“Were you with him last night?” Mom asked.
“Nothing happened.” I knew that’s what they were really asking. Was I cheating on my boyfriend? On the perfect Connor? I scooted my chair back. “I’ve got to head out with the others. It was great seeing you both.” Not. Never was. They wanted me to be what they were: rich, successful, sure of themselves.
Before I could stomp off, Mom reached out and gave me a quick hug; we barely touched. I’d heard some Shifter families actually roll around on the floor together like wolf cubs. Not my parents. Sometimes I wondered if they weren’t quite comfortable with the animalistic side of our legacy.
Dad said, “Do you need any money?” It was his equivalent of I love you.
“No, I’m good. Getting a paycheck every week.” I hugged him because I knew other families might be watching. Our family motto was never to let on if anything was wrong. Dad was probably going to run for governor someday. Nothing about us was supposed to create scandal. That was probably the reason that they were more comfortable with Connor than with Rafe. Connor was an Eagle Scout. Rafe had spent time in juvie.
I picked up my backpack and headed outside, quickly sweeping my gaze over the parking area. Rafe’s bike was gone. I figured he’d already headed out.
Connor was standing at the bottom of the steps, staring out into the wilderness.
“Spare me from another breakfast with my parents,” I grumbled as I joined him.
“Tell me about it. Dad and I got into an argument,” he said wearily.
“About what?”
“Nothing you should worry about.”
But shouldn’t we share tough moments like this?
“I didn’t see you in the dining room,” I said.
He gave me an ironic grin. “Met with them early. The elders had a special meeting with some of us afterward.”
“I didn’t hear about that.”
He shrugged. “It was just the guys.”
Brittany was so right. We’re such a sexist group. I couldn’t keep the irritation out of my voice. “What are you guys doing? Planning some secretive operation that’s too dangerous for the girls to be involved in?”
“It’s secretive, but only dangerous if Brittany finds out.”
“She’s not the only one who’ll be pissed off for not being included.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” I prodded.
He shifted his gaze back to whatever he’d been staring at before I joined him. “Connor? What’s going on?”
“You have to promise not to tell.”
That sounded so childish, but whatever. I wanted to know what was going on. “It goes without saying.”
“Still, say it.”
“I promise not to tell.” It was so unlike him to be melodramatic that I was starting to get a little worried.
“The elders are concerned about Brittany. You know. Because she doesn’t have a mate. They were looking for a volunteer.”
I was appalled that they’d tried to hook her up with someone who didn’t love her. Especially after what Kayla had confessed, about how intimate shifting with someone truly was. And Connor was right to keep it to himself. Brittany would explode if she found out.
“What? You mean like…a pity mate?”
He looked really uncomfortable, and I realized that was exactly what this was. Worse than a blind date. She might as well sign up for an arranged marriage.
“Connor, this is insane!” Then I had another thought. Maybe one of the guys did have an interest in her but was too shy to come forward. If his hand was forced…
“Did someone volunteer?” I asked.
“No. They drew a name.”
“This is totally nuts.”
“Look, she doesn’t have to choose him. But he’s going to be part of our sherpa team, hang with us, determine if there’s any chemistry there.”
Oh, there would definitely be chemistry—like an explosion in a lab—if Brittany discovered that the elders were trying to set her up. On the other hand, we didn’t get a lot of time to hang out with the other Dark Guardians, so maybe it was simply that she hadn’t been around anyone else enough for that attraction to develop.
Part of me wished I had her problem, because feeling something for two guys seemed almost worse.
A horn beeped as Lucas pulled up in his jeep with Kayla riding shotgun. Brittany was sitting in the back.
Connor opened the door for me, because, of course, he came from a family that did that sort of thing. I couldn’t imagine Rafe extending the same courtesy. He’d probably think I could handle it myself. I climbed in. Connor tossed our backpacks into the rear of the jeep before sitting beside me.
“So what are we going to do about Bio-Chrome?” I asked.
“We stay alert,” Lucas answered.
“You don’t think we should be proactive, go after them?”
“Not until we know more.”
I looked at Connor. He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. I felt Brittany shift on the seat beside me and my cheeks turned red.
“So I hear we’re getting a new member for our team,” I said casually.
“Yeah,” Lucas said catching my gaze in the rearview window, before adjusting it slightly so he could see Brittany. “Daniel. He’ll be joining us tomorrow.”
“He’s the guy from Seattle, right?” Kayla asked.
“That’s right,” Lucas said.
He’d become a Dark Guardian only this summer. We’d met him, of course, but we didn’t know a lot about him.
I looked over at Brittany. She was staring out the window, as though she couldn’t care less that an interesting new guy was part of our team.
“I’m glad we have another team member,” I admitted. “With all those girls we’re taking out tomorrow morning, the more help we have, the better.”
Lucas cleared his throat. “Actually our number stayed the same. Rafe got reassigned.”
I jerked my attention to Connor as his hand tightened around mine, before loosening again. “You didn’t mention that.”
“Is it important?” he asked quietly without looking at me.
That depended on the reason he’d been reassigned. It was, but only to me, and I couldn’t admit that without explaining why. But as I watched Connor’s jaw tighten, I had the sick feeling that he might already know the answer.