Page 68 of Black Moon

Admittedly, there were no people, and no issues, in the valley that I didn’t care about...

“Yeah,” Colt was agreeing with Claudia on something I’d missed, too busy woolgathering. “We can do that. Will Birch be there?”

That was how, a few hours later, I found myself walking into Chadwick’s Grille. Colt was smiling like he’d just won the lotto, and Claudia had the same shit-eating grin on her face when she leaped up from a table and came to greet us. “Linden, so glad you could bring Colt along for lunch.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Me bring Colt? As if I had any power over his movements.

Colt didn’t seem the least bit offended, just kept smiling like some kind of Stepford replicant. “We were thinking about going apple picking later,” he added, as though that was a thing we’d ever discussed doing. I wondered if he realized what people in Grovetown usually meant when they said apple picking.

If not, Claudia’s salacious wink was probably a good hint. “Oh, I’ll bet you two have been doing plenty of apple picking.”

Colt didn’t seem at all surprised. Instead, he threw back his head and laughed in a way that was...oddly photogenic. Like, I felt as though I should be taking his picture right then, and not doing that was missing an opportunity.

That was...very strange.

Fortunately for my sanity, that was when Wanda came out of the kitchen, and—dammit. Wanda, Skip’s mother. I could barely look her in the eye.

She looked completely unaffected. She offered me her usual bright smile and motioned toward the table Claudia had been sitting at. “With Claudia today, or did you two want your own table?”

“Oh, they’re with me,” Claudia assured, and waved back at the table. “I guess we’ll probably need a few minutes for Colt to look at a menu.”

Wanda smiled at Colt like he was the handsome young man her son had brought home to meet her. Except, well, unless she thought I was her son, she couldn’t possibly feel that way. Sure, Skip had brought him, but everyone in town had heard by now—

“Of course,” she agreed, handing him a menu. “Anything you need, sweetie. Can’t rush our possible future alpha-mate.” She said the words slowly, enunciating each one like it was important, or maybe a secret.

Colt didn’t even blink. Or rather, he gave the strangest impression of...bashful.

I hustled him into a seat on the opposite side of the booth from where Claudia had been sitting and looked between the two of them. “Do I even want to know?”

Colt didn’t answer, just leaned his head on my shoulder, continuing to smile at me.

Wanda, on the other hand, turned and nodded to us. Then, loud enough for everyone in the place to hear, she said, “You just let me know when you’re ready to order, Alpha.”

36

Colt

Even I was surprised how easy it was to get Wanda on board with subverting her son’s interests. Mind, a parent could love their kid and still think they had growing up to do. That was...a nice way of thinking about Skip Chadwick, but if growing up a Doherty had taught me anything, it was that there was no sense in entirely discounting your enemy.

I didn’t have to like him, but I could give him the benefit of the doubt while I figured out the best way to exploit his weakness and drain every bit of decency he had for the good of the pack.

Have I mentioned that I fucking hate politics?

Admittedly, they were more fun sitting across from sharp-eyed Claudia, who was grinning as Wanda turned away, bouncing her eyebrows at me. I couldn’t help smiling back at her.

“We should think about your number two,” Claudia said once we had coffee in front of us—well, and Linden had tea.

Linden frowned. “I’m not alpha yet.”

“No, but presidents pick their VPs before they’re elected. It’s part of your platform, your vision for the future of the pack.” She waved her hands through the air like Vanna White.

Linden sipped his tea.

It’d be best to put this in concrete terms, not metaphors that set the bar intimidatingly high.

“What about Birch?” I asked. “Your husband seems level-headed.”

Claudia scoffed. “Not happening.”

---