“No jokes,” Link said, shaking his head hard.
Nicole stepped forward and offered her hand. “I’m Nicole, Link’s mate, nice to meet you.”
Wearing matching baffled looks, the two men shook her hand one by one.
“Link was supposed to stay away from the McCalls while Vera gave him medicine to reset him so that he won’t go mad—”
“Wait,” Dalton interrupted, looking at Vera. “You can do that?”
“I’m trying, but those fuck-for-brains McCalls attacked Nicole, and now Link is the damned alpha of the McCall pack.”
“Well, that’ll ruin any chances of saving you,” Chance muttered to Link.
“Exactly,” Nicole said. “He needs a better pack. A good one. One who can help keep his wolf steady.”
“Yeah, but he looks like a fucking monster. Link, you’re a good friend, man, but if it doesn’t work and you stay like this, you’ll drive our wolves to insanity right along with you.”
“It’ll work,” Vera gritted out.
“How can you guarantee that? How can you guarantee the McCall madness won’t taint us? I mean, my wolf wants to fight him just being this close.” Indeed, Dalton’s eyes had lightened from black to a feral gold color.
“Okay, dipshits,” Jenner gritted out, “but you have to find an alpha at some point. You two have been fighting for alpha for years, and you’re the same level of dominance. Link is a beast who took the entire damned McCall pack. His wolf is dominant enough to lead you, and you can buy him time for Vera’s cure to work. Win-win.”
Dalton’s face said a hard no, and when he crossed his arms and opened his mouth to deny them, desperation took her. “I’ll pay you whatever you want to accept his challenge.”
“No deal, Nicole. I’m sorry, but we survive because we’re quiet and keep our natures hidden. Tethering our wolves to a McCall is like a death wish.”
“I’ll try to find a cure for your offspring problem,” Vera said low, her eyes locked on Dalton’s.
Silence grew thick over the room as the two werewolves looked at each other. A million things passed between them in a glance, though Nicole couldn’t understand a single one.
“You’ll save the girl babies?” Dalton asked.
“I’ll try.”
Dalton rocked back on his heels. Scrubbing his hand down his face, he clenched his teeth so hard that a muscle twitched in his jaw. He looked at Chance, who nodded once.
Darkly, Dalton said, “Write it down.”
Vera huffed a humorless laugh. “You don’t trust me?”
“Chance and I want it in writing,” Dalton barked out. “This is the first time in history Dawsons and McCalls will be in the same pack. If we’re going to take a risk this big, we want a fucking contract.”
“Pissy, testy werewolves,” Vera grumbled as she stomped over to the table and grabbed a piece of official stationary. She clicked the end of a blue Silver Summit Outfitters pen and scribbled across the paper, line after line until, at last, she signed her name at the bottom and shoved it at Dalton.
The Dawsons read every word of it, then nodded in unison, and one after the other signed their own names.
“Outside,” Chance ordered. “Lennard would kill us if he came back from his supply run to bloodstains on the floor.”
Oh goody, more blood. If Nicole didn’t puke before day’s end, it would be a miracle.
Vera, Tobias, and Jenner moved to follow them out, but Dalton turned and stopped them. “Only Nicole.”
Vera sighed and nodded at Link. “Go get ’em, wildman.”
If Link heard her, Nicole couldn’t tell since he was already walking out the door with the Dawsons, leaving her to shove her feet into her untied boots and trail behind, clumsily zipping her jacket and cursing whatever meds Vera gave her for making her woozy. She closed the door behind her and slipped and slid her way down the snowy stairs, gripping the handrail, an utter contrast to the graceful werewolves already striding lithely through the thick snow. And as soon as she thought she’d lost them in the waning light and bad weather, she nearly tripped over Wolf, already furred and staring off into the abyss.
While the Dawsons’ Changes took longer, she fumbled into her gloves and wrapped her scarf tighter around her face to protect her from the seeping chill, then crossed her arms over her chest and jumped rhythmically to keep warm.
Out of the fog, two wolves appeared. These were no stunted McCalls. They were as big as Link. Heavily furred, thick necks, a snarl on their lips, and blazing eyes. One was pitch black with light gold eyes. Dalton, she’d venture to guess. The other was as white as the snow beneath her feet with piercing blue eyes. Chance.