
“I could say the same to you,” I reply, watching her bend over to get the box with her short skirt on. Amelie looks the same age as me, but she’s actually a couple of decades older. Shifters can live to be hundreds of years old. Unfortunately, the leading cause of death for our kind is other wolves. “It’s a good thing you work with little kids. If you were a high school teacher, those boys would be drooling all over you.”
Amelie chuckles and tucks her caramel-colored hair behind her ears before picking up her box. “It’s a good thing I’m not. I don’t need any of that nonsense. My students are done with school so none of them saw me in my little skirt. All I had to do was clean up my classroom and say goodbye to the other teachers.” Holding the box in her arms, she uses her foot to shut the car door. “I’ll probably work at Blake’s ranch this summer to earn some extra income.”
Grinning wide, I move out of the way so she can come up the stairs. “That sounds like fun.”
Her brows furrow as she walks up. “Why are you grinning like that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I might’ve gotten a phone call this afternoon from a certain elementary school principal.”
She gasps. “Please tell me you got the job?”
Excitement bubbles in my veins. “I did. You’re looking at your school’s new art teacher.”
Amelie squeals and drops her box on the porch, flinging her arms around me. “Faith, I’m so happy for you. You’re going to love the kids.”
I hug her hard and laugh. “It’s only for two days a week, but it’ll give me time to help Micah with the landscaping business on the days I’m not working.” With not having any teaching experience, I didn’t think the school would hire me. I showed them a portfolio of my work, and Amelie made sure the principal knew I had paintings for sale in the art gallery in town.
Amelie lets me go. “You were right. We do have to celebrate tonight. Are we thinking dinner and shopping?”
She doesn’t know that Micah will be staying behind. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Go put your stuff up so we can leave. I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Her gaze roams toward the inside of the house. “Micah’s not here. Don’t we have to wait for him?”
I shake my head. “Nope. We came to an understanding this morning. It’s about time I had a little bit of freedom.”
Amelie’s eyes narrow. “And he gave in just like that? Why do I feel like he’s just pulling your tail?”
“Nice pun,” I say, rolling my eyes. Then again, what if he is? I already know the story between Sebastian and my sister, Bailey. She thought she was living life independently for years, but Sebastian was there in the shadows, watching over her. It’ll piss me off to no end if Micah does the same with me. I wish he could see I want this freedom for us both. Looking out at the woods, I concentrate on the surroundings, but I can’t feel Micah anywhere. The thing about royals is we can hide our presence. It’s one of the things which makes us lethal in attacks. If he’s around, he’ll definitely hear me. “He better not be trying to pull one over on me,” I shout. “If he is, he’ll regret it.” It’s all words, but it feels good to say them. Micah knows he’s stronger than me. Yes, I can get in a few hits, but in the end, he always manages to best me.
Amelie shrugs. “Just saying I find it kind of odd that he would agree to this. Micah’s an honorable man. If he made a vow to protect you, then it’s what he’s going to do.”
Blowing out a heavy sigh, I nod toward the door. “Let’s get ready to go. I have a strange feeling I’m going to be looking over my shoulder all night to see if I can find him.”
She smiles. “I get you want your freedom, but the Lyall brothers are very handsome men. I’m shocked Micah’s not your mate.”
I snort. “The goddess of the moon knows better than to put him as my mate. Micah is like a brother to me.” I agree with her that all the Lyall men are handsome. Micah has two older brothers, Sebastian and Zayne. They all three look alike with their whitish-blond hair and striking blue eyes. Sebastian is mated already, but Zayne is still on the market, much to his dismay. He prefers solitude to being chased for his status by women everywhere. When we get together with some of the surrounding packs, the women fawn all over Micah. I keep hoping he’ll find his mate. When he does, he’ll have no choice but to put me aside. In our world, mates are above all else. Unfortunately, he hasn’t found her yet.
Amelie picks her box up and laughs. “Look on the bright side, when you find your mate, he can step aside. All the females around here will be happy when you do.”
“Yeah,” I grumble, “if I even find my mate. Kind of hard to do that with a bodyguard following me around. Not to mention, a royal arctic alpha.”
She winks. “The betas won’t come near you, but I know an alpha will. There are plenty of them around. Our pack happens to be friends with several.” That’s true, but it’s not often we see them.
Shaking my head, I plaster on a smile. “Okay, no more talk about mates or overbearing alpha protectors. It’s time we have some fun.”
Amelie nods. “Deal. Let’s get out of here.”
She carries her box inside, and I follow her so I can grab my keys and purse. I’m ready for the night.
“My bison steak was absolutely delicious,” Amelie mumbles with her mouth half full.
Nodding, I finish off the last bite of my steak. “Yes, it was.”
Her gaze lingers over toward the bar and then back to me. “There are two men at the bar who haven’t been able to stop staring at us since we got here.”
Very casually, I glance over my shoulder at them. In human years, they look to be around their mid-twenties and incredibly good-looking. Both are human and dressed in plaid button-down shirts and jeans with dark brown hair and the other a dirty blond; very cowboyish, which I’ve grown to love since I moved to Wyoming from Canada. Amelie got me started watching the TV show Yellowstone, and I’m hooked.
