We ordered the two burritos, but the man—the eponymous Miguel, I assumed—added, “Potatoes? I have hashbrowns.” He leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, “These Americanslovehashbrowns.”
Cameron chuckled and ordered one of those as well. Even if the food ended up sucking, I’d still like the guy.
Within minutes, he was handing us a bag laden with food. I paid, leaving a hefty tip.
“Gracias, mi amigos!”he called to us as we departed.
The sun had fully risen by the time we walked away, cutting through the early morning mist.
“Do you want to stop somewhere and eat?” Cameron asked.
Pointing to a store ahead, I said, “Let’s pop in there real quick.”
Five minutes later, we exited the little dollar store with a couple cheap beach towels and a few bottles of orange juice. I led Cameron to a small park near the hotel, where we laid the towels out on the dewy grass so we could sit and eat.
My first bite of the burrito had me groaning in ecstasy. “Holy shit,” I said through a full mouth. “This is fucking amazing. I should have tipped that guy even more.”
Cameron looked like she was experiencing the same culinary delight. She couldn’t even respond as she tore into the burrito. The hashbrowns were unique—fried crispy and dusted with what tasted like cumin and chili powder. Ridiculously good. We should have ordered more. Our shifter metabolism required a lot of food, but the sheer size of the burritos would be enough. The burritos, along with the potatoes, would have us both bloated and ready for a nap when we were done.
“This is nice,” Cameron said after taking a swig of orange juice.
As I looked out over the Detroit River, it felt a bit like we were in a smaller town, not a huge city. The quiet and calm of the early morning seeped into us, embracing our little pocket of picnic heaven. I almost laughed out loud. Itwasnice. It was also pleasantly boring compared to everything else we’d been through.
We had important things to discuss, but I decided to simply let the moment be. If nothing else, we could spend the next few minutes enjoying ourselves. The outside world, and all the dangers that came with it, could be forgotten for a while.
“It really is nice,” I agreed, taking another bite of my burrito.
46
Cameron
After finishing every scrap of the food, I had to lay back and let my food digest. “I’m full,” I said, and then surprised myself by releasing a little belch. “Ugh, sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
Nate chuckled and lay down beside me, staring at the slowly brightening sky. He took my hand, his thumb grazing my palm. A sizzling tremor of excitement ran through me at his touch. I had no idea why he affected me the way he did, but I wasn’t mad about it. His touch didn’t feel possessive or demanding, as though he wanted something more from me. It justwas. It was so different from what I’d had with Rick. Each time he’d touched me or held my hand, I’d felt like he was dragging me along or pushing me forward, trying to show me off as his. A trophy he wanted to parade around. I’d never truly noticed it until now.
A flash, unwanted and painful, burst through my mind: Nate, hopping on a motorcycle and riding away from me. Once again, drifting off to live his nomadic lifestyle, vanishing toward the horizon without me. The thought sent a dagger into my chest. Anunyielding sadness speared my heart at the mental image. We each had our issues and things we needed to work through. I’d spent years building up walls I hadn’t even realized I’d built, but even then,thisfelt right. I really didn’t want Nate to leave.
Nate tilted his head to look at my face. “Are you okay?”
Swallowing back my emotions, I plastered a smile on my face. “Sure. Yeah,” I said, and sat back up, wrapping my arms around my knees. “How do you think I’ll fit in with JC’s pack?”
It wasn’t the question I really wanted to ask, which was:Are you going to stay with me? Still, I had been wondering about the pack.
“Are you having second thoughts?” Nate asked.
“No. Not really.” That was the truth. “JC has been amazing so far. I really like him, and I think he’s a good leader. It’s everyone else I’m wondering about. You guys have all said it’s extremely rare for humans to become shifters. Am I going to be an outcast or something?”
Nate looked toward the river. When he spoke again, it was in a calm, measured tone.
“Shifters can be very backward in their views,” he explained slowly. “You’ve got centuries of dogma that has sort of built upon itself over time.” He held up a hand. “Saying that, the packs located in and around large metro areas tend to be a little more progressive. This really is the best-case scenario for you. Plus, you were turned against your will. If anything, they’ll accept you more readily because of that. Unlike me,” he added with a sigh.
Nate plucked a few blades of grass and tossed it into the wind, obviously agitated.
“You don’t think they’d accept you?” I asked hesitantly. “I mean, if youwantedto join?”
“The laws are what they are. At this point, they’ve spread through the whole world. No pack would be willing to go against the law to bring in one wolf. Toronto-Ottawa is one of the threeor four most powerful packs on the planet. Anything they do has ripples. JCdoesseem like a great alpha, but I doubt even he would want to rock the boat that much.”
Part of me wanted to argue against that, but I didn’t have enough experience to know for sure. Carly, Leonard, Annie, and the other shifters were kind, but would they be if they met Nate and learned he was a lone wolf? It made my heart ache to think of that sweet old woman flinching away from Nate in disgust. All because of some stupid law.
