“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 of the friction it created, so it wasn’t uncommon for them to seek out the alpha for relief. An alpha had more self-control, which would allow him to satisfy her without it resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. Most Shifters had no restraint around a female in heat and couldn’t resist the urge to have sex. He could have left Lexi alone to take care of business.
But damn, the idea of having his hands on her was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Her luscious scent was floral, like roses after a thunderstorm, awaking the male within who desired nothing more than to please her. It was an epic internal battle raging, because he wanted to take it a step further. But sex might have pushed her away and left all kinds of question marks about his intentions. It wasn’t like that among Shifters, but he knew how human women broke it all down. Lexi was a complicated woman and too good for a one-night stand.
So when they crawled into the bed after a second round of peach cobbler, Austin turned his back to her and didn’t say a word. He stole a glance over his shoulder and saw she had done the same thing.
Nothing had felt more awkward.
Sleep was an exercise in futility. All he could think about was wrapping his arm around her and smelling the leftover sunshine in her hair.