Stay. Stay there. I have no idea where this is going to go. I began panting nervously. Hell, go back to the house.

I’m not leaving you, Alpha. Determination dripped from Tanner’s voice. I swore I could practically smell the testosterone as he prepared to defend me.

I’ll be fine. Only before I could say more, Quinn strode over to me.

“Hello, Savvy.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Care to explain yourself?”

A growl erupted from the tunnel and suddenly Tanner stood beside me.

I’m fine, Tanner. Relax. My head hung.

Quinn’s shoulders drooped. “Well, this is awkward.”

Tanner, I’m about to shift. You better go. I took a few steps away from him, but he leapt in front of me, blocking my path.

Alpha, how does he know you? You can’t shift in front of him. Tanner danced around in between me and Quinn while he tried to talk me out of my next move.

In fact, I was so distracted by Tanner, I hadn’t even noticed Gideon had slipped out of the tunnel. Move Tanner, it’s fine.

Why would you do this? It’s dangerous. I’m going nowhere. It’s my job to keep you safe. Tanner yipped at me a few times.

I prepared to respond, but Gideon spoke instead.

I’m going to guess it’s because Quinn is Howl. He chuckled. For some reason, Savvy won’t accept him as her mate.

Without thinking, I shifted, and stood before three males in all my naked glory. At the moment, I was too furious to notice, but Quinn wasn’t.

“Savvy,” he hissed as he strode towards me while removing his suit jacket. He wrapped it around my shoulders and pulled the lapels tightly over my chest. “Come on. Back to your house. Get dressed.”

My eyes narrowed. “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

His head tilted. “No actually. I rather enjoy you naked.” Quinn eyed the wolves pacing around us. “Of course, I’d enjoy this more without so many people. You had to know this would upset me.”

I reached up and pushed against his chest. The coat slipped off my shoulder and began to fall to the ground. As I watched, Tanner and Gideon quickly moved to sit side by side with their backs to me. I gestured to point this out to Quinn. “There. See what you’ve done? They’re staring at a wall because of your behavior.”

“My behavior!” He positively roared, but I didn’t even flinch.

Tanner growled low in his throat. I shook my head. “Calm the fuck down, Quinn. I mean it.” I blew out an angry breath. “You should be happy I’m even talking to you right now.”

“Yeah. I’m ecstatic. Don’t I look downright jolly?” Quinn raked a hand through his hair. “What did they say to you? All the pacing and glaring, the dancing in between us. I know they were talking to you. What did I miss?”

“Let’s see. Just the usual, you ruining everything.” I huffed as I slid my arms into the sleeves.

“What did I wreck, Savvy?” He sounded pained, his brow was furrowed, and he reached for me, but I stepped away.

“Me. You wrecked me.” I blinked back some tears. “I can’t do this now.” I managed to take all of two steps to exit the barn when he grabbed my upper arm. “Let go.” I gritted out.

Tanner and Gideon whipped around, snarling and ready to attack if they deemed it necessary. Quinn sighed. “The coat doesn’t even completely cover your gorgeous heart shaped ass. Must you sound the alarm unnecessarily?” He held out a hand. “Down boys. I’d never harm your Alpha.”

Tanner and Gideon exchanged looks while I rolled my eyes. “Gideon figured some of it out.”

Gideon whined and cocked his head. I didn’t have to be in wolf form to understand what he hoped to communicate.

“You want to know what you messed up, where you went wrong?” I folded my arms over my mid-section, which only made the jacket gap more while Quinn fumed. “He’s Howl. You are correct, Gideon. He’s supposed to be my mate. Right again.” I squatted down so we were at eye level and Quinn nearly lost it.

“You have no panties on, Savvy. They can see…everything.” He rubbed the back of his neck while he sighed and turned three shades of red.

I stood abruptly, but not because of anything he said. Instead, it was all about responding to him while I felt more comfortable with us at nearly eye level. “They don’t care!” I snapped while I raised and lowered my arms. His nostrils flared as he watched the jacket raise and lower over my backside. I didn’t even care at the moment. “Why don’t you get this? They are about to be mated to my sisters. They only have eyes for Lennie and Shelby. They barely know I’m a female.” I turned to the wolves. “Gideon, here’s where you went wrong: I didn’t deny Quinn. He has refused me.” I choked out the last few words as I struggled not to cry. “Tomorrow’s the full moon. I’m…”

“I’m hurting too.” Quinn whispered hoarsely. “This is killing me.”

