Page 19 of The Alpha Option
“We did five days’ good work in less than twelve hours,” Stephanie corrected. She’d already chugged the entire water bottle and now stood with a groan. “Every party needs a pooper, and tonight, that’s me. I did most of the driving the four days before this, and I am done. I’m going to soak in that freshly scrubbed bathtub and then crawl into my bed with the freshly washed sheets, and if you see me before noon, it’s not really me. It’s the ghost of me, looking for coffee.”
Blue bounced to his feet. “I’ll walk you to the house.”
Stephanie eyed him. “Because it’s so far.” She glanced at the door less than twenty feet away, back at the fire, then at the door again. “How shall I find my way without your assistance?”
“I know where there’s a hidden chocolate stash.” Blue stood stock-still as Stephanie all but jumped at him. “I’ll take that as a yes. Good night, Cassidy. Night, Jace. I’m going to run back to my place and pack up some things. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Her best friend and Jace’s cousin disappeared into the house. A minute later, Blue appeared again, waved, and then sauntered off up the road. Hands in his pockets, whistling merrily as he walked into the forest.
“Huh.”
Jace pulled one of the chairs closer to the fire before twisting so he faced Cassidy. “What’s up?”
“Just a little confused,” Cassidy confessed. “I could’ve sworn Blue was hitting on Stephanie, which was going to be very interesting to watch considering… Well, consideringStephanie. But he honestly went in, showed her where the chocolate was stashed, then left.”
“He’s a complicated man, our Blue.” Jace caught her ankles and lifted her feet into his lap. After undoing her laces, he slipped off her shoes.
“What are you doing? Oh. My.God.” Cassidy all but melted into her chair because he’d dragged his thumbs along the sole of her foot and all the little nerve endings there pumped their hands in the air, cheering madly.
“It’s been a long day. And you don’t want chocolate.” Jace said it softly, the sexy low hum in his voice sending other parts of her body into raising their hands and cheering as well.
“Already had chocolate. This is better.”
She sounded drunk, but who cared? As long as he kept doing that thing he was doing. Or maybe he should be doing the thing he was doing to more than her feet—
Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts considering she’d just met the man and he was hugely tangled in everything she needed to deal with in the days to come. But even theideaof his hands touching more places turned her on.
He chuckled softly. “You just made some amazing faces. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Far too much, and none of it logical,” she complained.
“Why does it have to be logical?”
Good question, considering she was talking to a man who could turn into a wolf and all. “Tell me more about the wolf thing.”
Thank goodness the man could multitask. His hands didn’t stop moving. “What specifically? It’s a pretty big topic.”
“What do you call yourself? Are there a lot of you here in Alberta? I’d assume you’d prefer to live in the country, but I know some of you must live in the city.”
He pushed extra hard and interrupted her questions because she was too busy moaning to speak. “Before I have to write a ten-page novel, let me knock those off. We saywolves.Werewolves, sometimes.Shiftersdefinitely works because then you can add a designation of what type. Wolf shifter, cat shifter, cougar, eagle.”
“Ah. All predators.”
Jace paused. “Not exactly. Nothing that can’t hold its own. Like, if you’re looking for hamster shifters, it’s not happening. And for the life of me, I still have not figured out the physics of the eagles and hawks with their weight-to-mass ratio. I will say, every avian shifter I’ve ever met has been fucking huge in their animal form and on the short side in their human form but packed with muscles, like walking brick shithouses.”
So many questions—she hadn’t even thought about the size difference between the two forms.
“How come you know about shifters?” Jace asked.
He was squeezing her toes, and it felt really good and really close to ticklish, which meant she smiled as she answered, “I saw someone shift. It was unexpected but in a situation and setting that I absolutely was not allowed to freak out, so I didn’t. But the person didn’t know how or why either, so for years, Stephanie and I have known it’s possible but not any details.”
And that was all she was going to say, at least for now.
A furrow formed between his brows. “You’re not telling me something.”
“Isn’t it a wonderful feeling?” she teased before leaning forward and laying her hand over his. “Sorry. I’m not being mysterious to be annoying. It’s not my secret to tell, but I promise to ask for permission to share as soon as possible.”
“That works.”
