I paced around my sister’s newly designed office in the Big House and looked for something to smash. I couldn’t believe Matthew had shared with her what I’d told him in confidence. Although Jada knew through the pack bond that something had been bothering me, she just didn’t know what it was until Matthew opened his big fat mouth.
“No!”
She leaned back in her white office chair. “Well, it’s not something you can exactly keep hidden from her forever, Travis.”
“Why not? At the last full moon, I made sure I was up in Vancouver. It’s not a big deal. It’s just one night every moon cycle.”
“Okay, but what about the White Wolf Moon when the entire pack will gather to see you officially named the pack Alpha? And since it’s the same weekend as Monsterval, you can expect that many of our mainland cousins will be here as well. They’ll all want to meet your new mate. You can’t exactly sendheraway. Or should I say yourfated mate?”
I glared at her, hoping she realized how close I was to committing capital murder.
“Don’t give me that look, little brother. We can smell your Alpha scent all over her.”
I chuffed. “All wolf males scent their females.”
She tapped her nose. “Not like that, they don’t. I’ve met a few of your girlfriends over the years. With Daphne, it’s very different. If you don’t believe me, ask Sheriff Aldrich. With that bear shifter nose of his, I’m sure he noticed.”
I ground my teeth together, recalling what the man had said about pheromones. “I am not going to ask the sheriff for advice about my love life.”
A sound stirred in the doorway. I turned and there was Daphne.Fuuuck.
She wore a Darkaway Island apron and was crushing herbs in a mortar and pestle. With Monsterval coming up, she’d been busy making potions and lotions for her pop-up shop at Unholy Grounds.
“What about your love life? Is this something that concerns me or...are you talking about someone else?” Although her tone was meant to be lighthearted, I could sense a slight edge to it.
Jada jumped to her feet and took the mortar and pestle from Daphne. “After you finish talking to my brother, if you want to hear a woman’s perspective and get some ideas, come see me.”
“Perspective? About what?”
I spun Daphne around and frog-marched her out of the office. “Come on. Let’s go. The people who live in this house are too damn nosy for this conversation to take place under this roof.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Daphne
Small branches snapped under our feet as Travis led me deep into the forest, the path barely more than a game trail. The sound of nearby crickets stopped as we passed them, then started up again behind us. His bold, even strides told me he knew exactly where he was taking me. This wasn’t just a random evening stroll through the trees.
“I hope that was a joke back there,” Travis said, his voice rough. “Because there is no one else. There willneverbe anyone else.”
“Travis, I know. You don’t need to?—”
He put a hand to my sternum, pushed me against a tree trunk and leaned in close, his brows two dark slashes above his eyes. “Yes, I do. If you have even a trace of doubt about the depth of my feelings for you, then I’ve failed as your mate. There is no one but you.” Closing his wolf-yellow eyes, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I am not my father’s son.”
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my mouth to hisfull lips. “I know you’re not.”
“And I am nothim, either,” he growled, pulling me into his arms with a jerk, and burying his nose in my hair. He meant my ex-fiancé, so I was glad he didn’t say his name aloud in this moment. “I would never disrespect the woman I loved like that.”
Tears stung the back of my eyes and I melted into him. I loved the man that he was. “Are you going to tell me what you and Jada were talking about then?”
He mumbled something incoherent under his breath, then grabbed my hand and tugged me along the path again.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to take me somewhere to shift into your wolf and chase me down. If so, I should’ve worn running shoes.”
He cast me a sidelong glance, one brow lifted, and I swear, I saw a wolfish gleam in his eye. “Would you be into that sort of thing?”
I wasn’t really serious, but the way he asked made my heart race just a little. Some women had a masked man kink. Maybe I had a werewolf-chasing-me-through-the-woods kink.
I shrugged. “Depends on what would happen when you caught me. If murder is involved—namely mine—then probably not.”
