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The grass was damp,but a half dozen of us sat in a circle anyway. Mara had a giant bag of roasted peanuts she’d nabbed from somewhere. She ripped open the bag, ate her fill, then passed the bag to her left where Victor was waiting impatiently.
“They’re putting way too much effort into this party,” Mara said. “What arewegoing to do?”
“Nothing,” I said immediately. “It’s too risky. They aren’t going to leave us unsupervised.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you really worried about getting caught doing something wrong?”
“Of course he is,” Victor said. “Hey, Dorian. Are you sure you’re still a wolf? I mean, when was the last time any of us saw you shift?”
“Pass the bag,” Mara said with a growl.
Victor made a face before obeying.
“One of us should shift,” Alison said. “Get a couple of townies out into the woods, give them a scare.”
“Are you gonna do it?” Mara sneered. “Didn’t think so.”
I watched the bag slowly pass around the group. Alison took it, eyeing me as though I were about to snatch it from her hands. Some more lame ideas were thrown around, but thankfully, nobody could agree on anything. That was a relief. Sometimes the need to climb the ladder of pack hierarchy came in handy.
Alison handed me the bag. I squeezed it. Empty. Maybe not always handy.
Mara looked at me solemnly for about ten seconds before giggling.
I sighed as the others joined in. Spotting Perdita carrying some heavy-looking shopping bags from her car, I got up and sprinted toward her, managing to kick up some muck onto Victor’s sleeve as he reached out to trip me up.
He bellowed something incoherent. I glanced over my shoulder to see Mara yank him back into his place. He might forget about it by the time I saw him again.
I caught up to Perdita, but Dominic was already trying to take the bags from her. She looked at me and brightened. “Oh, it’s okay. Dorian’s here.” She handed the bags to me.
For an instant, I thought Dom scowled, but then he grinned at me. “Saved me a job. I best get back to it.”
“Thanks,” Perdita said when he left. “Bring them into Byron’s kitchen. Some of it’s for the party.” She went back to the car for the rest. She could have asked Dom to get them, but she hated the way the pack treated her as though she needed to be taken care of.
The counters in the kitchen were full. I was still trying to find a clear space to put the new bags when Perdita found me.
“So I’ve been roped into supervising at the party,” she said. “Apparently, I’m the most neutral person. I couldn’t say no to Byron. I’m worse than a wolf.”
We began putting the groceries away. “Margo might come,” I said, giving her a sidelong glance.
“Oh.” She pressed her lips together and turned her back to me, and I knew she was hiding a smile. “That might be nice.”
“It’s not like that.”
“I know. You told me already.”
I groaned. It was sort of like that.
She glanced at me. “How bad is this party going to be anyway?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’re all too busy arguing to come up with anything awful. Besides, you’ll be there. Nobody’s going to want to embarrass you.”
She huffed a little under her breath. “Sometimes I wonder.”
I didn’t have to wonder. I already knew that only a fool would upset the mate of Nathan Evans.
Chapter 11
Margo
