BOREALIS ☽ Leah Clearwater ✔

Chapter 19... Reveal

We walked through the house in silence. I could only imagine what was going through his head right now. It couldn't be any worse than what was going through mine.

One person dominated my thoughts, and it wasn't, for the first time since I had met him, Josh. No, it was Sam.

Soon, we'd be face to face with him and his pack.

And I still had no idea how he'd react.

What the rest of the pack did or didn't do... Well, that didn't concern me as much. Since we had banished the threat of vampires—and made peace with those who remained—the other wolves didn't really care about much, anymore. They preferred just 'wolfing out' and running around like a bunch of idiot bros. For once, their general stupidity was a benefit to me.

But Sam was different. He took his role of alpha very seriously. He might view a newcomer as a threat, even if it was his brother. Maybe especially if it was his brother.

That wasn't something I had thought of before...

A chill washed over me as we stepped outside and there was no more time left for getting lost in my thoughts.

The other pack had joined the group around the fire's edge. Most had been joined by their imprints. Sam was standing next to a still-sour-faced Jake and Emily was on his other side, her small but obvious pregnant belly protruding slightly from beneath her flannel shirt.

Emily was the first to notice us. Her face brightened as she saw me, though as she looked past me to the man standing over my shoulder, her face became fell somewhat. One by one all the others' eyes followed suit, first settling on me before moving to Josh. Expressions ranged from disinterest to curiosity to...

"Finally," Jake said, his booming voice carrying over the crowd. He started walking out to meet us. "This is who I wanted you to meet, everyone."

"We already know Leah," chimed in some idiot from the back.

There was a smattering of laughter.

"Shut up," Jake called back, but he didn't look irritated.

More laughter.

Jacob stepped around me, and went to stand by Joshua. He clapped his hand over his shoulder. "This is who I was talking about. This is Josh. He's one of us—a shapeshifter."

Gasps and whispers rippled through the crowd.

"But I thought only members of our tribe could be shapeshifters?" someone called out.

"He is a member of our tribe," Jacob responded. "Or at least, his father is. Was." His brow folded as he thought about how to phrase Joshua Sr.'s alliances.

Everyone glanced around like they were trying to figure out just whose dad was responsible. Was it a messy situation like Embry's lineage? We still didn't know who his dad was...

I couldn't stop my gaze from sliding over to check on Sam.

His expression was guarded. His dark eyes narrowed as he studied Josh. Emily, still next to him, was glancing between the two of them—from Josh, back to Sam, then back to Josh.

I wondered if she was starting to put it together... There was a strong similarity in Josh's and Sam's features and Emily was easily the smartest person amongst us. If anyone was going to figure it out, it would be her.

"So, who's his father?" someone else shouted, getting impatient.

Jacob cleared his throat. "J-Joshua Uley."