When Quinn woke, I was still naked, sitting crisscross applesauce on the mattress with journals, maps, and my iPhone spread out around me. “Morning.” I smiled shyly, determined to keep quiet about what I’d heard. The less I said, the better.

Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around me. “Morning, Savvy,” he murmured against my shoulder.

Electric shocks spread throughout my body. I tried to ignore them and him by instead focusing on the task at hand. So far, the journals had yielded little relevant to my current project: Operation Race the Moon. I bit my cheek, since I couldn’t exactly share this with him.

“So, is this what you’ll be wearing today? I mean, if so, how embarrassing! We match!” Quinn opened his eyes and mouth wide in mock horror.

“No, but I didn’t want to wake you by getting up and showering. I’ll get to it as soon as I finish this.” I circled another area on the map.

“What’s this?” He frowned as he peeked over his shoulder. Then he shook his head. “No, Savvy.” Quinn yanked the map away from me and started to fold it up.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hopped out of bed, grabbed my robe, and slid into it, prepared to argue when there was a light knock on the door, seconds before it was opened.

“Everything okay in here?” Lennie peeked in. “Oh, you have company.” She grinned as Howl danced around near her. Squatting down, she began to rub his head. “Good dog. When did you return?”

“Last night,” I grumbled.

“So, what did he do to set you off this morning?” She glanced around my room and finally saw the map on the floor. “Oh, maybe you’re not a good dog.” Lennie frowned at Howl before passing me the map.

“Thank you.” I grinned. “Want to sit and talk for a while?” I looked over at Howl and raised my brow in challenge while he whined.

“Well, I would like to talk to you about a few things.” She sank onto the mattress and bit her lower lip.

“Okay, I’m guessing this is about Tanner.” I sat and my shoulders sank slightly. As happy as I was for her, hearing about the joys of being with her mate might just destroy me this morning.

She giggled. “Yeah.” Lennie blew out a breath. “So, I’m pretty sure he’s going to ask permission to marry me.”

My eyes filled with unspent, salty tears. “This is great news. And the mating?”

Her cheeks turned three shades of pink. “Well, yes. We’re going to wait until the moon, of course. And we’d like to have the wedding as soon as possible after.”

I nodded. “I understand, but couldn’t you graduate first? It’s a few weeks. You can wait that long to make it legal, right?” I swallowed hard. “At least you found each other and you’ll already be mated for life.” I wrapped my arms around my body.

Lennie brightened. “Absolutely. Makes sense.” She nodded enthusiastically and then paused when she saw my face. She reached out and grabbed my hands. “You’ll find him, the one wolf who makes your heart beat wildly, the one who you can’t be without.” She hugged me close. “Then you’ll feel so complete, filled with joy in a way you never have before.”

“Is this what Mom told you?” I swiped at my eyes.

“No, it’s what I’ve experienced.” She sighed happily.

Naturally, this made me feel roughly eighty-seven times worse. Howl hopped on the bed and crawled over to me. I tried to ignore him, but he pawed my leg until I looked at him. “Leave me alone.”

Her head tilted. “He may need to go out.”

“Great idea.” I strode over to the front door and flung it wide open. “Go on, Howl.” He whined and moped, but he finally made it outside. I pulled it shut and sighed. “So, I’ll expect to talk to Tanner at some point.” I felt desperate to change the subject.

“Yes.” She bit her cheek. “Now, I see you have a lot going on, but…”

I knew Lennie. She was in the process of chickening out when she should be stepping up. “Ask. I’m not that scary. I’m your sister.”

“Well, I was hoping you’d be in the wedding. You and Shelby would make the most gorgeous bridesmaids.” She shrugged.

“You got it.” I shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”

“For one, you’re busy. And mostly—I’ve never seen you in a dress.” Lennie laughed.

I tilted my head as I considered her comment. “Surely, I’ve worn dresses around you?”

“No. I’d remember. You’re always in shorts or jeans. You need to work on your wardrobe now that you’re the Alpha.” Her hands were on her hips, demonstrating her disapproval.

With a sigh, I nodded. “Wanna take me shopping after school? Shelby can come too.”

Lennie squealed. “I’d love it. One last hurrah, just the three of us.” She leaned in and gave me a quick hug before skipping to the door. “Three o’clock. We’ll go then. Be ready.” Then she opened the door to catch the bus and Howl darted back inside.

Before I could so much as scowl at him, Shelby trudged down the tiny stairs. I didn’t even know it was possible with the size of the treads. I pasted a smile on my face and tried to pry her from her funk. “Hey, Lennie says I need girl clothes. You in? The three off us will go shopping this afternoon.”

Shelby shrugged. “Sure, why not? It’s not like I have anything better to do with my life. No mate. No job. No future.” She sighed heavily as she walked out the door.

“Ugh. That went well.” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. Then a warm chest pressed against my back and tender kisses trailed down my neck. My entire body relaxed instantly.

