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“So this is what you were hiding.”
Most of the nearby shifters had either followed Ransom or gone to tend to the injured by the time Stephanie made it to the top of the rise to join us. Which was probably a good thing, since the human had no concept of how to act around riled-up werewolves. Her flashlight slid across our faces, blinding me briefly and provoking the scent of fur from my companions. Then the beam settled resolutely at my sister’s feet.
“Mrs. B...” Kira started. But the social worker talked right over the teenager, taking yet another step forward so she could wave a finger under Gunner’s nose.
“Have you people never heard of pedophilia? Child endangerment? You really let a thirteen-year-old wander around with no clothes on where anyone can see?”
Clothes? After watching a pitched battle and shifters transforming from wolf to human, this was what Stephanie was most concerned about?
Luckily, Allen had us covered...quite literally. Unlike his pack mates, he hadn’t shifted into animal form during the preceding battle. Which meant he was wearing human-appropriate clothing and possessed a backpack full of much-needed spare shirts.
“Big, bad wolf,” read the one he tossed to Kira. Gunner shielded the child as she shrugged into the tent-like t-shirt, the large male’s body seeming to shrink in on itself at the same time as he submitted in an entirely un-alpha-like manner to the social worker’s wrath.
“I know what you saw today was upsetting,” Gunner started....only to be silenced by Stephanie’s “Eh, eh, eh.”
“No, I don’t want your explanations,” the middle-aged matron rebutted. “The time for that would have been last week or last month. Around the time you invited me to that first cookout.” Then, dismissing the alpha werewolf entirely, Stephanie pushed him aside so she could offer my sister much softer words. “The fact that you’re a fox girl...”
“Kitsune,” my sister countered quietly. Despite the clarifying interruption, her tone suggested even she was cowed by the official’s disappointment and barely restrained rage.
“Kitsune,” Stephanie repeated, sounding out the word slowly to make sure she said it correctly. “Whatever your heritage, child, you’re my responsibility. And I think you should come with me right now....”
Abruptly, there were growling two-leggers all around us. Gunner, Tank, even Allen sounded like they were inches away from donning fur.
Which meant I was currently the sole rational party present. So, leaving Kira where she was, I stepped between the werewolves and Stephanie, trying to tell the social worker with my eyes that now was, perhaps, not the best time for making demands. “We can hash this out tomorrow,” I offered. Because the idea of Stephanie spilling our secrets in human court was daunting...but it was better than watching her get ripped apart by my pack mates right now.
“You’ll be there?” Stephanie’s eyebrows rose while her mouth pursed pensively. I could see her point—fleeing might be wiser than continuing to fight for custody.
Yet, despite everything, I found myself nodding. “Yes. Please. Let Allen walk you to your car now and I promise that Kira and I will be there tomorrow in court.” Immediately, this new oath tugged at my belly lighter but no less virulent than the one that used to tie me to the alpha behind my back.
And after one long moment, Stephanie bent her neck in regal approval. Human or not, she knew when to accept an oath as fact.
The social worker wasn’t quite done with us, however. “You, Allen—you’re a wolf also?” she asked over my shoulder. Then, without waiting for an answer, she shook her head and glared at the least offensive werewolf present. “It doesn’t matter. I need a guide, so you will stay human until I’m safely in my car.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Allen promised, dropping the backpack but otherwise acting for all the world like a submissive werewolf obeying his alpha as he brushed past the rest of us. Then he was leading Kira’s social worker toward the encircling forest...although not quickly enough to prevent her from tossing back one last jab at those she left behind.
“I will see you all in court,” the decider of Kira’s future promised. Then Stephanie was gone, a problem for another day.
***
“SO,” GUNNER STARTED. And I didn’t realize we were alone and naked until I heard Kira’s receding giggle as she and Tank rooted through Allen’s backpack in search of additional clothing.
“So,” I answered, breathing in the alpha’s enticing scent. There was more granite in his aroma than I was used to, his voice rough around the edges from the difficulties of the preceding hours.
But he was here and I was here. We’d both survived the battle...and there was one thing left undone.
“You need to pull your pack together,” I told him. “Go back to clan central and talk to your people so they don’t do anything stupid.”
“Once you and Kira are settled,” Gunner started. But I reached up and placed one finger atop his lips.
The skin there was soft but prickly around the edges where the barest beginning of a beard was starting to grow in. I wanted to lean in closer and see if his taste was as good as his aroma. But instead, I merely shook my head.
“Gunner, you’re the pack leader. Kira and I can’t be your top priority. A lot of your clan members don’t have the first idea what to do around kitsunes. They’ll leave with Ransom if we return with you right now.”
“They’ll stay if I tell them to,” Gunner growled. But he didn’t look into my eyes as he said it. He knew I was right.
“They might, but they’ll resent it,” I countered. “Wasn’t that the whole point of letting Ransom take so many shifters with him just now?”
My voice wanted to break, but I instead took a deep breath and treated this like any other adulting situation. If I could force Kira to brush her teeth when she was sleep deprived, then I could make an alpha werewolf do his job.
“Kira and I will make ourselves scarce for a while,” I started.
“And then....”
“And then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I finished before Gunner started making promises he couldn’t keep.
Because this was goodbye. Somewhere deep in my heart I knew it. So, without worrying about repercussions, I ensured there would be nothing for me to regret later. Grabbing onto Gunner’s shoulders to steady myself, I eased onto tiptoes then I kissed those enticing lips.