Page 104 of It All Started with a Bite

An awkward silence followed. I scratched the tip of my nose.

“You know, being turned isn’t the complete disaster I thought it would be. If anything, I kinda like my new life.” I glanced around the car. “I wouldn’t have met all of you if it hadn’t happened. And I wouldn’t have been able to talk to Bo.”

Even though some days I wish he would shut up, but I refrained from saying that out loud.

Samuel watched me intently. “Do you mean that?”

I smiled. “Yes, I do.”

Bo grinned and wagged his tail.

Hugh sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Victoria sighed and passed him a hanky.

Samuel negotiated the final curve of the driveway, rolled into a paved courtyard, and pulled up in front of the entrance. Caroline and Kent’s BMW rolled to a stop behind the Bentley. The Hawthorne pack enforcers had decided to act as backup after we’d told them our plans last night.

A pair of valets took the car keys.

I exited the Bentley and studied the foreboding mansion rising before us before tapping the discreet earpiece hidden behind my hair.

“Can you guys hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” Didi said over the comm.

She was in a surveillance van stationed in the woods behind the mansion with Gavin and Nigel. Samuel had tasked them with monitoring events at the ball via the tiny cameras pinned to our clothes. If things went south, they were to call for backup.

“Why is Nigel gurgling in the background?” I asked warily.

“Mindy just messaged to wish him good luck on our mission,” Didi muttered.

I grimaced. “Mindy has a cell phone?”

“There’s a supernatural electronics store in the Crossroads,” Gavin said. “They sell all kinds of stuff.”

I made a mental note never to reveal this to Ellie.

Samuel offered me his arm. “Shall we?”

I nodded and steeled myself as I took it.

Tonight’s assignment was simple: recover the crystal skull and survive whatever?—

“By the way, have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” Samuel’s gaze had grown heated.

Trust my alpha to completely wreck my train of thought.

To be fair, I looked pretty darn gorgeous. The sparkling, midnight-blue dress Claudette had chosen for the ball clung to my curves like a second skin and rippled sensuously with my movements.

I flushed. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

That was an understatement. His tuxedo should have come with a health warning. Had it not been for more pressing matters, I would have dragged him into the bushes and let my wolf loose.

“Can you two stop eye-banging each other?” Hugh grumbled. “We have a job to do.”

Victoria sighed. Pearl rolled her eyes. Caroline and Kent exchanged a knowing smile.

“Yeah, look at you two flirting,” Didi said in a syrupy voice.

I looked down to find Bo panting at me with a grin.

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