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Carol smiles brightly as she enters. “So, where are my humans?” Her singsong voice bounces off the walls. She reminds me of Lizzie as she waltzes across the room with confidence. Back before I got ahold of my mate, she had the same carefree air. The thought makes my scowl deepen.
She stands in front of my mate and gasps looking between Caleb and myself. Pointing her finger at the two of us Carol says, “Well, well, congrats to you, lovely lady. A ménage à trois mating; now that’s something you don’t see every day.” Lizzie’s cheeks blaze and that faint change in her makes me long for her. To touch her, to run the back of my hand down her cheek and nip the curve of her neck playfully.
Instead, my fingers steeple together in my lap and I sit with this emptiness on my own.
“Fate has certainly blessed you, little human.” Her eyebrows raise and she takes one of Lizzie’s small hands in both of hers. “Good luck taming these two.” Caleb bellows a laugh and Lizzie smiles shyly.
“She’s wolf,” I say, correcting Carol. “Latent.” I say the words with pride; nonetheless Lizzie’s smile falls, and she recoils into Caleb. I wish I’d kept my stupid mouth shut. I can’t do a damn thing right by her.
“Oh.” Carol perks up even more and says, “Well that’s wonderful, dear.” She purses her lips and taps her heel. “But it’s a PR nightmare.” My brow creases and Carol answers my unasked question. “A latent wolf on human territory?” She shakes her head. “It’ll be called a conspiracy, of course. That we set her up as a spy of sorts.” She tsks. “It’s a shame, but we’re going to have to stay with the human version.”
“We’re on in five.” Alec positions a chair angled toward the sofa and turns the camera on, extending a screen and flipping it so we can view the human newscasters.
“All right, Daddy,” Carol answers him easily.
“Daddy?” Grace’s curious look almost makes me smile. Devin is going to have his hands full answering our Alpha mate’s questions after this morning. She truly has been thrown to the wolves.
“He’s not really my daddy.” Carol winks at Grace and takes a seat, fixing her skirt and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She flashes her pearly whites and asks, “No lipstick, right?” She sucks at her teeth while Grace shakes her head, grinning at Carol. A warmth settles through me as I watch Lizzie relax. Carol and Grace are good for her.
Maybe Grace doesn’t realize it, but she set the mood the moment we walked in here. Devin’s appraising gaze tells me he’s aware of it as well. It provides an unexpected comfort.
“She’ll be all right.” Caleb’s words sound in my head as he pats Lizzie’s knee and kisses her forehead. A faint blush appears on her cheeks. I love the look of her flushed skin.
“Okay, ladies and gents, I’ll field the questions. You just play along.” Caleb and Devin nod slightly as Lizzie fidgets with her fingers until Grace takes her hand and squeezes. “Any questions? It’s now or never.” Grace shakes her head and Lizzie follows suit.
It seems just then that Grace looks down at her outfit and realizes she’s going on camera in sweatpants and a simple gray T-shirt. Lizzie is just as casual in worn, faded jeans and a blush tank top. Both of their faces fresh, without an ounce of makeup on.
From one event to the next, they’re thrown into it with no warning. Grace’s unease comes and goes quickly as she squares her shoulders. I don’t miss Devin’s hand squeezing hers either.
Alec hands Carol a mic that she immediately turns on and taps lightly. The sound vibrates through the room, making her smile. There’s an innocence in Carol that hundreds of decades of violence have yet to break.
“There’s a five-second delay in case we need to cut the feed.” Alec speaks only to Carol as he gets behind the camera. “We’re live in three, two …” He finishes by mouthing one.
“Hello, Carol.” We hear a woman’s voice from the screen.
“Hi, Amber. How are you this evening?” Carol’s sweet voice takes on an edge of professionalism. It’s her mask for the humans. Far less theatrical. She’s the Authority’s PR dream.
“We’re all a bit anxious over here to see the state of Elizabeth Weatherly and Grace Windom. I can see they’re sitting with you now. Is that right?” The news anchor’s dress shirt remains stiff when she leans in slightly, as if she could get a better view. Her anxiousness is more than obvious and the back of my neck heats with a tingle.
“They are. I can assure you that I was just as anxious watching the offering of Shadow Falls as it aired on the news and saw the clips that were shared on social media. The Authority was prepared to take action and mete out justice had the werewolves of Shadow Falls violated the law. We will always honor our pact with the human nation. However, we have no desire to interfere in this case. As you can see, both humans are doing well. The Authority’s investigation has determined that no laws were broken.”
“Carol, I have to ask. Why is it that there was such a difference at this offering? We’re given so little information that the sight of the Shadow Falls incident was very disturbing for the human population.” The anchor drops her tone, matching the somber expression on her face when she adds, “It reminded us all of much darker times.”
“As we promised years ago when we formed our alliance, we will not allow supernatural beings to harm humans that reside in areas of treaties.” Carol answers with an air of authority and confidence. “Unfortunately, this offering was different due to the mistraining of a wolf. The werewolf collecting Elizabeth Weatherly was given poor advice on how to handle humans. As you can imagine, a paranormal being’s touch can be intimidating and forceful.” Carol turns in her seat to face Lizzie and tells her, “I can only imagine how scared you were.” Her eyes and tone turn sympathetic. “Would you like to tell us how you were feeling during the offering?”
A chill spreads through me and I swear my heart stops. The gulp of Lizzie’s swallow is audible.
Lizzie’s arms wrap around her midsection as she answers, nodding her head. “I wasn’t so much scared as I was shocked when he grabbed me. I wasn’t expecting it and then … Without knowing what would happen, I reacted without thinking.” Her voice is small but firm. She tacks on an apology. “I’m sorry.” The shock I feel in this moment is genuine.
It takes everything in me not to comfort her, not to tell her she has no reason to be sorry.
“Stay still.” Devin’s command comes with a force that bows my head. Gritting my teeth, I shut down every emotion. “We’re live,” he reminds me.
“And how were you feeling, Miss Windom?”
The attention moves to Grace, all of our eyes on her. “I was startled and genuinely scared for Lizzie. She’s been my friend for as long as I can remember. She obviously wasn’t okay.” Grace’s eyes find Lizzie’s and she squeezes her hand. “My reaction was purely one of trying to help a friend.”
“How are the two of you feeling today? Now that you’ve had time to adjust.”
