That was putting it nicely. Those families made a choice to live on the road. Her family had never gotten that opportunity. “Exactly,” she said. She’d seen those reality shows. “We visited a lot of states and countries.”
“Ah.” The older wolf shifter patted her arm. “Well. I knew you seemed familiar. But I couldn’t place you.”
“Right. I was never a member of the pack, but my father was.” She’d been prepared for this type of question. Wolf shifters’ sense of smell was so finely tuned that they’d recognize her based on her bloodline alone. Anyone who’d known her father would feel like she was familiar to them as well.
“What was his name?”
She’d been prepared for this too, or so she thought. But she wasn’t ready for it. “His name was Paxton.”
“Oh yeah. I remember him well. Smart guy. Scrappy.”
Not scrappy enough, apparently.
“How’s he doing now?”
She froze. She hadn’t expected that. “Well, he recently passed away, unfortunately.”
The shifter covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh, God. I’m sorry for your loss.” He seemed to struggle for a minute. Then he gave her a crooked smile. “Europe, huh? What was that like?”
She was able to answer that as well. The vampires had taken her all over the world. She’d spent significant amounts of time in Tuscany, London, Paris, and Prague, so she rambled about that for a bit, until Derek announced that it was time for them to start the search.
He handed out maps and instructions, and they got started. Everyone had a partner, and he made her his partner for the search.
* * *
Twelve hours later,they still hadn’t found Jesse.
It had been a very long day.
Derek was stressed, she could tell.
She put her arms around his neck. “You need to rest,” she whispered, well aware that he might not want any of his pack mates to hear her trying to take care of him. Some males were touchy about that, according to the vampires. She actually wanted to take care of him, which was a weird feeling, since she was plotting the demise of his pack.
For the first time, she thought maybe it wasn’t necessary to kill the leaders of the pack. Maybe the vampires would be satisfied with turning all of them into hybrids.
She would have to find a way to make that proposal.
No. She was getting soft. She’d been with the pack all day, and she’d yet to meet a human. Not a single one. They were just as prejudiced as Roman’s father had been.
"Are you going to lie down with me?" Derek asked.
"If that's what you want.”
She lay down next to him and snuggled into his arms. It felt really good. It felt right. Once again she pushed that thought away. She was here to comfort him and integrate into this pack. Not get attached. Her parents deserved better than her defection just because a guy was sexy.
That was what she had to keep in mind. No matter how much sympathy she ever felt for Derek, this was the way of his pack. These were their rules. They shunned anyone who wasn't a full wolf.
But it would suit her conscience to make sure.
"Do you have any humans in the pack?" she asked, knowing that was random.
Derek turned toward her. "No. Why? Did you encounter humans in a pack somewhere else?"
“No. I was just curious because you mentioned that Everleigh was a bear. I didn't know wolf packs did any mixing with hybrids."
"We never did before. Everleigh was the first," he said, kissing her on the nose. He moved forward and kissed her mouth. It seemed obvious that he’d lost interest in her questions. She could feel his erection. The fact that there were no humans was very relevant to her. But harping on it would do her no good at all. She had to play it cool.
And honestly, it was hard to keep concentrating on the questions while he was this close to her. She could feel the heat of his body and could inhale his intoxicating scent.