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“Feeling good about tonight?” a deep voice from behind me asked.
I turned, finding Travis there. I smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah. I really miss Cole, but I almost feel like it’s better that he’s not here right now. It’s going to be easier to hold my own as one of the pack leaders if he’s not looming over my shoulder, being my scary alpha.”
“And here I thought you would have been all about scary alpha privileges,” Travis teased.
“Maybe before,” I admitted. “But now I just want to make sure I can do as much as possible to support the pack, and the best way I can do that is by making sure I can command a room, even when Cole or you aren’t here.”
“It’s a good precedent to set up before becoming a shifter, that’s for sure.”
I looked over at him, a little surprised. “Cole…told you about that?”
Travis put a hand on his nape and cursed under his breath. “Shit,” he said. “Was he not supposed to?”
“Not necessarily,” I said. “It wasn’t really a secret, I guess. I just didn’t think it would come up between you guys.”
“Well, I’m his best friend, and he’s worried about it. So I guess it’s only natural that it would be a topic of conversation, you know?”
“Yeah, that’s true,” I said softly. “Is he…still really against the idea?”
Travis shook his head. “Not in the same way he used to be. In fact, I think he’s kind of looking forward to some aspects of it now that he’s seen how Lana and I are doing together. But you know, he’s also got all the anxiety related to how poorly it went for me at times, too.”
“Yeah,” I acknowledged. “Hopefully, things will go nice and smooth, and no one has to worry about me. Truth be told, I’m not exactly looking forward to the painful experience of it, either. I’m hoping we can all just get lucky and not have it be a big deal, you know?”
“Why are we talking about getting lucky?” Lana’s voice asked from the other side of the room. “Travis better not be complaining.”
“I know I’m not always the brightest bulb in the box, but I’m smarter than that,” Travis griped. “Come on, Lana. You really think I’d bitch about our sex life to your best friend?”
Lana giggled as she approached us, standing up on her toes to kiss Travis on the cheek. “No,” she said. “But it’s fun to keep you on your toes once in a while.”
“How was the drive?” I asked her.
“Not too bad, actually. The snow is mostly cleared off the road, and they’ve salted it pretty well. Even if people don’t have snow tires or chains, I think it’s a pretty easy drive. I didn’t notice any black ice or anything, either.”
“Good,” I said, feeling relieved. I’d sort of been a pill with the local government about making sure the streets were safe for the three dozen or so cars we expected to be making the trek up the hill. The last thing we needed was a calamitous string of car wrecks on the way to headquarters.
Not long after that, people started arriving, everyone from the elderly to college students to large families in minivans. In no time at all, the room started to fill up with the warm ambiance of people chit-chatting, eating, and greeting each other like old friends. It was a pleasure to see it, considering we had come from such strange, tense beginnings.
Paulette and Ginger arrived, along with Rosie, Farrah, and Houston. Even Ashton was being polite to the nonshifters who came through, having apparently learned his lesson after the incident with Travis and Cole.
I found myself going over my notes obsessively as I sat and ate with Lana, Rosie, Paulette, Ginger, and Travis. Eventually, Lana reached over and plucked the paper out of my hands, leaving me grasping for it.
“You’ve read over this page twenty times,” she told me. “If you prepare any more, you’re going to make an idiot of yourself.”
“Marley never makes an idiot of herself,” Rosie said.
“Pffft,” Travis said. “Yeah, she does,” he and Lana said in perfect unison.
“Nice,” I remarked. “Really loving the vote of confidence.”
“Come on, I took the paper away because you’re at risk of overpreparing,” Lana said. “Besides, it’s not even a real insult. You’re adorable when you mess things up.”
“Lana, you know I love you, but this really isn’t helping,” I said.
“Bold of you to think she would be helpful,” Travis said.
“Excuse me?” Lana retorted.
“Now who’s at risk of making a fool of themselves?” Rosie teased with a little chortle.
