Mountain of Bacon

The sound of snores pulls me from sleep, and since I'm awake now, I'm not the culprit, and I've never known Haut to snore.

Eyes opening, I find Tris wedged between me and Haut, looking way too cozy for his own good, with one arm draped over the other man's face.

When Haut growls, Tris stops snoring and sleepily pats his head. "Shh. Good puppy."

"How'd you even sneak in here?" Haut grabs Tris's arm, yanks him across his body, and tosses him off the side of the bed. "Go back to your own room."

Tris grumbles as he stumbles to his feet, rubbing his half-awake eyes. "That's a poor thank you for bringing in your luggage."

"Wait, what?" More awake now, I crawl halfway over Haut before his hand on my ass prevents me from going all the way. I spot our suitcases by the door. "How did our stuff get here?"

"Levi's people brought it in after you both went to sleep last night." Tris covers his mouth to mask a yawn. "They didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep, so they left it out in the hall."

Haut glowers at him. "So you thought you'd bring it into our room, and then crawl in to join us?"

"No, I thought I'd crawl into bed with you and grabbed the bags on my way in." Tris rubs his arms and shivers. "It was scary being all by myself."

Haut rolls his eyes. "Poor, baby."

"Hey, be nice. We almost died last night." I wiggle the rest of the way over Haut and tumble off the side of the mattress.

Springing to my feet, I hug Tris. "I'll sleep with you tonight, so the bad guys don't get you."

Tris cuddles me close. "You're the best, sparky."

Behind me, Haut growls. "Keep giving me that smug look, and I'll give you something to be afraid of."

"He's so mean. Comfort me, Rowe." Tris gropes my ass. "I'm even more scared now."

The growl rises in volume, and Haut throws back the blanket.

"Do you smell breakfast?" Tris releases me to open the door. "That's definitely coffee brewing. I'll just pop back over to my room to get ready. Toodles!"

Shivering, I hug my elbows. "Now I'm cold."

A big, warm body presses up behind me, and Haut turns me in his arms, tilting my head back. Light fingers graze over the lump on my face. "The swelling has gone down. How's your head?"

"Still on my shoulders." I wince at the gentle pressure. "Kind of wish it wasn't, though. Chop it off?"

"Never." He bends to press a tender kiss to my forehead. "Do you want to shower?"

Since I took one after dinner last night, I shake my head. "Too much hassle to deal with wet hair."

He rubs his scruffy cheek against mine. "Okay, dress while I take a quick one."

As he grabs his bag and heads into the bathroom, I heave my suitcase onto the end of the bed and pull out clothes. I'm not sure what we'll be doing today, but it will involve some interaction with nature, so I choose thick blue jeggings for warmth and a crimson-colored sweater so no hunters mistake me for a deer.

Is that a thing around Silver Hollow? Better safe than full of holes.

I sit on the edge of the mattress to unravel my braid and brush a bit of oil through my curls to tame the frizz. Haut steps out of the bathroom in a pair of black sweatpants and a T-shirt. By now, the smell of bacon drifts under the door, and I hurry past him to clean my teeth.

The sound of the door opening comes from the other room, followed by Tris's voice. "Stop growling. My toothbrush is in here."

My BFF appears in the doorway, and Tris joins me at the sink, digging out his toothbrush from the toiletries bag. Water from a recent shower darkens his sandy-blond hair, which he had brushed back from his handsome face.

Golden-brown eyes meet mine in the mirror, and he smiles, toothpaste drooling out of his mouth. "See something you like?"

Nodding, I rinse and set my toothbrush next to Haut's on the counter. "A slowpoke who will be last to the bacon."

"Hey!" His garbled shout follows me out of the bathroom.

I grab Haut's hand and pull him out into the hall. "Quick! To the bacon!"

"Don't run." Haut tightens his grip to slow me down. "No jostling your head."

"It's not the first time my brain has been scrambled." I release his hand to go ahead without him, but he catches my fingers in an iron vise. Whining, I strain to escape him. "Bad puppy, there's bacon."

"Werewolf house." He drags me backward to walk by his side. "Stranger danger."

"Sucks to be you!" Tris shoots past us and skids around the corner of the hall on sock-covered feet. "Bacon, get into my belly!"

I slap at Haut, but the man is made of stone. "You better save me some, sparky!"

