I shake my head. “No clue. I’m figuring it out as I go.”
“If you step on my foot, you’re going in the creek,” she warns.
She’s barefoot after our run. So am I. “I deserve nothing less.”
Hesitating for a beat, she passes her beer to Troy. “Do you mind?”
He takes it. I give Emilio my beer, ignore his smug smile, and walk over to Kat.
I slide my arm around her, draw her against my chest, and inhale the fragrance of her hair.
The last time we danced was at Joy and Emilio’s party, and I remember how it led to an argument that drove Kat outside to the creek, where she nearly died.
“You’re crushing me,” she says mildly.
I loosen my hold on her. “I was thinking about the last time we danced.”
“And?”
Around us, the rest of the pack are pairing up to dance.
Wes and Silas are out patrolling. They’ll be back soon to enjoy some of the BBQ and relax while Joy and Troy go out to patrol next.
“If I’d apologized to you, then you wouldn’t have gone outside, Cristofer wouldn’t have shot you, and you wouldn’t have almost died.”
Our steps stop, and we study each other.
Her hands are flat on my lower back.
“There’s a lot I’m angry at you for,” she says quietly. “But that isn’t one of them. Lose the guilt, Kasen.”
I feel myself relax. Lips twitching, I resume our dance. “No one calls me Kasen.”
“I figure you like Wolf King a little too much. I’m testing out other options.”
She’s right. Idolike Wolf King a little too much, but only when she calls me it. She can probably feel how much I like it with how close we’re dancing.
I tuck her closer. “Stick with Wolf King.”
“You are very overbearing.” She tilts her chin.
“But no one will love you the way I do.”
She arches her brow. “I don’t like orders.”
I put my mouth to her ear. “Orders can be so much fun, Kitty cat. How’d you like the run?”
I’d have liked it more if I were with her, but an Alpha leads the run. When I’d caught glimpses of her, she was with Leo or her sister. We’ll have other runs together. Some with pack and others just us.
“The run was fun,” she says, smiling. “My favorite part was the end when Leo launched himself into the creek.”
We’d taken our eyes off him near the creek, which is always a mistake. He’s proving to be a wolf that loves water too damn much.
Finan had waded in and fished the soggy pup out. Dania had just sighed and followed Finan into the bunkhouse as he carried a grinning Leo. He’s dry now, playing with the other pups.
Finan is talking quietly with Dania, and now that I’m relaxed and content, I remember his reluctance to leave Dania with Jasper, the new prospect. I’m also wondering about the lack of attention he pays to any woman. Any womanexceptDania, whom he helped resettle in the bunkhouse after her mate abandoned her and Leo.
Jasper, I was relieved to see, was at the run. He’s talking with a few others near the grill, and it looks like I convinced him to stay.
