Page 8 of Eclipse of the Pack

Jon danced out of her reach. “How is it the best choice? If we have a dozen people on our asses, then isn’t going into the city just what they’d expect?”

Ivy’s mouth tightened. “I have people-” she started.

“You mean the people who were meeting with Mr.‘Their-Corpses-Will-Light-The-Way’? Yeah, no thanks.” Jon retorted. “If we head east, we’ll make it to the forest. That has to be where Galen is, and he can help.”

“I didn’t ask what you thought.” She snapped.

“Why would you, right? I’m ahuman.” Jon shot back.

Ivy froze, her hand still outstretched as she’d reached for Jon, before she let it fall. She turned on her heel and began walking west.

“Ivy!” Jon called after her as he raced to catch up. “Ivy, I’m sorry, that’s not what I-”

“I know exactly what you meant,” Ivy responded, her voice edged in steel.

“We’re not all the same, you know. I’m not the big bad wolf from your storybooks.” Ivy said, her voice quieter.

“Galen was a shifter,” Jon responded. “He was… is, my best friend.” Ivy turned to Jon.

“I’ve been looking for him ever since he disappeared. I think he’s hiding in the forest, maybe with others like him, and I really do think they can help us,” Jon said, the words tumbling out.

Ivy grabbed his hand again, her clear blue eyes meeting his. “I’m sorry you can’t find your friend.”

Jonathen felt the heat rise in his face, his skin prickling at the intimacy of the gaze and the feeling of her hand in his again. He’d been with women before, but this… this was something else entirely.

“I promise I’ll help you find him,” Ivy continued, unaware of the effect she had on him, “But first, we need to go into the city. I know people who will help us, and besides, we have to get a warning out about what Malcolm’s planning. This isn’t about you or me- this is much, much bigger.”

Jon realized night had fallen since they’d been arguing and squeezed Ivy’s hand. “There’s a park nearby that we can rest in until morning,” he said. “Not a bad compromise between the city and the woods, right?” He grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

Ivy laughed, and the sound was like nothing he’d ever heard before. He’d never seen her smile, much less laugh, and it was all he could do to keep the air in his lungs.

They reached the park’s edge and ducked under the cover of a forgotten bridge in the center of the park, sitting next to one another to fight off the chill in the air.

Without thinking about it, Jon slung his arm over Ivy’s shoulder. He half-expected her to cringe away from him, or rip his arm clean out of the socket, but to his surprise, she leaned in closer to him.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” she grumbled into his chest. Jon did his best to suppress a laugh as he shot back, “With you? Never.”

13

IVY

Ivy stayed curled under Jon’s arm through the night, too busy reveling in the feeling of being close to sleep.

It was difficult for her to separate how much of her desire to be near Jon was due to the isolation of her daily life, or the whole fated mates thing.

She hadn’t had time to think about the fact that they were mates, and while every bit of her recognized Jon as hers, she had no idea what that attraction looked like for him.

“You know, you mouth-breathe when you’re thinking too hard,” Jon said, his voice laced with laughter and groggy from sleep.

Ivy recoiled from under his arm with a swift elbow to his ribs as an answering blush crept up her neck.

“You’re one to talk,” she muttered as she stood and brushed herself off. Jon grinned as he stretched, revealing a toned strip of midriff that deepened Ivy’s blush.

Her eyes lingered on his waistband as she resisted the urge to run her hands across the exposed skin.

“We need to get going,” Ivy said as she glanced at Jon, who seemed to have found his sense of urgency and was on his feet.

“After you.” He replied with a smile.

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