Yvonne raised a mocking brow. “You sure you want to come inside, Sheriff? You never did like this house.”
Zander folded his arms. Like hell was he letting this bastard enter. “This is shifter territory now. You have no right being here. And we sure as shit don’t want you here.”
“Even if the Moores did come here last night, it would be no business of yours,” said Bracken. “We all know that if someone takes their chances trespassing on shifter territory, they can’t expect to walk away unharmed. As you yourself said, shifter business is shifter business.”
“They’re my friends,” said Colt.
Gwen shook her head. “Not friends, Colt. Not really. People like the Moores aren’t friends with anyone. They’re all about themselves. You lost the respect of a lot of people around here because of them. There had to have been times when you did want to arrest Brandt for one thing or another. After all, he was making your job harder for you. But you always had to let it go, didn’t you? They didn’t respect your authority, and soon other people stopped respecting it. At least you won’t have that problem until they come back from wherever they’ve gone.”
The sheriff sighed. “Just give me a straight answer. Did they come here last night or not?”
“If they did, I didn’t see them,” said Marlon, which was true as he’d been at Dylan’s. “And I doubt they’d have come here just to hide in the trees. Besides, I think the noises this lot made on their pack run would have scared them off.”
For a long moment, no one spoke. Colt pointed a finger at Gwen. “If I find any evidence to suggest they came here—”
“There’ll be nothing you can do about it,” Zander stated. The pack would never admit to anything. Explaining or justifying themselves to humans would be the same as answering to them. “And me, well, I’m not eager to talk to a person who didn’t protect my mate or one of my kind when they were being harassed and persecuted. Now drop your fucking finger, get back in your car, and don’t come back.”
Looking strangely tired all of a sudden, Colt muttered to himself as he slowly returned to his car. Watching him drive off, Gwen said, “It really was smart of you to ask Nick to buy the house and land so that Colt couldn’t insist on coming inside.”
“I’m always full of smart ideas,” said Zander.
As the others retreated into the house, Gwen slid her arms around him. “What does Nick intend to do with the place?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.” Zander brushed his mouth over hers. “You can do that tomorrow, when you come home with me.”
She raised her brows. “Tomorrow?” That was a lot sooner than she’d expected, and she could admit, if only to herself, that it made her panic a little. But then, she supposed it was important to him to get back to his pack.
“Tomorrow,” he stated.
She saw the dare in his eyes, knew he was expecting her to object and claim it was too soon. Instead, she sighed and agreed, “Tomorrow.”
Mouth curving, Zander wrapped his arms tight around her, lifted her off her feet, and kissed the breath out of her.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Two months later
Gwen nodded along as the beautiful little girl talked around a mouthful of cake, swinging her arms.
Lounging in the chair beside Gwen’s, Zander leaned in and whispered, “Did you understand what she just said?”
“Not a word of it.” But Gwen figured it was probably another creepy line from a movie—the Alphas’ daughter had a habit of repeating them to freak people out. It worked.
Gwen was surprised the two pups were still awake. The barbecue had started at noon, and it was now the evening. The kids had spent the day cycling, arguing over toys, playing in the outdoor area, and chasing the dog that was currently lying on the grass.
Most of the adults were close to falling asleep too. In fact, Kathy had passed out on one of the lawn chairs. Ally was sprawled on top of Derren in the hammock that was strung up near the play area. Other people were settled on patio chairs or sharing blankets on the ground.
Although it was almost dark, the glow of the fairy lights that were strung on the trees enabled Gwen to see well enough. She figured the shifters didn’t need any such light, given they had excellent night vision—she envied them that.
She sighed as the evening breeze brushed over her skin and ruffled her bangs. It had been one hell of a hot day, and she’d almost wilted from the glare of the sun. The chirping of birds and the lively partying had been replaced by the sounds of grasshoppers, crickets, soft laughter, quiet chatter, and the wood snapping in the fire pit.
The coolers that had earlier been brimming with drinks were now pretty much empty. Very little food was left, even though there had been a lot of it. Damn, shifters ate like horses. She wasn’t sure how they were still eating. She’d stuffed herself on hamburgers, potato salad, lasagna, cake, and pecan pie, and there was no way she could manage anything else.
That hadn’t stopped her from enjoying a few drinks, though. She wasn’t gonna lie, she was a little tipsy. She hadn’t touched any of the hard liquor; she only had a couple of beers. Well, she’d intended to only have a couple. But those couple of beers had soon become four. Or maybe it was five. Still, she could feel the effects beginning to wear off.
As Willow demolished the rest of her cake, Gwen handed her lemon Popsicle to Zander and said, “Hold that for me a sec, please.” Gwen then used a wipe to clean the crumbs and sticky icing from Willow’s fingers.
That was when the Alphas appeared with Cassidy, the other pup. Nick sighed at his daughter, who was still trying to talk around her food. When Gwen had first arrived, she’d braced herself for an awkward reception from Nick. But his welcome had been genuine, and the pack had actually thrown a really cool party for her.
“Thanks for cleaning her up,” said Shaya, stabbing a plastic fork into the piece of pie on her paper plate. “Missy, you should be tired by now.” Willow just shrugged.
Grinning, Cassidy uncurled her hand. “I found a worm.”
Gwen smiled, taking her Popsicle back from Zander. “A worm, huh?”
“Let me see!” said Willow, hopping off the chair. But Cassidy sprinted away, laughing, and Willow gave chase.
Shaya shook her head as she watched them. “I really don’t know where they get all their energy, but I want some.”
“The motel will be ready in a few months,” Nick said to Gwen. “I appreciate you agreeing to help us run it. After working at a B&B for years, it will be a breeze for you.”