fifty members, and all of them except for Seth and the three yahoos shadowing him, as well as Ethan and his two babysitters, were here for dinner.
“Hey, good to see you,” one of the Weres seated near the door said, smiling warmly at me as he leaned back in his chair to brush his fingers over my hand. As the others took note of our entrance, the hum of conversation died into a low murmur of welcome, some of them lifting their hands in cheerful waves, others rising to greet us. A handful moved to the back, out of the way, but their dark looks were easily lost in the crowd of well-wishers.
“It’s her, look… .”
“Remember me? Hi!”
“I can’t believe she came!”
I suddenly found myself surrounded by warm, friendly hands, brushing over my hair, shoulders, arms, crushing my hands as they shook them. One of the guys who’d grabbed my hand shouldered his way a little closer, grinning at me happily. “I know I look different without the fur, but I hope you remember me. Thank you so much!”
I turned wide eyes on Chaz, who had stepped to one side and was simply grinning with amused tolerance. “What the hell is going on?”
“You saved them from getting overtaken by the Dominari Focus, remember? They’re just happy you’re here.”
“You’re a hero,” another said, pounding me enthusiastically on the back. “Better, you’re one of us, not one of those pansy Moonwalkers. It’s an honor to have you here.”
The nods and words of agreement that flowed around me were so embarrassing, I thought strongly of retreating to our cabin and forgoing this weird dinner. Sadly, I was surrounded. Though I had wanted to get to know Chaz’s pack, I certainly didn’t want to be fawned over like this. The Focus had been designed to give a dangerous amount of power to its holder, and I’d destroyed it mostly out of fear of what Royce or Chaz or even Sara’s boyfriend, Arnold, might have done with it. That it meant assured freedom for these guys was just an added bonus.
“Um, thanks, guys. Really, it was nothing.”
An older guy threw his arm around my shoulders, guiding me to one of the tables right in the middle of the mess of seated Weres. His gruff voice was husky from years of cigarette smoking and carried a touch of some European accent I couldn’t place. “Facing that mage and his spelled minions by yourself—especially without the pack there to back you up—takes a kind of bravery and courage most of us had never seen before. Let us have this moment to thank you in our own way. We never had the chance to before.”
I warily nodded agreement, doing my best to relax my stiff posture. It was a little nerve-wracking to know I was one of few humans in a room full of predators who could tear me apart or even eat me if they were so inclined. Having a bunch of them putting their hands on me made me jittery. They meant well, but it was still freaky.
Chaz had never said anything, so I hadn’t realized that the pack felt so strongly about what I had done. The only Weres I’d seen after the big fight above La Petite Boisson were Rohrik Donovan, who came to thank me in person at the hospital, a few of Chaz’s friends who’d been around for movies or dinner, and that cab driver whose name I’d never learned. Maybe since I was human, they were afraid to approach me themselves and had just been waiting for a moment like this to thank me.
“Relax, you smell afraid. Don’t offend your fans,” Chaz whispered into my ear as he leaned down to seat himself next to me. I gave him a withering look. He portrayed nothing but bland innocence.
Eventually, the casual chatter returned, many of the Weres drifting back to their seats. The clink of silverware and chiming of laughter from a table across the room sounded so normal, so human, that it would be easy to forget what they really were. Blending in this way was as much survival instinct as it was sheer habit. Some of the people in this room had been born Were. Most started out as fullbloods, like me, and then contracted the infection later. They wouldn’t do something so crass as to act uncivilized until their furry side came out. Once shifted, they’d still be doing their best to stay as far out of humanity’s sight