She would be better off never falling into that trap in the first place. Until he trusted her enough to tell her everything, trusted her enough to listen to her advice, she couldn’t let her walls down again. She’d focus on her commitment to the packs.
Although, after she’d met with the first of her members, she wasn’t sure what was going to be tougher, avoiding Evan or making Whitehorse one.
The couple she’d thought would be the most reasonable about the announcement stood in shock, faces reflecting their horror.
Terry pulled his saucepan off the gourmet stovetop so it wouldn’t burn, a stream of faint curses escaping his lips. “Joining with Takhini would be like mixing cream and vinegar. You can’t be serious,” he gasped.
He could have been in theater, not culinary arts. “There are a lot of positive reasons for a merger, one of which is our joint powerbase would be expanded.”
“We don’t need more power,” he complained. “We have everything the way we like it. A comfortable catering service where we get to cook but don’t have to deal with actual people. It’s a nice, quiet and orderly lifestyle. Which is the opposite of most of them. Noisy, rude creatures.”
Good grief. “Don’t stereotype them all as hoodlums. There are good people in the Takhini pack. A few hotheads, yes, but we can deal with them.”
A sniff was all she got in response.
Amy sighed wearily. “Look, I know it’s not what any of us expected, but…” She had to confess it. “Their Alpha is my mate, and we are going to do this.”
Marie stepped closer and eyed her with concern. “You don’t look thrilled at finding your mate. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Amy insisted. “I’m adjusting. Giving myself time, like I expect all of you to give this merger between the packs the time and effort it deserves.”
They still looked skeptical, but at least they weren’t complaining anymore. Amy visited for a while longer before gathering her things and getting ready to go.
“I plan to bring Evan around so you can get to know him one on one before we try anything with mixed packs. I’ll make sure to warn you ahead of time.”
“So I can find a good hiding spot,” Terry muttered.
His mate bumped him, and they both smiled innocently at Amy.
She shook her head. Wolves. “Behave, and that’s an order.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They ushered her from their kitchen with a hug, an enormous cookie in her hand as a farewell. She nibbled on the sweet treat as she paced back to her office, wondering how much more challenging the rest of her pack were going to be.
The familiar bulk of a bear approached the doors of the computer shop from the opposite direction. She waited until Justin had come to a stop, her head tilted so far back to meet his eyes she thought she might tip over.
“It’s like going on the floor during a basketball game.”
Justin nodded politely. “I’d like to speak with you.”
Tom and Caden would crawl out of their skins if she brought the bear back into her office. She gestured to the nearby coffee shop. “Do you mind if we grab a drink?”
“Not at all.”
She kept her curiosity at bay until they settled into chairs, steaming cups of the locally brewed Midnight Sun in hand. Amy eyed the bear shifter.
Justin raised a brow. “Do I have something on my face?”
She shook her head. “I was just admiring your suit. I didn’t know the Men in Black supplier carried big and tall sizes.”
He chuckled. “Blunt.”
“It’s how you prefer it. I’m not that outspoken about shitty clothing choices with everyone.”
The big man lowered his coffee mug. “Blunt again. Is this a wolf thing I’m unaware of? Upfront and in people’s faces?”
Amy didn’t hesitate. “I try hard to speak the language people understand. It saves misunderstandings.”
“So, you up and confessing everything to Evan the other day was what he needed to hear?”
She cleared the knot in her throat. “That’s kind of a special circumstance.”
“I see.” Justin looked her over carefully. “What type of language do you understand?”
Good question. “I think you can pretty much say anything you want, and I’ll be okay with it.”
“I have a business proposition for you.”
Talk about out of the blue. “Whoa, okay, that was unexpected.”
Justin smiled. “This is, of course, provided you and Evan don’t end up whipping Whitehorse into a frenzy of bloodshed and scandal.”
“Now you’re being no fun at all,” she teased.
He shrugged lazily. “I know, I know. Although, since my boss stopped the bear shifters from tearing the city apart, I wouldn’t object to a little fireworks from the wolf side of the equation.”
Bloodthirsty bastard. “I think Evan and I can find some common ground that doesn’t involve ripping out entrails and leaving them strewn in the streets.”
Justin leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Harrison Enterprises owns diamonds, but they have other holdings as well. I took a look through your computer shop the other day. It’s pretty impressive for a small, locally run enterprise.”
“I try my best.” His compliment didn’t make sense, though. “Surely you don’t want me to set up a computer shop in Yellowknife.”
“It’s more your overall business savvy. We could use someone like you on staff. Tyler has extra work because of his position as head of the bear clans, but he wants to be sure Harrison Enterprises continues to advance.”
She wasn’t quite sure where this was leading. “You did catch the part where I’m an Alpha here in town, right?”
He nodded. “Yes, and I heard the rumour stewing about you and Evan being an item. That makes no difference to me, I mean, to Harrison Enterprises. We’d want you for consulting services. You could work from anywhere, including here in Whitehorse.”
Well, now. She was always up for alternative sources of revenue. “Put together a business proposal, and we’ll see what we can do.”
He looked slightly sheepish for a moment. “You do realize if we hire you, I’ll suggest we put in the tightest fail-safes possible. To make sure at the end of every transaction, we actually end up owning what we intend to buy. No offense.”
Her amusement rose. “None taken. I wouldn’t hire me without major supervision as well.”
They chatted about the difference between living in Whitehorse and Yellowknife, until Amy interrupted. “I realize this might be out of line, but what are your intentions regarding Amanda?”
Justin sat back, obviously surprised by the twist in the conversation. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Remember my business about speaking people’s languages?”
He nodded.
It was interfering, but Amanda seemed so determined to make the wrong decision. Amy didn’t want the woman alone when a simple misunderstanding was keeping her from happiness. “You’re accidentally speaking a language she doesn’t want to hear anymore.”
Justin frowned. “Could you be more specific?”
Amy tapped her fingers on the table as she pondered the best wording. She gestured toward him. “My comment earlier about your suit. You’re a good-looking man, Justin, but you wear the trappings of civilization a little too hard. At least in terms of what Amanda is looking for.”
“Did she say something to you?”
Amy tilted her head from side to side. “Sort of, but mostly it’s in the way she watches you. Her body language says she’s very attracted then she remembers something, and up pops a barrier.”
The bear across from her nodded. “She does run hot and then cold. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, but I suppose…”