“No.” Sydney shrugged. “Just saying, it looks awful cozy from the outside. Alec marries your sister, the two of you take over, he ends up on the Conclave. All in the family.”
“Uh-huh, and where does Andrew Callaghan fit into that?”
“He owns a business with the Alpha’s son-in-law. And his girlfriend was Jacobson’s little pet psychic for years, everyone knows it.” Sydney shrugged again, looking uncomfortable. “Listen, man. I’m not saying it’s true, but it’s out there.”
The wolves had started to circle Sera, though she was steadfastly ignoring them. “Thanks for the warning,” Julio murmured.
“Thanks for telling me it’s not true. I’d take you over him any day.”
“I hope most people would.” He shook Sydney’s hand. “If you need anything, let us know.”
Sydney smiled and headed for the door. “Will do. And call Lynn if the two of you want to go for a run. I’ve got plenty of land that’s safe enough. No trigger-happy rednecks with rifles.”
“We’ll do that.”
Back at the pool table, the wolves eased away when Julio approached and slid his arm around Sera. “How’re you holding up?”
She rubbed her thumb up and down the side of the pool cue as she leaned into him. “Peachy.
You ready to get your ass handed to you at pool?”
He settled her hips closer to his. “I’ve seen you play, doll. You’re not that good.”
Sera just smiled. “What’ll you bet?”
Anything for another one of those smiles. “Money’s no good. How about kisses?”
“Mmm, as long as the winner gets to decide where.” She handed him the cue and circled the table. “Eight ball? Nine ball? What’s your poison?”
“Straight pool. And don’t forget to call your shots, sweet thing.”
Sera bent over to rack the balls. “How many points are we playing to? Because we’re saving the kisses for later. You’re hot, babe, but I’m not making out with you while frat-boy wolf back there is ogling my ass.”
“Fifty, then. We’ll make it a short night.”
She settled the balls into place and grinned at him. “You can break. Run ten and I’ll throw in a bonus.”
When she pulled away the triangle, Julio lined up and broke. The six ball immediately tumbled into one of the corner pockets, and he groaned. “I think I’m getting my pool games mixed up again. That’s a foul, right?”
“Only because you didn’t call it.” Sera moved past him, dragging her fingers over his back in a teasing caress. “You’re down two, and I’m sinking the fifteen in the side pocket.”
She made the shot and seemed to use the opportunity to flash her mouthwatering cleavage at him. “You play dirty, Sinclaire.”
“I play to win.” She ignored the wolves watching her from the corner table and circled to study her next shot. “Things don’t seem too bad here. They’re staring at me, but no one’s come over to ask how much I charge yet.”
And if anyone did, he’d find himself on the losing end of a quick, painful fight. “No, it’s not so bad.”
“It seems like there’s a lot of them. I always forget how many wolves there are, even outside of New Orleans.” She gestured with the cue stick. “Ten ball, corner pocket.”
She was going to run the board, and Julio didn’t care. Win or lose, he’d still be touching Sera.
“Not like the others, huh? The coyotes and the cats?”
She called and sank two more shots before she answered, her voice too casual to be natural. “I’ve only met three other coyotes in my life. My parents and my ex. My dad worked pretty hard to avoid them.”
“Wouldn’t be hard to miss them without trying, but…I get it.” How bad had things been for Carmen, or for his cousin Veronica? A female coyote was even rarer—and at a greater disadvantage.
Sera’s fingers tightened around the cue as she called her next shot, but the cue ball spun wide and knocked the three ball across the table. “Shit. Your turn.”
Instead of lining up another shot, Julio took the cue from her hand. “Why don’t we go take a walk on the beach and talk?”
She glanced at the wolves busily pretending they weren’t staring and jerked her head in an unsteady nod. “Okay.”
“You sure?”
Sera slipped her hand into his, and even that quiet contact seemed to steady her. “If you’re done being Mr. Council, I wouldn’t mind having you to myself.”
He tugged her closer and settled his free hand at the small of her back. “We can take a walk and come back for dinner.”
It made her smile, and the smile lasted out the door and into the parking lot. As they skirted a pair of Harleys, she sighed. “I’m sorry I snapped at him. I might be feeling a little protective.”
“Don’t sweat it.” Any alpha worth the title would have expected as much from someone who felt threatened. “You didn’t hurt his feelings.”
“So I saw.” She slipped her arm under his and around his waist, nestling close to his side.
“It’s good. The shifters who have to slap the submissives down? Those aren’t the ones who should be in charge.”
“No, they’re not.” The night was clear, with stars dotting the dark blue of the sky, and a soft salty breeze ruffled his hair. “I can’t imagine trying to do his job without any resources.”
“But you can give him that, can’t you?”
“Yeah.” Noah Coleman should have been doing it before his death, and the other council members should have picked it up afterward. “I wonder how many alphas like Rowe won’t come to the council now because they think everything’s the same?”
“Probably most of them.” Sera tucked her head against his shoulder. “I don’t know what it’s like for the wolves, but you have the chance to make things better. Only not just for the wolves, because you and Alec and Andrew are including the rest of us.”
“Yeah.” Julio cut across the cracked parking lot and headed for the deserted stretch of beach behind the bar. “It might be worse other places. It probably will be.”
Her fingers stroked over his waist, soft and soothing. “Then you’ll deal with them. There’s nothing they can say to me that I can’t shake off. I’ve been hearing it since I turned fifteen and grew into a C cup.”
No matter what she said, the sexual innuendo had to hurt. “I don’t like it, and I won’t be able to hang on to my temper forever.”
“I know.” She shivered, even cuddled close to the heat of his body. “It’s the ones who want to drive me out of their territory that scare me. It’s usually the turned wolves. They can’t control their instincts.”
He tightened his hand on her hip. “That’s why I’m here.”
She kicked off her sandals as soon as they hit the beach, and seemed entertained by tracing her toes through the sand. “You’re easy to talk to,” she said finally. “You’re not like everyone else. You don’t push.”
Her hair draped over her bare shoulder, caressing pale skin silvered by the moonlight. “I’m the last person who’d make you talk it all out when you’d rather not, sweetheart. I know what that’s like.”
“You do.” She turned to face him, pressing both hands to his chest. “I don’t push, either. But, you know, I was there. I mean, I don’t know if you remember that, but I was. And I’m a good listener.”
She’d been there, seen him at his weakest, which should have made him more reluctant to speak. Instead, he sighed. “I fucked up, and Kat and Patrick paid the price. Ben paid it.”
Sera watched him in silence for several moments, her fingers caressing absent circles on his T-shirt. Then she slipped one hand up to curl around the back of his neck, her skin soft and warm against his. “You paid it too. In pain and blood, and every day since. You’re still paying it.