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Evelyn nodded in my direction. “Well, he noticed me. More than once.”
I exchanged a grin with Margo.
“Why didn’t you mention her?” Amelia demanded of me.
“I didn’t feel like she was a threat,” I said. “But when I saw her tonight, I came straight over to bring it up. She just got here at the same time.”
Evelyn smiled back at me. “Somebody else might have escalated the situation. Glad it was you who noticed me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Amelia asked in a sharp tone, apparently taking the comment personally.
“It must have been lonely for you when you lost your parents,” Perdita hurriedly said, changing the subject. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Evelyn nodded, glancing at Perdita’s stomach as though already aware of the pregnancy. Then she shot Byron an anxious glance, perhaps unsettled by his continued silence. “I work,” she reassured him. “I’m not planning on being a burden or anything. If joining is too much to ask, maybe… maybe I could run with the pack sometime? Or even socialise?”
“You’re welcome to run with us,” Byron said. “Take your time and see if you want to join the pack. Be aware that even if you live here without joining us, you can’t do anything that will jeopardise the pack’s safety without facing consequences. We fit in because we’re careful not to disrupt life for others. The same goes for any werewolf living here.”
“I understand,” Evelyn said, rising to her feet. “I’ll head on. Should I… can I leave my number with you? Maybe you could contact me later?”
Byron willingly took her number. Evelyn hesitated, taking one last look at everyone before leaving.
“I like her,” I said.
“So do I,” Ryan said.
“She seems shady to me.” Amelia sounded disgruntled. “Spying on us like that.”
“Not at all,” Ryan said. “She was very open.”
Perdita leaned against Nathan. “She was lucky nobody ever found her back then.”
“Evelyn is what could have been for too many of our members,” Byron said. “Well-adjusted to normal life.”
His mood was quickly turning maudlin, so Margo and I slipped away to get a drink.
“I didn’t think it would be like that,” she admitted to me as we queued.
“What do you mean?”
“He gave her a choice to join or not, and it was all so casual. I don’t know. It felt like she was joining a club or something.”
“Did you think we did some kind of ritualistic sacrifice to force-induct werewolves into the pack?”
“No.” Her cheeks flushed. “Well, maybe I thought there was some kind of ritual.”
“That’s only on Tuesday.”
She shot me a withering glance.
“You saw Evelyn,” I said. “She wasn’t wild. She was an ordinary person who happened to be a werewolf. It’s hard for most werewolves to fly solo. She wants company. She doesn’t need Byron. Not like some of us.”
“Maybe you all aren’t as bossy as I thought,” she teased.
Chloe joined us at the bar. “You’re being boring,” she scolded. “You haven’t even danced yet. When are you going to enjoy your birthday?”
For the rest of the evening, we chatted, kissed, and danced, hanging out with both pack and townies. We floated from group to group, seeing smiles in all directions, and it felt great.
“This is kind of like a weird dream,” I said. “Things are going too well. I keep waiting for something to go wrong.”