“I think it’s great you’re hanging out with your sisters this afternoon,” he whispered in my ear.

I turned my head enough to see him peeking over my shoulder. “Oh, and why is that?”

“For once, I won’t have to worry about you.” Quinn grinned.

I twisted in his arms to face him. “For the record, you don’t have to worry about me now. I can handle myself. I’ll be fine. Go design a house or something.”

He chuckled. “How about if you drive me back to my place? Then I’ll be ready to come back here and build your house.”

The way he stared down at me, the tender look in his gentle blue eyes had me melting inside. “Great. Build away.” I shuffled past him to grab fresh clothes from my room. “Now, I’m going to shower before we go.”

“Awesome. You know, I could join you.” Quinn grinned shamelessly.

I laughed. “Have you seen the size of this shower? I’m not sure Howl could fit in here with me. There’s no way I have room for you. Go eat or something.” Then shaking my head, I disappeared into the bathroom alone.

After showering, brushing my teeth, and dressing, I emerged to find Howl waiting for me. “Come on, man-pup. Let’s boogey.” I jerked my head toward the door. He sat and waited for me to open it. As soon as I did, he ran out and I quickly shut it behind him so I could pack my satchel. I gathered the map, journals, and my phone and then stuffed them inside before exiting my place. He’d already had such a fit earlier, there was no way I’d share with him how I intended to spend my day.

Howl eyed me suspiciously as I casually strode to my vehicle. I rolled my eyes. “I forgot my bag. Keys, phone, wallet, all the necessities.” After opening the door, he hopped in and walked across my seat to reach the passenger side. We rode in silence, since I was focused on the rest of my day and he couldn’t talk as a wolf. Finally, I pulled into his driveway and let him out. Howl kept glancing at me, and I knew he wanted me to wait. “I’ll see you later, I guess. I have errands.” I watched him race around to the back of the house, and I knew he’d emerge on the porch if I gave him half a chance. Right now, I couldn’t. If he asked me anything, I’d tell him the truth, even though we weren’t mated. The risk was too great. Instead, I sped off before he had a chance to question me.

Twenty minutes later, I was parking in front of Phoenix House. I stepped out of the car with a bag of donuts and two coffees. When I reached the porch, Aunt Jo stood there smiling.

“I’ll carry the drinks. Let’s talk.” She practically floated through the door, down the hall, and into the kitchen.

“What has gotten into you? You’re…happy.” My brow furrowed.

“I’m not supposed to be happy?” She giggled.

“Oh, you’re actually bordering on giddy. What’s up?” I sat on the nearest stool and pulled a donut out of the bag. This seemed like a discussion which might require food.

“Well, after you two lovebirds rushed out of the house last night, I did some more research.” She took a sip of one of the coffees. “Wow. Needs more sugar.” She danced around the counter and found the sugar bowl in a cupboard. After adding several heaping spoonfuls to her coffee, Aunt Jo leisurely stirred it while smiling at me in a most annoying and mysterious way.

I could tell she wanted me to ask her more questions, push her harder. This was a game for her, fun, and by solving the problem, she was winning. Me, on the other hand, still had nothing but questions, and though she clearly had at least one answer for me, I refused to beg her for it. Instead, I ate my glazed donut and not so leisurely. For some reason, I was starving. I frowned.

“This is how it is when you first find your mate. You can’t hardly eat or sleep, you always want to be together. Then the moment you’re apart, you realize how hungry and tired you are.” She gave me a knowing smile. “So, when’s the wedding?”

“Wedding?” I nearly spit my donut across the room. After I struggled to swallow, I spluttered, “Are you serious? I can’t even get him to mate. There’s no wedding in my future.” I blew out a breath. “It’s probably just as well. I need to focus on the pack anyway. He’s clearly nothing but a distraction.” Then I reached in the bag and grabbed another donut, this one Boston Cream. “I only bought six. If you plan to eat any, I’d get on it because my appetite shows no signs of waning.”

Aunt Jo held out her hand. “I’ll trade you one Boston Cream donut for everything I know about the boxes of spray.” She nodded at the donut in my hand, the one I was absolutely salivating over, but had yet to take a bite from.

With a sigh, I passed it to her. She grinned like she’d won some prize. I reached into the bag and pulled out an éclair which was essentially a big log version of the Boston Cream.

“Touché.” She laughed. “So, the spray isn’t actually one shipment. I think Dallas collected those in a series of shipments.” Aunt Jo paused to take a bite.

I watched her chew and swallow before pressing her further. “Why would any one shifter need so much spray? It takes me roughly three months to go through a can. That’s four a year. He had four cases of twenty-four. We’re talking about a twenty-four-year supply.” I frowned.

“I think I mentioned that I don’t sell the spray to the Malvaggio Pack. Could he be selling it to them?” She watched me as she took a sip from her coffee.

“I suppose anything is possible.” I finished eating my pastry. “And this is why I need to reach out to all the area packs.”