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“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
We drove in silence the rest of the way to Denis’s house. Thankfully, her heartbeat had slowed, and she had relaxed back in her seat. We pulled off the main road and onto a gravel path that wound its way up the mountain, overlooking some of the best views around here.
As soon as we parked, I looked over at Millie, only to realize she had fallen asleep. I couldn’t help but take her all in. She was absolutely beautiful. My wolf had been calm all day as we drove out to the border of our territory, not a sign of him at all. It made me wonder if I could stay human if I was with Millie. If she accepted me, maybe I would never have to shift again. The thought brought a smile to my face.
I heard the door to the house bang open and looked up at Denis as he walked over.
“Are you back to cause more damage to my property, you young whippersnapper?” Denis called out as he clumped down the stairs with a baseball bat in hand.
Rolling down the window, I raised both of my hands in greeting. “I worked off my time from the last escapade, remember?”
“So you did. Your brother hasn’t, though.”
“I can’t speak for Bruno. He does his own thing.”
Denis grunted and walked up to the car, bending down to look through the window at Millie’s sleeping form. “I see you’ve found your mate.”
My mouth dropped open. “How do you—?”
“You boys see me as an old man who’s always lived here. Hermit, I believe you lot call me.”
“Well—”
“I was once young like you,” he said, poking me in the chest. “I traveled the world and met other shifters besides your pack.” His eyes glinted at the shock on my face. “That’s right. There are others out there like you lot.”
“I knew that. Miti used to tell us stories about her travels. But you’ve met them?”
“Once upon a time. Who knows if they’re still there.”
They probably were. Wolf shifters tended to keep to the territories they owned.
“How is Miti doing?”
“She’s doing well.” I blushed, remembering how Denis and Miti had met. Luc, Brandon, Bruno, and I had become bored one day and decided to explore the edge of our territory. That’s how we found Denis’s house. The place looked abandoned even then, with furniture and other paraphernalia strewn across the front lawn; looking behind Denis, it hadn’t changed. We really thought no one lived here anymore, especially after Bruno knocked on the door a few times and no one answered. Then, we did one of the most stupidest things we’d ever done in our lives—we made ourselves at home by playing dodgeball with rocks.
Two of us stood on one side of the house, while the other two stood on the other. We then pelted rocks over the house in the hopes of hitting the other team by only using our sense of smell and acute hearing. It was one of those games the four of us had made up to pass the time. Dad had banned us from playing it around our house because we broke some windows and at least one of us would get injured every time we played it, but we’d thought we were clever because this house was abandoned. We’d thought there was no one to stop us.
Until Denis came home to find all his windows broken and various holes through his roof. Denis had escorted the four of us back to Dad, and he was so livid, Mom had to take him away while Miti delivered our punishment. She’d then shuttled us between Denis’s house and the hardware store and sat in a chair facing the front of the house, watching us while we repaired every inch of it, even parts we hadn’t broken. It took a whole year to repair his entire house, and we lost our allowances for that year and the year after. It was awful.
“Good, I’m glad she’s doing well. Tell her to come visit. I haven’t seen her in a long time.”
“Will do,” I said, even though I’d never heard Miti talk about Denis since that one time.
With a nod, Denis said, “Well, bring your mate in.”
He started to turn away when I reached out a hand to stop him. Keeping my voice low, I said, “She doesn’t know I’m her mate yet.”
Denis turned back slowly and stared at me. “She’s human?”
“Yes. And I’ve only just found her. This is our second date.”
“And you brought her here?” His tone was incredulous.
“Well, I was hoping you still had that hang glider and wondered if we could use it.”
“Hang glider?”
