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Almost everyone used the app these days. But Aiden and Rose had left their cell phones when they left pack territory, afraid they could be tracked. I still had the phone I’d used to contact Aiden, but I’d yanked the SIM card in case Joshua had planned another surprise for me.
We stopped for lunch, choosing a town just off the highway in a safe zone. It was harder making our way through the country than it would be once we hit big cities. The only shifters on the West Coast would be selkies unless we went far inland or into LA, and selkies didn’t bother anyone.
We went into a diner and settled down. Aiden pulled out cash from his jacket pocket. “You should have stolen some money from the King pack on your way out.”
Dylan looked up at him curiously, clearly not having quite understood what he was saying.
“I would never steal from them,” I said.
Aiden glanced at Dylan, and I had a feeling I knew when he was thinking. Did Stone and the others feel that way?
Did they think I’d stolen Dylan from them?
Their nephew?
The heir to the King pack?
I hadn’t really imagined Dylan rising to be the next alpha, but I suddenly felt a jolt of guilt, then fear, as I realized what I’d taken him away from. We’d have to find jobs and support ourselves and live like humans. His life would be hard. But he would have had all his needs met, growing up surrounded by loving kin, to become the heir to the pack.
Then what was the point of that? He’d be an alpha, and someone would challenge him, and he would kill them or be killed himself.
I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup because they were some of the cheapest things on the menu. Dylan fixated on the rotating dessert case in the corner, which he thought was absolutely magical. He desperately wanted a slice of towering vanilla cake with confetti sprinkles, and he wouldn’t stop talking about that damned cake as I pushed his chicken nuggets.
He started to cry as we were trying to leave. I was trying to calm him down when he wrenched his hand out of mine and ran back to the rotating case. Every gaze seemed to turn toward the two of us. I could’ve sworn the diner had just gone dead silent except for his whining.
Feeling like an abject failure as a mother on multiple levels—because I couldn’t buy him the damn cakeandbecause he was crying about the damn cake—I tried to bundle him up into my arms.
I turned toward the door to meet the gaze of two men who had just walked in. They were both handsome in a dark, polished way, and my nostrils flared the next second, breathing in their scent. It was musky and dark.Wolves. They carried notes of coffee and leather, the scent of their pack.
But it didn’t matter. We were in neutral territory. Aiden had already gone outside to smoke a cigarette. Usually, I hated how my little brother always smelled like smoke.
Maybe his vice would be helpful for once.
I put Dylan down and whispered into his ear to go find Aiden. Rose was coming up behind me, and she looked at the men and her eyes went wide.
Dylan seemed to have a sense for danger at least, and he slipped around the men and ran outside to find Aiden. They turned and watched him go, and I didn’t like their gazes on him, but then they looked back at me.
“Excuse me,” I said politely, trying to make my way around them. I didn’t want to leave without Rose, so I’d waited until she reached my side.
“Maybe we will,” one of the wolves said with a smile. “What pack are you from?”
His voice was soft. No one else in the diner seemed to notice the tension brewing between us.
Humans are very good at ignoring the supernatural.
“The King pack.” The King pack was stronger than the Longroad pack. They were less likely to mess with us if they had bad intentions, and they just gave me a feeling of bad intentions.
Rose’s eyes shifted toward me just for a second, and I knew she would take that as meaning more than it did. But I would be glad to argue with my little sister later. Right now, all my senses were on high alert and I’d do anything to get us all out of here safely.
“You’re a long way from home.”
“On my way to meet my mate,” I said with a smile, pushing my hair back to reveal my mark. I usually hid it, but now it occurred to me that it might be helpful for them to know that I was already bonded to someone.
“You’re incredibly beautiful,” one of the men said, in that way that’s not a compliment. “But I’m sure you know that.”
I gave Rose a gentle shove forward, trying to slip around the two of them.
“What’s your background?”