Pace frustratingly normal, we follow our noses to the dining room, where we find Levi and his bond mates already eating breakfast. Tris sits beside Levi, holding a platter piled high with bacon and sausage.

These werewolves eat their weight in smoked meats.

Levi lifts a steaming mug toward us in greeting. "Don't worry, there's more than enough for everyone."

Griffen passes Tris a tall stack of French toast, then gestures toward a smaller man with untidy brown, wavy hair and golden eyes. "Let me introduce you once again to my bond mate, Ezra."

"Glad to see you're better this morning." Ezra gestures to the table laden with food. "Please, help yourselves."

"Thank you." I take a seat and pile crispy bacon onto my plate before passing it to Haut and taking the French toast.

Tris fills the glass in front of me with orange juice and sets a mug of black coffee in front of Haut.

As we eat, Ezra tells us, "Your van was towed into town last night, but it will take a while to fix."

"Figures." Tris's knee bumps against mine under the table. "We could always buy Barron a new one."

I glance at Griffen. "Does Silver Hollow have a car dealership?"

"Unfortunately, no. You'd have to drive two cities over for that." Griffen grimaces. "We can give you a loaner, though, if your van isn't ready by the time you need to head back to Hartford Cove. Levi can come pick it up."

Haut smacks my hand away from his coffee. "That's generous of you. We appreciate it."

"It's the least we can do after you came all this way." Griffen's lips flatten into an unhappy line. "We tried to track the monster that attacked you last night and again at dawn, but we couldn't find a trace of the beast. It's using something to hide its tracks. Otherwise, our trackers would have found something."

"Levi is having trouble describing the creature." Ezra glances between us. "Did any of you get a better look?"

Look is too strong of a word for what I saw.

Haut and Tris exchange looks before Haut speaks up. "It was more like an absence of light. A void."

I nod in agreement. "It was cold, too, like an ice cream headache without the delicious frozen treat."

"Yes." Tris shivers. "That's exactly how I'd describe it."

"And malevolent." When I scoot closer to Haut, his arm encircles me. "It wanted me dead."

"There was a man following us." Tris hooks his foot around mine. "He tracked us to the hotel, let the air out of our tire, and then tried to stab Rowe at the gas station."

"The same person who attacked you in the woods?" Griffen asks.

"That or an accomplice." Haut shrugs. "I don't suppose the car that ran us off the road was still there when you went back for our van?"

"No, we weren't that lucky." Ezra sips his coffee. "What did the man look like?"

"Brown hair, crazy eyes." I frown in thought. "Young-ish. I'd recognize him again if I saw him."

"We'll increase our perimeter patrol and make sure nothing gets through the barrier." Griffen rubs his chin. "In the meantime, you should all be careful."

Haut turns to Levi. "What do you remember about the monster that attacked us?"

"Just darkness until you three lit up like stars and started moving as one person." His focus shifts between us. "Is that something you guys do often?"

Confused, I glance at Tris and Haut. "Did we do that?"

"It was new." Haut strokes my hair. "We'll talk to Aspen about it."

"Sometimes Rowe can share her magic with us." Tris wraps a piece of French toast around his last sausage. "Sometimes it's a boost of energy, and sometimes it's weird night vision."

"That's amazing." Levi shakes his head. "The local coven will be eager to make your acquaintance, I'm sure."

I groan. "You didn't tell them about the glowing thing, did you?"

Levi smiles. "No I did not, ma'am. But I'm not the only one who saw the light."

"Our pack has been told not to speak to anyone about what's happening." Griffen grimaces in apology. "But rumors have a way of spreading."

Tris chuckles and leans in close, tapping the tip of my nose playfully. "Don't worry about it, my amazing little spark."

A tiny blue spark drifts into the air as he pulls away. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one people are gossiping about."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Ezra lifts his mug to hide his smile. "A witch mated to four different races of the paranormal world… There's been a lot of speculation about all of you."

Laughing, Tris reaches past me to punch Haut's bicep. "Hear that? We're famous."

"Great." The corner of his lips twitch. "Even more reason for women to flock to you."

A gasp of realization escapes me, and I twist to glare at Tris. "You're staying in the house. We are not having another kidnapping attempt on our hands."

"Kidnapping attempt?" Ezra moves his empty plate to the side and refills his coffee. "That sounds like a good story."

