Page 8 of Bite Me Alpha Cole

“You’re right,” Grace says, petting a hand over my hair and nodding deeply. “It doesn’t.” Grace looks expectantly at Shayne.

“Fine, fine, it doesn’t,” Shayne says, finally giving in and leaning closer, doing her best to keep our conversation between us. “But that just means you have more willpower than me. Thousands of girls would kill to go on adatewith Cole Kincaid, let alone have him claim them as his mate. I mean, I think that’s a big deal for them –”

“Is it?” Grace asks, looking around with a frown. Some of the intricacies of wolf life are lost to us, even if we are living in a country largely governed by them. Humans and wolves tend to stick to their own kind.

“Yeah, I think so!” Shayne says, nodding and looking between us with eager, sparkling blue eyes. She gasps suddenly, excited. “Do you think he’ll introduce us to Jude Kincaid?”

I just look at her like she’s crazy.

“Which one is that?” Grace whispers.

Shayne groans, shaking her head and leaning back against the seat. “Ugh, Gracie-grace, you need to readwaymore of the gossip mags and websites. It’s his brother! He’ssocute – I’ve had a crush on him since I was ababy– I used to have his picture pasted in the back of my middle school notebook –”

I wrinkle my nose at Shay, remembering that. And now, as then, I think she’s insane for it.

“He’s just a moderately good-looking rich guy, Shay,” I murmur. “Nothing special.”

“Oh,whatever,“ Shayne says, closing her eyes on a blissful sigh. “He’s dreamy. I love him. Ima marry him.”

I grin at my friend, unable to help it. “You say that about everyone.”

“Yes, I intend to have six husbands and eight marriages,” she murmurs, playful and smug. “He can be the first.”

Grace and I both grin at her, even as Grace wrinkles her brow, confused. “How on earth are you going to manage six and eight? Isn’t your math off?”

“Nah,” Shayne says, flapping a hand at Grace. “I’m going to marry Jude, and then divorce him, and then marry him again. He’ll be number oneandnumber five. I’ve got a plan, don’t you worry.”

We both laugh and settle in. And I have to admit it – my mood is definitely better than it was since we arrived at that platform. I ignore the looming Alpha presence behind me and concentrate instead on my friends, who are funny and wonderful and know how to cheer me up.

It takes about forty-five bumpy minutes to get to wherever it is that they’re setting up our camp. I mean, it makes for an uncomfortable ride, but ultimately it makes sense – we need to be largely incognito to avoid notice from the Children of Solace. For the next few months, we’ll be living in some very basicaccommodations – tents and campfires, things that can be easily moved if the Children of Solace catches a whiff of our presence.

It’s a lifestyle I’m pretty used to – I’ve been helping mom and dad on these sorts of campaigns since I was a kid. But Grace and Shay, I know, will be in for much more of a surprise.

The transport slows, pulling us into a valley between two large crags with a surprisingly wide space between. The van stops and one by one we all hop down, move towards a large beige tent at the far end of the clearing. I look around at what I can see of the darkening night sky, wishing I had more daylight to take it all in.

The Alphas come too – most of them spread out around us in a circle, though Cole Kincaid takes the lead and strides forward to greet my father, who stands at the opening to the tent, a stack of booklets in his hands. The two greet each other warmly and I turn away, hating that dad is so subservient to these wolves who hate him merely because he’s human.

I mean, that goes a little far – they wouldn’t have raised dad to the position of General if they didn’t respect him. But still, deep down I know that there’s lingering contempt, even if the King and his men have tended to treat dad with respect.

As I turn away, I spot my friend Daniel, who disembarks from the other transport and waves cheerfully to me as he reaches up a hand to help his boyfriend Amari down from the truck. Amari looks around in wonder at all the craggy cliffs and wilderness, a little bit of horror in his expression. I laugh because Amari is – above all things – a city boy. I shake my head, wondering how the hell Daniel ever convinced him to volunteer for this.

“Nadia!” I turn my face back forward, smiling when I hear my dad call my name. I move forward to his open arms, giving him a big hug as he presses a kiss to my cheek. “How was the trip?”

“It was fine,” I say on a sigh, pulling back a little to give him a sad little smile. “Though you could have told mehewas going tobe here.“ I nod towards Cole’s retreating form as he heads into the tent.

Dad cocks an eyebrow at me, stern and demanding as he usually is. “Heis generously and uncomplainingly offering his expertise. Is that going to be a problem, Nadia?“ Dad pauses, studying me. “Because if so, you can leave at any time.”

I sigh, looking down and shaking my head, a little ashamed that I put my personal complaints over the mission. Dad is right, as usual – I need to concentrate on the big picture.

I feel dad’s hand warm on my shoulder and look back into his face. “I didn’t know until this morning,” he says softly. “Don’t let his presence throw you off, okay? You’re here for a job and so is he. It doesn’t need to be anything beyond that. Your focus should be on the people you’re helping.”

I nod deeply, willing myself to the task even as I know that it’s going to be…difficult. I have trouble, sometimes, letting my temper and my passions distract me from my work. But dad has always had my back, and I know he’ll have it again if I need it. When Cole brought me back from the train station, dad was frantic with worry – he hadn’t known where I’d run to. But assoonas I’d cried and told him I didn’t want to be there anymore, he’d made our excuses to the king and got me the hell out of there.

Dad has my back, always, and I’m so grateful for it.

Dad gives me a small smile, patting my shoulder and handing me one of the booklets in his arms. I take it, nodding seriously to him and determining to do as he says – focusing on the people who need my help.

Not stupid bully Alphas who follow me across the damncountryeven when I’ve made it very clear that I want to be left alone.

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