“You should ask Darius about that,” she says, and the quickness of it tells me this isn’t a conversation she wants to have right now. Fair enough. I know what that feels like.
She disappears into a back room and comes out holding a puffy winter coat, overstuffed and ridiculous, and exactly the kind of thing I’d kill for when the temperature drops.
“Here,” she says, thrusting it at me. “It’s my old one. You can have it.”
I run my fingers over the fabric. Soft, down-filled. My throat goes tight, and I don’t understand why a coat is making me feel this way.
“Why are you all being so nice to me?”
“Because you’re pack now,” Lily says. Like it’s the simplest thing in the world.
I want to argue. I want to tell her I’m not pack and never will be. But the words stick in my throat, lodged behind something I can’t swallow down.
“Thanks,” I mumble.
Lily beams. “Come on. Let’s grab seats near the bonfire and snag some s’mores before they’re all gone!”
As she tugs me back outside, my mind races. All this kindness has to be a trap, right? That’s how it works. They give you things, feed you, make you feel safe, and then the other shoe drops, and you’re right back where you started. Except now it hurts worse because you let yourself believe it could be different.
The scent of burning wood hits me as we near the bonfire. Warm, smoky, familiar in a way that makes my wolf settle. I’m reaching for a chair when someone slams into me from the side, nearly knocking me off my feet.
“Watch it, bitch!” A shrill voice right in my ear.
I steady myself and come face-to-face with a snarling blonde. Pretty, in a mean sort of way. Blue eyes, sharp features, a body she clearly knows how to use. She’s radiating hostility, her scent sharp with jealousy and something territorial that my wolf recognizes immediately.
“Back the fuck off, Elias,” she spits. “He’s mine.”
I laugh. Genuinely laugh, which only makes her angrier. “You can keep him. I’m not interested.”
Her face twists. “Liar! I see how you look at him.”
“With disgust?” I roll my eyes. “You seem perfect for each other. But just so we’re clear, let me spell it out. I. Don’t. Want. Elias.”
She lunges at me, nails out. I sidestep easily, my wolf itching to put this girl on the ground, but I hold her back. Starting a fight at a community bonfire on my first day out probably wouldn’t help my case.
“Bitch,” she snarls. “He’s mine.”
“Are you slow?” I ask her. “I just told you I don’t want him.”
I say it very slowly, like I’m talking to someone who’s having trouble with basic comprehension.
But before I can walk away, Elias jogs over, all concern and honey-sweet bullshit.
“Pam, what’s going on?” he asks, then spots me and flashes that irritating grin.
“Tell this slut to stay away from you!” Pam shrieks.
Elias has the decency to look sheepish. “Pam, you and I, we were never really together. It was just a fling.”
My eyebrows shoot up. This is getting interesting.
“Besides,” he continues, slinging an arm around my shoulders, “I’m with Blue now.”
What. The. Fuck.
I shrug his arm off. “Excuse me?”
Elias gives me a look that’s probably supposed to be charming. And maybe it is—a little. I bury that observation deep where it can’t do any damage while my wolf pants inside me like a lovesick idiot.