I just about died right there. What on earth was she doing? I took a drink of ginger ale to hopefully hide my blush. Unfortunately, I got the idea that not much escaped Doc's notice. Allan's either. I wasn't sure about Ed yet.
"Sofia, there you are."
I turned at Alex's voice.
"Who's that?" Ed's voice lowered, and he didn't exactly sound friendly in that moment.
Allan elbowed his brother again.
"Uh, Alex. We met yesterday." I sighed and managed to stop myself from telling them I had dumped coffee all over him.
"Oh." Ed's voice went flat.
I glanced over at Doc to see if he knew what was going on with Ed, but he was frowning at Ed, who didn't seem to notice.
"Who are your friends?" Alex smiled and joined our group, standing next to me. That left Doc on the other side of me.
"Well, we met Ed and Allan yesterday afternoon, and they just introduced us to Doc."
Alex studied Ed and Allan for a moment before turning his attention to Doc. His brow furrowed, as if he were confused about something, before he shrugged slightly. "It's nice to meet all of you. Do you mind if I steal Sofia and Victoria away for a few minutes? I wanted her to meet some of my friends."
"Yes," Ed grumbled.
We all looked at Ed in surprise.
Allan cleared his throat. "What Ed meant is yes, that would be fine if Sofia and Victoria don't mind."
Ed glowered. Doc and Allan smiled and promised to catch up with us later in the evening.
Victoria hooked her arm in mine, and we followed after Alex through the crowd.
"I think Ed likes you," she whispered.
"He keeps handing me off to Doc, though. What's up with that?" I was really confused.
"No idea, but make sure you get their numbers before the end of the night."
I sputtered, and she laughed.
Chapter 3
Doc
Doc turned toward Ed. "What on Earth has gotten into you?"
"I like her," Ed replied as he stared into the crowd where Sofia had disappeared.
"You like her, so you drag her around by her hand and then give her to me?" Doc sighed. Sometimes he didn't understand his brothers.
"No. I like her for you. She's right for you. Couldn't you tell?"
Allan and Doc both stared at Ed, when he finally turned back to them.
"What?" Ed frowned, looking confused for the first time.
"Ed, you don't even know her," Allan said.
"I don't need to know her to know it's right. She belongs with us," Ed stated.
"With us, with you, or with me?" Doc felt he had to clarify. Ed was clearly caught up in some sort of werewolf thing he couldn't understand, as he wasn't a werewolf like the two actual brothers.
"She belongs with us. Our pack. I know she's right for you, too. You're harder to find a match for, though. So, we'll start with you."
Doc glanced at Allan. "Do you have any idea what he's going on about?"
Allan shook his head slowly, but his eyes widened slightly, and Doc thought he might actually understand what Ed was talking about. He probably just didn't want to say it. They were used to Ed's kind of weird, but that didn't mean they always understood it.
"You do realize she's a freshman? You do realize she's probably in my American History class? Half the freshmen are."
"Good, hopefully she's in your class this semester so you can get to know her, and then you won't be her teacher that much faster. Oh, hey, there's Ted. I'll bring Sofia back later."
Ed hurried off before Allan or Doc could stop him.
"Allan, can you explain any of that?"
Allan sighed and shook his head. "I'm not even going to try. You know how he is. He gets ideas sometimes, and just goes with it."
"I do know how he is," Doc said softly. "And he doesn't give up when he gets an idea in his head."
"Maybe he just liked the way she smelled." Allan grinned.
"What?"
"Don't tell me you didn't notice. Whether she belongs with us or not is up to her, but she certainly belongs up here."
Doc waited for Allan to explain.
"She smells like a fresh mountain breeze at the beginning of spring, with just a hint of snow."
"You use your nose much more than I do," Doc pointed out. He had noticed, though he hadn't put it into quite such poetic terms in his mind.
"You may not be a wolf, Doc, but we've hunted with you, and you use your nose just as much as we do," Allan whispered very quietly. "Wherever she moved here from, she belongs in the mountains."
"How do you know she's from somewhere else?"
"She's breathing too hard to be used to even a little altitude. She'll adjust quickly, though. She's fit. Maybe we'll take her running sometime." Allan smiled.
"Not you, too." Doc groaned.
"Do you know Alex? He smelled like he recognized us." Allan was clearly trying to change the subject.
"No, I don't." Doc let him. He didn't really want to think about Ed's strange behavior, though he did find himself hoping his brother would fulfill his promise to bring Sofia back later, if only so he could try and figure out what had caught the werewolf's attention. Sure, she was attractive. Her short dark hair in an uneven bob framed her face nicely and showed off gray eyes that flashed lavender when the light hit them just right. Her aquiline nose was just right for her face, and her dusky tanned skin made him wonder if she had a mixed heritage like he did. And Allan was right about her scent.
Realizing his thoughts had strayed much further down the 'interested in Sofia' path than he had intended, he pulled his attention back to the gathering. Allan was studying him.
"He's right, isn't he?"
"Right about what?"
"You like her, too."
"I have no idea what either of you two knuckleheads are talking about." Doc sighed.
"I'll be back," Allan said. "I need to apologize to her for Ed."
"Don't scare her off," Doc surprised himself by saying.
"That's why I'm going to
