Chapter Thirty

June

The warm day stirred me awake. I yawned, prying my eyes open. Slivers of sun fell between the wood slats of the shutters over Dom's chest. Bright, it was probably already midday. I groaned and tried to sit up straight, a sudden shock tearing through my heart as I felt the air on my naked body.

My clothes! Everything was at Linda's.

I put my hands over my face, cursing myself for not thinking to get something, anything, before the whole pack would be up and about. My only option now was the sweatshirt I had discarded somewhere in the bedroom.

"Mmm," Dom mumbled, rolling over and pulling me closer to him with an arm around my middle. "You okay?"

I sighed. "I don't have any clothes."

Dom sat up, sleepily wrapping his arms around me and kissing my neck. "I don't see the problem."

I nudged him off of me, fighting the urge to smile. "Of course you'd say that. But I would still like something to wear other than the shirt from last night."

Dom stretched, grunting. "I'll see if we have anything outside the door. 'S customary to leave us stuff."

I perked up at that. "Really? That would be fantastic."

"Hold on, let me check." Dom stood, walking out of the room and to the front door. I stared at his backside as he walked. I couldn't believe the things we'd done last night. All night .

By the time Dom came back inside, I was glowing remembering last night and basking in the feeling of the strange new things about my body. That shift was more difficult than tearing my quad, or at the very least it took a lot longer to deal with in the moment, but now I had this feeling inside me that both was and wasn't a part of me. My wolf. And this connection between me and Dom, it was alive and pulling my attention to the doorway as he came in. He took one look at me and the softest expression crossed his face, but he didn't say anything as he set a few bags on the bed. I was delighted to see my backpack was one of them.

"Better now?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, pulling shampoo from my bag. "Hallelujah!"

Dom poked through the other bags. Paper grocery bags, likely from the general store. "Some soap, towels, canned food. It'll definitely get us started. Make a list of anything else you want and we can figure it out later." I stiffened, remembering the last time we'd gone into town. "Should we bring someone with us? More numbers?"

Dom's expression darkened. "Yeah, we can do that. I'm still pissed about the whole thing, and now even more so. If anything had happened to you . . ."

"But it didn't," I said. "And now we're ready. We move in groups. We keep searching for answers. If Evander won't do anything about it, we will."

Mornin', kids , Smokey said, taking me completely by surprise. I shrieked and snatched my red backpack, clutching it in front of me as if Smokey could see me somehow.

"June," Dom mused. "It's just the link. You learned it last night, remember?"

I started pulling clothes out of my bag anyway. "Yeah, yeah, one of those things I'll get used to."

Hello, Smokey. What's up? Dom asked.

Alpha wants me to test June. Find out a little bit more about her wolf. Maybe place her somewhere if she's got any particular skills , Smokey said.

"I thought I was . . ." I cleared my throat, concentrating on the mind link. It was much harder to use that over my own voice when I had a human mouth to use.

I thought I was already a backup for Doc , I said.

And you are , he clarified . But if you're a natural warrior, or tracker, or beta, or anything else, we need to know that too.

Dom frowned. We're a brand-new pair, why the rush?

I don't question the alpha, so I wouldn't know. But, boy, I'd be on the alert now more than ever. You've got a mate to protect, and the plans you and Amelia got brewin'? Those will affect June.

Dom's eyes slid to me. His jaw tightened. When do you need her?

I'm sure it can wait 'til mornin' , Smokey said. Day's already half over anyway.

I blushed, averting my eyes from Dom with a sheepish grin.

We'll come to the training grounds together , Dom said . That okay with you, June?

I nodded. Yes.

All right. See you then , Smokey said, and then cut off the link.

"You take the first shower," Dom said. "I'm going to put all this stuff away."

"Great, and after that, you can catch me up on the finer details of your plans with Amelia and the others."

Dom ran a hand down his face. "You and Bianca have definitely affected those plans, I'll have to talk to the others to make sure we're all on the same page."

"You've learned by now I'm an inquisitive person. If you leave anything undetailed, I'm going to find out about it one way or another." I patted his bare chest as I walked by. "Be ready for that, mate ."

I winked before I shut the bathroom door on him. My heart was pounding. I was used to being a straightforward kind of person, but this felt like a little more than the usual June. Had I somehow gotten bolder? Was it the wolf?

Good! Good job.

I could feel her. My wolf, she thought we'd done the right thing. I smiled to myself and turned on the shower. While I was getting clean, I could somewhat hear Dom moving around the house. My ears were incredible, and even the shower was almost too loud for me now. That was something else I'd have to get used to.

Once I was fresh and clean and out of the bathroom, I found Dom in the kitchen making sandwiches. My stomach growled, and I realized I hadn't eaten anything since the deer leg last night.

"Feel better?" Dom asked.

I nodded, walking up to the counter where he was putting mustard on a slice of what looked like homemade bread. "Lunch?"

"There's venison or chicken. There's also mustard, hot sauce, mayo. Here, why don't you take a look?"

Dom moved aside, taking his plate with three sandwiches on it to the table. I almost asked him about it, but then realized exactly how much I'd been eating before my shift, and wondered if I'd have that kind of appetite forever now. In the end, I made two different kinds of sandwiches and joined him at the table.

"I shot a link to Amelia, she agrees we need to talk. The problem is, some of us can't link. Bianca, Jerod, and Carmine aren't Moonpeak," Dom said.

"Secret meeting then?" I asked. "Away from these wolf ears, of course."

"I'll arrange it for tomorrow night. You go with Smokey, nothing's going to happen to you under his watch, and I'll round everyone up when I can. We'll sort out the details together, we've got to be close to ready."

"All right then," I agreed. "Time to hear the plan."