“Slate?” Everly said, her eyes wide even though she’d been almost asleep a few minutes ago. “What are you doing here?” She wanted to add, if Jack found him here, he’d pound him into the ground, or try, and she really wasn’t in the mood for a huge fight at the moment.
“Sorry, Everly,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep. I needed to talk to you about something.”“Well, I could sleep,” she said. “It can’t wait until morning?”He ran a hand through his unruly blond hair, making it fall over his dark eyes. He had taken a shower, and the scent of soap wafted to her nostrils, but he hadn’t shaved, and the thought that if she reached over and grazed his cheek, she was likely to cut her hand crossed her mind. “It can’t wait, Ev.”Letting out a loud sigh, she moved aside and let him in.Slate entered and closed the door behind him. They were treading oAs the two men came at one another, Everly was forced to forge the fact that she was almost asleep just a few minutes ago and to move to get between them. “Jack!” she shouted. “Knock it off! We were just talking!”“Just talking?” he repeated. “It’s funny that he’s sitting on your bed while the two of you are just talking.”“Oh, you’ve got a lot of nerve coming in here, after you’re questioning her and everything we’ve found out since we’ve gotten here!” Slate shouted, attempting to get around Everly’s arm to reach Jack.“I’m trying to protect her, and you’re the one who is helping fill her head with ridiculous lies!” Jack was just as adamant that he was getting to Slate as well.Everly considered just moving out of the way and letting them finally hash it out the way that guys preferred to do, but she thought she might need at least one of
The next morning, Everly’s head hurt, and the sun seemed too bright, but then she remembered where she was and what was supposed to happen that day.Sitting up in the unfamiliar bed, she blinked a few times and slid out so that her feet were on the floor.She was already dressed since the clothing Margot had given her were sweats and a T-shirt. She knew that Alyson had sent an outfit for her as well and thought maybe she’d change into that.What was a person supposed to wear when they saw their mom again for the first time in eleven years?She used the bathroom, brushed her teeth with the toothbrush Margot had given her, and headed out into the living room to see if the guys were up. She expected Jack to be because he always got up before her, but if he was awake, he was still in the bedroom.Only Margot was up. She was taking care of the fireplace, something she’d have to do since she was a human. It hadn’t even occurred to Everly th
Standing in the living room of a cabin in the middle of the woods in Montana near the mountains, a place she’d only been a few hours and had never heard of before the night before, Everly stared into the eyes of a woman she hadn’t seen in eleven years.A woman she’d thought was dead.A woman she never, ever expected to see again.“Oh, hi,” Chelsea said, coming into the living room. “I’m sorry. I was looking for Margot. I guess she’s not in from her chores yet.”So… she didn’t recognize her.Everly had thought maybe she had because of the way her mouth was hanging open when she’d turned around, but perhaps she was just surprised to see two teenagers in Margot’s living room.“She’s out taking care of the cows and chickens,” Everly said, her voice sounding robotic.“It’s probably harder given the snow,” Chelsea said with a little chuckle.
“Other werewolves?” Everly stared at her mother, not sure what in the world she was talking about. “Margot said you were the only one around here that she was helping.”“Yeah, that’s right,” Chelsea said. “I’m the only one in the immediate area, but there are others within a few hours.”“But… how?” Everly asked. “The council didn’t find out about them?”Chelsea shook her head. “No, in a lot of cases, they came from one person who was spared by someone like Margot who then wanted a family and ended up… making one.”Everly’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe anyone would do something like that.“But how would they be able to help us?” Jack asked. “They can only shift into their wolves during a full moon, and that won’t be for another month.”Chelsea stared at him for a long moment and then chuckled.
“What do you mean he’s my mate?” Everly asked her mother. Everyone kept telling her that Slate was her mate, like he was carrying a sign that said, “Everly and I are meant to be together forever,” and she was the only one in the universe that couldn’t see it.How the hell did everyone else seem to know that she was supposed to be with Slate and not Jack? And why would she even have a fated mate if she was born a human? None of this was making a whole lot of sense to her. But then… she was walking through the woods next to her dead mother who wasn’t dead but was a werewolf, and she herself was capable of turning into a wolf anytime she wanted to, so maybe they were beyond what could make sense at this point.“I can just tell,” Chelsea said. “You both have the same scent, for one thing.”Everly scrunched her nose up. “What’s that now?” She imagined everyone sniffing her armpits an
Slate’s mere presence was enough to drive Jack insane, but the moment that he was alone in Margot’s living room with the Nachtwolf, Jack was ready to toss him out on his haunches.When Slate started telling him how wrong he was for doubting Everly when she said that her mother was there, Jack wasn’t about to listen to him spouting off for more than half a second.Now, the two of them were squaring off against one another in Margot’s back yard.At least they’d managed to wait until they’d gotten outside to shift so they hadn’t torn up the old woman’s house.As much as Slate wanted to pretend that he was the perfect young man with the nice manners and Jack was the bad guy, that was all a bunch of bullshit, and eventually, he thought Everly’s mother and everyone else would see right through it. He’d wanted to fight Jack in the living room.In their wolf forms, Jack and Slate squared off against one ano
“We can call Jim from my house,” Everly’s mom said. “You may as well just come home with me and let those guys sort everything else out while we’re gone.“But they might be worried about me,” Everly argued.Chelsea shrugged. “You can mind-link Jack and tell him where you’re going, can’t you?”“That’s true,” Everly said. Not that she should’ve even been concerned about what they thought after the shit they’d just pulled.“Margot will keep them in line. Don’t worry about that,” Chelsea promised her. “My house isn’t too far away from here. Just a little over half a mile.”“Okay,” Everly agreed. It wouldn’t take them too long to walk there, even through the deep snow, not since they were wolves. “By the way, your wolf is very impressive. I couldn’t believe how huge she is. Are all werewolves that big?&r
“What did your dad say when you called him?” Jack asked as he drove the borrowed pickup truck from the neighbor’s house to the closest town, which was really more like a village. When they arrived there, Jack only saw a general store and a handful of houses, as well as a restaurant and gas station.That was pretty much it.They were early because Jim had a lot further to come. It was fine with Jack because he wanted to talk to Everly, and so far, every time he tried to talk to her, she dodged the question.“He said he’d be here as soon as he could get here.” Everly turned and looked out the window, her eyes focused on the front of the store across the street from where Jack had pulled in the faded red pickup truck.“Can we talk about a few things?” He’d asked earlier, and she’d mumbled that it wasn’t a good time.He heard her sigh, but she didn’t turn her head. “What?&rdq