fact, before I shook my head at the girl to bring her back into line.
The trouble twin flicked her long maroon tresses back over one shoulder in annoyance, but she conceded the point. Still, when she settled back down, the young woman made a point to slide closer to Lia as if she planned to protect her cousin with her life. “Let’s get on with it,” the redhead grumbled. “Can we vote Hunter out first?”
“No, Quill first,” I responded, ignoring the twin’s incendiary language. Truth be told, I hadn’t quite decided what I wanted to do about my own personal stalker, so the cowboy shifter seemed like an easier choice to start off with. “The question is, stay or go. Glen?”
My second-in-command shrugged. “Probationarily only, right?” he asked me. And, when I nodded, he mirrored my movement. “Okay, then. We could use more muscle around here. And we can always let Ginger beat him up if he sets his feet the wrong way.”
Glen had a good point. Our pack was light on wolf-power, with only him and the aforementioned Ginger really up to the task of protecting us from trouble in lupine form. Cinnamon was always willing to defend his sister’s back, but he was a lover not a fighter and tended to pull his punches. And Lia and I were, unfortunately, worse than useless in that department due to our half-blood heritage.
“Cinnamon?” I asked next, moving my gaze around the tent. The male trouble twin met my eyes for only a split second before turning to his sister and raising his eyebrows in question.
“Sure, I like him,” Ginger said, her voice purposefully loud as if she was speaking to Hunter rather than me. And her twin followed her lead, although without the attitude, voting in the affirmative as well.
We’d already reached the majority quorum required to allow Quill a spot in our clan, so the issue was pretty much settled. Sure, I had the right to overrule the others since I was technically the leader of our little pack. But, honestly, I liked the cowboy shifter too. He was polite, soft-spoken, and had paid for our campsite. He’d fit right in.
So I was shocked when I turned to Lia and found the girl shaking her head vehemently back and forth. Then, in the tiniest voice imaginable, she cast her vote. “No,” the girl whispered. “I don’t want Quill to come with us.”
***
“What did he do to you?” Cinnamon demanded, scaring Lia even more by grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around to face him. I expected Glen to counter this display with his usual voice of reason, but my most steadfast companion instead lunged forward as if he planned to latch onto the girl’s other arm and replicate the trouble twin’s assertive behavior.
Before the kid could get ripped in half—and before the swearing outside the tent grew any louder—I slapped the guys down with my mild alpha dominance. “ Stop it. ” The words wouldn’t hold them in place like Hunter’s would have, but at least the bee-sting-level compulsion should snap my pack mates out of their posturing.
Sure enough, Cinnamon and Glen both inhaled deeply, the former unhanding the kid and the latter merely pulling her in for a brief hug before letting her go as well. Hunter was still muttering under his breath outside, a dull rumble that circled the tent to stop mere inches away from our pack’s youngest member. But the uber-alpha seemed content to let me speak, so I ignored him and crouched down so my face was level with Lia’s. “ Did anything happen?”
The kid shook her head slowly and it took a moment for her to gather her thoughts. “No, I just don’t like the way he looks at me.” I could barely hear the words with my human ears, but I had a feeling Hunter had picked them up just fine by the way his swearing changed over to a deep growl. Our uninvited guest must have turned wolf in his agitation.
“Did Quill say anything?” I asked now. “Try to get you to go off alone with him? Touch you where he shouldn’t
The trouble twin flicked her long maroon tresses back over one shoulder in annoyance, but she conceded the point. Still, when she settled back down, the young woman made a point to slide closer to Lia as if she planned to protect her cousin with her life. “Let’s get on with it,” the redhead grumbled. “Can we vote Hunter out first?”
“No, Quill first,” I responded, ignoring the twin’s incendiary language. Truth be told, I hadn’t quite decided what I wanted to do about my own personal stalker, so the cowboy shifter seemed like an easier choice to start off with. “The question is, stay or go. Glen?”
My second-in-command shrugged. “Probationarily only, right?” he asked me. And, when I nodded, he mirrored my movement. “Okay, then. We could use more muscle around here. And we can always let Ginger beat him up if he sets his feet the wrong way.”
Glen had a good point. Our pack was light on wolf-power, with only him and the aforementioned Ginger really up to the task of protecting us from trouble in lupine form. Cinnamon was always willing to defend his sister’s back, but he was a lover not a fighter and tended to pull his punches. And Lia and I were, unfortunately, worse than useless in that department due to our half-blood heritage.
“Cinnamon?” I asked next, moving my gaze around the tent. The male trouble twin met my eyes for only a split second before turning to his sister and raising his eyebrows in question.
“Sure, I like him,” Ginger said, her voice purposefully loud as if she was speaking to Hunter rather than me. And her twin followed her lead, although without the attitude, voting in the affirmative as well.
We’d already reached the majority quorum required to allow Quill a spot in our clan, so the issue was pretty much settled. Sure, I had the right to overrule the others since I was technically the leader of our little pack. But, honestly, I liked the cowboy shifter too. He was polite, soft-spoken, and had paid for our campsite. He’d fit right in.
So I was shocked when I turned to Lia and found the girl shaking her head vehemently back and forth. Then, in the tiniest voice imaginable, she cast her vote. “No,” the girl whispered. “I don’t want Quill to come with us.”
***
“What did he do to you?” Cinnamon demanded, scaring Lia even more by grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around to face him. I expected Glen to counter this display with his usual voice of reason, but my most steadfast companion instead lunged forward as if he planned to latch onto the girl’s other arm and replicate the trouble twin’s assertive behavior.
Before the kid could get ripped in half—and before the swearing outside the tent grew any louder—I slapped the guys down with my mild alpha dominance. “ Stop it. ” The words wouldn’t hold them in place like Hunter’s would have, but at least the bee-sting-level compulsion should snap my pack mates out of their posturing.
Sure enough, Cinnamon and Glen both inhaled deeply, the former unhanding the kid and the latter merely pulling her in for a brief hug before letting her go as well. Hunter was still muttering under his breath outside, a dull rumble that circled the tent to stop mere inches away from our pack’s youngest member. But the uber-alpha seemed content to let me speak, so I ignored him and crouched down so my face was level with Lia’s. “ Did anything happen?”
The kid shook her head slowly and it took a moment for her to gather her thoughts. “No, I just don’t like the way he looks at me.” I could barely hear the words with my human ears, but I had a feeling Hunter had picked them up just fine by the way his swearing changed over to a deep growl. Our uninvited guest must have turned wolf in his agitation.
“Did Quill say anything?” I asked now. “Try to get you to go off alone with him? Touch you where he shouldn’t
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