Page 94 of Outnumbered

Twenty-Six

Branson lay on the floor of my apartment in bear form, while I was draped across him, enjoying the soft, furry bed he made.

“Are you going to go shopping with me this afternoon?” I asked him. The birthday for King Dan of the Werewolves, required me to wear a fancy dress, so I was being forced to go shopping yet again, since I didn’t want to use the dress Leona had given me for my birthday as that was saved for our one-year anniversary when I was going to ask them to be my mates. I felt like I had done more shopping in the last two months than I had done in the previous ten years of my life. It really wasn’t fair that the guys could wear the same suit to every event, but I had to get a new dress each time. Thankfully, I wasn’t the one paying for it, but still.

Branson huffed. “Yes, we are all going. Remember, no more splitting up the party?”

Right, I had asked Caleb to keep us all together and he was doing his best to follow up on that promise.

“Sorry.” I cringed. “I know dress shopping isn’t your ideal day.” Jolie and most of Caleb’s family were working on the event, so we were on our own today.

“Watching you try on pretty dresses is definitely a good day for me.”

Believing him was hard, but I wasn’t going to argue.

“Only another week until we move into the new pack house,” I reminded him with a wide smile. “I can’t wait.”

“It’s going to be awesome. I still need to pack a bunch of things. I don’t know how I ended up with so much stuff.”

I laughed and nodded. “Same! I have a ton of things to pack to move over there.”

Thankfully, we had several people to help us move things over. We had spent the past several weeks deciding on furniture and ordering it to be delivered to the house.

The guys had gone to inspect the house, but hadn’t let me go with them, wanting the house to be a surprise for me once it was fully built.

To say I was anxiously awaiting the new house was an understatement. I was also anxiously awaiting our anniversary. Leona was hiding the mating stones for me to ensure the guys didn’t find it before the day.

She had squealed more than Jolie and both of them went into uber planning mode to help me pull off a fun and exciting reveal.

I just hoped the guys would actually agree to be my mates. There was a slim chance that Branson and Triston would say no. Being my packmate, dating me, were far different than agreeing to be my permanent mate.

“Your heart is beating fast. What are you thinking about?” Branson asked.

“Sorry, just lots of things,” I said to avoid answering. “Do you think I should wear something more conservative since it’s Dan’s birthday?” Normally, my dresses were a bit sexy, but this was a king’s birthday and not a function like the others we had been to.

“I think you should wear whatever you want,” he said. “Whatever you are comfortable with. Pretty sure Dan wouldn’t care if you showed up in sweats and a t-shirt.”

Laughing, I nodded. “You’re right. I could see him just hugging me and disregarding whatever I wore.”

My phone beeped and I fumbled towards the couch to get it, ultimately slipping off Branson and landing on the ground with an, “oomph.” Finally grabbing my phone, I answered it.

“There’s a hybrid under attack,” Caleb said, his voice worried. “We’re going to the park to try to help. Meet in the foyer.”

“Understood,” I said and hung up. “Come on, Branny Boy, we’re going to help a hybrid.”

Branson shifted into his human form, grabbed my hand, and tugged me out of his apartment.

Everyone was gathered in the foyer, and after making sure we were ready, Caleb led the way out of the apartment building. Moving at a quick pace, we maneuvered around people milling about, going about their evening, we tried our best to stay together. This part of the city was always bustling with activity in the evenings.

Branson kept hold of my hand, so we didn’t get separated, and we grouped back up at the park with the others. Letting Caleb lead, since he said he could sense them, we went deeper into the large city park.

In the center of the park, on a grassy area surrounded by trees, we found a petite brunette woman with wide, terrified eyes, curled up, trying her best to keep the four people around her from kicking her in the head and stomach.

As soon as they saw what was happening, the four men around me shifted into warrior forms and ran forward to stop the attack.

I blinked, shocked they had left me alone to go after her. Shaking my head, I cleared the stupid thoughts, shifted myself, and leapt forward to grab her while my pack distracted the assholes attacking her. Picking her up, I leapt up into the air, over two of the attackers’ heads, and carried her to a nearby tree since it was a distance away and a safer place. “Stay here, okay? They’re going to deal with those assholes.”

She panted, her body shaking and occasionally shifting into a weasel form. After a second, she turned into a full weasel. “There’s more! They’re coming! They called for reinforcements!”

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