“You bet. Fresh from the land down under. Strewth, if all the sheilas here are as beautiful as you, I’m glad I came!”
Her smile widened before a young man appeared at her side. His eyes shot daggers at me, and Joe dragged me away.
“Stop hamming it up. Your slang was never that heavy at home. And some women don’t like being called a sheila.”
“I’m cultivating a fan club,” I protested. “And you’ve become almost boring after hanging out with a bunch of Canucks. Ya need to get back in touch with your heritage, mate.”
“You’re going to start a riot, is what you are doing.” He grinned at me, and for just a moment, I saw my brah—brother in that smile. Which was my smile, too—the family resemblance ran through all of us, courtesy of my and Joe’s fathers being brothers.
But it was best not to think of my father...
So instead, I bumped into Joe’s broad shoulder. “You’ve put on weight.”
“It’s all muscle,” he said. “Been working hard on our new place. You’re looking a bit lean.”
I shrugged. “Just finished mustering. Was a tough one.” On a station the size of ours, gathering the semi-wild cattle at weaning time was a huge endeavor.
“Need more tucker,” Joe assessed. His eyes rose to my hair. “And I see you still don’t know how to use a comb.”
I laughed. I used my fingers most of the time—which tended to make it stand up in unruly tufts. But I was fine with it, and so, it seemed, were the women. I eyed a group of three, one of which played with her hair and gazed back through lowered lids.
Definitecome hithervibes from that sheila—
Our temporary rapport was shattered when Joe clobbered my shoulder hard enough to flatten many. “I’ve missed you, mate.”
I gave the woman my trademark lopsided grin before clouting Joe right back. “Yeah, back at ya. I’m stoked you splurged for my trip. I’ll pay it back, I promise.”
“S’okay,” Joe said. “Glad to help. How are things back home?”
My grin slipped. “Much the same. Brah’s holding it together, but things are getting dodgy there.” I gazed at the humans bustling around us. “Has the council taken action yet?”
Joe’s mouth straightened. “They’ve started the process, but it’s going to take time. Recruiting human females while keeping us a secret from the general population is tricky.”
I snorted. “Awesome. If they don’t put the pedal to the metal, packs will start without ’em.”
Joe shot me a look. “Is that just guessing?”
I reactivated a few tufts by raking fingers through my hair. “Rumors, mostly.” My heart ached as I contemplated how grim things had gotten at home.
As if he’d sensed my thoughts drifting down dark paths, Joe’s mouth twisted, and he shoved me sideways again. In fact, our bodies were more often in contact than not—we were family, and that meant a lot to Direshifters. Our progress through the airport resembled that of reunited puppies, tumbling into and around each other.
Minus the licking, of course. My human form had its drawbacks. Instead, I hammered my shoulder right back into him.
“Crikey,” he exclaimed. “It’s good to see you. Wait until you meet the pack. And Emily. She’s really something.”
His deep voice reflected the intensity of his emotion. My dalliances with human women helped to relieve sexual frustration. But I craved the alpha-female connection Joe had—the cement that held packs together, keeping everyone calm and sane. Even if she only slept with the alpha male, her alliances kept the hormones of everyone else in check. It’s times like this that the lack of Dire females hit home. I experienced a stab of envy that my cousin had found a stable pack. “You’re a lucky bloke.”
Joe measured me with his gaze. “There might be room for one more. Alex has already suggested it.”
I’d be lying if I said the offer wasn’t tempting. But my heart told me that my future lay along a different path.
Much to my brah’s despair, logic had never ruled my life. Instead, I followed my heart. And my dreams.
Joe would never believe me if I told him of the blonde beauty that haunted my nights. It wasn’t something that sounded rational if I tried to explain it. So instead, I focused on my reason for traveling from Australia to Canada.
“Do ya know yet if I’m in?” If I wasn’t, I’d come a long way for nothing. Not that there was anything for me back home. Canada was where it all seemed to be happening.
Joe grinned at me. “You ready to become a Shade?”
