Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

P anting, Paige rounded a cabin, and her heart almost stopped.

Given how easily Conleth had been staying ahead of Archie—while running backward , no less—Paige hadn’t expected her brother to actually manage to catch him. Yet there was the camp manager, flat on his back, arms full of struggling, snarling bear.

“Archie, no! ” she yelled. She lunged for her brother, dragging him off by the scruff of his neck. “Conleth, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Conleth pushed himself up, wincing. “Just made a small miscalculation. I really should have thought that through. Is Archie all right?”

“No, Archie is in deep trouble.” Paige released her brother, jabbing a finger at the ground. “Stay there. I mean it.”

Even in his current semi-feral state, Archie knew he’d crossed a line. The bear flattened into a furry puddle, like a very contrite rug.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” Paige asked Conleth. Shifters were tough, but he had just taken a grizzly to the chest. “Maybe we should take you to the infirmary.”

“No need.” Conleth tugged at his jacket, which now had long rips down the front where Archie’s claws had caught in it. “I really am fine. Not sure I can say the same for this suit, though. That might need last rites and a decent funeral.”

“I am so, so sorry.” She brushed at the fur plastered across his shirt, as though that was going to help. “I’ll pay for the damage, of course.”

Though she had no idea how. Could you take out a mortgage on a suit?

“Paige.” Conleth’s hand covered hers, flattening her palm against his chest. Her heart stuttered again, though for a very different reason. “It’s all right. Don’t worry about the suit. But we need to talk. In private.”

Archie growled.

The sound broke her paralysis. Paige yanked her hand out from under Conleth’s, turning to her brother.

“I don’t want to hear one word out of you.” She folded her arms, glaring at him. “Go to your cabin. We’ll talk about this later.”

Archie’s ears flattened, but he knew better than to argue when she used that tone. The bear slunk off reluctantly. Paige watched long enough to make sure he was really gone, then hurried after Conleth.

I am so, so fired.

She’d been worried that Archie’s lack of control over his bear would cause problems over the summer. But even in her darkest nightmares, she’d never imagined he might get himself kicked out before camp even started.

‘Mauling the manager’ would probably do it.

Conleth led the way back to the building where they’d first met, which turned out to be the camp office. The interior was plain but functional, outfitted with two desks and shelves of color-coded files. He shut the door behind them.

“Sit down before you faint.” Conleth seated himself behind the larger desk, gesturing at a chair on the other side. “You look like you’re the one who just got run over by a bear.”

Paige sat, locking her hands together on her lap to stop them from shaking. “I really am sorry about Archie. And I take full responsibility for his actions. I know he’s broken about a million camp rules, but please don’t expel him. He’s really, really needs this summer.”

“Paige, it’s all right,” Conleth said gently. He leaned his arms on the desk, nothing but understanding in those green eyes. “I didn’t call you in here to kick you both out of camp. I have brothers myself. One very much like yours, in fact. I know what it’s like.”

Paige let out a shaky breath. “Thanks. You’re a saint.”

“I’m really not.” He drummed his fingers against his desk. “We do, however, have a problem.”

“It won’t happen again,” she said quickly. “I’ll make sure Archie understands his behavior was completely unacceptable.”

Conleth shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. Archie seems to think there’s something going on between us.”

Oh God, she wanted to sink through the floor. “I’m so sorry. He’s somehow got this crazy idea that shifters can literally fall in love at first sight. I think some of the other campers must have been having some fun at his expense last year. He’ll believe anything, especially if it comes from an older boy.”

She’d expected Conleth to laugh at Archie’s gullibility, or at least raise his eyebrows. Instead, his expression went absolutely neutral. He regarded her in silence for a long moment, fingers tapping out a rapid, staccato rhythm.

All he said was: “Hmm.”

“I tried to tell him it was nonsense, but he didn’t believe me. As far as Archie is concerned, I’m just his boring big sister who doesn’t know anything.” Paige sighed. “To be fair, when it comes to shifters, he’s not wrong.”

Conleth leaned back in his chair, gaze resting on her thoughtfully. “I take it Archie is the only shifter in your family?”

“Until he transformed for the first time, I didn’t even know shifters existed. It was a shock to our mom, too.”

“Ah.” Conleth shifted position. “My apologies if this is a sensitive subject, but I take it Archie’s father is not in the picture.”

“No,” Paige said shortly, not wanting to get into that mess. “She hasn’t exactly had much luck in men.”

“Evidently,” Conleth said, eyebrows drawing down. “He didn’t tell her he was a shifter? Or try to get in contact later?”

“Not as far as I know.”

Conleth made a disapproving sound. “Irresponsible of him, and that’s being charitable. But I’m getting distracted. It seems the situation is even more complicated than I thought. We really do have a problem, Paige. Archie’s clearly convinced I have a terminal case of this so-called mating fever.”

