Page 35 of The Strongest Wolf

“Maybe.” I hedge. “I’ll think about it.”

“If you’d come to the one last night, you’d have laughed yourself silly when Nathan fell in the lake,” Luka says, his tone persuasive.

I look in his eyes and I know Eden told him about what the Stone pack did to her during the runs—andheknows why I’ve made it my mission to skip out on them.

And he’s right. If I could avoid them forever, I think I would. But it’s not fair to my wolf to keep her buried inside when she has just as much right to explore the world as I do.

This morning might not have been the fantasy pack run she’s shown me she wanted, but it felt pretty damn close to it. I never wanted it to end. So much so, that when Galen suggested we do it again as we were dressing, I told him yes and I meant it.

“How could Nathan have just fallen in the lake? It’s not exactly hard to miss,” I ask Luka.

Eden takes over the telling of the story. “You should have seen the look on his face when he was shaking off his fur.” She grins. “He looked like a pissed-off cat.”

“I did not fall in. I was pushed,” Nathan shouts from inside the house. “And I didnotlook like a pissed-off cat.”

A smile curves my lips. “And what did he do to deserve it?” I ask Eden.

“Just that day? Or the day before? Or the day before that?” Dean yells back.

My smile widens as the rest of the pack fills me in on what might have led to someone shoving Nathan in the lake. There are more than a few reasons which have me shaking with laughter.

I’m not sure if they planned to ambush me, but before I know what’s happening, the Blackshaws are spilling out of the house and crowding around me, trying to get me to attend the next run.

Gavin, usually one of the quietest in the pack, drops onto the porch seat beside me. “It’ll be fun, Sierra. I’ll protect you from Nathan’s stupidity. It’s not as if I haven’t had years of practice.”

“Mywhat!” Nathan throws a half-hearted jab at Gavin, which Gavin easily bats aside.

“See.” Gavin smiles as he leans his shoulder against mine. “Maybe you can be the one to throw stupid here into the lake tomorrow.”

I’m grinning, getting ready to tell him it doesn’t seem fair that Nathan is always the one who ends up in the lake when I suddenly feel an intense gaze heating the side of my face. So I turn.

And standing at the edge of the clearing, with his cell phone in his hand, is Galen, a frown creasing his brow and a dark glare aimed Gavin’s way. There’s no doubt in my mind what he’s thinking.

He’s wrong to think it. Gavin, a guy with a lean but sculpted muscled physique, and hypnotic sea-green eyes might be the type a woman would hesitate to kick out of bed the next morning, but I have no interest in him. There’s only one guy who holds my attention.

“I’ll see you later, Eden,” I say, rising from the porch. “Bye guys.”

As everyone calls out their goodbyes, I don’t take my eyes off Galen as I cross over to him, stopping when I’m less than a foot away. “Hey.”

He stops glaring at Gavin to focus on me, his expression neutral. “Hey.”

“Finished speaking with Dom?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah.”

“Was there a problem?”

“Nothing he can’t handle.”

I observe him a little longer, sensing he isn’t being entirely honest with me. But instead of pushing the issue and possibly causing an argument when that’s the last thing I want right now, I offer him my hand. “How about we spend the rest of the day pigging out on the couch?”

His neutral expression melts away in an instant. “Just pigging out on the couch?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Unless you can think of something else we could do?”

He gazes down at me for another long moment, heat flickering in his eyes before he grabs my hand and tugs at me until he’s tucked me under his shoulder. “Come on, little wolf. I’m sure I can think of better ways to pass the time than that.”

I lean my head against his shoulder, one arm wrapped around his hips as he leads the way back to our cabin. “About the pack run tomorrow…”

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