I’ll help out. I’ll be good—”
“Kid, you’re breaking my heart here.”
“I don’t want to be in a pack, Makenna. I want to be like you.”
“Me?”
“You’re strong, and you look out for everyone, and nothing scares you.”
“Zac, I’m a single, mostly uneducated, deliberately annoying loner who works evening shifts at a gas station when she’s not doing volunteer work at a local shelter. Do not aspire to be like me.”
Sadness clouded his eyes. “You want to get rid of me, don’t you?”
“Hey, you listen to me. I’ll be very sad to see you go, Zac. But I can’t claim to care about you and then not do what’s best for you, can I? The shelter is a special place, but it can’t give you the things that come with being part of a pack.”
He scowled. “If being in a pack is so sick, why didn’t you join one?”
She knew “sick” loosely meant “great,” since she’d learned to interpret his slang over the past few months. “I was twelve when I first went to the shelter. Back then, Dawn didn’t aim to rehome loners. Instead, she taught us how to integrate ourselves in the human community.”
“You’re the one who changed it and started rehoming them?”
“Yes.”
“But you could join a pack now, right? Why haven’t you?”
“Because it’s highly unlikely that any Alpha will condone one of their pack associating with loners, let alone volunteering at the shelter. And I like my life exactly as it is. But it still isn’t easy to be without a pack. My wolf accepts the situation, but she’ll never be satisfied and content. She’ll always feel like something’s missing, because being a loner goes against our nature.” That was why she worked so hard at rehoming lone shifters.
A football came bouncing their way. Makenna caught it and threw it back to the group of human teenagers a short distance away. The park was quite busy, which would hopefully reassure Zac.
After a moment of silence, Zac said, “I didn’t think I’d have to meet Ryan so soon.”
“And you felt like I was trying to get rid of you in a hurry. No, sweetie. He’s really intent on seeing you. I thought it would be best to get the first visit over with quickly. It might placate him a little.”
Zac frowned thoughtfully. “Oh.” He exhaled heavily. “What if I don’t like him? What if he wants me but I don’t want him?”
“Then you don’t go with him. But you can’t make a decision like that until you get to know him. All I’m asking is that you give him a shot.”
Zac looked away. “Whatever.”
She wondered why that one-word response from a teenager had the potential to make her want to scream. “So . . . do you think stairs are supposed to go up or down?”
He smiled. “Why do you always ask weird questions?”
“You’re assuming I do it for a reason.”
Chuckling, he shrugged. “Up.”
“Okay . . . What about that issue that The Killers raised? Are we human, or are we dancer? What do you think?”
His shoulders shook. “That lyric makes no sense.”
“I know, I don’t get it!” Hearing a vehicle pulling up in the small parking lot on their left, she glanced over. She knew that Chevy. “Here comes Ryan.” Zac froze. “Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen to you. You’re in a public place, surrounded by people, and you have me.”
Swallowing hard, Zac nodded. “Which one is he?” he asked as a total of five wolves exited the car. “And who are the others?”
“See the broad guy with the snarl and the military haircut? That’s Ryan. I’m guessing the others are his pack mates.”
“You’re not surprised that he hasn’t come alone, are you?”
“Loners aren’t trusted, so I figured his Alphas wouldn’t want him to come without some backup.” They approached slowly, their postures nonthreatening—as if they were conscious of not spooking Zac. Everything female in her stood up and paid attention when Ryan’s smoky black eyes settled on her. It was pure instinct to irritate him. “Hey, White Fang. Who’ve you brought with you?” Her inner wolf was pleased to see him, but not so much his companions. She wasn’t always comfortable around strangers.
A mountain of pure muscle cocked a brow at Ryan. “White Fang?”
Ryan just grunted at him, which Makenna translated as “fuck you.”
A small blonde smiled at Makenna; there was a hint of cautiousness in her eyes. “You must be Makenna.” Her gaze shifted to Zac, and her smile became more genuine. “And you must be