She got quiet. The silence went on so long it became awkward. I refused to speak until she did. She may be drugging and kidnapping shifters, but I knew she was still the weak little wolf she’d always been. I could intimidate her better than anyone. Until now, I did my best not to, but I no longer gave a shit about her comfort.
“I don’t think so, Ember,” she finally said. Her voice was lower than a whisper.
“Are you in trouble, Stella?” I asked thinking back to the idea that someone was forcing her to do all of this against her will. “If you’re not, tell me you’re not. If you are, just say we’ll make plans after you get back from Oregon.”
I held my breath waiting for her answer.
“I am not in trouble, Em.” She gave a nervous laugh, and my heart stopped beating. “What would make you ask that?”
“Nothing. I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you were doing. Just remember, I’m here. I’ll always be here,” I said pointedly.
“Goodbye, Ember.”
I put the phone down and turned to the guys. “My wolf wants out. Want to join me?”
After we removed our clothes, we all shifted. We stayed where we were for a few moments. I saw Isaac staring at Liam. Liam just sat tall and let Isaac smell him. He wasn’t being subordinate, just polite.
Isaac turned to me to see my reaction. I’d already seen Liam’s wolf, so I just sat quietly while letting my wolf size Isaac’s up. She was the last barrier to knowing if Isaac was up to no good or if Henry was just a cranky hawk.
She felt nothing but love toward him. Feeling my relief, she moved to nuzzle them both before letting out a little howl and darting toward the trees. They howled and ran after her. Isaac’s wolf jumped on her, and she rolled over playing with him like they were pups again.
Liam’s wolf howled and pawed at the ground before pouncing on top. Our wolves played and frolicked and hunted for a couple of hours. Mine eventually led them to the lake. She sat on the edge of the water, staring out over it.
It looked black except for the streaks of silver moonlight stretching out over the surface. I heard Henry’s call and the answering call of an owl. I looked up into the trees behind us to see Henry sitting beside a great horned owl. I panicked at first because those owls sometimes eat hawks like Henry, but then I remembered Liam’s tattoo.
The owl swooped down to sit next to him. He rubbed his head against it, and it flew back to its perch with Henry. He had a guardian too. He was proving to be more of a mystery the closer I got to him.
Unable to take it any longer I shifted and stood in front of him with my hands on my hips. “Shift. Now,” I said when he just looked at me with innocent wolf eyes.
Isaac shifted first. “Why is he so big? And his fur… What’s going on?”
“That’s what I’d like to find out.”
Liam finally shifted. Having the two of them naked in front of me was quite the test of my self-control. A pang of need hit me when a vision of me lying in the grass with them kissing every inch of my body flittered through my mind.
Hell, I was annoyed, not dead.
“You have a guardian?” I asked.
“I do. I call him Walter.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged and glanced back to Henry and Walter. They snuggled together while they slept. “You didn’t ask.”
“Seriously? Is that how it’s going to be? You won’t tell me anything unless I specifically ask you about it?”
“I never really thought about how it’s going to be. We are taking things slow. Isn’t that what you want?”
I growled and flung my hands in the air. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend it doesn’t bother me you won’t tell me anything personal about yourself.”
“I never asked you to pretend. That’s on you.”
His words hurt more than they should. They felt like a dismissal. “I can’t be with someone I don’t know.”
Isaac moved to stand below the tree where the birds were dozing. They opened their eyes and peered down at him with steely gazes. He glanced up, scowled, and stepped out from underneath them. If I hadn’t been so pissed at Liam, I’d have laughed.
“I will not have this conversation right now.” Liam’s voice was strained.