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He dragged a hand through his envious head of hair. “Because I don’t want to choose one from the current pack.”
Ah, now the picture was becoming clear. “You’d be asking them to accept two interlopers as the future of the pack.”
“I’m not an interloper,” he snapped. “I belong here. Nobody questions that.”
Oops. I touched a nerve there. “My mistake.” I examined his words. “You already have someone in mind.”
He glanced away. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t see a future in it.”
“I’m sure if you broached the subject with the pack, they’d understand.”
He blew out a breath. “It isn’t that simple, Lorelei. It isn’t just that she’s not from the pack. She isn’t even a werewolf.”
The plot thickened. I thought he wanted to import a mail-order werewolf from another pack. I agreed; a non-wolf was worse. “Is she at least a supernatural?”
“She is, and that’s all I’m willing to say on the matter. I can’t risk this information leaking to the pack.”
I pretended to zip my lip. “You can trust me, West, even if you think you can’t.” Although what did it matter if he had no plans to introduce her into pack life anyway? “Maybe you should give your pack the benefit of the doubt and tell them the truth. They may surprise you.”
His jaw set. “Too risky. If they don’t like it, they might make life difficult for her.”
“What’s the alternative? Marry a wolf from the pack and make each other miserable for the rest of your lives for the sake of appearances? America has enough marriages like that.”
“I appreciate the counseling session, but the conversation ends now. In fact, let’s forget we ever had it.”
“Had what?”
He nodded in approval. “Exactly.”
My thoughts returned to the mystery woman that wasn’t the object of his desire. “The nonexistent background supports my theory that Addison is the one pulling the puppet strings.” And the fact that she basically admitted as much.
“I agree. Let me know what Ray finds out about the tattoos. In the meantime, why don’t we track down the rest of the animals before they kill anyone else?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to?”
“One of them killed Chutney. We’re in this until the end.”
I nodded. “I’m happy to have as many wolves as you can spare, but they’ve already shown they can’t track the animals.”
“That’s when we thought we were dealing with ordinary animals. Now we know better. That information will help.”
I tried to understand his reasoning. “How?”
“We’ve got a town full of magic users. Let’s make use of them.”
“Magic is expensive. Maybe we could start a Go Fund Me for Fairhaven.
He grunted his amusement. “I don’t know about the Bridger girl, but Sage’s fae magic is particularly handy in a forest. And we’ve got your card-flicking friends in the guild.”
“Already called them.”
He offered a small smile. “Feels good to be on the same page, doesn’t it?”
“I think we’re on the same page more often than not. You’re the one who wants me in a different book.”
He gave me an appraising look. “I’m beginning to think I was wrong about you.”
I chose my next words carefully. “As much as I hate to admit it, you aren’t wrong, West. There’s a solid possibility I unwittingly brought the circus to town.”
