Listening to headphones at maximum volume with your back turned to the doorway is a fantastic way to get the crap scared out of you. Cambria had said those exact words this morning when she’d come up behind me and I’d dropped an entire gallon of milk on my kitchen floor.
In my tent reflecting on that incident, I felt a hand close over my shoulder. I screamed. In one violent move, I scrambled to my feet, ripped the headphones free and chucked them aside, and swung out with my fist.
Wes jerked back in time to avoid getting smacked.
“Geez. It’s just me,” he said, throwing up his hands.
I relaxed. “Sorry. You scared me.”
“Obviously.” He was fighting a grin—and losing. I stuck my tongue out.
He stood in front of me wearing nothing but a pair of jersey shorts, the drawstring untied. They were a little long but they fit around his hips. In a really yummy sort of way. My heart tripped over my diaphragm in my attempt to breathe evenly. “Where’d you find those?”
“George’s, I think. I’ll put them back when I leave.”
I backed up so Wes could fit into the small square of canvas that was mine in this chaotic communal space of woods. He reached back and closed the flap. The moment we were hidden from view, he pulled me into his arms and sank onto the pile of blankets so that I fell into his lap.
His mouth found mine in the middle of my laughter. “What is this for?”
“I haven’t seen you since yesterday. I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” I returned his kisses and wrapped my arms around his neck, enjoying the feel of his bare arms pressing against me.
We rarely shared moments like this anymore. Privacy was nonexistent. Nowhere, no matter how secluded, was without interruption. As proof, my cheeks flamed with the growing awareness in my mind. I jumped when the mental voice became audible.
“Gross, you guys. Get a room.”
Wes pulled free and glared at George in the doorway. “This one was working just fine until you showed up.”
“You act like I wasn’t here the whole time.” George pointed at his temple. From outside the tent, I heard someone snicker.
“Shut up, Derek,” Wes said, but that only made him laugh harder.
“George, you need a life,” I said.
George mopped his brow with a towel. “Don’t hate me because I choose a different method of calorie- burning.”
“We’re not the haters,” Wes muttered. I pretended not to hear.
George and Derek had taken up running on two legs right around the time they’d realized neither was faster than the other on four paws. They’d invited me along but I declined every time. No way was I getting in the midst of all that testosterone.
“You’re just mad I’m better at this than you are,” I shot back.
“Oooh.” Derek elbowed George in the ribs. “She would know, right?”
“Whatever.” George abruptly retreated only to reappear once more. “Dude,” he said, staring at Wes. “Are you wearing my shorts?”
“Maybe.”
George grinned like he’d just figured out the punch line of a really good joke. “Guess you’ve got all my hand-me-downs now.”
Wes picked up a bottle of water and sent it hurtling through the air but George was already gone. The sound of his and Derek’s laughter faded as they went.
I couldn’t stop my own giggle from escaping.
“What’s so funny?” Wes asked.
“The look on your face,” I said. “If looks could kill …”
“You shouldn’t be laughing. Your ex-boyfriend just called you a hand-me-down. It was an insult.”
I shrugged. “He just wanted to outwit you. He doesn’t really think that.”
“How do you—? Never mind.”
I smiled and pointed to my own temple. “Exactly. So, lighten up.”
“Forgive me if I get a little touchy that I spend most days with the other guys you’ve kissed.”
Guys. He’d said guys. Plural. Were we finally going to have this talk?
I sat back. “Where is this coming from? It’s just George. You know there’s nothing between us.”
“This bond is not nothing. I can’t even kiss you without him knowing. I might as well be kissing him.”
It was an old argument with no solution. While I knew it was a point of contention with us, I was determined to not let us fight about it. Not today. “Um, that would be awkward. Then he’d have my hand-me-downs.”
Wes pursed his lips. “You’re hilarious.”
I poked him in the ribs and his glare dissolved into an unwilling smile.
“I do what I can,” I said relieved he’d chosen to let it go.
I trailed kisses down the side of his face and felt his smile widen. When I got to his jaw, he turned his head so our lips met. I drew him closer and held on, letting the heat creep in. I still sensed frustration under the surface but I knew I couldn’t extinguish it completely. The bond bothered him just as much as it bothered me—maybe more. Unless it was broken, which was impossible aside from death, there was no getting rid of his frustration, not entirely.
I ran my hands up the back of his neck and let my fingers tangle in his hair. The kiss deepened. I could feel him relaxing by a few more degrees.
He broke it off before we could get carried away. I knew he was thinking of what George must be sensing right now, but I didn’t want to get into that again. On top of that, the noise in my head was getting a little distracting for the sort of activity we were engaged in.
At least the rest of the pack couldn’t read me as well as George could. With practice, I’d gotten better at filtering what slipped through into their awareness. I’d tried to do the same with George but I just couldn’t seem to keep him out. It’s like he tried extra hard to stay inside my head. The rest of them felt weaker, more agreeable to my pushing them out. Vera said it was an alpha thing. Which didn’t comfort me much since I couldn’t manage to do the reverse. I heard every single one of them, whether I wanted to or not.
I needed a break. A deep breath. Not that it helped in clearing my head. Nothing did.
I looked around for my headphones.
My thoughts clouded and jumbled as the volume increased. Someone yelped out loud and it echoed through my skull.
“What’s that?” Wes asked, drawing away and raising his face to the ceiling.
I sniffed. The smell of burnt hair permeated the air. I didn’t waste time trying to cover my face against the odor. Instead, I jumped to my feet and shoved the flap aside, searching camp for the source.
My tent had been constructed in the center of the clearing. All around me, makeshift tarps and tents and everything in between that could possibly be used to escape the elements had been thrown together in haphazard rows. There was no system, only open space and taken space. The boundaries of each shifted daily.
For once, I was glad to be in the center of the chaos the hybrids called home. It gave me a great view for searching out drama and mischief—of which there was plenty.
“Where is it coming from?” Wes asked, joining me.
“There.”
In the far left corner, beside a wounded-looking tent, an aging Werewolf-hybrid cowered underneath the menace of Nick. He was a hybrid as well, turned from Hunter to Werewolf in his prime. He was stronger and faster than a lot of the others. But not me. Not the alpha.
“Be right back,” I said.
“I’m going with you.”
Wes and I picked our way around tents and other obstacles. Shoes. Clothes—some shredded, some coated in mud from being left outside during last night’s rainstorm. Any other personal effects were out of sight. Possessions were limited and therefore closely guarded.
