front of the others so they all knew that he claimed her as his own. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Deirdre smiled with all her teeth as she redirected the topic to something Evershaw had done, and the conversation moved on without Henry or Ophelia. Henry wanted to immediately get up from the table as the wolf grew more agitated with Ophelia’s silence. He didn’t like her thinking he wanted to leave the city for Montana, even for a short period of time, when it meant leaving her behind. It hadn’t crossed his mind when he’d agreed to return to the pack that he’d go alone. In his head, Ophelia was there at his side.
Silas leaned back in his chair, across from them, and jerked his chin in Henry’s direction. “We found more of those strange footprints two blocks south of here. Thought we’d patrol again tonight, if you’re up for it.”
“How many?” Henry frowned as he studied the other wolf.
“Half a dozen.” Silas picked up a piece of chicken and swallowed all of it, then his gaze went to Ophelia. “Good work on dinner. Tasted better than anything Mercy’s put together in months.”
Henry growled in warning as the other male paid too much attention to Ophelia, and Silas grinned as he reached for more chicken. Henry fixed him with a dark look. “Cut it out.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Ophelia said evenly, as if Henry hadn’t said anything at all. “Except I think Mercy does an admirable job.”
He seethed as Silas lobbed another compliment at the witch, and the wolf nearly broke free to teach the other male a lesson. Henry even reached across the table after Silas offered Ophelia food, and would have started a fight right then if Evershaw hadn’t snapped, “Stop it,” and slapped his hand against the table.
Ophelia jumped, startled, and stared at the alpha, then at Henry and the unrepentant Silas. Henry scowled at the other wolf but swallowed down a claim of “but he started it” since the alpha wouldn’t care. Henry was third in command and outranked Silas; Henry ought to have had the self-control to deal with an upstart and his mockery. The last thing he wanted was to scare Ophelia, and it was obvious she remained nervous around the wolves.
Which made taking her to Montana a very bad idea. He didn’t know what kind of shape the old pack was in, but chances were the wolves weren’t anywhere near as well-behaved as Silas. Shoving Ophelia, with her control issues, into the middle of a tense situation was just asking for trouble. His chest tightened to realize he might not be able to take her with him, just for her own safety and peace of mind. She could end up traumatized, and... he’d be in a fight every moment of every day if it meant protecting her. He’d end up the alpha of the pack by accident after kicking every male’s ass for looking sideways at Ophelia.
Evershaw frowned down the long table at him. “Just for that, you take the early patrol.”
“That’s—” Henry started, reaching for Ophelia’s hand.
“Do it.” The alpha wasn’t sympathetic in the least. “Start now.”
Henry growled as he shoved to his feet, gesturing at Silas to get up as well. “Go. Now.”
The other wolf heaved a sigh and took another handful of chicken for the road, winking at Ophelia, and Henry shoved him to get him moving. He didn’t like leaving Ophelia, not before they had a chance to talk, but when the alpha said to go... he went. He clenched his jaw and figured a patrol was a great opportunity to beat the shit out of Silas in payback.
Maybe being the alpha in Montana wouldn’t be such a terrible thing if it meant he could adequately punish guys like Silas for being assholes.
Chapter 27
Ophelia
The meal ended pretty quickly after Evershaw kicked Henry and Silas out, though I wasn’t entirely sure why he did so. Something about them growling at each other. Maybe that was bad table manners? Nola and Fran volunteered to assist with cleaning up, and Evershaw disappeared out to do whatever it was he did as alpha. I caught Deirdre’s eye and opened my mouth to ask her for help when it came to understanding what the hell was going on with Henry, then lost my nerve and snapped my teeth together.
The corner of her mouth quirked up, like she’d been waiting for me to ask, then she pushed to her feet and said airily, “We