Heir To The Pack (The Cursed Pack Book 1) by Laura Welling Read Free Book Online Page B

could
come back.”
    Dash shook his head. “Nothing
will happen to you here. We’ve cleared out the house and set safeguards.”
    Annie made eye contact
with him, measuring whether to trust him again. His gaze was steady and clear, hiding
some emotion she couldn’t quite read.
    Her hold on Jack eased,
and she allowed Daisy to lift him from her arms. Elaine led them out of the
room, and Marjie, too, struggled to her feet and followed behind. Annie tracked
him with her gaze until they left the room.
    She and Dash were finally
alone. They could speak plainly. He stood by the window, shirtless, watching
her. She forced her gaze upwards from his chest.
    “So,” she said. “I need to
understand this better. What kind of gathering? What’s an Oracle in this
context?”
    “You’ve decided to believe
in us now? I don’t need to whip the rest of my clothes off and turn furry?”
    Perhaps he intended to be
snarky, but he sounded a little too hopeful to pull it off. “You don't need to
show me anything. Marjie showed me. I know it’s true.” She paused. “Besides, if
I'm not mistaken…that was you in the garden yesterday, wasn't it? The
black…wolf.”
    “Aren’t you going to write
it off to mass hysteria or something?” He folded his arms, his face neutral
except for the obvious tension in his jaw. Okay, maybe he was grumpy at her.
    Logical. He wanted to make
this hard, because of what she’d said earlier. “Are you trying to convince me I
was right the first time? I was wrong. I admit it. That’s the essence of
science. When a hypothesis proves false, you come up with another.” She
convinced herself as she spoke. There was an explanation for what she’d seen. It
just happened to be beyond the bounds of scientific discovery at this time. She
was one hundred percent convinced that what she’d seen was real. “Also, as I
said before, I’m sorry I doubted you. Please understand.” She stood up, took a
step toward him. She didn’t want to be at odds.
    He wasn’t done yet. “The
evidence isn’t too anecdotal for you?”
    “Perhaps there’s a certain
degree of observer bias going on, but I am left with no choice but to believe
you.” Although she’d been wrong, she’d apologized, and now surely they could
move on. It was time to build bridges. She smiled at him, as sweetly as she
could manage.
    *           *           *
    Dash stared at Annie. She
was all wrapped up in a pair of faded jeans, her torso hidden by a loose white
shirt. Despite the layers of clothes, she was still hot. Hotter still when she
put her cool academic face on. He’d like to get her out of that white thing and
back into a sundress. Or out of one, preferably.
    Damn it, he had to
concentrate. He had a lot of explaining to do. If there was one thing he hated,
it was explaining awkward things to women. Surrounded by them as he was, this
seemed to be almost a daily occurrence. No matter what he said, they would
think he was wrong. He might as well bite the bullet.
    “Are you going to come
over and sit down?”
    His jaw ached from
gritting his teeth. He dropped his arms and walked over to her, trying not to
scoot like a naughty kid or saunter with attitude. He lowered himself onto the
couch and patted the leather beside him. “Going to join me?”
    She opened her mouth—he
liked that—and nodded and closed it again. Moving her tea, she relocated
herself to the couch. Far enough away that he couldn’t quite feel her body
heat, but close enough to touch her if he reached out an arm. Close enough to
pounce on her, if he wanted. He shifted his weight, crossed his legs, suddenly
uncomfortably warm. And horny as hell.
    “What kind of Gathering is
it?” Her voice was gentle. She was trying.
    “Once a year, all the
packs get together to talk business.”
    “All of them? How many are
there?”
    “Seven.”
    “That doesn’t seem like a
lot. How many people in a pack?”
    “We have just over two
hundred.”
    “So there