Someone hadn't wanted Heart to know who Adam was.
"Mercy?" "Sorry," I told him.
"I'm trying to distract myself.
You need to look at Samuel." I picked at a mucky spot on my overalls because I couldn't meet his eyes.
If Bran wanted Samuel dead, he'd have to go through me to do it, which he could.
But I was through lying to Adam, even if only by omission, merely to keep Bran from finding out.
Sam had trotted past both of us and gone to stand in the doorway, looking through the garage.
I could hear Maia still crying for her puppy.
"Puppy?" said Adam, sounding amused.
Sam turned and looked at him--and Adam froze.
I was well on my way to passing stupid for idiotic.
It was only when Adam stilled that I had the sudden thought that it might not have been the best idea to show the Columbia Pack Alpha that he had a problem with Sam in the narrow confines of my office.
It was Sam who growled first.
Temper flared in Adam's face.
Sam was more dominant, but he wasn't Alpha--and Adam was not going to back down in his territory without violence.
I hopped off the counter in between them.
"Settle down, Sam," I snapped, before I remembered what a bad idea that was.
I kept forgetting--not that Samuel was in trouble; I had no trouble remembering that--but that his wolf was not Samuel.
Just because he hadn't turned into the ravening beast that the only werewolves I'd seen who lost control to their wolf became, did not mean he was safe.
My head knew that--but I kept acting as if he were just Samuel.
Because he acted just like Samuel would have.
Mostly.
Sam sneezed and turned his back to us--and I started breathing again.
"I'm sorry," I apologized to both of them.
"That was a dumb way of doing things." I didn't want to look at Adam.
I didn't want to see if he was angry or hurt or whatever.
I'd had just about enough already that day.
And that was a coward's way out.
So I turned and looked up at him, keeping my gaze on his chin--where I could see his reaction without challenging him by meeting his eyes.
"You are so screwed," he said thoughtfully.