A girl could get a big head over that kind of power. Not now, though. I had a job to do.
“Shaun, if you’re not sure about this, you don’t have to do it. I’ll let you out, take you back, whatever.”
“No, I’m sure. I’m just nervous. That’s all.”
He might have said scared and it would have been as true.
“I know. Just keep thinking about the big picture. This is supposed to make everything better in the long run. This is supposed to keep people like Jenny from getting killed.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Ben put his hand on my thigh—a touch of comfort. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until I twitched at the pressure. But his touch transmitted calm. Stay calm. This’ll work.
We arrived all too quickly. Quicker than I thought we would. No traffic at 2:00 A.M. Maybe that was it.
“We can still change our minds,” I said after I shut the engine off.
“You’re the alpha,” Ben said. “Isn’t that what you keep saying? It’s not up to us.”
“Ben—” It came out as a whine.
“Are you guys married?” Shaun said. “’Cause you sound married.”
I leaned my forehead on the steering wheel and groaned. “How did my life turn into this?” I didn’t even want to see how Ben was taking the comment.
Shaun quickly said, “No, it’s in a good way. Way better than Carl and Meg.”
“What do they sound like when they argue?” I said.
“They don’t argue. They don’t even talk to each other. Compared to them, you guys are Ozzie and Harriet.”
Ben patted my arm. “Come on, dear. When this is all over, we can go home and you can make me a martini and fetch my slippers.”
We climbed out of the car. “Oh, no. I don’t think so.”
Ben glanced at Shaun. “See? No Ozzie and Harriet here.”
Shaun shook his head, and I had a sneaking suspicion he wanted to laugh.
A ridge of hills and ravines ran north and west from here, leading up to the Flatirons, roughly marking the western edge of Carl’s territory. He and his wolves ranged farther into the mountains on occasion. But the foothills and plains along this stretch were their favorite stomping grounds. Kicking the wasp nest. Yeah.
Wolf coiled inside me, like my insides were pacing even though I wasn’t. For once, we agreed on something. She was as pissed off at Carl as I was. Carl was breaking trust with his wolves; he’d killed wolves under his protection. He wasn’t a good alpha, and we had to do something about that.
I walked up the side of the hill, beginning the trek into wilderness. I sensed rather than saw Ben and Shaun hesitate, then follow. Even if one of them had spoken, had called to me, I didn’t think I could answer. Not with human words. I was entering Wolf’s world.
First thing was to find a den. I found one where stands of pine trees started growing, up in the hills near Coal Creek Canyon. Trees stood over a sheltered hollow. It couldn’t be seen at all from downslope. We could stash our clothes and have a safe place to come and sleep it off. And it was relatively near the car for that fast getaway come morning.
I started stripping, pulling off my shirt. Shaun did the same. Ben watched us.
“This is weird,” Ben said. “Doing this in front of a stranger. It’s like having sex with the curtains open.”
He didn’t have any experience with a real pack, where naked wasn’t sexual, it was just natural. He’d only ever Changed when it was the two of us. And yeah, curled up together the next morning, sex was usually involved. I couldn’t blame him for making the connection. But I did anyway.
“Would you get your mind out of the gutter?”
“Can we trust him?” Suddenly he sounded serious. And he was right. This was war, and there were spies. I only knew Shaun as
someone from my old life who didn’t like Carl.