"It is." Tris leans forward. "It all began when I was cursed to be a wolf shifter, and Rowe and I were on the run during our honeymoon…"

As we bounce down the dirt road in Levi's Jeep, driving into town, a thrill of excitement fills me to explore this new place. Sure, we're here on a dire mission to save this small part of the world, but there are cat shifters here. How cool is that?

The dirt road gives way to a paved one lined by trees that opens into a village of charming cottages plucked straight from a storybook. Flowers bloom in every corner, their sweet scent wafting through the air. We pass a tall, two-story building with a literal shingle hanging over the sidewalk announcing the local library.

Tris leans forward to peer through the windshield. "This town is seriously cute."

"This is the historic district." Levi chuckles. "It's more modern up ahead."

I turn from the picturesque view. "Isn't the pack compound the historic district?"

"Well, technically, I suppose you're right." He gestures to a row of colorful cottages. "This is where the coven made their home. The library was originally their gathering space, and the coffee shop was a communal place to share meals."

"That sounds a lot like the compound," Haut says.

"Yeah, except they evolved, so we didn't have to. This is the clinic." He parks in front of a single-story building that looks more like somebody's house than a medical facility.

"I'm so jealous." Tris practically drools when he sees the sign for a proper doctor's office and not a vet clinic. "No more sharing examination rooms with wolves!"

I nudge him. "You wouldn't be allowed to work there as a nurse if we had a real clinic."

He smirks at me. "I'd make a hot secretary, and you know it."

"Should have left him at home." Haut hops out of the front of the Jeep. "Clinics mean nurses."

Every image of a hot nurse uniform pops to the forefront of my mind, and I glare at Tris.

"What did I do?" He opens his door. "He's pressing your buttons, you know."

"I'm aware, but it doesn't mean it's not true." I scoot across the bench seat to slide out on Tris's side and latch onto his arm. "You stay with me. No wandering off."

"Gladly." He bends to kiss the top of my head. "Nowhere else I'd rather be."

Having heard all the gossip of Tris's bad habit of attracting evil women, Levi chuckles as he leads us into the doctor's office.

A pretty receptionist greets Levi and waves us to the back, where we find Aspen in a hospital bed, his leg bandaged and attempting to pull on a pair of scrub pants.

A stern-looking doctor hovers next to him. "Really, I must advise you to keep your leg elevated. The lacerations?—"

"Are fine." Aspen pulls the scrubs up. "The poultice is quickening the healing process."

"Which won't stop your wounds from ripping back open," the doctor counters, clearly not amused by Aspen's determination to leave.

"Look, I appreciate your concern, but I can't just lie here while my friends are…." Aspen catches sight of us in the doorway. "Here to collect me."

"Your wound requires time to heal." The doctor spins toward us. "He needs to rest and keep his leg elevated."

"I agree." Before the doctor can look too relieved, I add, "But he doesn't know the meaning of that word. Maybe if we stop by the library, we can look it up, and he can write it down in his grimoire."

"Very funny." Aspen turns his back to us as he shrugs out of his hospital gown. A black and blue bruise that paints his left side, which he covers with the top of his borrowed scrubs. "What's the news about…" He glances at the doctor. "Our van?"

"It's being repaired at the shop." Levi steps forward, edging the doctor out of the way. "We'll settle you at the pack house, where you can keep that leg elevated."

"Fine." The doctor pinches the bridge of his nose. "Please see that he doesn't walk on it too much. Stitches and poultices only go so far."

"Noted." Without hesitation, Levi bends and scoops Aspen up, bridal style.

Aspen flails before latching his arms around Levi's neck. "This isn't necessary."

"Doctor's orders." Levi strides for the door, and I snatch Aspen's wand off the wheeled lap table, the thin piece of wood humming at my touch.

"I'll trust you to keep him off his feet." The doctor follows Levi out into the hall, and we trail after. "But if I hear that you've been putting any strain on that leg, I will escort you back here myself. Understand?"

Aspen waves over Levi's broad shoulder. "Message received, loud and clear."

"Send the bill to the pack house," Levi instructs the secretary as he sweeps past.

Haut lengthens his stride to reach the entrance first and holds open the door.

Once Levi settles Aspen in the front seat, I return Aspen's wand, and the rest of us pile into the back, with me on Haut's lap.

Aspen grunts with pain as he buckles in, then twists to stare at us. "Now, catch me up on what the hell we're dealing with."