Page 26 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“So?” I asked as I stared out my window, thinking about how to start this conversation. Thinking so hard, in fact, I failed to notice that Sarah had already started it for me.

“I don’t think we’ve ever been one-on-one before,” Sarah said.

“Yeah.” I straightened in my seat and faced front.

Sarah glanced over at me for a second, then put her eyes back on the road. “I have a sister. Did you know that?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“No brothers, though. I always wanted one.”

I snorted. Girls without brothers always said things like that. They didn’t realize how overbearing they could be. If I ever wanted to go anywhere, I had to sneak out of the lodge or else be bombarded with twenty questions. Where are you going? Who are you seeing? When will you be back?

“Did you ever wish you had a sister?” Sarah asked.

“Not really. No. Though being an only child sounds appealing.”

At that, Sarah laughed, and I turned to look at her.

“I get that,” Sarah said, still laughing. “My sister is just one year older, but sometimes she acts like a second mom.”

“Try having four backup dads,” I said, smiling despite myself. Then the pain of losing our father was back, and my smile dissolved.

“I can’t really blame my sister though,” Sarah said. “I’ve been known to give her the third degree about the guys she dates too.”

I saw this as my opening, but I still didn’t know how to ask the question. I could just go for it and say,“Forget it if you think Reese is going to follow you home whenever you decide to leave.”

“I assume,” Sarah said slowly, “that you volunteered to come with me because you want to know more about the person who’s spending time with your brother. Especially now that I know your family’s secret. Is that it?”

I jerked. Had I really been so transparent? Or was this human woman some kind of mind reader? My lioness assessed her with keen, watchful eyes.

“I’m not a bad person,” Sarah said. “I won’t betray him, or any of you.”

I pressed my lips together. Those were just words, and it was time to put all my cards on the table. “Just so you know. Reese’s first and only priority is his family. He won’t ever leave us.”

“I would hope not!” Sarah gave me a scandalized look.

“No?” I hadn’t expected that reaction. Not many women would get into a relationship, knowing it had an expiration date. I certainly wouldn’t. Unlike my mother, once I committed to someone, I planned to be in for the long haul.

“Why would I want him to leave his family?” Sarah still sound baffled.

“I thought... I assumed...”

“You thought I was going to take him away from you?”

I swallowed hard, wondering if my fears had been unreasonable. Maybe even ridiculous. “Well, youaregoing to leave, aren’t you? At some point.”

Sarah let out a breath. “I don’t know my future plans, but you can rest assured that Reese doesn’t intend for me to be his official or...permanent mate, or whatever. Which is good because—”

“Why isthatgood?” Did this woman think there was something wrong with my brother? Or did she think her I-wouldn’t-dream-of-getting-between-him-and-his-family speech made her morenoblethan Reese? Did she think Reese wasunworthyof her?

Suddenly, instead of wanting to convince Sarah McAvoy to leave Reese alone, I wanted to impress upon her all the reasons my alpha was the catch of the season.

“Shouldn’t Reese be mated to someone more like him?” Sarah suggested.

“Oh.” My heart squeezed the way it always did when I thought of my parents’ disastrous mismatched pairing. I’d been so young when our human mother left, I always got a strangely detached sensation whenever I thought about her. Any sadness I felt was only sympathy for our father.

“But my point is,” Sarah said, “I would never leave Reese in a way that would hurt him. And I don’t plan on doing anything that would hurt the rest of you, either. Whatever is happening between me and Reese, I have no intention of it interfering with your family.”

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