I return to bed, tug the sheet up to my chin, and wait for him to give up. My “phases of the moon” clock ticks on the wall. After a while, Mari and Annie come knocking on my door.
Mari pokes her curly blonde head in, squinting toward the window. The moon reflects off Killian’s silver coat. He paces the porch, and his howls have become more plaintive. Almost grumbly.
“How long is he going to do this?” she whispers.
“I don’t know,” I whisper back.
“Should we let him in?”
“No!” Kennedy shouts from the other room. “Or at least gimme a minute!”
“She’s hiding her consoles,” Annie explains, squeezing past Mari to come sit on the edge of my bed. I scoot over.
“We’re not letting him in,” I reassure her.
If he shifted to his human skin, he could barge right in. He’s alpha; we couldn’t stop him. And honestly, he could easily break our door down in wolf form. Or come through the window.
But he doesn’t. He trots back and forth, growling, casting aggrieved looks at the cabin every now and then.
Mari joins us, sliding under the covers. When Killian first moved us to the cabin, she was only eleven, and she’d come looking for midnight snuggles a lot. She hasn’t done that in a long time.
“How much trouble are we in if he finds the consoles?” Mari asks.
“And the phones.” Annie keeps a wary eye on Killian’s wolf.
“And Kennedy’s weights.” Mari pulls the sheet to her chin. “And the liquor.”
“And the mushrooms.” Annie’s actually trembling.
How is she going to drive to Chapel Bell by herself and do the deal with ShroomForager3000? He’ll take one look at her and rip her off.
“He’s not coming in. He’s just, I don’t know, hanging out?” Killian’s by the stairs now, looking up at the moon. He’s grown quiet.
“What’s he doing?” Mari asks.
“He wants me to shift, but my wolf doesn’t want to.”
“Una, you have to get him to leave.” Kennedy appears in the doorway, breathless. “If he comes inside, we’re busted.”
It’s true. Except for Kennedy’s game systems, we keep the sitting room pretty clean, but he’ll be able to smell the bar we keep in the pantry and Kennedy’s marijuana gummies.
Lone females aren’t supposed to drink. There’s no rule about gummies, but I can guess what it’d be.
Our cabin is pretty much bursting with contraband. Nothing but the alcohol and phones are explicitly forbidden, but the place is full of evidence that we have access to human money and that we’ve been leaving the territory.
“Shit.” I swing my good leg over the side of the bed.
“That’s our fearless leader.” Kennedy grabs a green knit shawl from a hook and drapes it over my shoulder as I pass. “I’m sure he just wants to talk.”
A howl shakes the window frame.
I check in on my wolf. She’s pretending to sleep. Guess I’m on my own. I wrap the shawl tight around my shoulders.
As I step onto the porch, I hear the girls fighting for seats on my trunk. I guess whatever happens, I’ll have an audience.
I shut the door quickly behind me and lean against it. There’s a bite to the air, and a crispness to the night sounds—bullfrogs and rustling leaves and a distant hoot.
Killian’s wolf turns to glare at me expectantly, the gold blazing.
“She won’t come out,” I tell him.
He pads over, noses my belly, and then gazes soulfully into my eyes. He’s really bummed. I shouldn’t care, but I’m not made of stone.
“I’m sorry.”
He cocks his head.
“She’s tired.”
He snuffles, and it sounds exactly like a human snort.
I sigh. “She’s mad that you let Haisley rub up on you—him.”
He peels back his lips, revealing his fangs. I stiffen. He’s pissed. At me? My wolf?
He paces to the edge of the porch and howls again, a litany this time that drags on and on.
And then, suddenly, silence falls and Killian is standing there, moonlight bathing his chiseled back. His sculpted ass. I curl my bare toes. They’re cold. That’s why.
I clear my throat. “I—uh—did you, um, want something else?” I reach behind me for the door knob.
For a moment, he doesn’t turn, and when he does, my breath catches. I can hear the girls gasp through the closed window. So can Killian. His gaze flies over my shoulder. The curtain sways. Kennedy lets out a wolf whistle.