Tad shrugged. “I guess. Well, sometimes. Sometimes I just feel annoyed.”
“Annoyed?” Erik sounded strange, like he had swallowed something the wrong way.
Tad flicked a glance up at him. “Annoyed or even pissed off. Usually when I think it’s a thing stupid for them to ask. I don’t think Keil’s ordered me to do anything yet, so I’m not sure, but my Alpha in Whitehorse, heck, I ignored him all the time.”
Erik was no longer at his side and Tad turned back to look at the man who was several paces behind making the weirdest face. This night was turning truly bizarre. “What?” Tad watched as the Beta walked a slow circle around him, sniffing the air. “Sod off—I hate it when people do that.” Tad forced him away. Not an easy task since Erik was built like a brick shithouse with reinforced metal corners.
Erik shook his head slowly. “Keil’s gonna blow a gasket.”
“Tad’s going to pitch a fit if he doesn’t get to go home soon. Stop with the wolfy mumbo jumbo and let’s go see the Big Cheese.” Tad stormed into the hall, Erik trailing behind him chuckling.
Keil met them at the front foyer and motioned for his Beta to stand watch.
“You’re making me nervous. Is something wrong?” Tad asked, glancing around the empty space. He didn’t see any trouble but something was odd about the way Keil looked at him.
Keil put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and led them to some overstuffed chairs at the side of the area. “No, you’re fine, Robyn’s fine, all that kind of stuff. I need to talk to you about something serious before you leave.”
Tad waited.
“It’s kind of a delicate subject with you, and I didn’t think I should mention it in front of the others.”
Tad waited.
Keil rolled his eyes. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
Tad grinned at the big man. It was the most entertainment he’d had all night. Then his smile faded as he got an inkling of the topic at hand. “Oh crap, you’re not going to tell me someone’s offered me FirstMate, are you?”
Keil frowned. “I thought you’d be pleased. You’ve been waiting forever—”
Tad’s blood started to boil. Enough was enough. “Keil, I don’t want to fuck someone who’s brown-nosing for you. Forget it.”
“She’s not trying to impress me.”
“Yeah. Right. Let me guess. Is she a skinny blonde with a tan?”
Keil sat back. “Well, I wouldn’t call her skinny, but she is blonde. You know who offered?”
Tad pulled a sour expression. “She offered herself to me already and I thought I would lose my dinner. You don’t really think I should accept her, do you? I know it’s not forever but I do have to look at her for a couple days. And touch her…” He shivered. The thought of being intimate with the Queen of Sheba turned his stomach. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Anger flared across Keil’s face. “If this is how picky you are, no wonder you’ve never been triggered. I thought we finally found a solution you’d be pleased with.” Keil picked up one of the cushions from the couch and smacked it with his fist. He raised his dark eyes to glare at Tad.
He glared back until he remembered this was both his new Alpha and his new brother-in-law. Tad sighed and lowered his gaze. “I don’t think I’m being picky.”
“Who are you waiting for, Miss Wolf Canada?” Keil demanded.
Tad gaped at him. No way. “Is there such a thing?”
“Arghhh!” Keil threw the pillow at him.
Tad held up his hands, trying to calm Keil down. “Look, I’m not trying to be difficult.”
“Well, you’re managing to piss me off and you’re going to get me in shit with my mate. Robyn was so excited at the possibility you’d get triggered soon.”
Like that was going to change Tad’s mind about the whole thing. “I’m not fucking someone for Robyn’s sake.”
“It’s just FirstMate. Get over it.”
Tad shook his head.
Keil crossed his arms over his chest. “Then you get to explain yourself to Robyn because she thought you’d be thrilled. She said Missy was one of the—”
“What?” Tad leapt forward in his seat. Who did Keil say? “Wait a second, rewind. Who are we talking about here? Did you say Missy?”
“Damn right. Gorgeous woman like that offers you—”
“She’s a wolf?” Holy crap, Missy offered FirstMate? Sweet, beautiful, sexy-as-all-get-out Missy who turned him inside out with longing? His heart pounded harder and suddenly it was difficult to breath.
Keil pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit, are you never going to learn how to pick up a scent? Yes, Missy is a wolf. She came by yesterday to tell me she was in the area. As the nearest pack, it’s a courtesy thing to check in. She caught the whole hullabaloo about me and Robyn taking over leadership, and you not being triggered, and she said she’d be delighted to offer you FirstMate. Seems she’s had a soft spot for you since high school. Since you aren’t interested and the mere thought of touching her causes your face to turn green I guess I should just—”
“Will you slow down?” Tad hopped from his chair and began to pace. His nerves jangled for a second then relaxed as a faint trail of hope began to build. But why had Missy not mentioned anything? “I didn’t know she was a wolf. We went on a date the other day and she never said a word to me.”
“She wasn’t sure you knew about your wolf genes until she met Robyn.” Keil looked puzzled. “Just who did you think I was suggesting?”
Missy wanted to have sex with him. Tad fought down the images that flared in his mind to concentrate on answering Keil. “I thought you were talking about the chick with the shimmery pink highlights in her hair.”
Keil laughed and shook his head. “Okay, now your reaction makes sense. So now that we’re talking the same language, what do you think? Missy’s a widow, so your little issue about not doing the deed with a married woman is a moot point. Plus she’s excessively easy on the eyes. Not that I would notice, being totally enamored by your sister and all.”
Tad snorted. “I think the expression is ‘married, not dead’. Missy is flipping gorgeous and you know it. Robyn would say the same.”
“So…”
“Man, this still seems so forced and weird. Like a prearranged trip to the local brothel.” He’d learned to be a lot more open about discussing sex over the past two years, but the upfront and in-your-face wolf method still made him squirm. Fine, he and Missy would do FirstMate. Now he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Keil smirked. “I think you can get over that little problem. From what Missy told me you seemed interested enough in her the other day, so get together and—”
“Shit, she told you what we did?” And was Robyn in the room to hear it? That’s all he needed, his sister knowing he was a sex fiend.
Damn, Robyn already knew Missy had offered. That was the point of her whole mysterious conversation about getting what both his human and wolf sides wanted. He couldn’t stop the heat that rose to his face.
“No, but you’ve got me curious. You want to tell me what you did that’s got you going from zero-to-sixty in three seconds flat? I’ve never seen a guy react like that before.”
“Shut up, Keil.” His new brother-in-law’s hearty laugh rang out and Tad gave him a sheepish grin. “Yeah, I’m interested. Only, let me set the pace, please. I’ll be working with her for the next while, and I don’t think it’s good if we hit the sack and have at it.” As much as he’d like to.
Holy smoke, Missy was a wolf. She’d offered FirstMate. They were going to have sex. He’d been waiting for years to find someone to trigger him, and now it wasn’t only going to happen, it was going to happen with Missy.
Wow. High school dreams could come true.
Chapter 6
Tad made a final check of the aircraft instruments and tucked away the flight plan and weather reports. There were only eight hours of daylight to play with and they needed to head out soon.