Page 27 of The Pack Next Door
That guilty look–each one of them glanced at each other–like they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, told me everything I needed to know. They had, so why the hell were they having me around for dinner? Years ago, I’d have done myown head in, wondering why, but now I just pushed my plate away from myself.
“Well, I’m really tired.” I got to my feet, feeling sweat prickle across my brow. “Didn’t get enough sleep last night.” A tiny snort had me looking Jace’s way, but his expression was scrupulously blank. “And it’s very warm.”
“I thought it was quite mild.”
Mum glanced at the sky, then blinked when she looked down to see me staring.
“Dinner was lovely, but I’m going to need to head to bed. Mum, did you want a hand?”
“I’m fine.”
She waved my concern away, and yet she hobbled over to the table, ready to retrieve the cake plates.
“We’ll take care of that.” Gideon moved in smoothly, retrieving her plate and his brothers’, before reaching for mine. “Did you want to take your slice home?”
A glance at the plate revealed I’d barely taken a bite, which was strange. There was nothing better than Mum’s chocolate cake. With a shake of my head, I said, “No, thank you.”
I was moving behind my mother in the next second, hovering as she took tentative steps down the steps. Not stepping in though, I kept in mind what she said. She was an adult, and she had the right to operate as one. Jace appeared before the front door, opening it before she could reach for it and ushering us outside.
“Thanks for dessert. We’ll bring the cake container back tomorrow, Maggie,” he said.
“You can come by for lunch.” I fought the urge to sigh as my mother smiled at each one of them. “After you’ve done some work on the garden.”
“Mum—” I started to say.
Surely the alphas had work to do, winning the town over. I’d replant her garden with every damn black spot resistant rose of her choice and pay someone to maintain it.
“You’re on.” Mads stood in the doorway, leaning on it with a sly smile. “Roses, was it, Maggie? I was doing a bit of reading and the articles I looked at said lavender and salvia are good companion plants.”
“Oh, some Blue Bedder salvia would be glorious!” Mum said.
As she excitedly discussed the garden plans, I stepped closer to Gideon.
“Look, this is all very nice, but focussing entirely on Mum and not the whole town isn’t smart if you want to become the next ruling pack.”
“Really?”
He was so quiet it was a bit of a shock to feel him looming above me as he came forward a step.
“There’s a whole bunch of old ladies you could help, and that would go a long way to building your reputation in the town, but…” I glanced around, irrationally fearing that someone might hear us. “You should be focussing on your omega and her family, not Mum.”
There was a rush of relief as he nodded.
“As you wish, Briar.”
I edged away, finding myself frowning at his tone, but the wolf? She’d been kinda low-key since being allowed out, not having much to say. She rolled around inside me, belly up, like she was lying in the sun. With a frown, I said my goodbyes and then followed Mum home.
“Well, they are nice boys,” she said. “I do hope they win the alpha trials, as the town will be in good hands if they take over.”
“You just like them because they’re volunteering to redo your garden.”
“I like them because they are nice peopleandthey’re going to redo my garden.” She patted my arm. “Sleep well, darling, because we’re going to the nursery nice and early in the morning before it gets too hot.”
The weather was something I knew about. My apartment was climate controlled, as was my office, so I barely registered the summer heat. Mum’s house? Not so much. As we walked up the stairs, I headed for the shower. My childhood trick for dealing with hot nights was to have a cold shower and not dry off entirely, the breeze coming in through the windows helping keep me cool enough to sleep. As I tossed my dress on the floor, I felt a little of that now.
I was all sticky and clammy, so the night air had me feeling cool for just a second before I jumped under the shower. That wasn’t the only change. As I lathered up the soap and smoothed it over my skin, I felt curiously sensitive. Every sweep of the soap went from an everyday thing to sensuous.
Bloody hell.
