Cassidy was one of the first, proudly pulling up his shirt to show tanned, leathery skin puckered with an incredible number of scars, enough to show that life hadn’t been easy for the friendly old fart. Chaz surprised me by pointing out a few of his own. Guess they were playing a game of “who’s got the biggest cojones” for the sake of the few girls hanging around; we were giggling and whispering over what was revealed aside from a few imperfections on the men’s skin.
I have to admit, it was a little disturbing when some of them got around to showing off the bites or claw marks that had led to their lycanthropy infection.
As the sun drifted closer to the horizon, people started drifting off to their cabins to get ready for the shift. Feeling a little worn out, I sidled over to Chaz to find out what he was up to. If I was lucky, he’d come spend a little time with me back in the privacy of our cabin before he had to leave and join the rest of the pack in the hunt.
He was deep in discussion with Dillon and Nick on what to do when Ethan shifted, and who was going to be responsible for keeping him from breaking off from the pack to hunt two-legged prey. Peachy.
“Hey, you’ve got to get ready for tonight, right?” I said, dearly hoping he’d catch the hint. “You ready to go?”
No such luck. “Not just yet. I’ve still got a little work to do. Dillon, can you take her?”
I sighed as the other Were nodded and got to his feet, giving me a brief, tight smile. He hid his irritation well, but I knew he didn’t like babysitting me. He was the same Were who had fallen asleep when he should have been watching me while I was coming off the blood bond at Royce’s downtown apartment building. I’d snuck right out of the building and gone tearing off into nearby Central Park to find the missing pieces of myself and put some semblance of my sanity back together. It had been an incredibly stressful time, what with being bound to two vampires simultaneously, having killed a bunch of people, and having watched others get murdered right before my eyes.
Yeah, that had worked out real well.
Chaz had never told me if he’d said or done anything to Dillon for slacking off, and Dillon had always been friendly enough when we went on group outings. The tightness of his mouth and faintest narrowing of his eyes was enough of a warning that he was still ticked at me for leaving him holding the bag at Royce’s last month. I’d never thought about how awkward that must have been for him, having to explain, not just to Chaz but also to the vampire, how I’d escaped their protection. Catching a few zees wasn’t a good excuse when your pack leader’s girlfriend might potentially be called to the side of a murderous, psychotic vamp but, hey, I was myself again. I wasn’t complaining.
It might not have helped much, but I gave him a weak, apologetic smile, doing what I could to muster up the courage to ask for forgiveness. His look of irritation faded, and he rose with the smooth grace that said his wolf instincts were urging him to shift and hunt. He came to a halt by my side.
“Be back in a few,” he said to the others, who all nodded and turned back to their discussion. Chaz gave my hand a parting squeeze of reassurance before turning to answer a question from Simon.
We stayed quiet, walking side by side on the way back to the lodge. I thought about how I wanted to word my apology to him, since he deserved more than my ignoring the fact that, even if he’d slacked, he had helped me out. Judging by what Paula thought of me, I was sure it had taken some convincing on Chaz’s part to get him to watch my sorry butt.
Just as we reached the doors leading inside, a howl of pain cut the air. Both of us stopped in our tracks, looking back the way we’d come. Dillon didn’t hesitate long, shoving me behind him none too gently while he scanned the area for the source of the sound. People were shouting and shuffling around, either looking for cover or trying to locate the source of the cries.