Asher nodded with his mouth full.
“By the way, how is Tara?” Miles asked me from the other end of the couch.
I lifted my shoulder into a half shrug. “She’s okay, I think.”
“Still not talking to you?” Asher asked.
“No, she is. Just in short sentences. I’m not worried about it.” I wiped my hands with my napkin. My cousin Tara had been camping with us last month when I accidently raised a zombie bear. That’s right. Zombie bear. She freaked out. I don’t really blame her. I turned to Asher. “I explained everything going on to Rory, so he’s up to speed on your changes and the supernaturals that have come into town.”
Asher nodded. “Yeah, he called and lectured me about not telling him myself.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Well, you have backup to get you out of any situation in town.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what do you look like as a wolf anyway?” Isaac reached for another piece of pizza.
Ethan’s head snapped up. “Are there pictures? We need pictures of you as a wolf for the scrapbook.”
“We already missed his first run as wolf,” I added, turning to Miles. “Can you call Astrid? Ask her for pics of his next run? Save a few wolf hairs for posterity?”
Asher shook his head at us as we broke into laughter.
Isaac pulled out a small wrapped gift and tossed it to Asher. “Welcome home, man.”
Asher caught it against his chest. While he eyed the twins, he began to tear at the paper. “What is this?”
Ethan and Isaac shared a smirk before Ethan answered. “Oh, just something to help with the transition.”
Everyone watched as our new werewolf unwrapped a sparkling, blue leather dog collar. I snorted as the guys started laughing. Even Asher joined in. All the tension from earlier disappeared as everyone lost it.
I was wiping tears from my eyes when Ethan spoke up. “Read-read the tag!”
Asher was still chuckling as he flipped the tag over. He started laughing even harder. “‘If found, call Alexis.’ It actually has your number.” He shook his head. “You guys are such dicks.”
That set us off again. My stomach was hurting by the time that we settled down.
Asher sent Ethan a look across the coffee table.
Ethan nodded, his smile disappearing as he set his plate on the table. “Um, yeah… I’ve got something to tell you guys.”
Isaac shifted closer to his brother and pressed his shoulder against him.
“I’m not exactly human anymore,” Ethan announced.
Everyone but Asher and Isaac stared at Ethan in stunned silence.
My heart pounded. “Um. What?”
Ethan’s chocolate eyes met mine as he swallowed hard. “Ranulf and Astrid noticed it on the camping trip. I didn’t smell completely human to them anymore. They… they don’t know what I am. Or what the witches did to me.”
Miles leaned forward. “Is that all you’re basing this on? Their sense of smell?”
Ethan turned to Miles and shook his head. “I haven’t had my pain meds since New Orleans.”
The silence was deafening. Ethan hadn’t been able to go three hours…
Miles’ jaw grew tense. “You noticed a change two months ago?”
Ethan nodded.
“And you’re just telling us now?” Miles’ voice had an edge to it.
Ethan’s eyes started to boil. “I wasn’t ready to talk about it.”
I shook my head, trying to grasp what he was saying. “Okay, you’re not hurting, and they think you don’t smell human. That’s it?”
Ethan glanced at Zeke then back to me. “When Zeke pushed me on the camping trip, my hand came down on a burning log. No burns.”
I cursed. Zeke grew still.
“Are you okay?” I asked the only thing I cared about.
Ethan’s warm eyes met mine. “Yeah, I still feel like me.”
I nodded, still trying to process everything. “That’s all that matters.” Why the hell had Zeke pushed him?
Asher’s gaze was still on Ethan when he reached over and slipped his fingers around mine.
A heavy silence fell as all eyes turned to us. It took me a full heartbeat before I realized why. I pulled my hand back.
His fingers tightened, refusing to let me go.
I looked up at him. “Ash.”
His eyes refocused as he looked down at me. “Hmm?”
I squeezed his hand, reminding him.
Asher sighed and pulled away.
Miles’ ears were pink as he checked his watch. “We should probably talk about the dating schedule. As before, we agreed that no one would be openly affectionate around the rest of us.”
Everyone nodded. I resisted the urge to squirm in my chair.
“We know, Miles.” Isaac sighed. “Lexie will have a date night with each of us every week.”
“And it’ll be after homework, so we all still get to see her every day,” Ethan added. “We’ve talked about it a million times.”
“Who is busy on school nights?” Isaac asked the group.
“I’ve got band practice a couple of days a week.” Ethan wiped his fingers on a napkin.
“Are you still working at the climbing center?” Miles asked Asher as he pulled out a small notepad from his pocket.
Asher nodded with his mouth full.
“Isaac?” Miles asked, not looking up from his notes.
“Free all week,” Isaac muttered, paying more attention than he needed to his pizza.
Miles sent Zeke a look over the top of his glasses. “Zeke?”
“Not this week.” Zeke’s voice was rough. “But Fridays normally.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You took a week off?”
He avoided my gaze and nodded before setting his still full plate on the table. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it. And I didn’t push.
“Shouldn’t…” Isaac glanced at me before turning back to Miles. “Shouldn’t Red have a public boyfriend? You know, one of us that if someone asks her out, she can say, ‘sorry, I’m dating that guy.’”
Miles’ eyes unfocused. “That would stop any rumors that might start—”
“Fuck that,” I scoffed, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I’ll hold everyone’s hand and kiss every single one of you in front of the entire town.” I shook my head. “I’m not hiding what you guys mean to me.”
Smiles and grins spread around the group.
“Beautiful has spoken,” Ethan announced.
We chuckled.
The front door opened. Everyone turned in time to watch Jessica climb the stairs with a duffle bag.
Asher watched her disappear upstairs, his face growing serious. “I need to talk to Jess, guys.”
We got to our feet and started cleaning up. I set the one full pizza box in the kitchen while the others said goodbye. I was the last to stop at the front door Asher was holding open.
I smiled up at him before I glanced back at the guys talking on the sidewalk.
He closed the door a little more so they couldn’t see us. I went to my toes and brushed my lips with his. His lips moved against mine, making my blood rush from my head. I braced a hand in the middle of his firm chest. He took a slow, deep breath through his nose as his other hand moved to cover mine. He gently pulled my hand from his chest and tilted his chin away, leaving his forehead pressed against mine. “Careful, Ally. Really careful.”