“We always had fun together,” I told Brittany now. “We’re compatible.”
“Compatible? Makes it sound like you’re picking out shoes to wear with a new skirt. Accepting your mate is probably the single most important decision you’ll ever make in your life.”
“Why are you questioning my choice?” And making me question my choice in the process, I thought. Or was it the dream creating these stupid doubts?
“Because it’s not fair to Connor if you don’t truly love him.”
“And how is any of this your business?” I retorted. Her mouth straightened into a flat line. She’d been hassling me about my relationship with Connor since summer began, insinuating that I wasn’t a good girlfriend. “Oh my God. Are you in love with him?”
Before she could answer—assuming she would have done so—Lucas Wilde, our pack leader, twisted around from his place at the table and glared at us. Silently chastised, I pressed my lips together, gave him a nod, and finally concentrated on what was being discussed at the table. After our transformations, Brittany and I would bring the number of Dark Guardians to twelve. But Kayla, Lucas, Connor, Rafe, Brittany, and I were a sherpa team. We worked together to take campers into the wilderness. Serving as guides was how we’d met the Bio-Chrome group and become aware of its true purpose.
“I don’t see that there’s much we can do at this point,” Connor was saying, and I experienced a prickle of pride that he wasn’t afraid to speak up to the three elders who sat together, forming a chain of wisdom and history. “Dr. Keane and his team left the forest two weeks ago. Maybe they’ve given up their search for us by now.”
Dr. Keane was the lead scientist at Bio-Chrome and one of the masterminds behind the plan to study us. The other was his son, Mason.
“But they’re probably just regrouping. I wouldn’t be surprised if they show up again any day now,” Lucas said.
“I agree,” Kayla said.
Lucas gave her a warm smile and, out of sight of the elders, took her hand beneath the table. With her red hair flowing around her shoulders, she would have stood out anyway, but the way she glowed with Lucas’s attention made her stunning.
“Believe me, Mason is obsessed with capturing one of us and discovering the key to our ability to transform. They’re going to come back, so we need to be ready,” she continued. “He’s not going to give up.”
For a while, at the beginning of the summer, Kayla had been interested in Mason—maybe as a potential boyfriend. Needless to say, her interest had come to a screeching halt when she discovered that in Mason’s eyes, she was the bait to trap Lucas. It was impossible to envision her with anyone other than Lucas now.
Elder Wilde, Lucas’s grandfather, stood. “We will remain alert. Our lives are dependent upon the skills and cunning of our Dark Guardians. I have complete faith in your abilities to protect us. Now it is time to celebrate the summer solstice, as many of our kind have come here for that purpose.” He spread his arms as though he’d embrace us all. “Forget our troubles. Enjoy the night.”
“He’s kidding, right?” Brittany asked beneath her breath.
“Elder Wilde hasn’t met Mason and his dad. He doesn’t understand how truly dangerous or obsessed they are,” I responded.
“Do you really think it can be done? The creation of a serum that will cause lycanthropy?”
“I don’t know. But it’s not like there’s a virus running through our blood. It’s genetic. You either have the gene or you don’t.”
“Yeah,” Brittany mumbled. “Tough on those who don’t.”
“At least we don’t have to worry about that. Soon we’ll be shifting along with the best of them.” I stood up and stepped away from her as Kayla approached, smiling brightly, her pale blue eyes radiating excitement.
“So what were you two gossiping about over here? I was feeling totally left out.”
“Nothing important,” I told her.
“See, that just proves my point,” Brittany said.
Her point being that I hadn’t given enough thought to selecting my mate. I was starting to get annoyed with this line of thought. She really needed to change her tune. Maybe if she wasn’t so obsessed with my choice, she’d find a guy of her own.
“What point?” Connor asked as he came to stand beside me. I stiffened, wondering how he’d react to Brittany’s accusations that we were forced together by our parents.
But she just said, “It’s nothing.”
I relaxed. She wasn’t going to reveal her opinion that my feelings toward Connor weren’t sincere. I didn’t want him to doubt my affections, because I did care about him—no matter what Brittany thought. Connor and I had always known we belonged together.
Lucas came up behind Kayla, put his arm around her, and drew her up against his side as though he couldn’t stand not touching her. Why didn’t Connor and I possess this crazy urge to snuggle all the time?
Self-consciously, I did a quick search around the room and discovered that Rafe had already left. I wasn’t surprised. Unless we were all working, partying, or protecting the pack together, he was a loner.
“So are we ready to hit the party?” Lucas asked.
“Are you kidding? This is my first summer solstice celebration. I want to dress up a little,” Kayla said.
His gaze swept over her. “I think you look good now.”
“Has he ever got the boyfriend moves down,” Brittany said, with teasing in her voice.
I turned my attention to Connor. “I’m going to change clothes, too.”
“Okay. I’ll find you.”
How different his tone was from Lucas’s! I told myself it was because Lucas and Kayla had only just discovered each other, while Connor and I had been together forever. Even so, I couldn’t help but believe we should still feel that spark of excitement when we were near each other.
“I can’t get over how immense this place is,” Kayla said as we walked down the hallway toward the foyer, having left the guys in the counsel room. Everything I took for granted was new to her. It made me view things through fresh eyes.
All the walls were paneled in dark wood. The stone floor was worn and scratched in places where claws had traveled over it. Portraits of our ancestors, in both human and wolf forms, lined the walls.