“Sure you are,” Wolfie answered. “Even when we’re in human form, we’re all still wolves.” Then he looked back down at the ground and moved on to a safer topic. “I would have asked Chase to tell you that we’ve been keeping an eye on your nephew, and that we’d be more than willing to help with his first shift.”
Just imagining what kind of “help” Wolfie would give Keith made me gasp involuntarily. Then I immediately regretted my lapse because I could have sworn the huge alpha in front of me knew exactly what was going through my head. His shoulders slumped as if I’d slapped him, and the alpha lowered his voice another notch so I had to strain to make out his words. “Chase would have said that better,” he muttered. Then, looking at my bare feet, he raised his voice a tiny bit and added, “Chase would be glad to come help with Keith’s change. He’s friends with Dr. Baker.”
I sighed, thinking of the mess I’d left behind me at the mansion on the hill. I’d have to find a way to explain my weird behavior and wiggle my way back into Dale’s good graces … plus sneak into my car to find some clothes before someone caught me running around the yard naked. Since Wolfie was currently acting oddly submissive, it seemed like a good time to take my leave and deal with this more pressing issue rather than to keep puzzling over the pack across the mountain. “I appreciate your offer,” I told the top of the alpha’s head as I turned to go. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
I was picking my way across the ground on bare feet, trying to dodge rough spots, when Wolfie’s parting shot hit me like a rock to the back of the head. “One more thing,” he added, the wolf winning out in his voice. “I would have had Chase ask you to go out on a date with me.”
Ignoring the damage to my feet, I took to my heels and fled.
Chapter 7
When I returned to the house, it became clear how Dale had slept in the same bed as a werewolf for five years without figuring out his wife’s secret. My brother-in-law was clueless.
“Just in time for dinner!” he greeted me as I walked in the door wearing a different set of clothes than the ones I’d left in. The house smelled of browned beef and grated cheese, and I could tell my wolf was a little more awake than usual from the intensity of the odors and from the unwelcome ache in my bones, stronger than I’d felt in years. Ignoring the pain, I smiled warily at Dale, expecting the third degree, but all he wanted to know was how long I’d be staying.
“Well, I’m kinda between jobs at the moment,” I began, trying to figure out how to invite myself for an extended visit. I needn’t have worried.
“Brooke always assumed we’d have people living from the basement to the attic,” Dale confided as he pulled warm tortillas out of the oven. “That’s why we built such a big house. You’d be doing me a favor if you stayed for a few weeks and helped me get Keith sorted out. He looked a bit better after you left, but I know one session isn’t enough to fix everything.”
The man was almost pleading with me to come into his home and convert his son, and I felt a twinge of guilt that my purpose here wasn’t more charitable. It was either Keith or me, though, and the kid made me feel better about my traitorous plan as soon as he showed up for dinner. Dale had to beard his son in his lair and argue the teenager into sitting down with us, and even then, the youngster refused to eat the soft tacos his father had assembled. Instead, my nephew brought a box of cheerios and a jug of milk to the table and downed bowl after bowl of the floating cereal, ignoring his father’s attempts to draw him into conversation. Even as a bystander, the one-sided exchange was painful, and I was relieved when Dale gave up and turned to me instead.
“I understand we have a mutual friend,” my brother-in-law said to open the adult conversation. I struggled to figure out who he might be referring to, but Dale was quick to illuminate the mystery. “Chase called about an hour ago, hoping to catch up with you,” he continued. “I told him you’d gone out for a run, and invited him to the clinic-cleanup day tomorrow.”
I was saved from answering because Dale’s words drew a reaction from his son at last, although not the one Dale had been looking for. “Dad,” Keith whined. “I don’t have to go, do I?” I raised my eyebrows, thinking Dale must be roping people into hard labor, but instead it turned out the doctor was helping get a drug-rehab clinic up and running and was looking for volunteers for the last day of mopping and window cleaning before patients moved in. Like the good guy he obviously was, Chase had volunteered to help out.