“If that were true, you’d have changed your mind,” I murmured. I didn’t even have to look him in the eye to know he hadn’t. I unbuttoned his coat and let it slide down my arms, catching it at the last possible moment. Then I flung it at him, too sad to even take pleasure in his anger. “I have work to do. I plan to stay incredibly busy for the next couple of days. I doubt you’ll see me much.”

He rubbed his face. “Apparently, your stance hasn’t changed on having me around in any form.”

“Why would it? Being around you…” I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide the tears this time. I could feel the warm salty liquid dripping down my face.

“Savvy. Savvy, please.” Quinn reached for me.

Falling into his arms right now would be the easiest thing in the world. Losing him again and again, however, would be the most challenging. “No,” I whispered. The word hung in the air between us even as I shifted. Without even looking back, I trotted back into the tunnel. Tanner and Gideon followed. Together we pulled the trap door closed and latched it as Quinn squatted down, stared through the slats, and tried to find a way to lift it.

Come on. Let’s go. I trudged through the tunnel. All the while, I could feel my companions pitying me. With every step, their silence gnawed at me even more. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. There are more important things to accomplish than dealing with Quinn.

Tanner spoke first. Like what? What could be more important than finding your mate?

I snarled. Well, if that’s the criteria, I’m a huge success. My mate has been found. My hollow laugh echoed in my head.

You know what I mean. Tanner whined.

I stopped and they both bumped into my backside so the three of us ended up in a pile. Now this wouldn’t have happened if we’d have been focused on our mission instead of my mate.

It’s not that big of a deal, Gideon murmured.

Exactly. Let’s carry on. Relief washed over me.

No, I meant the part where we all toppled into each other. There’s nothing more important than being mated. Gideon watched me for a reaction.

I growled. There better be, otherwise I’m in for a lifetime of sorrow and disappointment. Awesome.

Then we managed to get back on our feet and then Tanner yipped and began dancing around. Alpha! I just realized something. I think. I’m not sure yet. I guess call it a hunch. Tanner blathered on while the last remnant of my patience died a quick death.

What? Fuck. Spit it out already. I growled.

Follow me. You said you fell in if we continue on the straight path from the homestead, right? Tanner rushed headlong down the dark tunnel while we focused on keeping up behind him.

Yes. What’s up, Tanner? Running fast with my tongue hanging out was actually rather relaxing for me. I was truly calming down and I wasn’t sure this was a good thing.

Almost there. I’m afraid to mention it until I have proof. Try to remember these tunnels, okay? I’ll share soon enough.

So, we continued to lope through the tunnel, cornering badly when we had to take a left to reach the spot where I made the cave in this morning. Tanner scrambled through the opening first. I was a close second, while Gideon took the rear. I’m pretty sure this was by design. Protection, loyalty, and service ran deep through the March Pack. As soon as I was out of the tunnel, I scanned the area. When I saw and heard no one, I shifted and rushed to the boulder to grab my clothes and get dressed.

Tanner shifted next. “Well, I have no clothes, but nobody here cares.” He shrugged. “It’s actually more important for us to be able to communicate and use our hands at the moment than to worry about modesty.” He gestured for me to follow him.

Gideon padded along beside me. I could feel his tension. He seemed ready to pounce if need be.

I decided to focus on the mission. “What are we doing here?”

Reaching for the door of Dallas’ cottage, Tanner let himself in without answering. He marched directly to the kitchen table where there was a slew of papers spread all over the top. He seemed determined as he walked around eyeing everything before finally grabbing one innocuous looking sheet of paper off it. Tanner grinned. “I think we’re onto something. What do you see?” He passed me the paper to examine.

As I held it up to study, Gideon shifted and stood behind me. There were lines, then circles, usually near a block with an ‘x’ inside. I stared a moment to see if it began to make sense to me.

“What kind of crazy treasure map is this?” Gideon frowned.

I gasped. “The tunnel system. This is the layout.”

With a nod, Tanner murmured, “I think so. Of course, there’s a surefire way to see if we’re right.”

“How’s that?” Gideon grinned.

I looked back and forth between them. “We see if we can identify these locations and we explore.”