“I’ll try to make him see sense. Though he might be more willing to listen to another shifter. Do you think one of his old counselors could speak to him about it? Set him straight?”

Conleth covered his mouth. Sounding somewhat strangled, he said, “You want me to ask Buck to give your little brother the birds-and-the-bees talk?”

“Not a good idea?”

“Under most circumstances it would be the very best of ideas.” Conleth scrubbed his palm across his face, then dropped his hand back to the desk. “Alas, not in this particular case. Since Archie is not, in fact, wrong.”

Paige stared at him. “ What? ”

“He may have come up with his own unique terminology, but he’s correct in broad essentials. For shifters, soulmates are very real. Call it pheromones or instinct, but a shifter instantly knows when they’ve met the right person. Their fated mate, their one perfect match.” His gaze met hers briefly, then skipped away. “And when we do, we experience certain…urges.”

No. Oh no, no, no.

The whole world seemed to drop out from under her. Surely he couldn’t be about to tell her she ? —

“There’s no need to look like that,” Conleth said dryly, though Paige couldn’t even begin to guess what her face had been doing. “I was speaking of shifters in general. I’m not about to ravage you against the nearest wall in an uncontrolled fit of animal passion, if that’s your concern.”

Paige had a sudden mental image of Conleth doing that exact thing.

“Uh,” she said. “No. I’m not…concerned about that.”

“But Archie is.” Conleth swiveled his office chair from side to side, still drumming his fingers against the desk. “That presents us with something of a conundrum.”

Paige tried to focus her thoughts on her brother rather than Conleth in the grip of some primal mating urge. “Can’t you simply tell him I’m not your mate?”

He gave her a sardonic look. “Do you think he’d believe me?”

“Probably not,” Paige had to admit. “Once he’s got hold of an idea, he tends to hang onto it.”

Conleth nodded. “He’d think I was lying, in order to fool him into relaxing his guard. Your brother is understandably protective of you. That’s another shifter instinct, unfortunately. We defend our families just as fiercely as we do our mates. More so, even.”

No wonder the man was looking so twitchy. Paige would be too, faced with the prospect of an entire summer dodging bear attacks.

“I’ll do my best to explain things to Archie,” she assured him. “Though, uh…please don’t take this the wrong way, but it would help if we avoided each other in the future. That way, he’ll be able to see for himself that there’s nothing going on.”

“Ah.” His fingers tapped faster. “I was afraid you’d say that. Unfortunately, it won’t be possible.”

“Why not?” She couldn’t imagine that a man in charge of managing the whole camp would have much to do with a lowly counselor like herself. “It’s a big camp, and it’s not like we’ll be working together.”

“As a matter of fact…” Conleth opened a laptop, turning it around to show her the screen. “We will.”

Paige found herself looking at an organizational chart showing the camp’s staff. There was a long list of counselors… but her own name wasn’t included. Instead, it was a little off to one side, under a different title: STAFF LIAISON.

“Staff liaison?” she said in confusion. “I thought I’d been hired as a regular counselor.”

“There were some last-minute assignment changes.” A slightly pained look flashed across Conleth’s face. “Something which seems to happen a lot around here. I don’t know if Archie told you about the issues we had with staffing last summer, but this year we made sure to hire a few more counselors than we actually need to supervise the children. So rather than being assigned to lead a pack, you’ll have other duties at camp.”

“Oh.” Paige wasn’t sure what to make of the sudden hollow sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Okay.”

She’d become accustomed to Conleth’s restless fidgeting; the way those beautiful hands were always in motion. Now, however, he went absolutely still.

When he spoke, there was a new note in his voice; something that she couldn’t quite name. “You sound disappointed.”

“No!” The last thing she needed was for him to question her dedication to her job. She hastily injected more enthusiasm into her tone. “No, of course not. This is perfect, actually. Archie wasn’t keen on me being a counselor. He’ll be happy I’m not working with the kids. Less chance of embarrassing him.”

“Your brother’s opinion is relevant, but not the most important one.” Conleth’s eyebrows drew down a little. “You told me you’d only taken a job here so Archie could come to camp. I assumed that meant you didn’t particularly care about working as a counselor, and wouldn’t mind the reassignment. If that’s not the case?—”

“No! Honestly, it’s fine.”

It was true, she told herself firmly. It wasn’t like she’d particularly wanted to be a camp counselor, after all. She really was only here for her brother.

But Archie had told so many stories about his adventures at camp. And after seeing Thunder Mountain, in all its wild, mysterious glory… she hadn’t realized how much she’d longed for a tiny taste of the same freedom.

Conleth was still looking at her, brow furrowed. She pushed down the ridiculous longing, giving him a bright, professional smile. She couldn’t risk jeopardizing Archie’s place at camp.

“I really don’t mind what job I do,” she lied. “And it makes sense that you’d want to prioritize counselors who are actually shifters, when it comes to pack assignments. But, uh, what exactly is a ‘staff liaison?’”

