piled onto it, he let it go. “I wanted a human life.”
A human life? “You didn’t like living in Willow Bend?”
Lexi shrugged and picked up her wine glass, downing half of it before answering. “I’ve never understood the wolf politics. Never liked them. I hate when some stranger walks in a room and suddenly everyone defers to them. It doesn’t matter that the rest of us have been there all along. Hated it when people disappeared and no one explained why. They all seemed to know , but not me.” Scraping her teeth over her lower lip, she shrugged. “It used to be me and my mom. She was human, too. We made a game out of wolf politics, and it was funny.”
The loneliness in her voice tugged at him. “Ryan bit her.” He’d still been in Willow Bend when Tiffany embraced her change. The pack threw a grand party the night after she shifted for the first time and ran with them.
Alexis had been sad that night, too.
“I don’t begrudge her choice, Mason, but she changed. All those little annoying things weren’t so annoying to her anymore. She deferred to others, and some deferred to her. Ryan was thrilled—over the moon, really.” More emptiness, and tears glimmered in her eyes, but before he could react to it, she blinked them away. “Really, I don’t. She and Ryan are really happy, and if you’d ever known my other dad…suffice to say I’m glad Mom found someone who can love her.”
But the change, and later the birth of Kyle, left her even more isolated. When he’d still been in Willow Bend, he’d gone out of his way to cheer her up, to look after her so she wouldn’t be so…
Mason put his lager down. “I left you.”
Pushing her chair back, she rose and started gathering the plates. “It’s late and you should probably head home.” The speedy shift in her mood left him staring after her.
Intrigued, he cleaned up the food cartons and followed her. “If you feel like an outsider, Ryan would be allowed to bite you.” Even the mere suggestion of the idea filled him with a pensive kind of violence, but he ignored his wolf’s immediate rejection. Ryan was her father… not competition. Pack law regarding human conversion allowed true mates to bite their partner, provided the partner consented. Human children of previous relationships were allowed to make a similar choice at maturity.
“Don’t store the food,” she said. “I hate reheated Thai. It’s not like pizza.” Switching topics declared her disinterest in answering his earlier statement. It also aroused the hunter in him—who had made her feel like an outsider in the pack? Why would Ryan have allowed it to continue?
Willow Bend had a human population, whole human families that were loyal to the Alpha. Some were children of previous relationships whose human parent mated into the pack and others were simply the descendants of sworn friendships. Either way… Alexis thumped him and he realized he’d blocked her from leaving the kitchen.
“Move or help, but pick one.” The acerbic order amused him. Bossy. Alexis might claim to not to understand pack politics…
“Have you ever noticed you have no trouble giving me orders?” He put words to action and returned to the table, clearing the remains of their meal. After passing the dishes to her, he disposed of the remaining cartons. Instead of rinsing out her wine glass, however, he poured her another.
“So?” Challenge dripped off the word.
No, she really didn’t want to talk about the pack. “An observation.” Then because he couldn’t help himself, he stroked his hand down her ponytail.
Up to her elbows in soapy water, she paused and flicked soap at him. “Oh, Lord no. You will not start that again.”
He laughed. Tugging her ponytail had become something of a sport for him when they were far younger. She scrubbed each plate diligently. In true Huston family tradition, one made the meal, the others cleaned up. Setting the wine glass where she could reach it, he
A human life? “You didn’t like living in Willow Bend?”
Lexi shrugged and picked up her wine glass, downing half of it before answering. “I’ve never understood the wolf politics. Never liked them. I hate when some stranger walks in a room and suddenly everyone defers to them. It doesn’t matter that the rest of us have been there all along. Hated it when people disappeared and no one explained why. They all seemed to know , but not me.” Scraping her teeth over her lower lip, she shrugged. “It used to be me and my mom. She was human, too. We made a game out of wolf politics, and it was funny.”
The loneliness in her voice tugged at him. “Ryan bit her.” He’d still been in Willow Bend when Tiffany embraced her change. The pack threw a grand party the night after she shifted for the first time and ran with them.
Alexis had been sad that night, too.
“I don’t begrudge her choice, Mason, but she changed. All those little annoying things weren’t so annoying to her anymore. She deferred to others, and some deferred to her. Ryan was thrilled—over the moon, really.” More emptiness, and tears glimmered in her eyes, but before he could react to it, she blinked them away. “Really, I don’t. She and Ryan are really happy, and if you’d ever known my other dad…suffice to say I’m glad Mom found someone who can love her.”
But the change, and later the birth of Kyle, left her even more isolated. When he’d still been in Willow Bend, he’d gone out of his way to cheer her up, to look after her so she wouldn’t be so…
Mason put his lager down. “I left you.”
Pushing her chair back, she rose and started gathering the plates. “It’s late and you should probably head home.” The speedy shift in her mood left him staring after her.
Intrigued, he cleaned up the food cartons and followed her. “If you feel like an outsider, Ryan would be allowed to bite you.” Even the mere suggestion of the idea filled him with a pensive kind of violence, but he ignored his wolf’s immediate rejection. Ryan was her father… not competition. Pack law regarding human conversion allowed true mates to bite their partner, provided the partner consented. Human children of previous relationships were allowed to make a similar choice at maturity.
“Don’t store the food,” she said. “I hate reheated Thai. It’s not like pizza.” Switching topics declared her disinterest in answering his earlier statement. It also aroused the hunter in him—who had made her feel like an outsider in the pack? Why would Ryan have allowed it to continue?
Willow Bend had a human population, whole human families that were loyal to the Alpha. Some were children of previous relationships whose human parent mated into the pack and others were simply the descendants of sworn friendships. Either way… Alexis thumped him and he realized he’d blocked her from leaving the kitchen.
“Move or help, but pick one.” The acerbic order amused him. Bossy. Alexis might claim to not to understand pack politics…
“Have you ever noticed you have no trouble giving me orders?” He put words to action and returned to the table, clearing the remains of their meal. After passing the dishes to her, he disposed of the remaining cartons. Instead of rinsing out her wine glass, however, he poured her another.
“So?” Challenge dripped off the word.
No, she really didn’t want to talk about the pack. “An observation.” Then because he couldn’t help himself, he stroked his hand down her ponytail.
Up to her elbows in soapy water, she paused and flicked soap at him. “Oh, Lord no. You will not start that again.”
He laughed. Tugging her ponytail had become something of a sport for him when they were far younger. She scrubbed each plate diligently. In true Huston family tradition, one made the meal, the others cleaned up. Setting the wine glass where she could reach it, he
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