The guy with blond hair nods at me, and I do the same to be polite. When I turn back to Amelie, I lower my voice. She has a dark past where she was mated to another wolf, but it didn’t end well. I try not to bring it up because I know it pains her.
“How many men have you slept with?” I ask her.
She takes a sip of her water. “As far as wolves, just one. Human men, six.”
I envy her. I’ve thought about what it would be like to be intimate with a man. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy myself when I’m alone in the privacy of my home, but it’s not the same. Most women at my age have at least fallen in love a couple of times. I’ve never been given a chance.
“Was it nice being with human men?”
Amelie smiles. “Very nice. Human men are different from our kind. They’re a little more fragile, so you have to be careful. You can’t be getting all hot and bothered in bed and have your claws rake down their backs. You’ll rip them in two.”
“Ouch. Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.”
She shakes her head. “Not at all. Sometimes it’s exhausting, though. You can’t fully be yourself with human men. Also, getting attached isn’t wise because we all know it’d never work. They age, and we don’t. They’re only good for a short-term fling.”
Sighing, I look over my shoulder at the two men again. “I’m not really interested in a fling.”
“Neither am I,” Amelie says, drawing my attention back to her. “I’m happy with the way my life is right now.” Her gaze saddens when she meets my eyes. “But I know you haven’t been able to live yours. Hopefully, you’ll get the chance soon.”
The waitress comes over, and we pay our bills. When we get outside, the temperature has cooled off, and it feels heavenly. I love downtown Jackson Hole. There are shops lined up and down the street with tourists everywhere. The summer is the prime time peak season for the hiking enthusiasts who want to venture into the Grand Teton National Park. It’s very different from the small Canadian town Micah and I moved from. I was born in Canada, so it’ll always be my home, but it changed when my parents were murdered. After that, nothing felt like home. I was torn away from my siblings just to keep us safe.
Amelie bumps me with her shoulder. “I’m thinking a walk by the art gallery to see your paintings and then to Udderly Delicious for an ice cream sundae?”
I turn to her and smile. “Sounds perfect.”
The art gallery is on the next street over, and when we walk by the window, there’s a woman inside buying one of my paintings. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. Amelie squeezes my arm and lets out a shriek. “Would you look at that? She’s buying your cottage painting.”
My eyes start to burn. That cottage is the replica of the one Micah and I lived in. I can see it all as if it was just yesterday that we left it. It still belongs to Micah, and I hope he never sells it. One day, I want to go back and see it again. It’s a moderately sized yellow cottage that looks as if it came out of a fairy tale. I even planted every single flower in the garden.
“It’s such a beautiful place, Amelie. You would love it.” I pointed at the painting. “The mountains in the background were really there. I would stare at them for hours.”
Amelie clasps my arm and pulls me away from the window. “It’s a good thing you have the Tetons to look at now. I have to say I love this area. It’s nothing like my home in North Carolina.”
I link my arm with hers. Her parents were murdered by other wolves, just like mine. She hasn’t been back to North Carolina since joining the Teton pack. I never thought we’d have so much in common.
We turn the corner, and Udderly Delicious is about five shops down from where we are. There are people everywhere, laughing and smiling as they go in and out of the stores. It’s interesting to watch them, knowing they’re oblivious to what’s really around them.
“What sundae are you going to get?” Amelie asks. “I think I want the mudslide, and I’ll have them add the fudge cake.”
“That sounds like heaven. I’ll …” Before I can finish my sentence, both Amelie and I freeze. Someone is near us, and it’s not anyone from our pack or anyone I recognize for that matter.
Amelie’s arm tightens around mine. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Who the hell is in our territory?”
“I don’t know, but he’s definitely an alpha.” We both scan the crowd, and that’s when I lock eyes on him. He’s tall with light brown hair and bright green eyes, dressed in a pair of jeans and a snug T-shirt that hugs his well-toned body. I don’t sense any danger from him, but I can feel his need. He smiles, but then his gaze averts to something behind me. I glance back quickly, and Micah is right there, glaring in the direction of the other male. “Seriously?” I growl. “What the hell are you doing here?” Am I surprised? No. When I turn my attention back to the other wolf, he’s gone.
Micah comes to my side but keeps his eyes on the crowd. “Did you really think I was going to let you go out tonight alone?” I glance over at Amelie, and she shrugs, giving me that “I told you so” look.
In all honesty, I’m not mad, but the guilt I felt before magnifies tenfold. Micah will never let me go, and it’s because of me why he can’t live his own life. “Did you recognize him?” I wonder.
He shakes his head. “No, but he’s definitely an alpha and not invited as far as I know.”
“What are we going to do?”
Micah turns to me, his blue eyes full of concern. “I’ll call the others. Right now, I think it’s best I get you and Amelie out of here.”
Our pack has been through so much in such a short amount of time. I dread the thought of another pack war coming to our doorstep. When alphas start encroaching on other territories, trouble usually follows.
“Will we ever be able just to live our lives in peace?” Amelie asks as Micah follows us to my car.
Even though I didn’t feel any danger from the other alpha, it doesn’t mean anything. “I don’t know,” I answer. “I really don’t know.”