“What did Ryan McKinley want?” Lelandi asked Carol, as she fixed a double cheeseburger for herself in the kitchen, where the aroma of seasoned burgers and cheesecake and lemon meringue pie filled the air.
Everyone else had already taken their food outside or into the dining area or sunroom, and laughter and conversation drifted through the house like the cool breeze through the open kitchen window.
Carol dished a hamburger onto a bun and topped it with a slice of pickle and tomato. Although she was fuming inside, she smiled at Lelandi.
“He wanted a date. Isn’t that nice?”
Lelandi fumbled with her plate and nearly dropped it. “You can’t be serious. Darien will never allow it.”
Silva, who Carol swore overheard conversations better than any werewolf alive, sauntered into the kitchen. “My, my… sounds like McKinley is harboring a death wish—or he’s one determined wolf. I heard he kissed you like there was no tomorrow.”
Heard? Or had she seen something out one of the windows?
Silva chuckled. “Yep. The bachelors are ready for a showdown.”
Eyes wide, Lelandi asked, “He kissed you and then asked for a date?” She shook her head. “He’s got nerve.” But her tone of voice reflected a trace of approval, and Carol noted a shadow of a smile in Lelandi’s expression.
Carol almost laughed to think she had been the one to suggest the date, and that if she hadn’t pushed Ryan into proving something to the other guys, he would never have kissed her. How could he not believe her about her psychic abilities after all that had happened? Even Darien’s people believed her.
In fact, she thought a couple of his people were a little afraid of her because of it. What if someone did something that he or she shouldn’t, and then Carol envisioned it and shared their misdeeds with Darien? At least, that’s what she thought might bother some of them. Beyond that, she really didn’t think Ryan would come tonight.
Lelandi smiled and lifted her burger. “You know when Darien told Ryan he didn’t want him interfering in the investigation, Ryan stubbornly refused to take no for an answer.” She shrugged. “I doubt he will this time, either.”
Carol didn’t know that Ryan had been told he couldn’t help with the investigation, just that Darien hadn’t liked the idea. But she couldn’t believe this issue of whether or not she was psychic was such a big deal that he’d butt heads with Darien over it.
“So what’s the gathering all about?” she asked, figuring that was what she’d have to prepare herself for next. Forget Ryan and his agenda.
“You won’t be alone with a bunch of men, Carol, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll be there with Darien, presiding over the party. Silva will be there and Sam, too, serving refreshments. Two other women are coming from another wolf community. They like what we have here—where wolves run the town and not humans. One’s a librarian who wants to start a library in town. And the other is a masseuse. I think she’s going to be a real hit.”
All of a sudden, Carol didn’t feel so important. Not that she wanted to mate with someone for life whom she wasn’t interested in… but to compete with a masseuse? Carol probably had the librarian beat. She shook her head at herself. This was still barbaric. And she wasn’t going along with it.
Lelandi was rattling off a list of names of married couples who were going to attend, but Carol watched the way she rubbed her fingers over her stomach every once in a while, and Carol’s mouth dropped open. “You’re pregnant?”
Her gaze riveting from her cheeseburger to Carol, Lelandi’s lips parted for a second, and then she smiled. “Four and a half months.”
Silva immediately put her hand on Lelandi’s belly. “Well, I’ll be. Just how long were you going to hide this little secret from us, sugar?”
“At least until after the games today. If I’d mentioned it before then, Darien wouldn’t have let me play. You know how he is.”
That’s why he was being so careful with her on the playing field and why Lelandi had been napping more lately. He had to have realized Lelandi was pregnant. Carol grinned.
“Wow, this is really a reason to celebrate. Triplets. Just like I had envisioned.”
“Do you know what sex they are?” Silva asked Carol.
Three boys, but Carol looked at Lelandi to see if she wanted to know.
Lelandi shook her head. “No. If you know, don’t tell me. And I don’t want to mention that I’m expecting tonight. This is your coming out. Not the other ladies’ either. They’ve already been introduced to their wolf packs to court. And neither cared for their prospects. So that’s why they’re here.” She took another bite of her burger.
“They were born lupus garous, weren’t they?” Carol asked, hoping that at least one of them was newly turned like she was.
“Yes. And, they don’t get along. So I’m hoping one will stay and the other will look elsewhere. I’ve already interviewed them, and both seem pleasant enough by themselves. But there’s some hostility between them, having to do with families, I think.”
Silva grabbed a plate with chips and a burger. “So what if a couple of the guys want the women, and they both end up staying here?”
“We’ll have problems. Darien has already counseled the men and said that if matches are made, one of the couples will most likely have to move on. But finding a mate is so important that the men are willing.”
Carol gave a short laugh. “Especially with a chance at a masseuse.”
“I don’t know, Carol. You’re more of a known quantity, one of our own, and no one would have to leave the pack,” Lelandi said.
“Hmm, nothing else, then?”
Lelandi smiled. “I sure didn’t put that right, did I? The guys have been talking about you. They shut up when I’m around, but they’re intrigued.”
“Same here.” Silva waved a potato chip. “As soon as I hear your name mentioned at the tavern, I check on the table next to them, but the guys see me coming and end the conversation. So, yep, they’re interested.”
“Sure are. For five months, they’ve been bugging Darien—or his brothers so they would relay the information to Darien—to let them date you,” Lelandi said.
“And you’ve been the one to keep them from dating me.” Carol felt relieved in a way. At least she was glad that they had not been avoiding her because they thought her too different.
Her green eyes flashing with humor, Lelandi laughed. “Not all my doing. Darien wanted you to adjust to being one of us, and he wants you to shape-shift first. We never thought anyone who was newly turned could prevent the shift for this long, though.”
For the first time, Carol was glad for her psychic abilities, if that was what was keeping her from shifting. She just hoped she could put it off forever, or that her visions of Doc being unable to shift back to human form were a mistake. That the worry about him was something benign.
But the event tonight was what she had to deal with now. She hoped that Ryan would come for her, that Darien would allow it, and she’d be able to skip the whole affair—even if it meant dealing with Ryan’s inquisition.
Chapter 6
NORTH HAD AVOIDED BEING ANYWHERE NEAR THE TWO women, both gray wolves from another pack and both newly sick from the bioengineered plague that Miller had concocted for them. The lure of money had worked. So from a distance, North observed the way Marilee and Becky looked. Sexy, he thought. Like sending the Trojan horse as a gift to Troy during the Trojan War, the women would attend the gathering and infect as many of Darien’s damn people, and Darien himself, as they could. Payback was hell.