Nico shrugged. “Take your time.”
I didn’t look at either of them as I went down the stairs and out the front door.
The street was quiet. Houses were spaced comfortably apart. There was no one else outside. No signs of movement.
I didn’t stop there.
I moved along the side of the house and into the backyard, where the grass thinned toward the tree line and the woods began.
The phone buzzed again. My fingers were shaking. I flexed them once, twice, trying to get them under control before I finally swiped to answer.
“Daniel?”
“Are you in?” The voice on the line was low and controlled. It always made my stomach tighten.
“Yes.”
“Good. We’ll send the next set of instructions soon.”
“Okay,” I managed, my throat dry.
“And make sure you answer your phone next time.”
“I did—” I began, but the line went dead before I could finish.
I lowered the phone slowly and stood there for a moment, staring at the black screen.
Without thinking, I moved a few steps closer to the side of the house, just enough that I could see through the kitchen window.
Inside, Levi and Nico were still talking. Levi was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, head tilted slightly as he listened. He looked relaxed, at ease, like he belonged there. Nico said something that made him huff a quiet laugh.
This wasn’t supposed to feel complicated. But it did.
If they found out why I was really here…
A tight coil of panic settled in my chest.
They’d taken me in without question. Fed me. Given me a place to stay. Called me a guest.
And I was standing in their backyard, taking orders from the people hunting them.
The realization settled heavily in my chest, hot and suffocating, until each breath felt thinner than the last.
I tightened my grip on the phone, grounding myself in the reason I was here in the first place, the reason I couldn’t afford to get distracted now, no matter how easy it would be to.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and forced my expression into something neutral before heading back toward the house.
By the time I stepped inside, my heartbeat had steadied, but the pressure in my chest hadn’t eased.
Chapter 4
Levi
The following day, I hurried to Tony and Nico’s place. My wolf had been restless all day yesterday, pacing beneath my skin like it knew something I didn’t, or perhaps it was just me.
Ever since we’d brought Mason back to the Pecan Pines compound, my nerves had been tuned a little too tight.
I told myself it was instinct, that I was only being protective of a packless coyote shifter who didn’t have anyone else to rely on.
