Land of Wolves

Chapter 93

My shoulders burn as I hurry into the human apartment building, and I shoot the wolf who opens the door for me a grateful smile before rushing up the stairs. Neither the wolves nor HPAW celebrates holidays, but I still think this will be a fun surprise. Easter seems like a fun holiday, and I hope the small gift baskets I made will cheer everybody up.

They're full of candy, and I tried to find a small personalized gift for each marked human. They still don't interact much with me, but I've learned bits and pieces about everybody these past three weeks.

Plus, I got a lot of help from the few wolves who have gotten to meet their mates. The humans are much more open around them than they are to me. I'm not surprised.

"Do you need help?" Tommy, the bulky wolf Caleb frequently orders to follow me, asks.

I shake my head, only slightly embarrassed by my panting. These baskets are heavier than I thought they'd be.

"No, thanks," I huff.

Tommy purses his lips, clearly displeased by my answer, before hurrying ahead and opening the common room door for me. I feel bad that Tommy's forced to follow me all day, and I don't want to make matters worse by making him help me complete my errands.

I'm more than capable of carrying these baskets upstairs myself.

The room's attention quickly shifts toward me as I burst inside—panting and sweating—and I shoot everybody what I hope looks more like a smile than a grimace as I shuffle to the nearest table. My shoulders burn as I lift the bags the baskets are in and set them on top.

"Don't touch these," I shout, jerking my thumb toward the baskets. "I'll be right back."

I'm sure the humans will look through these bags the moment I step out of the room, but I hope they'll lose interest and leave them alone once they see the baskets. It's wishful thinking, and I debate asking Tommy to stay behind and keep everybody away before deciding against it.

Caleb's put Tommy under strict orders to remain by my side, and he's been extra testy since another shipment of HPAW explosives was found yesterday. He's terrified HPAW will find a way to get their hands on me again, and he'd probably lock me up inside the safe house if he weren't so afraid of making me angry.

I rush to my car and grab the rest of the baskets before shutting my trunk and hurrying back inside. Tommy opens the doors for me again, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see the bags untouched when I step back into the common room.

"What are those?" Jack asks, peering at me over the back of the couch.

He's almost always in here, especially after his interview.

My lips curl as I realize his arm is thrown around the shoulder of a certain brown-haired female wolf. She's practically sitting on his lap as they watch the TV together, and she's absolutely beaming as she turns toward me.

I'm happy to see it.

Next to them is Bells. She's sitting on the other side of the couch, and she pointedly avoids looking in my direction as she glares at the TV screen. I've heard from others that she's quite pleasant to be around, but I haven't personally seen that. It seems she's got beef with me as well as Adam.

I bet she blames me for HPAW's execution attempt.

"Happy Easter, everybody!" I shout, bringing my hands together with a loud clap.

There are about twenty people in the room, but only six are turned in my direction. The others are working hard to pretend I don't exist. I sigh.

"I have presents!" I try.