“Yes, ma’am. I’ll see to it,” he responded in his most solicitous voice. Shayla narrowed her eyes at him.
“Come on, Kiyona, let’s go. We have a long drive ahead of us,” her father said.
“Take care. Don’t forget to call,” Shay admonished as hugs were exchanged.
“We won’t. Bye,” her dad said. Her mom nodded her head in Rory’s direction, smiling meaningfully, before her dad grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.
“Bye,” she echoed as they left.
As the underage and the elderly left and only the in-between remained, the atmosphere changed. Ties and jackets came off, and abandoned heels littered the floor, partially hidden beneath the trailing edges of tablecloths. A bar was set up in the corner, and the doors to the pool area were thrown open, letting in the cool night air. The bright lights were turned on, and some industrious males began taking down the unnecessary tables, increasing the dancing area.
Shayla looked around avidly, sleep forgotten. These people really knew how to party. The band switched from the easygoing, laid-back tunes they were playing to hard rock. The singles among them joined up into couples or, in some cases, threesomes. From the amount of sexual tension in the air, quite a few of them would be getting lucky.
With both sets of parents gone, there was room at the main table for the rest of the wedding party, so they gathered their things and joined Kiesha and Alex at the head table. She was calling it a table, but it was really three in a U formation, with Alex and Kiesha at the top. Shayla sank into the seat next to her cousin, and Rory, never far away, settled on her right.
“I am never getting married,” she told Kiesha. “That woman is insane. I don’t know how you stood it.”
Kiesha looked to where Shay and Rory’s hands were linked on the table. Now that her parents were gone, the man was indulging in his need to stake a claim, especially with all the horny wolves on the prowl. Not that they were a concern. One glance followed by a sniff and they stayed away. Maybe there really was something to this marking business. “What about Rory?”
“We’ll live in sin. It’ll give her something to pray about. Hell, she’s getting a grandchild out of the deal. That ought to be enough.” Shay rolled her shoulders, trying to loosen the tension.
“You know your dad won’t go for that. He’ll come after Rory with a shotgun,” Kiesha stated with a laugh.
Rory stirred. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
Shay rolled her eyes at him. “You’re a werewolf. Suck it up. It’s not like a bullet will kill you unless he uses silver.”
She could feel all of them gazing at her in stunned dismay.
“Shay, we really have to do something about your preconceptions,” Alex said.
“Yeah. For one, Nikolai does not sleep in a coffin and sunlight won’t kill him,” Shannon stated.
“She thought that?” Nikolai asked.
“Yes, she asked if that’s why you weren’t at the wedding,” Shannon responded.
“And while we heal superfast, enough bullets in the right body part will kill us just as much as anyone else,” Rory added.
“Really? Man, I didn’t know that, but…you guys do turn hairy during a full moon, right? And Nik, being the undead evil and all, doesn’t being on holy ground bother you?” Shay asked, a bewildered expression on her face.
There were groans from the shifters at the table and what sounded like a snarl from Nikolai.
“No, Shay. Where are you getting this stuff from?” Alex asked.
“I researched vamps and shifters online, where else?”
They all started talking at once, only to quiet when Mary Elizabeth burst out laughing and Kiesha joined her, almost falling out of her chair.
“You shouldn’t laugh at her, Mary Elizabeth. She doesn’t know,” Hugh scolded.
“She’s not laughing at Shayla,” Kiesha denied. “She’s—we’re—laughing at you. You guys are so gullible. Shay, stop messing with them.”
Shay gazed blandly at each person in the group. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Alex’s suspicion showed on his face. Hugh looked confused. Shannon’s expression showed she realized she’d been had. Nikolai was hard to read, but Rory? His eyes were narrowed.
“Shay’s a genius. She probably knows more about your species than you do yourselves,” Mary Elizabeth said while wiping tears from her eyes.
“My area of expertise is computers,” she loftily informed them.
“Yes but Auntie Yona’s is genetics, and she taught you all she knows. Don’t tell me you haven’t done DNA testing on Alex. You can probably tell us what this child I’m carrying will look like and which characteristics of ours it will have,” Kiesha finished with a chuckle.
As the grumbling rose from the paranormals sitting there, she decided retreat might be in order. “Traitor,” she grumbled at her cousin as she rose from her seat.
Rory tightened his grip on her fingers. “Where are you going?”
“Bathroom.” Her look dared him to make something out of it.
He released her as Kiesha said, “I’ll join you. My bladder’s about to burst.”
“Count me in,” Mary Elizabeth added. “You coming?” she asked Shannon.
“Might as well.”
As they walked off, she heard Alex telling Rory, “I don’t envy you, my friend. She’s going to turn your pack upside down.”
“They could use a good shaking up,” was his response.
As they crowded into the restroom, Shay realized she really did have to go. While she stood washing her hands at the sink, Shannon said, “I can’t believe I fell for that. After all the questions you asked me about shifters and vamps when you were here the last time, I should have known you knew better.”
“It’s that expression she gets on her face,” Kiesha said. “You know, the ‘I really don’t know, please educate me’ look? She does it so well.”
“Shay plays stupid better than anyone I know,” Mary Elizabeth informed them.
Shay shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a gift.”
“Well make sure you use that ‘gift’ of yours when you meet Rory’s pack. Let ’em underestimate you,” Shannon said.
“I thought you told me they respected intelligence and strength,” Shay asked, confused for real this time.
“They do, but they also admire cunning. If you go in there acting clueless, you’ll discover faster who’s on your side. They’ll relax their guard if they think you aren’t a threat,” Shannon concluded.
“You make it sound like she’s going into battle,” Kiesha said, looking worried.
“She is. The Sparrowhawks aren’t like the Ravens. If she comes on too strong, Shay’s going to be challenged for her alpha-fem position, true mate or not. But if she plays dumb, they’ll understand Rory protecting the ‘puny human.’ Shay will have a chance to learn who her enemies are, and she’ll have some, believe it.”
“That’s terrible,” Mary Elizabeth said.
“What’s worse is that as alpha, Rory’s slept with over half the females of the pack at one time or another. Many of them are still hoping he’ll choose them to be his mate. They aren’t going to be happy to see Shay, and they’re sure to try to discredit her and make her life miserable if they possibly can.”
“Well, hell, Shannon. You couldn’t have mentioned all this earlier when you were convincing me to give Rory a chance?” Shay asked.
Shannon gave her a lopsided grin. “I didn’t want to scare you off.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Yeah. Don’t go in the basement,” Shannon said, her expression as serious as Shayla had ever seen.
“What’s down there, the boogeyman?”
Kiesha and Mary Elizabeth laughed. Shannon did not.
“Something like that,” Shannon agreed.