“And this is a crisis?” Denver tipped his neck and made it crack.
Wheeler glanced at the empty foyer.
“Is she outside?” Reno pulled the sheer curtain away and peered at the front porch.
“She’s in the bathroom. What’s going on around here?” Lexi narrowed her eyes at Reno. “You’ve been acting weird, and she’s not telling me what’s wrong. Something’s going on, because Naya doesn’t just show up unexpectedly with dirty feet and grass on her clothes.”
Wheeler advanced toward the half bathroom beneath the stairs—his heart pounding against his chest. Before he made it, Lexi knocked him aside and pressed her body against the door.
“Naya, open the door and let me in. It’s Lexi.”
Austin appeared in the hallway and approached Lexi, wiping his sweaty forehead with a rag. “I was out back digging up the tree stump. What’s going on?”
Lexi whispered in his ear and Austin flicked his eyes around the room.
“I need everyone out,” Austin commanded.
“I’m staying,” Reno insisted, widening his stance.
Austin stepped forward with a loaded glance. “As your Packmaster, I’m respectfully ordering you to wait outside. This is private business.”
“Go on,” Lexi parroted. “Everyone out.”
His eyes slid to hers and danced with amusement. “That means you too, Ladybug.”
She planted her feet in place. “Naya is my friend, Austin.”
“Who came here asking to speak to the Packmaster. Rank trumps friendship.”
“I’m the alpha female.”
He lightly gripped her arm. “Let’s go, smartass,” he said, walking them all outside. “When someone wants to meet in confidence with the Packmaster, they’re going to get privacy. If it’s something you need to be involved in, I’ll call you in. Promise.”
He kissed her cheek to make it right and she wriggled away. Austin popped her butt playfully. “We’ll kiss and make up later,” he growled.
Regardless of love or brotherhood, they all had to respect rank in order to keep the pack united.
Austin swept back his damp hair. “Denver, run upstairs and clear everyone out. Or at the very least, just keep them upstairs. I want privacy on the first floor. We’ll be in my office.”
Austin headed to the back of the house where William slept and hammered his fist against the door. Moments later, William emerged from the hall with heavy-lidded eyes, wearing only a pair of white boxer briefs.
As a good pack did, they obediently stepped outside and gave the Packmaster his due respect.
Chapter 5
Austin set a glass of lemonade on a wooden coaster in front of me. I took a long sip, still thinking about the night before. Most Shifters could only remember a minute or two after their shift, and some remembered nothing at all. Sometimes it simply depended on how in control our animal wanted to be. I had a vague recollection of seeing two men when my panther turned around to attack, and then something electrical had frightened my animal and caused her to run. When I’d come to, I was lying outside my front door. Worried the men might return, I’d run across the lawn to retrieve my keys and clothes.
I hadn’t even gone inside to feed Misha. I’d slipped on my dress and driven straight to Lexi’s house. Someone had forced me to shift, and waking up without any memory of it had left me in a frazzled state.
Austin moved behind his desk and took a seat. A tiny sparrow hopped on the windowsill to my right and excitedly flapped away when he caught sight of me. On the left wall, I recognized a painting from Lexi’s old apartment of a boat in the dock. Austin had a cozy little setup with an L-shaped desk and a laptop to his left.
“You asked to speak to me privately,” he began, his forehead still red from the manual labor I’d pulled him away from. He switched on a small fan and aimed it at his face. I could smell his musky scent and understood Lexi’s attraction. He was a beast of a man—muscles in all the right places and a serious way of settling his eyes on a person. “Anything you disclose will remain between us unless you want to bring in a third party. I’m guessing you realize a private meeting with a Packmaster is not given freely. But you’re a close friend of Lexi’s, so on those grounds, I’m offering you my time.”
That was a big deal. Packmasters didn’t get involved in other Shifter’s affairs, and they didn’t take kindly to frivolous requests.
“Austin, I need a bodyguard.”
His jaw slid to the side. “For what reason? No offense, Naya, but can’t your animal take care of herself?”
I averted my eyes, uncertain of how much information to disclose. “Please keep this between us,” I said. “I don’t want anyone else in my business. I’m a single woman, and it’s not in my best interest to have my personal affairs become gossip.”