Seven Years

onto a truck. Garage sales will get you bargains if you go late.”

“Why late?” I asked. “Early bird gets the worm.”

She pushed her braid off her shoulder and a strand of hair slipped in front of her nose. “Early bird also pays a fortune. The late bird gets the deal on leftovers, because the owners just want to get rid of it for any price at that point. People can’t see the potential in some pieces that look ugly or broken. I can. I see beneath all the glossy paint at the raw beauty below the surface.”

Hand to God, every man in the room was watching her like she was a prophet. Ivy had such a beautiful voice and the manner in which she spoke drew you to her words, as if everything had a deeper meaning. She could be talking about scrubbing a toilet and make it sound like she was teaching you a lesson about humility.

I smiled and took a bite of cucumber. Ivy was going to fit in well; she was exactly what this pack needed. They had somehow accepted her as a sister, even though she was insanely beautiful in an earthy way, with lush lips and delicate features. I had so much to learn about Shifters.

“You going to be okay by yourself?” Austin asked hesitantly.

“Sure. I’ll have to plan something fun with Maizy,” I said in an animated voice, grabbing her attention. I winked at her and she giggled while nibbling on a tomato wedge. “Maybe we’ll do Pretty Pigtail Day and make some homemade pizza. Would you like that, Maze?”

She gave it the weighty consideration only a six-year-old can. “Umm, okay. Can we play games like at the pizza place?”

I glanced at Austin, not wanting to let her play on Denver’s game system. “You got any kid games around here?”

He frowned a little and thought about it. “Cards?”

“Then I’m just going to have to kick it old school and show her how to play hopscotch.”

“Hide and seek!” she replied.

“I don’t think we have the stuff to make a pizza,” Austin murmured in a deep voice.

“Trust me, you do. I know how to make homemade dough. Heck, I can make a pizza using toast if I really need to.”

“She can,” Mom agreed. “And it’s appalling.”

“You have tomato sauce in the cabinet and there’s provolone cheese slices in the fridge, so it’s all good. Call me if you want lunch later on. Maybe you can lend me the keys to one of your cars and I can swing by.”

“What’s wrong with yours?”

I gave him the look. His brows relaxed as he remembered. I’d once hated that car because it was a symbol of Beckett’s infidelity, but now it was a reminder of the man who tried to take my life.

“The wolves will stay off the property,” he stated as fact. “I’ve marked a warning and the Packmasters in the area know about our situation. If you have any trouble, you can call Prince. His number is on my phone and I’ll leave it with you.”

“Prince?” my mom suddenly piped in. “The guy in the sparkly pants who sang ‘Purple Rain’?”

I did a facepalm, trying not to laugh, because it was funny. I’d actually gotten used to his name and didn’t find it unusual until she brought it up.

“I like Prince,” Maizy declared, putting a giant forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Ivy pointed to the napkin on her lap and silently coaxed her to wipe her face. “He’s my hero and got me from the road with all those cars. I was really scared that no one would find me.”

Denver stretched his arm behind Maizy’s chair and angrily tossed his fork on his plate with a clang.

Mom looked at Austin. “He was the one who found her?”

Austin nodded and sliced up more of his meat. “He’s sent a few of his men to look for your ex. I don’t think he liked finding a little girl abandoned on the side of the freeway because her father decided to drop her off like a bag of garbage.”

“What are you going to do with this house?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Keep it,” Austin said with a mouthful. “It belongs to my parents and I don’t plan on selling. Maybe I can pass it on someday.”

Then he got real quiet and cut his meat into sizeable pieces.

“The house will fall apart,” I pointed out.

“Land doesn’t fall apart. The house can go for all I care,” he said, waving his fork around. “It’s the property that holds value. We can use it for a getaway whenever someone in the pack wants some time alone with their woman, or their wolf wants a private run.”

Ivy’s eyes brightened and she glanced around, as if she were thinking the same thing I was. What woman? These men didn’t seem like they were ever going to settle down.

Austin held the fork to his mouth and slowly pulled the meat from the prongs. He had a look on his face that only an inside joke could deliver. “You did mention something about a heat house.”

Oh God. I blushed so hard I had to pretend to drop my napkin on the floor and then bent over to pick it up. Someone in the room snorted with laughter and I was tempted to crawl all the way underneath the table.

“I want the key to that house,” Ben said from across the room.

“A place like that would be useful,” Ivy remarked. “I’d be interested in something like that.”

“What are you all talking about?” my mom finally chimed in.

I swear, I couldn’t get up. I kept staring at the floor, three seconds from bolting out of the room. Then I felt Austin hook his fingers around the waistband of my shorts as if he could read my mind.

“Females go into heat,” Austin said matter-of-factly.

Oh God, just shoot me now.

“Heat?” Mom asked, setting her fork down.

“It means they go into freak-mode,” Ben replied in a humorous tone from the other side of the room. “Ever seen a cat in heat?”

I tried to get up but Austin’s grip on my shorts tightened. I remained under the table, holding the napkin between my fingers and staring at my mom’s black shoes. She was probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me.

“It’s when they’re ovulating and their body wants someone to give them babies,” Maizy suddenly blurted out.

I sat straight up like a lightning rod and glared at her. “Who told you that?”

She tucked a large cucumber in her mouth and smiled. “I saw it on TV. That’s how kittens are born. Can we have a kitten?”

“No,” Wheeler cut in, tearing off a piece of his bread and stuffing it into his mouth. “We don’t like cats around here.”

“That’s all you,” Ben said. “I don’t give a shit about cats.”

“Watch your language around Maizy,” Mom scolded.

“Well,” Wheeler replied, “I don’t like cats. I don’t want them anywhere near me.”

Ben smirked. “What’s the matter, Wheeler? Afraid of a little pus—”

Austin slapped his hand down on the table and everyone shut up. “We’ll head out before sunrise so we can get as much done as possible before it gets hot. I don’t want to hang around here any longer than we need to, so the sooner we move, the better. I’m going to close out the bills on this place by month’s end.”

After the table was cleared, everyone fell out of their chair when Mom surprised them with peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream.

Yeah, she was definitely worth her weight in gold around this place.

* * *

A few hours after dinner, Austin was sleeping in Jericho’s room with Lexi beside him. Only this time, there was no touching. It was weird since he had spent the previous night pleasuring her for hours. But Austin didn’t want to throw mixed signals by showing her affection that would make her question their nonexistent relationship. Lexi didn’t know the rules of pack life, especially not the dynamic of a single woman in the mix.

As an unmated Packmaster, it was his duty to make sure his women were taken care of. That meant abating Lexi’s discomfort while she was in heat. Single women in packs didn’t sleep around with the men because