adds, and the way she says it makes me feel a phantom stroke of appreciation, right down my spine.
I shiver. And it is so not in a bad way. But Susan is Finn’s girl. His mot, as the Irish like to say of a girlfriend. Shaking myself, I roughly clear my throat. “You shouldn’t thank me.” I tilt Maggie’s dish so that the melting concoction slides right into my mouth. I set the emptied bowl into the sink, swallow, and explain, “I had an ulterior motive.”
Susan laughs softly.
Ginny gets up, and I step aside to give her room as she walks her own bowl to the sink. I keep my eyes lowered, my gaze drifting to Susan’s socks. They’re white at the toe and the heel, and blue in the middle. “Deek says I’m an alpha,” Ginny responds, answering Susan’s earlier question. “So I won’t be like…”
The silence has a weight to it, and I glance up to see all three sets of eyes on me.
Yesterday, I would have dropped to the floor. Tonight, I feel more confident of my place here. Still, I have to lock my knees. “You won’t be like me,” I tell her.
Ginny hurriedly mutters, “Sorry. I didn’t mean for that to sound like there’s something wrong with you.”
I shrug. “If I was an alpha, I would be all wrong. But I’m not. Submissives are a different thing.”
Charlotte passes me to get to the sink and surprises me by patting my arm. “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it’s stupid.”
“Albert Einstein,” Ginny says. “Nice.”
“It’s a great quote,” Charlotte agrees. “Sounds like that’s the difference between alphas and submissives, right? Fish to squirrels?”
More like sharks to squirrels. “That’s not a bad way of looking at it.” I stare at their bare feet. I note their toenails are painted in matching colors, blue or purple, maybe. I note this somewhat absently, because as a submissive, I spend a lot of time looking at feet. And paws.
“Welp,” says Susan mildly. Which confuses me for a second because where I was raised, whelp is how you address a child you’re two seconds from baring your teeth at. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m headed for a relaxing soak in the tub. Then it’s bedtime for me.”
“Can we hang out on the trampoline?” Charlotte asks her mother.
Susan starts to nod, then winces. “Yes—but don’t fall asleep out there. All right?”
I frown, gaze jumping up to her eyes before quickly shifting to the safety of her throat.
Susan must catch my minute expression or shift because she glances at me and explains, “My dad was a police officer. He’d come home with all the stories of kidnappings and violent crimes that take place right in backyards, and it would shock you how often it happened.” She looks to the girls. “So have fun out there, but if you get sleepy, hustle inside.”
“Are we really going to get sleepy on a trampoline?” Charlotte asks.
Susan shrugs. “I did when I was your age, up until a drunk guy wandered into the backyard. Blessedly, my dad was home then and took care of the situation. That was the last time I fell asleep outside. But it was nice. Used to spend all night stretched out under the stars. I would wake up at three in the morning, covered in dew and chilled.” I watch her eyes glow with the memory.
“That’s me and my packmates,” I share, feeling a kinship. Relaxing under a blanket of stars feels wonderful.
All three females look at me, and I lower my gaze. “Sometimes on a trampoline, but anywhere, really. A porch, a good hill. A rocky outcropping.”
I incline my head. “And you’ll get to experience it soon.” I move my eyes to the level of Susan’s necklace. “I’ll check on them to make sure they get inside.”
“Thanks, Deek. Night, girls.”
Charlotte stops her mom from leaving the kitchen by throwing her arms around her in a squeezing hug. Ginny follows this, and the three part ways for the evening.
I head down to the basement, leaving the door ajar for myself. I strip and Change, ascend the steps again, and nose the door open enough to leave. I trot to the door leading to the backyard, and because it’s closed, I furtively Change, open it, and Change back. In wolf form, I slide around to the side of the door I