Page 28 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“Oh, him?” I glanced down the sidewalk, but Theo had disappeared around the corner. “Just some guy I know.”

Sarah bit down on her bottom lip, and her eyes looked worried. “He’s quite...um...good looking, isn’t he?”

“Mmm,” I said noncommittally, because I also heard Sarah’s unspoken thoughts: that she’d noticed the obvious age difference, and Theo looked a little rough. Possibly even dangerous.

Well, I was a mountain lion. I could handle danger. And I liked it rough. I smiled to myself, thinking of the last night I’d shared with Theo.

“I assume I wasn’t supposed to see that?” Sarah asked.

I played dumb while silently cursing this human woman for being so aware. “That depends on what you think you saw.”

“Uh...a kiss that could have melted the pavement.”

My heart sunk. “Please, don’t tell Reese.”

“Don’t tell him what?” Sarah feigned ignorance and pushed the balloons out of her face.

I let out a breath. “Thanks. My brother can be...”

“Protective.” Sarah swiped at another balloon, and it bounced off its brethren.

“Yes, and...well...cautious.”

In fact, I might have gone so far as to say Reese’s level of caution leaned toward the extreme and unreasonable. His recent—though fortunately short-lived—ban on shifting in the wake of our father’s death had been but one example. I didn’t want to know what my alpha brother would do if he discovered I’d been dating a human without his knowledge.

“Does that guy know the truth about you?” Sarah asked.

I exhaled forcibly through my nose. “That I’m part feline? Of course not. Nobody knows, except for our mother—wherever she is—and now you.”

I clenched my teeth. If there’d been more of a precedent for the ramifications of truth telling, I might worry less about what Sarah might do if things went south between her and Reese.

“Will you tell him?” Sarah asked.

I made apshhsound while opening the door to the back seat of the Jeep. The question was absurd. “Absolutely not.”

Sarah pushed the balloons inside. “Then why should Reese care? I assume he doesn’t have a fit about your brothers dating.”

“That’s different.” I caught an escaping balloon and pushed it through the car door.

Sarah tipped her head and her expression turned annoyed. “Because they’re guys?”

“Because I’m the baby. I don’t think Reese has accepted the fact I’m fully grown.”

With the last balloon finally inside, Sarah slammed the door, preventing further escape. “I suppose that’s big brothers for you.”

I laughed once but without humor. “Like I said before, consider yourself to have dodged a bullet.”

No sooner had that idiom left my mouth than my gut constricted with the memory of my father’s mysterious passing and the pain of a thousand regrets. During his life, I’d always given him such a hard time, always pushing his rules, sneaking out at night, lying about where I was going and who I was with.

I wished I could have been a more respectful daughter, a more dutiful pack mate. For that matter, I wished I could be more obedient for Reese. He already had too much to worry about, and I knew Theo couldn’t remain a secret forever.

But my lioness couldn’t resist the temptation to play. Even if my chosen playmates bought me trouble.

Sarah and I got into our seats and buckled up. She turned the ignition.

“You really won’t tell Reese?” I asked, looking for reassurance.

Sarah pantomimed locking her lips and throwing away the key, then turned over her shoulder and pulled out of the parking space.

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