Page 39 of Luna Trials

We were stronger than this.

“She’s a cutie.” Chad motioned with his eyes to Aspen. I didn’t need to look to know she was still sitting there, talking with my sister of all people. And I knew what Chad was doing as he tested the water with his foot.

I also refused to give him an inch. “Most of them are.”

“You’ve got that right.” He leaned back with a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest. As far as size went, we were about evenly matched. But that didn’t mean shit to me. “Did you get a whiff of the little one from West Virginia?”

“Not yet. Why?” I was glad for the change of subject. If he kept talking about Aspen there was no telling how my wolf would react. In truth, I hadn’t been paying much attention to the Luna Candidates at all. Excepther.These weren’t my type of women. I preferred a little more discretion in my pairings. If I was really trying to find a mate, I wouldn’t have gone on television to do so despite it being the norm for males in my position.

“I’ll let you figure that out for yourself if you haven’t scented her yet,” Chad kept talking. “But she smells pretty sweet.”

I’ll bet Aspen smells sweeter.I glanced over my shoulder, seeing her take the bottle of bourbon I’d snagged from the bar for my sister. Aspen glared at me as if she’d heard Chad talking. For a wolf shifter that wouldn’t have been difficult. Something about the anger in her eyes eased my pounding heart a bit.

She was affected too.

Despite the cold shoulder she’d given and the denial of that spark between us, she was still paying attention.

My beast howled his approval as a slow smile teased my lips. Aspen tilted the bottle up higher, swallowing deep, and turned her back to me like I wasn’t a predator.

Wrong move, little she-wolf.I resisted the flat palm of my hand on my thigh and leaned back against the side of the pool. The challenge stroked my inner beast. My wolf and I were in agreement again.

We wanted to play a new game.

14

Aspen

I smacked at the bedside table, searching for my phone to make it shut up as it continued to blast that annoying ringtone. It was still dark outside. Which meant it wasn’t quite time to be awake yet. The small bit of bourbon I’d drank burned off quickly–thank you shifter metabolism–but I’d spent way too long past my bedtime last night searching for answers about who these people were until the WIFI went out around midnight.

Guess we were officially cut off.

“Hello,” I growled, putting the phone on speaker and hoping this wasn’t an emergency.

“You’re still in bed,” my papa greeted me.

“Yes.” I rolled over and flung my arm over my eyes. “It’s five in the morning.”

“Wasting daylight if you ask me.”

“No one asked, Papa. And it’s still dark.”

“Sun will be up soon.” The gurgle of the coffee machine sounded behind him. We really needed a new one that didn’t spit out liquid in bursts. “How are things going?”

“Hmmm.”

“I said, how are things going?”

“You don’t have to yell.” I pushed off the covers and tried to blink the sleep from my eyes. “Everything is fine. Sort of. They made me do thisinterview and I sounded like some sweet little girl from the boondocks.”

“And that’s not who you are?” He chuckled.

“Would you consider me sweet? Never mind. Don’t answer that.” I pushed the pillow behind my back and sat up. “How are you feeling? How’s your leg?”

“Itched a bunch last night, but I think it might be growing more.” He slurped from his coffee cup. It was probably his favorite one with the sayingPapa: The Man, The Myth, The Legendand the chip near the handle.

“That’s good.” I nodded, more awake. “Are you taking it easy?”

“As easy as I can.” That was not an answer. “Have you met any potential mates yet?”

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