A little while later, we stepped back out onto the porch. The afternoon sun filtered warm through the trees. Mason shifted his weight, looking almost reluctant. My wolf noticed.
“Well,” he said softly, “I should probably head back.”
“Yeah,” I said. Neither of us moved right away.
Finally, he gave me a small, genuine smile. “Thanks, Levi.”
Something in my chest went very, very still. I didn’t point out he already thanked me earlier.
“Anytime,” I repeated.
Chapter 5
Mason
I tried to ease my bedroom door open as slowly as I could, but it still creaked.
The sound cut through the quiet like a snapped twig in a forest. I froze, breath caught halfway in my lungs.
For a second, I just stood there, staring at the narrow crack of hallway I’d made, waiting for footsteps or someone to call my name. Nothing.
I pushed the door open another inch and leaned out, peering left, then right. The hallway was empty.
It had been like this the past few days, which made it very, very tempting to look around.
Daniel’s voice echoed in my head, calm and clipped like always.
Stay low for now. Don’t improvise. Find out more about the pack. Earn their trust.
Easy for him to say.
Yesterday morning, I’d tried. I really had. I’d woken up early, crept out just like this, heart hammering.
But all the doors had been locked, every single one.
There were no pictures on the walls either. No mail left on the counter. No receipts in the trash. Not even a stupid grocery list on the fridge.
The only thing I’d managed to “discover” was that there were no dairy products in the fridge.
I’d stood there staring at the empty shelf, wondering if they were lactose intolerant and whether that bit of information would be useful.
Would Daniel even want to know that? I doubted it.
I’d cursed him under my breath.
They never trained me for this. There were no infiltration lessons or spying techniques. No guide on how to blend in without looking like a complete idiot.
They’d just drilled the same story into my head over and over until it felt burned into my skull: the disappearing packless shifters. The call for help.
That was the only reason I’d managed to sit in Cooper’s office without bolting.
The way Cooper had looked at me… his sharp gaze, and how he seemed to weigh every word I’d said.
If the script hadn’t been burned into me, I would have shifted without thinking and run out of there with my tail tucked tight between my legs.
No. I wouldn’t have. I couldn’t. Daniel already has?—
I swallowed hard and shoved the thought away before it could fully form. Not now.
