In that moment, I saw wisdom in Denver as an older brother, even though he didn’t look it. Austin was in charge, but their experience would serve to provide him with invaluable advice.
Austin pointed at him and replied in a chillingly cool voice. “He’d better find them. Stay outside and keep guard. I don’t want anyone sniffing around my territory. Have Jericho mark the perimeter and leave a warning.”
“Let me just go get him some Gatorade,” Denver said with a suppressed smile and a song in his voice, hitching up his jeans in the back as he sauntered out of the room.
Austin looked me over and released a breath he must have been holding in. “You’re staying here tonight.”
I sprang up. “I have to go to work tomorrow, Austin. I feel better and my work clothes are at home.”
“Call in sick and I’ll go pick up your things. They’re not going to fire you for having the flu.”
“Wait a second,” I protested, inching my way toward the hallway. “I’ll agree to stay here the night, but I go home tomorrow. Period. This isn’t a request. You can’t waltz into my life and start making decisions for me. I have a job, a family, and a life to live. Okay, so maybe I’m dealing with a little bit more… like the fact I’m a wolf.”
I paused. This was too much.
“Do you guys really call us bitches?”
Austin made a little grunt that sounded like he found my question inane. “It doesn’t have any negative connotations with Shifters. It just is what it is.”
“I still have a problem with it.” The bottom of my feet were sticky against the wood floor as I paced in a small circle. “Better warn your brothers, Austin. I’m dead serious. I’ve been called a lot of things, but bitch is one name I don’t tolerate very well.”
He leaned forward. Just a little. “Who’s calling you names?” he asked, and I didn’t care for the darkness in his voice.
“No one. Since when did you become so concerned with my life?”
There was an uncomfortable silence between us as he swallowed thickly, like he wanted to say something. “I’m going to check the locks on the doors and windows. If you’re hungry, there’s plenty in the kitchen. The boys will be out all night; that’s usually the deal when it’s Shifter’s night at the bar. Denver will let us know if something’s up. I don’t have any concerns. This is my turf. Sounds like they were just checking you out. Someone got them riled up about an unclaimed woman in town—someone knows about you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know who that could be. I wouldn’t know how to spot a Shifter.”
“I’ll be back.” When Austin stalked out of the room, the stupid teenager in me actually turned my head to stare at his ass.
As alarming as it was to know a bunch of strange men were snooping around to get a look at me, I felt safe with Austin. I was never the kind of woman who sat around dreaming of a man protecting me, but since Wes died and my dad left, I’d missed out on all the luxuries most other girls got. Having someone help change the oil, sell the car, or shop for a new apartment. A man to stop by and figure out what was going on with the leaky faucet or have my back whenever someone gave me shit.
Not that people gave me shit. I wasn’t a troublemaker and didn’t hang out with the rowdy crowd. Those were Beckett’s friends, and usually I dodged their parties and went out with Naya. Maybe the whole “tough guy” thing was why Beckett was so appealing in the beginning. Then I realized that sometimes being a tough guy simply meant you were a jerk.
He never changed my oil, either.
I had a small panic attack in the bathroom and spent a long time digesting the facts. Nothing would ever bring Wes back and over the years, I’d accepted his death. But now that sorrow was replaced by anger that his life was cut short unnecessarily. Maybe I wasn’t related to my family by blood, but I loved them fiercely. Being a Shifter? A whole other ball of wax. I didn’t even begin to know how to process it.
I found a chicken potpie in the freezer and heated it up. After devouring the entire meal in less than five minutes, I curled up on the sofa with a bag of Doritos and fell asleep watching Die Hard. I’d found the movie stacked in a large box labeled “Reno.”
The bag crinkled and someone jostled me around.
“Stop,” I mumbled.
“Time for bed,” Austin said, and then I was in his arms.
He set me down on top of a comforter and I nuzzled into the pillow, listening to the sound of a window unit circulating air.
The bed moved in the darkness and my eyes popped open. “Austin?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not sleeping with me.”
He threw the comforter from his side over my legs.
“It’s my bed, so I’m pretty sure I am. Plus, it’s the only room in the house with a window unit,” he murmured sleepily. “I run hot.”