“Thanks. Clan Cat owns this one. The cabin right next to us belongs to Clan Bear so be on the lookout with that one. The bears tend to get rowdy. Oh, and just a heads-up, we’ll probably have some crashers here on the sofas later tonight. Usually, we leave our cabins open to whatever Packmates decide to stay, but there’s a bedroom in the back so we’ll have some privacy.”
Oh.
We?
I bite my lower lip as Zheng gives me the full tour and try to quash my sudden uneasiness. It’s an open floor plan. There’s the kitchen to our right. The living room area to our left and between them is a wide hallway leading toward the back of the cabin. Zheng leads me down the hall and I spot two doors on either side.
“This here is the main bathroom. People will come in and out all night to use this one but in here,” he opens the second door that leads into the lone bedroom. “There’s an attached bathroom that will be just ours. Everyone knows to stay out of bedrooms unless you know the cabin owner and have permission, so you won’t have to worry about anyone barging in on you.”
I nod, eyeing the single bed in the middle of the room. A queen-sized wooden sleigh bed. But there’s just the one and I don’t know Zheng that well.
Sensing my apprehension, he reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder. “You okay?” His brows pull down and a small crease appears on his forehead.
I nod. “Yeah. I was just wondering … ummm … where should I sleep?” I could shift and sleep in my wolf form. That would probably make things easier.
He clears his throat and shuffles his feet before saying, “I kinda figured you’d crash here, with me. I mean, if that’s okay.”
I flick a glance toward him and then back to the bed, twisting the teal corded bracelet around my wrist.
“I’m not expecting anything to happen between us,” he rushes to add. “I figured you’d take one side and I’d take the other.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry. I’m so used to everyone in the Pack kind of dog piling together like it’s no big deal. I didn’t really think this through.”
It makes complete sense. I’m mature enough to share a bed with a cute boy. And he’s not wrong, if I’d been in Star Valley, Arizona, with anyone else from my Pack, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelash. I can do this. Right? No big deal.
Shoving my apprehension aside, I say, “Yeah. That’s fine. My Pack is like that, too.”
He grins. “Alright, cool. Let’s go out and grab a beer. I don’t know about you, but after the drive, I could use one.”
7 Rafael
I pull up to the Shadle Creek campgrounds in Des’s Escalade. I would have preferred to drive my car, but Des’s ride has more space, so here we are. Jordy sits passenger while Desmond is sprawled out in the backseat, snoring louder than a lawnmower. He doesn’t usually let me drive. He’s got control issues. But he’s fucking beat. We all are.
We had to pull double duty after school today, helping reinforce one of the Clan houses that was seeing some unusual vampire activity in the area. Then we had to sit in on a two-hour meeting with our Clan leaders and talk about relationships between factions at our school and what they wanted to do moving forward. I wanted to pound my head against the table at least half a dozen times. I don’t know how my pops deals with all the other Clans. It’s a fucking headache. But at least we managed to make decent time.
“Wake up, cabrón. We’re here.”
Desmond groans but pushes himself into a sitting position before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The three of us stare at the circle of cabins in front of us with varying expressions. Jordy is hyped as fuck and already has his door flung open. His hair is still wet. We all showered before leaving the Compound so when he whips out of the car, water droplets smack me in the face.
Asshole.
Des is his usual impassive self, but side-eyes me as he grabs his shit from the back. It only takes a second for me to figure out why when all the blood inside me heats and anger spikes in my chest. A growl works its way up my throat and I clench my teeth down to contain it.
Isa is here, and just exited one of the Pack cabins with Zheng Liu. Fucking Liu. Just the sight of that asshole makes my blood boil. I told her to stay away from him.
I grit my teeth and tighten my hands on the steering wheel.
“Bro, come on,” Jordy calls, slamming his door and grabbing his duffel from the back, oblivious to what’s grabbed my sudden attention. Des meets my eyes in the rearview mirror.
“You gonna eye-fuck the girl all weekend?” he asks.
“Fuck you.” I flip him off.
He snorts and climbs out of the backseat, grabbing his bag before heading off to follow Jordy to Clan Wolf’s bigger and better cabin. I watch them in my peripheral vision, but I don’t take my eyes off Isa. She looks good. Real good. She’s changed her clothes since I last saw her at school, trading in her white jeans and flowing top for black, low slung sweats and a basic t-shirt. The top dips low in the front exposing a thin line of cleavage and I’m already envisioning her naked breasts on display for my pleasure and mine alone. My wolf scrapes claws beneath my skin and I scrub a hand over my face. I
