Page 6 of Wolves & Watercolors
“It’s fine, I’m listening now. Just thinking about things,” I say, raising my chin and meeting Slate’s intense gaze.
“So what’s the emergency?” Hawthorne asks Hazel, his tone gentle as if he was soothing his toddler.
Hazel doesn’t appreciate being treated delicately. Her eyes narrow in irritation and the emotion rolls off her through thepack bond. With her hormones so strong, her influence and dominance are at an all-time high. My wolfish instincts whisper in the back of my mind to bow to her, but that would piss her off even more.
“My sister showed up twenty minutes ago,” she says flatly.
The human sister from California? That’s unexpected.
“She wanted to be here for the baby arriving,” Slate explains. “We put her in Heath’s cabin.”
The door opens again and the former Alpha strides in, a wide smile on his face. “Sorry, it took longer than expected to get her settled, but she seems content for now.”
“Great,” Hazel says, sarcasm edging her words.
“I know you didn’t plan on a visitor, but it’ll be fine,” Heath says, taking the spot beside her.
“When I first showed up, it caused a lot of problems,” Hazel quips. “This isn’t the best time to be playing at being a forest ranger and hiding our wolves. What if she sees something?”
Heath shrugs. “Then she finds out. We’ve negotiated for human family members of wolves to have immunity, so she’s in no danger.”
“Except it’ll freak her out and she’s a lot to handle on a good day.”
“We won’t let her,” I say. I’ve got to do something to ease Hazel’s discomfort. Even if it wasn’t for the pack bond pulsing in my chest, she’s still my friend. “We can keep things quiet, make sure everyone knows to shift far into the woods and to watch their conversations.”
“That’s what we did when you arrived,” Slate says, smiling in the way he only reserves for his mate. Hazel relaxes against him, their connection dulling her agitation.
“You’re right,” Hazel says. “But I’d prefer she didn’t find out her sister is a shifter. It’s a risk we don’t have to take and I have no idea how she’d react.”
Hawthorne pulls out his phone. “I’ll communicate with the other packs and make sure no one shows up unexpectedly.”
“I’ll make sure the rest of our pack knows what to do,” I add, knowing it’s what my father would do in this situation.
“Lazuli and Cassia are already talking to the patrol, so you just need to handle the unranked wolves,” Hazel says, her mouth a grim line.
“Everything will be fine. You can enjoy a nice visit with your sister and relax until the baby comes,” Slate says, turning Hazel’s hand over in his own and massaging it.
“Relax,” she repeats, eyebrows shooting up.
“Yes, relax,” Slate reiterates, waves of calm emanating from him.
“Fine,” Hazel says, exhaling loudly. “Someone text Jasper, please. My phone keeps giving me a headache.”
“No problem,” Hawthorne says. Jasper, Slate’s brother and Beta, spends part of his week in Onyx and Ember’s pack, helping them to rebuild alongside my parents. But if our pack is playing host to a human, he needs to know sooner rather than later.
“She’s going to want to hike and see nature. We’ll need to make sure someone is with her, obviously,” Hazel says.
“We’ve got it,” Heath answers, his low voice soothing. “We’ve got plenty of people who can keep an eye on her. You don’t need to do anything but enjoy seeing her.”
Slate gives a grateful smile to his mentor. “See? Everyone can handle this. We’ve done it before, remember?”
“Yeah, and how did that turn out?” Hazel says, rolling her eyes. “It took less than a week for me to discover what you were and then get myself kidnapped.”
“It worked out pretty well in the end.” Slate kisses his mate’s wrist, drawing a tired smile from her.
“Should we be concerned she is going to turn out to be a shifter too?” I ask, concerned no one has considered this possibility.
Everyone looks to Heath. As the retired Alpha, he is the most qualified to answer. He scrubs at his chin. “I don’t think so. Hazel was triggered by trauma and being claimed by her mate. Even if Aurora is latent, which I think is unlikely, it shouldn’t manifest from a proximity alone.”
