“Oh, hell, she’s not bringing Whatshername again, is she? Mona? Monica?”
“After the way you treated her, not likely. Your rudeness knew no bounds, Vaughn,” I scolded.
Vaughn extended his middle finger in my direction. “Why does that woman want to set me up? I am not interested in bonding with anybody who’s in the same pack as her. I’d have to see her smiling all the goddamn time if I joined her pack.”
“Get used to it, mate,” advised Murphy. “For three years people kept trying to set me up before I finally got cornered by Stanzie.”
“Asshole, I did not corner you,” I mumbled under my breath as Vaughn burst into reluctant laughter.
“Sure you did,” Murphy teased. “There I was, Vaughn, minding my own damn business at the first night banquet at the Great Gathering, and who comes waltzing over to my table on the arm of Councilor Allerton but the woman sitting between us today. And Allerton, wasn’t he the last one in a long line of busybodies who relentlessly tried to pair me up with somebody? And her in this red dress looking so beautiful I couldn’t even swallow my wine.”
“You knew then you wanted to bond with her?” Vaughn didn’t know the story. He wasn’t aware of the conspiracy within the Great Pack. He thought Callie had done what she had solely to recapture Alpha status within Riverglow so she could have a baby. There was no reason for him to know about the conspiracy, and I wasn’t about to add to his already heavy burden of grief and betrayal.
“Hell no, I ran the other way.” Murphy grinned broadly, and when I stuck my tongue out at him, he winked.
“You were obnoxious.”
“Didn’t I know I was destined to bond with the woman the first time I saw her?” Murphy let his Irish accent show more than usual and I tried not to grimace because he was so full of shit. He put on a show for Vaughn but it hurt my feelings because I secretly wanted him to be telling the truth. Somewhere along the line over the past six months with this man, I’d fallen in love. His heart, however, still firmly belonged to his dead bond mate, Sorcha. It didn’t mean he wasn’t fond of me, devoted even, but of course I wanted more.
“You’re so full of Irish blarney, Murphy.”
The skin around Murphy’s eyes crinkled when he smiled at me. “You don’t believe me?”
“Not one word.”
He gave me that damn infatuated look again which about drove me mad. “You should, because I’m telling you the truth.”
Our gazes locked and I felt a strange clutch at my heart. “We’d better go if we want to be back before Kathy gets there.”
My muscles gave a protesting twinge as I rose. I gulped down water in the hope it would do me some good.
Murphy, damn him, did not seem sore at all, even though he’d drunk as much wine as I had. Of course he was taller and heavier than me, but it still did not seem in the least bit fair.
* * * *
Our cheery yellow, two-family condo was in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston. Ours was the upstairs unit.
Kathy Manning stood by the front steps and we saw her when we rounded the corner of our street.
Although she was at least fifty years old, because she was Pack she didn’t appear to be much past twenty-five, thirty tops.
Dressed in a pair of cream tailored pants and blazer with a turquoise blue shell top beneath it, she fiddled in her oversize brown leather Coach bag. Her shoes were plain caramel Gucci flats with cute little leather bows on the toe. A gold tennis bracelet gleamed from one wrist, and her bond pendant hung from a fine link gold chain that encircled her throat. A Macy’s shopping bag rested at her feet, which made Murphy’s eyes gleam. He obviously hoped the bag contained something edible and sweet.
She was aware of us the moment we turned the corner even though we were still more than half a block away. Aside from a slight stiffening of her body, she ignored us and continued to poke around in her bag.
As we approached, she stopped rummaging in her bag and straightened. She gave us all one of her bright smiles and I was reminded of an elf. Barely topping five feet, she had short, pixie-cut brown hair and slanted gray-blue eyes. Her makeup was minimal yet effective.
“Hello, Vaughn.” She singled him out, much to his dismay.
“Councilor Manning.”
“Vaughn, dear, what can you tell me about Maplefair? There’s a situation brewing there and unfortunately Vermont’s Regional Councilor has just moved up to the Great Council and somehow I’ve been asked to handle things. It’s rather awkward for me at the moment because I don’t have an Advisor since mine was voted Alpha of our pack last month.”
She flashed a smile at me and Murphy because we were Advisors to Councilor Jason Allerton. He served on the Great Council which oversaw the entire Pack and also the Regional Councils across the world. She was also Allerton’s mistress and had, for some reason, decided to watch over the three of us.
“Why ask me about Maplefair? I haven’t belonged to that pack in twenty years.” Vaughn’s tone was suspicious and Murphy gave him an interested look.
“Well, you were quite close with the pack’s Alpha female at the last Regional, weren’t you? I thought you might still be in contact.” Kathy’s smile was bright and innocent.
Dull spots of color burned Vaughn’s cheeks. “It was two Regionals ago, actually, and all we did was hunt together. We’re not exactly best buds, Councilor.”
“Call me Kathy,” she invited with a coquettish toss of her head. Vaughn gritted his teeth.
“You initiated her wolf years ago, didn’t you?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. What is this? So I initiated her wolf and I went on a Great Hunt with her fifteen years after that. What are you trying to say? I don’t stay in touch with her. I don’t stay in touch with anyone in Maplefair.” Vaughn’s fists clenched and Murphy took a step closer to him, disturbed by the tension. Whether he meant to protect Kathy or form a united front against her I wasn’t sure.
I tried not to gape. Vaughn had hunted with Jossie Wilbanks? Since when? After he’d initiated her wolf, Jossie had thrown herself at him, intent on persuading him to sever ties with Peter and Callie so he could bond with her. He’d wanted no part of that.
Jossie and I had been good friends when we were teens, but things had gotten weird between us after the initiation of her wolf. She’d been determined to bond with Vaughn, and I’d been mortified at the brazen things she’d done when it was clear he wasn’t interested.
Then I’d met Grey. We’d joined Riverglow and Vaughn became my pack mate. Jossie had tried to use my access to Vaughn to her advantage and I’d been caught in the middle.
We’d had a huge fight when I’d bluntly told her it was never going to happen between her and Vaughn. A year later she’d announced her intentions to bond with Nate Carver, who was a fifth-generation member of Maplefair, Vaughn’s birth pack.
When I’d accused her of bonding with Nate only because he was Maplefair, we’d had another huge falling out and she hadn’t spoken to me for a long time.
Out of the blue one year, she’d sent me a Christmas card and we’d patched things up as best we could—mostly through the mail.
Through it all Vaughn had refused to have anything to do with her.
Yet he’d hunted with her? Slept with her at a Regional and shifted with her? That was quite a reversal, and he was defensive as hell about it.
My mind boggled.
Kathy picked up the Macy’s bag and handed it to Murphy. When we went inside, Vaughn trailed behind us.