the party.”
“Are you serious? What, have you two been avoiding each other?”
“No. We both needed to act like it never happened. And that’s just what we’re doing.”
“I don’t know if that’s a long-term solution, Lex. You guys are in the same pack—it’s going to come out sooner or later.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Silence fell over the two of them, and before Lexi could say another word, she caught the scent of something strange on the air.
“You...you smell that?”
It was late afternoon, the sun coming in low through the trees, the wind gentle.
“What? What’re you talking about?”
“That smell. You can’t pick up on it?”
“Nope. What is it?”
“Smells like...like an alpha. One of our alphas.”
“Out here in the woods?”
Lexi didn’t respond, instead sniffing the air again. The more she detected it, the more it smelled to her like someone very, very familiar.
“Chad.”
“What? You smell Chad out here?”
“No doubt. I’ve been around that shithead enough to know his scent. And he’s an alpha—it’s ten times stronger than a normal shifter.”
“What would Chad be doing out here in the middle of the woods? It’s the day before the wedding—he’s supposed to be home with his dad and uncles doing all that ceremonial crap.”
“I don’t know,” said Lexi, standing up. “But it’s definitely him. Come on.”
“‘Come on?’ What are you talking about?”
Lexi didn’t reply, instead shifting into her bear form and taking off.
“Lexi!” shouted Shana after her. “Come on!”
Lexi glanced back to see Shana shift and follow her. She kept on through the woods, following the scent. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but she knew that something strange was going on—there was no reason for Chad to be this far out into the woods so close to the ceremony.
The smell grew stronger and stronger, and soon she spotted a handful of figures off in the distance. Lexi stopped and shifted back, hiding behind a nearby tree and staring hard at the men.
Chad was one of them. Shana shifted back and joined her behind the tree.
“That’s him, right?” she asked. “But...who the hell are those other guys?”
“No idea. But they’re not Thundertooth.”
“Why would Chad be meeting members of another pack out here?”
Lexi watched the group in silence.
“Hold on,” she said. “I’m going to get closer.”
“Wait, what? Lex!”
Lexi hurried forward, getting another couple dozen feet nearer to the group. She still couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she was close enough to see the serious, grave expressions on their faces.
She sniffed the air, recognizing the scents as others from around the area, the smells the same as some of the other members of other packs at the parties. But the men Chad was talking with were, well, men. They were older, likely high-ranking alphas of their packs.
Then Chad stopped, his eyebrows raising as he picked up on something else.
Her scent.
“Lex!” hissed Shana. “We need to go, now!”
Lexi was in total agreement. She waited for Chad to turn his attention back to the conversation, then she and Shana shifted into their bear forms and hurried back to the Thundertooth camp.
“That...that was really stupid, Lex. What if they saw you?”
“What, you think they were doing something that they didn’t want anyone else to see?”
She gave Lexi a concerned look, one that suggested the answer was yes.
“You’ve got a bad feeling about this too, right?” asked Lexi.
“Yeah, I do. But I can’t put my finger on what it is, exactly.”
“I...I need to talk to Chad.”
“Are you serious?”
“Serious. Tonight.”
“Lex, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“I don’t know if it is either. But there’s not a chance in hell I’m going to marry him if I’ve got the slightest doubt that I can trust him.”
“So...that means you’re going along with it?”
“Huh?”
“The marriage. You’re going through with it?”
Lexi let out a sigh as if realizing what she’d said, and what it meant.
“I...I don’t know. What else can I do? My family’s counting on me, the clan’s counting on me...and maybe this is my destiny, and I just have to accept it.”
But the moment the words left her mouth, the image of Jason appeared. And when it did, a feeling she hadn’t known in as long as she could remember flowed through her.
Freedom.
Thinking of him, thinking of their lovemaking, made her happier than she’d been in years—at the very least, since the marriage to Chad had been arranged.
“I don’t know either, Lex. Only you can make this call.”
As if on cue, Lex’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and saw it was