Page 49 of Perfectly Perfect Pixie

“Footprints.” The sprite pointed at an area outside. “I think those might be wolf tracks too.”

I sucked in a breath. There were only three werewolves welcome anywhere near my orchard. Sedrick and the children hadn’t been out since the festival. If they had been here, they would have come inside my boundary, not lurked around the outer edge, for all the world appearing like they were looking for a way inside.

“Could be coyote tracks,” the sprite offered. “I’m no tracker. I suppose it could just be a dog too, but it’d have to be a pretty big dog.”

“It would have to be a pretty big coyote too.” Coyotes weren’t that large and certainly didn’t leave paw prints that size.

“I don’t like it, Peaches.”

“I don’t either.”

Worrying my bottom lip, I hugged my arms around my chest. I hated what I needed to do, but Lucroy was right. Sedrick saw me as pack, and he would be upset if I didn’t bring this to his attention. Besides, Sedrick had the best nose I knew. I needed a scent tracker, and Alpha Voss was it.

* * *

I’d seen Sedrick in his wolf form a handful of times. It never got old. Seeing Dillon and Ruthie in their fur was just as amazing.

“Sedrick told them he wanted to sniff around first. He didn’t want to get confused with Dillon’s and Ruthie’s scents in the mix,” Phil explained beside me.

Dillon and Ruthie stayed downwind while their uncle sniffed around. He’d done that for about ten minutes before he’d raised his head and woofed at them, calling them both into the area. Dillon and Ruthie had taken off, noses to the ground, snuffling the dirt. They’d looked very determined.

“Sedrick’s been teaching them more and more. They go out into the woods and hunt.” Phil’s nose scrunched up, and he twisted his shirt in his hands. “I don’t go with them. I tried the first time, but it was . . . it was different. I love them all, but I just couldn’t . . .” Phil swallowed hard, head tilted toward the ground.

Flying toward him, I wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him in tight. Our dust mingled, creating a rose-gold mist. The sprites had long ago gotten their fill and were camped out in the trees, sleeping off their pixie dust indulgence.

“It’s okay,” I soothed. “We’re a lot different than weres. We can be different and still respect each other. Love each other.”

Phil nodded. “I do love them. So much that it scares me.” Phil stared at me, his beautiful grass-green eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “I can’t imagine my life without them. I . . . I think I was just existing before. I don’t think I could go back to that.”

I hugged Phil a little tighter. “You’ll never have to.” My words were just shy of a promise. None of us could predict the future. Sedrick owned and worked in a mine. Werewolves were tough, but they weren’t immortal. One cave-in could be Sedrick’s last. It would be unlikely, given that dwarves tended the mine. Sedrick couldn’t be in safer hands. Still . . .

“They’re coming back.” Phil sucked the snot from his nose and plastered on a radiantly indulgent smile. “Did you find anything?”

He landed back on the ground and buried his hands in Sedrick’s thick fur. Wanting in on the rubbing action, Dillon rubbed along one side of Phil while Ruthie took the other. Still unused to her large, dire wolf form, Ruthie nearly knocked Phil over. Only Dillon being on his other side kept him upright.

Giggling, Phil nuzzled each in turn.

With a huff at the kids, Sedrick motioned his giant wolf head toward my cottage.

“Oh,” I fluttered, “you want to go back to change.” Had I not been there, all three would have transformed back to their humanoid shapes, naked as the day they were born. I appreciated the consideration.

We traipsed back to the cottage. Phil and I stayed outside while Sedrick and the kids changed. Dillon was still tugging on his shoes when they exited the cottage.

“Why don’t you two ragamuffins take off for a bit,” Sedrick said, ruffling Dillon’s hair.

Pulling back, Dillon patted down his hair. “You need to stop doin’ that, Uncle Sed,” he protested, but there was little heat in the rebuke.

Sedrick cocked his head, appearing to think before shaking his head and saying, “Nah, it’s too tempting.”

“Wha—” Dillon’s mouth hung open. I don’t think he really knew what to say. Thankfully Ruthie grabbed his arm and tugged him off into the orchard.

Sedrick watched them go, waiting until they were out of were earshot. “Pretty soon, Dillon will be too alpha to let me get away with that shit.” Sedrick sounded one part amused and two parts disappointed. “There was a time after William and Kelsie died that I couldn’t wait for Dillon and Ruthie to grow up. Now I just wish I could freeze time and keep them this age forever.”

Phil flew to his mate, nuzzling under Sedrick’s chin. Leaning his chin on Phil’s head, Sedrick wrapped his arms around Phil’s lower back, ever careful of his wings. “I know, Phil. I know.”

I felt like an intrusive voyeur, quietly giving them some time. Sedrick finally deeply inhaled before withdrawing slightly from his mate. Just enough that he still held Phil close but could concentrate on me.

Before I could ask, Sedrick said, “The sprites are right. They’re wolf tracks. I don’t recognize the scent. If I smell them again, I’ll recognize it. The fact that I don’t means it’s not someone I’ve come into contact with before. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a lot. The Voss pack’s been around a long time, but we weren’t much for socializing, even when my parents were alive and William and I were young.” Sedrick shrugged. “Times like these make me wish we’d been a little more outgoing.”

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