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“You gonna be alright here on your own with all the kids?” I asked Paulette. “I feel like you’re supposed to be enjoying the party with everyone else, and instead, you’re getting stuck here.”
“I’ve got some more volunteers. Plus, I have a scary cop girlfriend to help me out, too,” Paulette said with a grin. “I can send her out for provisions or leave her here to be climbed on like a tree.”
Ginger looked at me with a deadpan expression, and I chuckled and nodded. “Well, you guys just holler if you need anything, alright?”
“Will do,” Ginger said.
We left to join the other festivities, thanking pack members for coming to show support and answering questions from locals about the new pack in the area. This was, of course, a great opportunity to let the public see us as a pack and out in the community.
It was a nice night, made all the nicer for getting to dance with my wife to a slow jazzy number. As we swayed to the music, I looked down at her. It was amazing how she somehow got more beautiful every time I looked at her. It was like her hair had taken on a new hue to pair with the golden strands I was used to. Like her eyes had deepened in tone, faceted like jewels in the evening light.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked me.
I smiled down at her, editing what I wanted to tell her to prevent needing to find a corner to sate a fresh flare-up of arousal from her. “Just wondering how that cute little nose of yours is doing with all the people here. And your ears, too. Lots of noises going on.”
She huffed a little laugh and looked around us for a moment before looking back up at me. “You know, it’s not too bad,” she said. “I do feel a little over-stimulated, but I feel grounded with you. It’s nice to feel close to you.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said. “And I’m glad that’s the effect I’m having on you today instead of…well, the other one.”
She rolled her eyes and pinched my arm playfully. “The night is still young,” she joked. “But honestly, I think there’s too much going on for me to get lost in that kind of feeling. I think I’m just feeling relieved to finally have this whole thing behind us. For better or worse, there’s nothing more for us to plan here.”
“And soon enough, we’ll be done with the injections, too,” I added.
“And now headquarters is finished,” she chimed in.
“And the paperwork for adopting Noah is finally with Houston,” I remembered.
“Mmm,” she said, beaming up at me. “Which means that soon you and I can finally start trying for a baby.”
I felt a serene smile break across my face, and she met my gaze with a similar look.
“I’m so ready for the rest of my life with you, sweetheart,” I said softly.
“I’m so ready for…for anything. I really feel like I’m ready for anything.”
I leaned down to kiss her, and she closed her eyes, inhaling softly through her cute little nose. But before I could press my lips to hers, she jolted. Her head snapped to one side, then the other.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, immediately on edge.
“I…I smelled something. Like sulfur,” she said, frowning. “Like someone just lit a firework or something.”
I didn’t smell anything like that, but I believed her. I started looking around frantically, realizing that she may have a better nose for specific scents since it was a new ability for her.
“Why don’t you go get Ginger and—” I stopped short, words stalling in my throat.
Lelani stood at the edge of the party between a set of floral arrangements. Only…something was missing. Her stomach no longer curved with the swell of pregnancy. I wondered stupidly for a few seconds if she’d given birth while she’d been gone.
Marley put things together faster than I did, though. She tore off from me, careening right for the woman because she saw what I hadn’t.
Seconds after Marley ran off, a night flare ignited in Lelani’s hand, the light bright red and hissing ominously in her hand. She lowered that hand down as if she was about to light a fuse, but Marley got to her before she could fully reach it, tackling her to the ground.
Just as they hit the ground, though, several other people in the crowd lit their own flares. One by one, all in quick succession.
Chaos descended.
People started to scream and flee, stumbling over each other. I watched as a poor woman got caught underfoot when a whole crowd at the table turned tail. Five lycans shifted in the crowd and started herding everyone around. Other shifters joined them, and in no time at all, it was impossible to tell who was friend and who was foe.
Then, a loud pop came from inside the building. A second one. The sound of smashing glass.
