“He’s a good guy.” Midas shoved off the doorframe. “Want to go for a walk?”
The warm night beckoned louder than the darkened cabin, even if I only wore a towel. Out here, it’s not like I had to worry about running into anyone. “Why not?”
Plucking my phone out of my hand, he set it on the windowsill before we set out.
“I’m not one of those girlfriends who’s always on her phone, am I?”
“You’re only on your phone when you have to be.” He draped an arm around my shoulders and tucked me against his side. “All things considered, I’m worse than you are with all the mediating squabbles.”
“Just making sure you don’t feel neglected.”
The path he chose wound beneath pines whose plush needles choked the moonlight overhead.
“And if I do?” He cut me a look. “Feel neglected.”
“I would probably offer to pamper you.” I edged in front of him in case I needed a head start. “Trim your nails, rub your belly, Q-tip your ears. That kind of thing.”
“I get the feeling you don’t take me seriously.”
Hand over my heart, I whirled on him. “I take you as seriously as a shampoo commercial.”
“I’ll count to five.” Crimson splashed onto his feet. “Use your time wisely.”
“What do you mean five?” I backed up a step, pulse thundering. “Midas?”
Magic pulled him under, and he reemerged with his tail swishing.
“Oh crap.”
Spinning on my heel, I shot down the path as fast as my feet would carry me.
“I’m barefoot,” I screamed at him. “And in a towel. In the woods. With the ticks and bugs.”
A throaty baying rose behind me, and the hairs lifted down my nape.
“Frak, frak, frak.”
A campsite sat to my right, but no one was there, and who would intervene between Midas and me?
No one, that’s who.
Ahead, across a field, a glass house glittered under the moon, but it was far from a sanctuary. It was the alpha’s house, the fancy one where guests to pack lands were welcomed to keep them out of the den. The true den. Not the façade shown to outsiders.
“I am not running to your momma to get away from you,” I panted. “Forget it.”
Sure, I had put off family dinner, but this was not the way to force an introduction.
Whooping laughter filled the woods to my right, and a young man bounded into view. “Go left.”
The bright joy in his eyes convinced me to trust him. “Thanks.”
“Make him work for it.” He clapped until my ears rang. “I’ll hold him off if I can.”
A flash of light caught the corner of my eye, and then I heard two gwyllgi engaged in play fighting. Or so I hoped. It sounded only slightly less terrifying than real fighting, but I didn’t dare slow down to check.
“Right,” a girl called from a low-slung limb. “Go right.”
Out of breath, I lifted my hand and did as instructed, veering off the beaten path.
A softer but ferocious growl made me think she had shifted to buy me time too.
“Left,” a girl said as a young couple bounded toward me. “Then right at the fork.”
A quick nod was all I had left for them, but I followed their instructions and came out in a glen with pine straw matting the ground and a rustic cabin backed up against a ravine. The only way out was the way I had come, and there were growls ringing out in that direction.
“I can’t believe I listened to them.” I smacked myself on the forehead. “They led me straight into a trap.”
The door swung open, and a tiny blond boy peeked around the corner. “Hadwee?”
“Yes.” I approached him slowly. “I’m Hadley.”
“Here.” He stuck out his pudgy hand in expectation. “Here.”
I took it, noting its softness and dampness, and let him guide me into the cabin.
“Hadwee, come.” He tugged on me. “Come.”
The tiniest coconspirator yet brought me to a living room big enough for a family of twelve to enjoy one another’s company without being on top of each other.
“Daddeee.” He ditched me and toddled off toward a lean male perched on the arm of a sofa. “Hi.”
“Good work.” He lifted his son onto his hip in a smooth motion that spoke of practice. “You get a cookie.”
“Cookieee.” The boy clapped then planted a wet kiss on the male’s cheek. “Mwah.”
Out of place, I didn’t know what to do with myself. “I’m not intruding, am I?”
“A beautiful woman dressed in a towel is never out of place.”
A cushion flew across the room and smacked him in the head while the boy giggled and wriggled.
“Ignore my mate.” A curvy woman with natural hair kissed the boy on the cheek and popped the male on the butt. “He means well.” She crossed to me and looked me up and down. “Hadley Whitaker.”
“That’s my name.” I checked to make sure my towel remained tucked. “Who are you guys?”
“I’m Kate, he’s Sam, and that tiny terror is Samzilla.” She shrugged. “It’s catchier than Sam Jr.”
“As a fan of the Godzilla franchise, I’m inclined to agree with you.”
“Rawr.” Samzilla hooked his tiny fingers into claws. “Rawr.”
“You’re on bath duty.” She squared off with her mate. “No bubbles in my hallway this time.”
“Bubbles?” Sam pulled on an innocent face. “In the hall?”
Samzilla hid his face in his father’s neck and squealed with laughter.
“That’s what you’ve got to look forward to, if you mate into this pack. Most of the time Sam is the one who comes out soaked and Samzilla is dry as a bone.”
“Not to be rude,” I cut in, nervous about Midas zeroing in on me, “but why am I here?”
“Midas is hunting you.” Her eyes twinkled. “You don’t want to be out there where he can find you, do you?”
The answer took a moment to form, and it was too late by then.
“You don’t know how happy this makes me.” She took me by the hand. “How happy it makes all of us.”
Better to play dumb than plant a dirty foot in my mouth. “That I’m being hunted?”
“He’s courting you.” Kate chuckled and hauled me into a large bedroom. “That’s a big deal.”
Especially for Midas.
For a second, I couldn’t tell if she spoke the words, or if I only imagined hearing them.
“You’re shorter and thinner than me, but I love a good maxi dress, and I have safety pins.” She opened the closet. “Blue, red, or animal print?”
“I’m not picky.”
“Then animal print it is. My mother-in-law keeps buying safari themes for me, and this is the best excuse I’m ever going to have for getting rid of one.” She pulled out a long dress with thin straps and a high waist. “Zebra okay?”
The print was so loud, I could barely hear her over it. “Zebra is fine.”
“Good.” She tugged it over my head then let it cascade to my ankles before reaching into the neck of the dress. She unfastened the knot on the towel, which dropped onto my feet. “I’ll get this washed and put back in the cabin.”