Iron Master – Jennifer Ashley Page 0,3
glass as he pounded on the door. “Open up. It’s fucking cold out here.”
Chapter Two
Graham McNeil, the leader of the Lupine side of Shiftertown, cupped his hands to glare in the door.
This was all Peigi needed. Stuart had said he’d called Graham—but why vanish just when Graham was due to arrive?
Peigi went to the sliding door. The cubs remained at the table, round-eyed, but even a year ago, they would have run in terror, seeking a place to hide. They were getting stronger, braver, happier.
They relaxed completely when they saw the bear Shifter who’d accompanied Graham.
“Uncle Shane!” they chorused, and Shane gave them a grizzly grin.
“Hey, little ones.” Shane, who bulked behind Graham, waved his big hand. “Let us in, Pegs. Graham’s not wrong about the cold.”
“Oh, please. This isn’t cold.” Peigi opened the door, letting in a wave of chill, and gestured them inside.
They’d never have entered without her permission, because this was Peigi’s territory. While Peigi was nowhere near as high in dominance as Graham or Shane, wouldn’t dream of pushing their way in. First, they were respectful of territory, and second, Peigi was protected by Eric, the Shiftertown leader, and no one messed with Eric.
Plus, they knew Stuart guarded Peigi unofficially. While Stuart didn’t possess Shifter strength—as far as anyone knew—the Shifters were a little bit afraid of him. Everyone was, except Peigi and the cubs.
“Stuart isn’t here,” Peigi said as Graham gave the room a once-over, as though expecting to find Stuart in a corner.
Graham swung on her, his gray eyes hard. “What do you mean, he’s not here? He called me.”
“He teleported,” Noelle offered.
“I thought he’d gone to see you,” Peigi said to Graham.
“Obviously not. What the hell? He calls me to come see him at the crack of dawn, and he’s gone? What’s he doing—joy-teleporting?”
A few of the cubs giggled, but Donny and Noelle watched in worry.
“Graham.” Shane’s rumble was as good-natured as always as he moved to stand at the Lupine’s shoulder. “Why don’t you and Peigi go talk about this? I’ll hang out with the cubs. I smell fried eggs.”
“Oh crap.” Peigi rushed back to the stove and stirred the burning eggs, dumping them on a plate and leaving the blackest bits in the pan.
Shane’s big hand was there to take the plate when she turned around. “Go. Talk.”
His tawny eyes told her he knew something was very wrong, but he didn’t want to upset the cubs with it.
Shane had come, Peigi knew, not so much to keep Graham under control—only Graham’s mate could do that—but to reassure Peigi and her cubs. Shane was second in command to the alpha bear of this Shiftertown, his mother, Nell. Graham was in charge of the wolves, and Eric Warden was in charge of … everyone.
Shifter hierarchy was more layered and complex than humans understood, but Shifters knew instinctively who was who, and who not to mess with.
Shane’s mom was another Peigi-protector. Nell would guard her even against Eric, and so when Peigi had to deal with other Shifters, especially growly leaders like Graham, Nell made sure one of her sons was in place to help.
Peigi gave Shane a grateful nod. She walked past Graham, avoiding his stare, grabbed a jacket, and headed out the patio door. It was cold, yes, but not too bad with her sweatpants and coat. They couldn’t talk anywhere in the house, because the cubs would hear, and Peigi didn’t want them afraid while she figured out what was going on.
Graham understood, but he grumbled as they walked to the middle of the field that backed the houses on this street.
“Okay, let’s talk. Make it fast. I’m freezing my balls off.”
“It isn’t that cold.” Peigi faced him but let her eyes rest on his cheekbone. If a Shifter gazed directly at Graham he might take it as a challenge. “Alaska is cold. The Arctic is cold. This is the Mojave desert.”
“And you’re a bear with a thick hide. I’m a sensitive little wolf.”
“Sure you are.” Peigi let herself smile. “I bet it was chilly when you lived in Elko.”
“Damned chilly.” Graham folded his thick arms over his chest. “We’ve established the weather, so what do you want? And where is Reid?”
The best way to face Graham, Peigi had learned, was to answer back and ignore his abruptness. He was brusque and didn’t soften himself for anyone but his mate and cubs, though Peigi understood that his fierceness had kept an entire Shiftertown of nearly wild Shifters in line in the