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“Hmm. That was probably Sybil,” I murmured. “She’s always in a rush and doesn’t always pay attention. You know the type, big heart, but not big on details.”
“Sweetheart, I have a man at home just like that,” he said, and my interest piqued.
“You might not have heard, but I am out now, have been since after college. You know, Rafe taking over the Pack made it easier for anyone with an alternative lifestyle to live in the open. You know, cause I’m gay,” he said, spelling it out for me.
“Oh, um, I hear he’s a good Alpha,” I replied, sipping my coffee and trying not to choke on it.
This was a lot of information to take in. Zev Maccon, the former Alpha, the one I remembered, was a fucking asshole. He’d hated everything that wasn’t like him. I’d always assumed the anti-anything different culture the Wolf Pack had was eternal, but maybe I was wrong. The possibility beat slowly inside me, more like a whisper of a breath. Like a bud of hope had suddenly unfurled, and I lifted my gaze to Tim’s.
“Oh, he is, Marti. Rafe Maccon is an inherently good man, an excellent Alpha. He offers sanctuary to any who ask. Even going so far as to allow other supes to settle in his territory,” he said.
I was feeling simpatico with Tim and I got up and grabbed some cookies from the jar, dropping them onto a plate for us to share while we drank our coffee and gossiped like old friends.
“I didn’t know that,” I said, clearing my throat.
I was a little uncomfortable, after all, Tim was trashing all my preconceived notions about the local Pack, and it was doing terrible things to the barriers I’d placed around myself. Walls I had built years ago so I would not feel the sharp sting of rejection quite so keenly.
I’d built the Macconwood Pack into something evil in my mind, and it made it easier to hate them. But Tim and Mitch, they weren’t evil. In fact, everyone I’d met at our birthday party the other night didn’t seem bad either.
“So, um, tell me about you,” I said, changing the subject.
I needed time to process all that information before I decided my feelings about the Pack. Even if Rafe Maccon was a saint, that didn’t mean my Wolf wanted to pledge fealty to the Pack he ruled. It didn’t mean I wanted to live under his thumb.
“What have you been up to, Tim?”
“Me? Oh, honey, where to begin. After high school I went to college, studied architecture a bit. But I missed my family. My parents are the best. And you know how sisters are. Maureen, Celia, Peggy, and Lynda practically begged me to come back. And of course there was Mitchell,” he said, grabbing a chocolate-covered graham cracker from the dish of goodies I’d spread between us.
“My brother is my best friend,” Tim added, and for a split second the jovial male was replaced by something else.
Protector, my Wolf whispered, and I understood. He was worried about Mitch. Little did he know I was, too. I was worried I’d hurt Mitch with my fire the other night. And I was too scared to ask him. Too afraid to have to see the results of my loss of control.
My powers had been unreliable for years, and for the last few months they had been almost nonexistent. The other night was the first time I’d shifted in so long, I couldn’t believe it. It was like he had pulled the Wolf from my body, but with her, my magic went too. But with my powers, pain often followed. Fire was like that. Uncontrollable and so very deadly.
Please don’t be hurt.
“How is he?” I asked, leaning forward but not looking Tim in the eye.
“Physically? Perfect. The guy has got a demon Werewolf inside him, honey. Emotionally? I’d say Mitchell is hurt and confused.”
That brought me up short. Yeah, most Wolves joked about their inner monsters, so I ignored that bit. Shifters often had super healing abilities and what not. It was different for my sisters and me, but I was still glad he was not injured.
“You know, I used to have a crush on you,” I confessed.
Timothy’s big blue eyes danced with laughter as we traded stories about junior high and eventually high school. His laughter was like Mitch’s and my heart squeezed inside my chest as I thought about all the texts he’d sent over the past few days.
Like a scaredy cat, I’d ignored each and every one of them. And his calls, too. I was too afraid to answer. Too scared to hear the judgement in his voice. Nervous as hell of what he would think after I ran like that. Shit. I owed him an explanation. After all, he’d been nothing but sweet to me. Our date was the best one I’d gone on in years. He was charming and fun, sexy, too.
Memories of that hot petting session we’d shared in his truck have haunted me ever since. I wasn’t sure why my powers reacted like that, and I was embarrassed. But I could have hurt him, and that thought was simply unbearable to me. Yeah, I needed to explain myself and to tell him why I couldn’t see him anymore.
“I knew all about your crush back in grade school. Your sister told me,” Tim said.
“She did not! Who? Nova or Sybil?” I gasped and threw a cookie at him in mock outrage.
“Crumbs,” growled Erryn, still not looking away from the laptop she and Davian were working on.
Tim and I exchanged glances, and we covered our giggles with our hands as I swept the crumbs up with my napkin. It wasn’t like I would have left the mess there, anyway, but a happy Erryn meant a happy Davi. So I cleaned up my mess, and I did it with a grin.
“Sybil, but only because she was trying to gauge my feelings for you. I was flattered, truly,” he said.
