“I need you to find out about Juliet,”I sign.
His brows dip low.“Find out what?”
“Whatever there is to find.”
Thad blinks at me, then responds with an almost-flippant edge to his movements,“Easy. Her last name is Adair. She’s a librarian. She moved to town in May. Bought a house on Elk Road. Late twenties. Red hair. Nice to strangers who aren’t you.”He smirks. “Didn’t even have to use my computer.”
My hands are firm with demand on my next words.“Now I want you to use your computer. Look into her past.”
Thad frowns.“That’s invasive. Why would I do that?”
“She could be a danger to the pack.”I can’t be the only one to see this.
Thad snorts, the dismissive sound making me grind my molars.“The sweet librarian? The one who Hester likes?”
And how exactly does he know that Hester likes her? I wasn’t aware the woman had learned to sign. But there’s a lot Hester Willowborne keeps to herself.
“Hester liking someone doesn’t give them a free pass.”My signing is jerky, betraying my agitation.
Thad raises his brows.“And you liking someone means they need a background check?”
A warning growl rumbles out of my throat. Not that he can hear it.
“I don’t like her. That’s the problem.”
Thad’s eyes drop, as if in deference to my alpha status, but he smirks just before taking a swig of his beer.
Once his hands are free, he speaks again.“The library must have checked her out before hiring her. And I’m not hackinginto some poor woman’s bank account because you don’t like her.”Now Thad’s lips twist into a grimace.“Slippery slope.”
Great. Thad decided to grow a conscience. And now he’s using it to make me feel like an ass.
“I could order you to.”
Thad’s regard turns wary.“You could. Will you?”
My role as pack leader gives me certain advantages, including an extra punch of magic. Meaning I can hand out commands that my pack members would have a hell of a time not following. But that’s a power I try not to throw around too often.
I’d rather have my wolves follow me because they trust me, not because I bend them to my will.
Instead of answering right away, I take a large swallow of beer and consider my response as the strong taste of hops rolls over my tongue. Doesn’t take me long to come to a decision.
“I’ll hunt on my own,”I say.
Thad nods slowly, and I expect him to give me another shit-eating grin, having gotten his way.
But the wolf appears unsettled, and I can’t help thinking back on the first day Thad came to live in Pine Falls. Somehow, the wolf had found my phone number and texted me. He asked if the Pine Falls wolves were open to taking on another. At first, I thought he was a lone wolf, interested in the area and looking for a pack to join.
Then he mentioned Bear Valley.
In my few brief interactions with them, I’ve learned the Bear Valley pack is similar in some ways to ours, but in others, it is vastly different. Their core wolves also formed a motorcycle club, and they live in a small mountain town that is partially aware of their presence.
But the way they run themselves and the way they speak of humans is nothing like the Pine Falls wolves. True, we’re notholding friendship parades down Main Street, displaying the unity of wolf and human. But we don’t hold ourselves above the humans in the town. Just separate.
So, when I had a wolf wanting to leave Bear Valley, I figured he’d be bringing some kind of human family with him. Seemed the most likely reason. Then Thad showed up, and I realized that the Utah pack had a lot more prejudice than I’d thought.
And I suspect that no matter how comfortable Thad has become, he’s still waiting for us to turn on him like the Bear Valley wolves did.
Which means that I’m failing as a pack leader.
