who didn’t fit neatly into his view of reality.
They were still discussing what to do about it when Mercy stuck her head into the office and avoided meeting anyone’s gaze. “So, we have a little... hiccup.”
Evershaw leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowed. “What kind of hiccup?”
“Henry’s sister and her friend caused a bit of a stir at the warehouse,” Mercy said. “It’s probably best that they don’t stay there overnight.”
Henry swallowed a groan. “What kind of trouble did she get into?”
“There are too many unmated males there,” Mercy said.
It was a remarkably diplomatic way of saying that his sister had probably challenged someone to a fight and things had nearly gotten violent. Once the pheromones and testosterone got stirred up, sometimes only the alpha or the second-in-command could exert enough influence over the pack to resolve things peacefully. And since Fran was so submissive, her demeanor would have fed into the protective instinct the males felt anyway. He sighed. He should have known better.
“So where are they staying?” Evershaw asked. “Are they going to start fights across the city?”
Mercy glanced at Henry, then at Ophelia, then at the floor. “Well, uh... We brought them back here. We have guest rooms here, and we didn’t want to dump them on the street or on someone else’s territory.”
“No, you did the right thing,” Deirdre said, talking over her mate when the alpha started to object to inviting trouble into his peaceful house. “We’ll adjust some of our arrangements to make sure we have space.”
Mercy retreated, apparently to give Nola and Fran a tour of the house, but Deirdre got up quickly and gestured for Ophelia to go with her. Henry watched them leave, puzzled at the rush. The room had been silent for some time before he noticed and turned his attention back to the alpha and second-in-command.
And then he scowled, because Evershaw and Todd both grinned at him. “What?”
Todd waggled his eyebrows. “So you found your mate, hmm?”
“I just said that to get Nola off my back,” Henry said. Even though his wolf didn’t believe it for a second, and he was starting to feel the same way. “It’s for show. Ophelia went along with it but it’s just…a facade to keep my sister out of the way.”
“Uh-huh.” Evershaw watched him with sharp focus. “It’s more than that and you know it.”
Henry had never liked how observant the alpha was. And Evershaw didn’t bother dressing up his opinions with politeness or basic social graces. “It’s nothing. I’ll deal with it.”
Evershaw grunted and shoved to his feet. “Just don’t get distracted. The coyotes and all three wolf packs are claiming their members are accounted for, but we still have lone tracks showing up in our territory. I don’t like it. And there’s no sign of that creeper who’s stalking the witch. Don’t let a pretty face turn your head, Henry. Don’t lose focus.”
“I won’t.” Henry scowled at his feet and resisted the urge to storm out like a petulant child. He didn’t want to have a conversation about Ophelia with anyone, at least not until he’d had the conversation with the witch herself, and he sure as hell didn’t want to deal with Nola for a full afternoon, evening, and the following morning. There was no telling what kind of slips he’d make, and any hint that he wasn’t happily mated and attached to SilverLine would just encourage her to badger him about returning to Montana.
The alpha strode out, calling for his mate, and Henry shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. He was painfully aware of Todd’s continued attention, and took a deep breath. “I’m serious, I don’t want to talk about her.”
“Didn’t ask, brother.” But Todd kept grinning.
Henry pushed to his feet and stretched, wondering how he was going to avoid Nola for the rest of the afternoon. “I’m sure you have work to do. What else needs to happen today?”
“You need to keep your sister from causing more trouble or pissing Evershaw off,” Todd said. “If anyone needs to patrol, send Silas or Dodge. I want you to stick close to the house in case there’s something else going on.”
“Something else going on?” Henry frowned at the other man. “You know something I don’t?”
Todd yawned and ran a hand through his dark hair. “I know a lot of shit you don’t know, pup. But with this—no, there’s no specific reason. I just don’t like weird shit happening at the same time, and we’ve had half