Page 29 of Opposites Attract
John chuckled.“I hope so. But I wasn’t ready to settle down until I had to. Then I didn’t have a choice.”
“Grown and old before your time.”My heart ached for the burden John carried alone. It was good we’d found each other because I wasn’t planning on settling down yet. There was still so much work to do.“We’ll fix that.”
John’s deep laughter warmed my soul from the inside out.“You’re going to be trouble.”
“Not if…”I stilled as my beast turned her snout in the air. There was a tug. A sense of urgency. Like someone was calling my name.
John started growling as he spun to face me, but my wolf was already racing away.
“It’s Alice!”I told him, focusing on the strange sensation of fear flickering in my chest as my wolf ran toward the pup.
*
“Luna!” Alice stood in the tree fort, waving her arms like a windmill as my wolf came to a panting halt outside the perimeter of the children’s play area.
“What happened?”I forced my thoughts in her direction. John came barreling into the clearing behind me.
“There’s a mean lady with red…” Alice was saying as John’s wolf checked me over, making sure my wolf was okay.
“We’ve got company at the lodge.”He turned toward that direction.
I tried to will my heart rate to return to normal as I pieced out what Alice was saying, “She’s got red-painted fingernails.”
“Is that why you were screaming?”My wolf panted, wondering if this level of drama was normal with pups.
“You’re the only one who can handle it.” Alice nodded solemnly. “Your nails are longer than hers.”
*
I placed her scent as soon as I’d shifted and entered the lodge through the back door. The widowed Luna of Williams Pack. It was only a matter of time before she showed up. I pulled on one of John’s flannel shirts from the hooks in the mudroom and cinched it at the waist with one of his belts, grabbing my spare thigh-high black boots from the mat in the hall.
Reminder to self:
Leave more clothes easily accessible here.
Especially if we’d be hosting representatives from the neighboring packs at random times.
“Fallon.” John smiled at me as he came out of the bathroom. His eyes traveled hungrily up my thighs as I zipped my boots.
“Later.” I put my hand in his.“Do we know what Janice Williams wants?”
“Probably something about the debt from the show and my bargain with Chase.”A menacing aura pulsed around John that made my beast purr in delight. We hadn’t seen him in his dominant stance yet. He’d been mostly cinnamon roll around me and the pack. But this version of him was definitely getting explored in the bedroom at a future date.
“I’m assuming you want me to sit there and look pretty.”The sarcasm wasn’t very light from me today. Alice’s dramatic call still had my heart racing.
I wasn’t expecting John to open the door to the conference room and step aside, allowing me to enter first. I didn’t let the shock I was feeling show on my face as he pulled out the head chair of the table for me.
“Or you can look scary if you want.”He winked.
He learns quick. My wolf gave her approval as I kept my eyes on Janice Williams.
She remained standing in her white pumps. Her Burberry jacket was slung over her arm. The sleek ponytail pulled back her silver hair and her sharp gaze sized me up as one of the male shifters who flanked her pulled out a chair.
“Fallon. So good to see you, dear.” Janice smiled, waiting for me to sit.
“After you.” I motioned to her chair, letting out my beast’s dominance in the iciness of my tone. These little games were the bane of my existence, but each step screamed power and onewrong move gave the upper hand. I tried not to flinch as John sat beside Bryant and Tim at the table. He was an Alpha who knew better than to be lower than anyone in the room, which meant he didn’t see this as a threat.
“You underestimate her.”I kept my smile neutral as I watched to see what Janice would do.