Elder Zeller held up a hand. “Actually, there is. King Shadow has an underground training area. It’s completely private.”
Now I glared at him, but I was mute this time. He had just guaranteed I would be getting my ass kicked regularly again by Elder Merrick. Not exactly how I enjoyed my mornings.
Antonio patted my shoulder. “Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
I snorted and finally started eating my food. “You weren’t the one lying on your back all the time staring at his damn smelly tennis shoes.”
“Hey,” Elder Merrick muttered, “they don’t smell.” A pause. “And I enjoyed you on your back.”
I paused, ignoring the sexual overtone, my gaze flicking to him. “Please don’t tell me you still own them.”
His grin was pure evil. “Actually, I do.” He shrugged. “But you won’t be dealing with my shoes.” His eyebrows waggled. “This time, when it’s not my huge furry paws, it’ll be my huge naked…feet.”
My stare was bored. “And I’ll try to contain my excitement.”
Ezra shoved his plate back, muttering curses as he stood from the table. He rubbed the back of his neck. Glanced from side to side. “I didn’t ask for any of this shit. Not now. Maybe then…but fuck…what the fuck was I thinking?” Yeah, he was talking to himself as he kind of lost it, and it wasn’t hard to figure out what — whom — he was talking about if you were in the know. He scrubbed his face harshly. “Maybe there’s someone I can interrogate.”
We watched, I with wide eyes, as he turned abruptly and started shouldering his way through the lunch crowd, heading for the exit.
Elder Jacobs whistled quietly. “Well…hell.” He glanced at me and away. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it quite as it sounded.”
Yeah, he did…because that was how I felt.
I jumped when Elder Zeller whacked Elder Merrick up the backside of his head hard enough that his face came mere inches from hitting his plate. “Don’t do that shit to my son anymore.”
Elder Merrick’s wolf growled as I watched Ezra’s spiky head of hair disappear in the distance, but he stated, “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s obviously too much.”
I blinked, not really understanding, and stated the obvious, “I’m going to go to my tent and eat, and lie down before I have to meet with the other Shifters.” I stood, kissing the top of Antonio’s head. “I’m sorry, but it’s nothing personal.”
He smiled gently. “I know.” His gaze held mine. “Find time to shift.”
Finding time to shift hadn’t been easy, but I hadn’t enjoyed an ounce of time I spent outside of Antonio’s soothing power once I had felt what it could be like again, so I had done it. I had left the confines of the Mage dome and found a secluded spot to strip bare and shift. And run. God, it had been great, too. So great that, feeling almost high from the endorphins of my run, I snuck through King Shadow still in wolf form, biting the handle of the small bag I was carrying to stash my clothes in and heading toward…my husband’s tent.
The running had cleared my mind. And I knew what I had to do. The answer seemed obvious now. How I hadn’t seen it before, I don’t know.
Trust.
I had said it before. We had no trust for one another. And for us to have a workable relationship in, and out, of our Ruler roles, we needed to trust one another. And since our first encounter hadn’t started out on the right foot, I was going to take the first leap of faith. I had stated my size in wolf form at lunch, but hearing and seeing were two completely different things. So I was going to show him myself in wolf form and put blind trust in him, hoping his love for our daughter would be enough to push us past this hurdle we had unknowingly set ourselves.
Yeah, the run had helped.
Slipping past the tent flap, I tugged on my bag as it caught on the fabric, then dashed to the second flap, the entrance to his bedroom, slipping past it and keeping a tight grip on my bag’s handle as it caught again. Marijuana smoke filled my senses as I shook my head, attempting to dislodge my bag by bearing down with my hind legs and pulling, while loud spellbinding music drifted in my ears. Huffing, I shook my head hard and fell on my tail as my bag came free…and my bag flew back, thumping into my chest and almost knocking me over. I seriously hoped Ezra hadn’t seen any of that. Hastily, I peered to the side, searching for him, unable to hear a damn thing over the music, or scent anything over the drug’s cloying aroma.
And froze.
I wasn’t exactly sure where to look first because…he wasn’t alone.