Page 43 of The Alpha Option
“Oh, please tell me you want to debate this a little longer,” Cassidy said. “I would get so much pleasure out of explaining to you that’s not how it’s going to shake down.”
A flash of anger lit Emma’s eyes. But she dipped her chin and looked down, nodding. “I’m sorry for my behaviour.”
She turned on her heel and left, Blue sauntering after her.
Cassidy watched her go. “That was weird.”
“That was being pack,” Jace pointed out.
“She’s not really sorry.”
“Absolutely not.”
“She’s going to make more trouble.”
Jace grinned and held out a hand. “Won’t that be fun?”
And as he led her down the beach toward where a game of volleyball had begun, Cassidy realized he was right.
Shewaslooking forward to giving Emma the smackdown she deserved. What a bizarre and yet absolutely perfect thing to anticipate.
Timberwolf Lodge was turning out to be a very entertaining experience.
15
Jace had missed this. So much more than he’d imagined.
Surrounded by pack members, the scent of barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs lingering on the air, the rush of voices and laughter everywhere—he’dmissedit.
While he’d been gone, he’d had chances to be around other wolves, but it hadn’t been home. They hadn’t beenhiswolves.
Today was a day for fun, but sometime very soon he and Del would have to face off and make it official because Jace was not giving this up. Not the chance to be a leader to a pack, and not the chance to lead with Cassidy.
He’d been woolgathering, Jace realized, standing at the end of the dock. It was a great place to observe the big picture but frankly a dangerous place to remain motionless without staying vigilant.
A fact he was reminded of abruptly as a pair of teenagers rushed him from the opposite side of the dock.
For a second, Jace teetered with one foot on the wooden surface, one in midair, then the three of them splashed into the lake like a multilegged cannonball.
The kids surfaced with shouts of delight.
“We rock.” Cora held a hand in the air, and Danny high-fived her.
Jace flipped his hair back out of his eyes, grinning with delight at their bravery. “Brats.”
“Yes,” Danny agreed, ducking under the spray of water Jace shot at him.
Up on the shore, Cassidy’s gaze brightened as it met his. Jace stared back, delighted at how much joy she was putting out into the universe simply being with the pack.
In the shallowest part of the lake, the youngest kids were crawling all over Marvin. Blue was helping supervise and lift kids up because Marvin was in his moose form. Children swarmed up his legs, then slid off his back into the water with shrieks of delight.
Little Dixie jumped up and down like a cricket below Marvin’s head, reaching up until she snagged her fingers in his bell, the beard-like skin under his moose chin. Jace tensed, but Blue was there, just in case.
Nothing needed. Marvin lowered his head as Dixie demanded, then stood absolutely still as the little girl scrambled up. She stepped carelessly on his nose and then between his eyes, pivoting to land behind his antlers.
She raised her little hands in the air and wiggled enthusiastically. “Giddyap.”
Jace and Cassidy exchanged amused glances again, and something else struck him hard and fast.
