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I turn back, arching a brow. “Please, what?”
“Talk to her,” she says, her forehead furrowing. “Convince her to put this unfortunate meeting aside and enter Lost Moon with a positive attitude. You’ll need to make friends as quickly as you can and that won’t be easy if Juliet’s walking around with a storm cloud over her head.”
“Friends or allies?” I ask, watching her response for any sign that Alexander and Catherine were telling the truth.
“Both,” she says with an easy shrug, giving nothing away. “Even in peace time, we all need friends and allies, Ford. If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be not to underestimate the power of connections. You can be the most capable, clever person around, but if you don’t have a network, you won’t go nearly as far as those who are half as clever, but better connected.”
I grunt.
Natalie throws up her hands. “Fine. Lump me in with the annoying old people you don’t trust right now, but I know you care about Juliet and putting on a happy face is what’s best for her. I promise you that.” She starts toward the kitchen, tossing over her shoulder, “And put on your blue shirt. The black makes you look too scary. You want to tread the line between friendly and frightening, Ford. That’syourbest path forward.”
I head to my room, glancing in the mirror in the hallway on my way. Natalie’s right, the black does make me look scarier. It emphasizes the shadows beneath my eyes and the dark slashes of my eyebrows.
Stopping in front of Juliet’s closed door, I consider knocking but decide against it. If I’d just found out my mother was back from the dead, I’d need a moment alone. But we should talk before we’re trapped in the car with Natalie for an hour and a half without the chance to speak freely.
I change into the blue shirt and shove the rest of my meager belongings in the duffel bag I scored in a Salvation Army donation bin in Washington State, thinking how distant that memory seems. It was barely a week ago, but everything is so different now.
Back then, I wanted to kill Juliet. Now, I want to save her.
Liar. You want to do way more than save her.
I clench my jaw, ignoring the thought. I don’t have time to think about how much I want to fuck and protect and feel things for Juliet right now. We may be heading into a lion’s den disguised as a safe haven and we have to be prepared.
I’m about to cross the hall to her room when she slips through my door and closes it behind her with a softsnick.
“I could have been naked,” I say, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Was that what you were hoping for?”
“What do you think?” she asks, not bothering with a more cutting comeback, making it obvious she’s as worried as I am. “Do you think they were telling the truth?”
I rub a hand back and forth over the top of my close-shorn hair. “I don’t know. I hope not, but my gut says…probably.”
“Yeah, mine, too.” She begins to pace the small space in front of the door. “It makes sense. Since when do wolf shifters like anyone but the other wolves in their pack? Even the big cats and wolves frolicking on the quad together story Natalie told us felt off, but no wolf is going to be besties with a hedgehog. That’s why I didn’t dare introduce Dad to Chase or do anything to make him think that was more than casual dating. His daughter wanting happily ever after with a badger? He would have locked me in the attic for the rest of my life.”
“Or sold you to the circus,” I say flatly.
Juliet stops in her tracks, turning to face me with a stunned expression. But after only a beat she whispers, “You’re right. The fact that I was ‘dating beneath me’ probably made it easier for him. Fucking wolves. They’re the worst.”
“Not all wolves,” I say, summoning a disgusted sound from low in her throat.
“Don’t start with that crap,” she says. “Of course, it’s not all wolves, but it’s enough of them, that it’s a stereotype for a reason. And it’s a serious problem for those of us who aren’t wolves or cats big enough to defend ourselves when they pull that ‘wolves are the only shifters who matter and should be in charge of everything’ nonsense.”
I perch on the edge of my unmade bed. “You’re right. I wanted to believe Lost Moon was different, like Natalie said, but wolf culture is wolf culture and most of us marinated in it long enough growing up for some bad shit to take hold.” I smooth my hands down the thighs of my jeans. Not so long ago, I would have been repulsed by the thought of dating anyone but another wolf, too. But years of fighting changed me. It made me realize that we’re all blood and bones underneath, more alike in our mortal vulnerability than we’ll ever be different. “So, what do you want to do? Do our best to fit in and meet up with the resistance after the party tonight to see what that’s all about?”
Juliet chews on her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I guess so. Like Alexander said, at least we’ll have the chance to scope things out a little on our own by then. I’ll have insight on the Variant dorm, and you’ll know what the wolves are all about.”
“I doubt I’ll know what the entire dorm is about in a day, but yeah, I should have a basic vibe,” I agree, hesitating to ask my next question, but we don’t have much time. “And what do we do if it’s really bad there? Too bad to stay?”
Juliet leans back against the door, her arms crossed and her expression more guarded than it’s been in days. “It doesn’t sound like it will be so bad for you. Just me. And to be clear, I don’t expect you to throw your lot in with mine if that’s a losing game. I get it if you decide it’s time for you to look out for number one.”
I stand and cross the room. When I reach her, I slowly brace one hand on the door above her head and lean down until there are only a few inches between us. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. We agreed, we’re a team.”
“Did we?” Her breath is warm and sweet on my lips, but her gaze is still fixed on my chin.
“We did. Last night. When we decided on weekly Juliet and Ford friend time, away from the cares of the world. You’re stuck with me, Growly, whatever comes next.”
She drags her gaze higher, sending an electric shock of awareness through my body as her eyes lock with mine. “Even if I never fuck you, let alone agree to marry you?”
With my throat tight, I confess, “Sadly, yes. You’re under my skin. Not sure when it happened, but…”
