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“If you’re looking for thrills, there are plenty of other activities I could suggest,” Marco said, arching hiseyebrows.
In what wasn’t my greatest show of maturity, I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed. He didn’t seem phased by my jump, but when my gaze traveled around the fire, I realized Aaron and West were both watching me. Aaron looked thoughtful. West’s eyes had narrowed. My skin itched with the suspicion that neither of them totally bought my story about “stretching mylegs.”
Thankfully, Nate stepped in then to distract both them and me from my continuing failure to be an actual shifter. He carved a hunk of venison off the roasting deer and offered it to me on a paper plate. “You should eat something,” he said. “We’re all going to need ourstrength.”
Yeah. I dug in, closing my eyes as the smoky juices filled my mouth. Delicious. When had I ever had meat this fresh in mylife?
But it couldn’t quite erase the twisting in my stomach. One more attempt to shift gone down in flames—or rather, gone downwithoutflames. How many more tries was I going toget?
Chapter 19
Ren
I’d sleptin a lot worse places than the seat of a fairly luxurious SUV. In corners of vacant buildings surrounded by druggies. Under ratty blankets that smelled like cat piss tucked away in an alley. On the hard concrete floor of the church basement Fisher operated out of, with a hard lump of guilt filling my stomach over the previous day’s thefts and the ones I’d have to committomorrow.
But tonight I couldn’t settle. I pulled the wool blanket West had shoved at me higher over my shoulders and squirmed against the seat back. My body refused to relax into the softleather.
In the backseat, behind me, the low, steady murmur of Marco’s breaths told me he’d had no trouble passing out. Nate was sprawled in the driver’s seat, which he’d tipped back to just above my feet, his rugged face soft with sleep. West and Aaron were somewhere out in the woods on firstwatch.
I was surrounded by my alphas. Perfectly safe. But maybe the idea of their protection nagged at me more than it comfortedme.
I closed my eyes and tried to let my mind drift away. Crickets chirped outside the window. A breeze hissed through the trees branches. The taste of roast venison lingered in my mouth. It was starting to go sour. No toothbrushes out here in the wild. I groped for the bottle of water I’d left on the carfloor.
Just after I’d set it back down, a faint humming emanated from Nate’s seat. He stirred and reached to his pocket to switch off the alert he must have set on his phone. As he sat up, my restlessness gripped me even harder. I couldn’t stand to spend one more second shut away in the SUV, not rightnow.
He glanced over at me when I sat up. “I’m just going to switch off with Aaron,” he said quietly. “He’ll be back here in a fewminutes.”
“I can’t sleep,” I said. “I think a little walk might burn off someenergy.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled with concern, but he didn’t try to stop me. He slipped out the driver’s side door, and I eased open the backone.
The sky was clear, the stars gleaming bright against the black. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen the constellations that clearly. In New York City, the haze of city lights always blotted out all but the most insistentstars.
I followed Nate into the woods in silence, wondering whether he and Aaron had arranged a meeting spot or if he was just locating the eagle shifter by scent. The summer night breeze tickled past me, still pleasantly warm. We’d walked for several minutes, weaving between the trees, before a streak of moonlight caught on Aaron’s golden-blond hair up ahead. He turned to greet Nate. His gaze halted onme.
“No activity so far,” he said to Nate, and then to me, “I thought you’d gone tosleep.”
There was no judgment in his tone, or even anything like Nate’s almost suffocating concern. Just curiosity. My shoulders edged down from the argument I’d been braced for. “I tried,” I said with a weak smile. “It didn’t stick. I was hoping the walk wouldhelp.”
“I can keep you company for that.” He nodded to Nate and offered his hand to me. I took it, loving the feel of his strong fingers closing aroundmine.
“So has the walking helped?” he asked as we ambled back toward ourcampsite.
I bit my lip. I felt a little more settled with him there beside me, but that restless twitch was still nibbling at my nerves. “I don’t know. Not as much as Ihoped.”
He ran his thumb over the back of my hand. “Do you want to talk about what’s on yourmind?”
“How do you know something is on mymind?”
“You can’t sleep, and so you’re wandering in the woods in the middle of the night. I figured it was a pretty safeguess.”
I made a face at him, and he gave me an even smile. Well, it wasn’t as if he was wrong. “I’m not sure talking will helpeither.”
“It’s worth a try, right?” He paused, turning me toward him. “What’s botheringyou?”
I looked at the ground. “I just... You’ve all been great. Well, West—let’s not go there. The rest of you have been. And all the people in that village. Everyone is so eager to welcome me as a shifter. As the most important shifter there is. But I still can’t evenshift.”
“It’s only been a few days,” Aaron said. “You’re gettingthere.”
