Page 35 of Take Me
Tracey bit her lip. “I don’t know if we should be discussing this.”
I rolled my eyes as we broke through the other side of the woods. We stared at the back of my fence. We had to get this conversation rolling or it would be cut short as soon as my parents saw us. “Out with it.”
“Rafe is next in line for Pack Law.”
Chills erupted down my arms. “What?”
His father was seated on the Pack Law. They are the most powerful werewolves to ever exist.”
I took a deep breath. This didn’t affect me but then it did if I went to another pack and swore to another Alpha. He would always be there. I would always have to deal with him. But after my shift yesterday, would it be so bad? There had to an explanation, right?
“How was your shift last night?” Tracey changed the subject and I was grateful for it.
“Besides the person that broke the window, the wolves repairing my parent’s home, and Rafe being the one to comfort me?” I shrugged. “Just dandy.”
Tracey giggled and shook her head. “Why am I not surprised that it was eventful? I always miss the action. So how did he do? I really didn’t want to send him but my hands were tied. I had to get Knox, Archer, Duncan, Gabriel, and Mav from the airport.”
“Those are the Guardians?” I lowered my voice as we walked to the front of the house. All the cameras would be on nonstop now.
Tracey nodded. “Some of them, they are to protect our Alpha and the pack. I’m glad that they got back in time to deal with all of this. You think our senses are heightened? They can see farther, hear better, and track like no other.”
My dad opened the door with a grin. “The weirdest thing happened today.” He spotted Tracey and his smile grew. “Oh, hello!”
Tracey gave a little wave. “Hi, Mr. Rivers.” She looked at me. “I’ll be waiting in your room.”
I gave her a nod.
“Those boys that were here before you left, there was something off about them.” He shook his head as he closed to door behind me. “They left to go get the window out of their truck and completely disappeared.”
My shoulders fell. That meant they wouldn’t be leaving any time soon. But it was also a good thing because that meant that Rafe had managed to protect my parents. But when we walked into the kitchen I noticed that the window was as good as new. I frowned.
“That’s where it gets weird. A few men knocked on the door a couple of minutes later and said they had been sent by Rafe Crimson, the Mayor’s son. He said one of the kids on his property got lost last night and was spooked by something. They replaced the window within a few minutes and free of charge!” My dad did like free, but what kind of game was Rafe playing at here? Had it been one of his wolves that had done this? After seeing the rogue wolves in the kitchen and then the one in the woods, I knew that wasn’t the case. Rafe and I would be talking soon. So I plastered on a fake smile and excitement. “Wow, that’s awesome!”
“When we get back from Morocco, I want to go over to his property and thank him or maybe we can invite him and his family over for dinner.” My heart ached to tell him. I pressed my lips together and continued to smile though.
“I think that would be great!”
Dad waggled his eyebrows at me. “I know you’re nursing a broken heart but, I hear this Rafe fellow is quite the looker.”
I swore the blood drained from my face. I rubbed my eyes to keep myself from bursting. The laughter was on the tip of my tongue. “Ya know, Dad, I’m just going to focus on myself for now. No boys.”
Dad raised his eyebrows. “Girls then?”
The laughter spilled from my lips then. “No girls either.”
He kissed the top of my head and passed me to the stairs. I could hear Mom above my head getting her final touches together. They would be on a long flight and my mom had her rituals for such things. She would need her special neck pillow, tons of snacks, and her blankets. There were probably other things she needed too but I had never stayed in the room long enough to watch her spaz out over it all. She made me anxious. She couldn’t forget a single thing. I was glad Dad was going up there to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.
Tracey was leaning against the wall when I finally made it to my bedroom. She lifted an eyebrow at me. “So he was on the bed last night?”
My cheeks flamed. “It wasn’t like that.”
Tracey grinned. “Oh, I know. I can smellthattoo.”
I rolled my eyes.
“What was he doing on the bed?” She shoved away from the wall and shook her shoulders like this was a good thing. This wasnota good thing.
I sighed. “It was a rough shift. I don’t know what happened. He wasn’t the Rafe I was used to. I don’t know.” I looked at the ceiling while I scrubbed my hands down my face. “He was taking care of me.”