“Something of a made-up position, to be absolutely honest.” Conleth closed the laptop, pushing it aside. “You’ll still be reporting to Leonie as head counselor, and I’m sure she’ll call on you to help out with the campers on a routine basis. But since you won’t be leading a pack, part of your time will be spent on admin and support. Schedules and planning, daily reports, liaising with the rest of the business. That kind of thing.”

Paige stared around the small office. “So I’ll be working in here?”

“With me,” Conleth confirmed. His fingers started drumming again in that rapid, apparently unconscious rhythm. “You see the problem.”

Paige could. There was only one other desk in the small room; off to one side, completely devoid of any personal effects. It faced away from the windows, which meant anyone sitting there would enjoy an amazing view of Conleth.

How am I supposed to get any work done?

Then she realized that hadn’t been the problem he’d meant.

“Oh, crap,” she said. “Archie. He’s not going to like us spending a lot of time together.”

“Exactly.” Conleth looked like he was about to say more, but a spasm of pain went across his face. His breath hissed between his teeth.

“Conleth?” Her worries about her brother abruptly fled. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he said tightly. He closed his eyes, jaw clenching. “Just—tired.”

He wasn’t looking so good, Paige realized. Or rather, he did look good—even lightly mauled, the man possessed a distracting amount of sex appeal. Yet his skin had taken on a pale, clammy cast that she didn’t like at all.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked, more worried about him now than her brother. “Archie did hit you pretty hard.”

“It’s only a headache.” Conleth breathed out, opening his eyes again. “I get them sometimes. But we were talking about you. I thought this assignment would suit both our needs, but now I’m having second thoughts.”

“Don’t worry. Archie won’t be a problem. I’ll make it clear to him that we’re just work colleagues, nothing more.”

“I’m not worried about Archie.” Conleth pinned her with his intense green eyes. “Paige, the last thing I want is for you to pretend to be happy when you’re not. If this assignment isn’t what you want, then tell me now. I’ll find an alternative solution.”

The door slammed open, saving Paige from having to come up with a response. A curvy blonde woman stormed into the room, her long braid lashing behind her like the tail of an outraged cat.

“Conleth!” The woman turned toward the empty desk, brandishing a clipboard. “What on earth do you mean by?—”

The woman stopped short, apparently only just noticing that she was berating thin air. She looked across the room at Paige, then at Conleth, calmly seated behind his own desk. Her eyebrows did something complicated.

“Ah, Leonie,” Conleth said, sounding as unsurprised as if she burst into his office to threaten him with death by paperwork every day. “There you are at last. Paige, allow me to introduce Leonie MacCormick, our head counselor. You’ll be reporting to her in your role as staff liaison.”

“Hi.” Paige scrambled up to offer Leonie her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. My little brother’s mentioned you a few times.”

Leonie accepted the handshake, though she had the glazed look of someone operating on pure autopilot. “And your brother is…?”

“Archie,” Conleth supplied, succinctly.

“Oh,” Leonie said. Then her tawny eyes widened. “ Ohhhh. ”

Paige winced. “I see you remember him.”

To her credit, Leonie recovered fast. The head counselor beamed at her, squeezing her hand before letting go. “Of course I do. He’s a delightful boy. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that you’re his sister.”

That was a slightly weird statement, but Leonie’s warm smile seemed genuine. “I’m glad to meet you too. And I apologize on my brother’s behalf for whatever he might have done last summer. I’ll ensure he behaves himself this year.”

“I wouldn’t make any promises,” Leonie murmured, glancing sidelong at Conleth. “I have a feeling this is going to be quite a summer.”

“I certainly hope so,” Conleth said. “I take it you got my note, Leonie?”

“Why, yes, Conleth.” The smile that Leonie turned on Conleth was a lot less friendly than the one she’d given Paige. She thrust the clipboard at him as if it was an edged weapon. “I did receive your note. Along with some very unexpected and last-minute changes. Perhaps you would care to discuss them? ”

Conleth took Leonie’s clipboard, flipping through the pages. “It seems self-explanatory to me.”

Leonie folded her arms. “I’m sure it does.”

Paige looked between the pair. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Taking a pen, Conleth wrote something on the clipboard before handing it back to Leonie. “But I need to speak with the director on a matter of some urgency. Leonie, can I ask you to look after Paige while I sort this out? We seem to have something of a crisis brewing.”

“Oh, Zephyr is definitely having a crisis,” Leonie said under her breath, her eyes flicking over what Conleth had written. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Is this about Archie?” Paige asked in alarm. She didn’t know how fast gossip traveled through camp, but her brother had lunged for Conleth in front of multiple witnesses. So far, he’d been remarkably good-humored about the whole incident, but the camp director might not be nearly so understanding. “Should I come with you?”

“No need.” Conleth flashed her a confident smile. “Don’t worry. I can handle Zephyr.”