Shadows (Book 2 of the Zara's Wolf Trilogy) BWWM

8. The Hunt

Shifters crowd the dining hall when Evan and I enter, chatting together animatedly. The atmosphere is jovial and energetic as I peer around. Among the jungle of foreign faces, I see some familiar ones that ease my discomfort. I wouldn't mind being around so many strangers if it weren't for the fact that the majority of males were big hulking men with bulging biceps. Lean and toned men like Evan seemed to comprise only a handful of the males, who outnumbered the females two to one. I let Evan lead me through the mass of muscles to our pack and Evan's family standing next to them.

"About time you two woke up," Keith says with a crooked grin.

I look away, hoping that he doesn't notice the heat in my cheeks. I'm uneasy enough as it is in the presence of all these shifters, I don't need him digging into our personal matters as well.

I notice that Joshua isn't with his family. Emily and Paige are sitting together and chatting at a table, but Joshua's nowhere to be found. Everyone looks like they're older than fifteen, with Emily being the youngest in the room.

"Where's Joshua?" I ask Evan, twisting a lock of my hair between my fingers.

Evan tilts his head as he takes in my worried expression. "Probably in the nursery with the other kids. He's only ten. Hasn't even had his first shift yet. So of course, he won't be joining us on the hunt."

"The hunt?"

"Yeah. Gotta bring back enough food for the feast tomorrow."

"Oh." A feast sounds good. "What's on the menu then?"

Evan grins, like he knows I'll enjoy it. "Venison, of course."

My lips pull back in a big smile of my own. This will be my first big game hunt. I've only caught rabbits up until this point in wolf form. Rabbits were plump little critters, easy to sink my teeth into, but skittish and small.

"This is how it works," Keith says, spreading his hands out in front of him. "We get grouped into teams. Since our pack is so small, we make up our own team. The Silver Star Pack gets split into three teams and we compete for whoever brings home the most meat in weight."

Sounds good to me, but there's one small problem. "I don't know the numbers, but I'm sure the Silver Star Pack has more than three times as many members as we do, so that's not really fair."

"That's where we come in," Brianna pipes up.

I do a double take because I could swear that she wasn't standing next to me just a moment ago.

She laughs at me as she puts an arm around my shoulder. "Relax, Zee. No one's going to bite you, except maybe Evan of course."

She shoots Evan a grin, only to receive a scowl from him in return while my face grows hot once more. "Bri, there's no need to bring up our private lives here."

She rolls her eyes. "I wasn't bringing it up at all. You're just insinuating that I am. Besides, we all know why you two were late getting down here."

Boy, is it getting hot in here or what? I peel her arm off to try and get some airflow around me. I keep my head lowered to try and hide my mortification.

Evan is immediately on his sister. "It's none of your business what we do in our alone time."

"I wasn't making it my business. Everyone knows what newly mated wolves are like. It's only a matter of time before she's pregnant anyway."

I look up to watch Evan's reaction, only to see his eyes flicker to Alicia, chatting with Owen, before glowering back at his sister. What's with that?