Someone playing us wouldn’t have led us to a rescue, and he wouldn’t look that shaken seeing the shifter.
I’d been wrong, and realizing that filled me with a strange, buoyant warmth. By the time we reached packlands again, the sun had started dipping toward the horizon.
Gino’s truck was already there. I assumed he’d taken the deer shifter to the pack clinic. I parked near the pack house and cut the engine. For a moment, we just sat there.
I leaned back in my seat and glanced over at him.
“You did good today,” I told Mason.
Mason blinked. “I didn’t really do anything.”
“You led us to him,” I pointed out.
He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the praise.
“Well, I’m just glad he’s alive,” Mason said.
I studied him for a second. Then the words slipped out before I could overthink them.
“Hey.”
He looked at me. “Yeah?”
I cleared my throat. My pulse suddenly felt ridiculously loud.
“Would you maybe want to go out with me sometime?” I asked.
His eyes widened slightly. “Like, out?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Like a date.”
The word hung between us. For a split second, I wondered if I’d completely misread everything. Then Mason’s cheeks flushed faintly.
“You mean tonight?” Mason asked.
A laugh escaped me.
“I mean, if you want, but we could do it another day,” I said.
He looked down at his hands for a moment, then back up at me, and smiled shyly.
“I’d like that,” he said.
Warmth spread through my chest so fast it almost felt dizzying.
“Good,” I said.
Chapter 9
Mason
The shifter moved restlessly on the bed, his eyes squinting open for a second before he shivered hard, like something cold had brushed down his spine.
I straightened immediately. The chair legs scraped softly against the floor as I leaned forward, pulling the blanket higher over his shoulders.
His skin felt too cool when my fingers brushed his wrist, and I forced myself not to flinch. He made a small sound, almost a whimper, then settled again.
I stayed there, watching him, counting each rise and fall of his chest until his breathing evened out. Only then did I sink back into the chair and lean against the metal rail of the bed.
