Whack.
Baldwin idly reached up to block Naomi as she tried to land a blow to his head. He swatted the stick away, but didn’t bother trying to take it from her.
“Any possibility that these women might have all imbibed a mind-altering hallucinogen at the same time?”
Whack.
“Seems...” Anders was gasping with laughter. “Seems unlikely…” He couldn’t help himself. He doubled over and howled with merriment, and Baldwin glared at him.
“So these women are just batshit crazy,” Miles observed.
“How dare you?” Naomi shrieked, and tried to lunge forward to hit him with the stick, but ended up tripping over it and sprawling on her face in the dirt.
Macy paused in her attack, growling, and spat out a small piece of Baldwin’s boot that she’d gnawed off. Several women stood poised holding pine cones in their hands.
Naomi looked up accusingly at Dakota. “A little help here? This is your life I’m defending!”
“Oh! Yes, of course,” Dakota ran over, grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.
“Are you laughing?” Naomi demanded.
“Possibly a little. You should have checked with me before you started whacking him. First of all, you’re hitting the wrong guy. That’s Miles,” she said, pointing.
“And Miles does not take kindly to being attacked by random packs of crazy women,” Miles said, with a warning scowl.
“Oh.” Naomi stared up at Baldwin, wide-eyed. “Oops. I’m really sorry. I should have asked which one of you was going to kill my friend. Because she stuck up for me when this girl was being mean to me, and nobody ever sticks up for me, and so I felt like I should do the same for her, and also when those girls told me the Alpha Prime was going to death-challenge her that just seemed really not fair and mmmmmph…” she finished as Dakota put her hand over Naomi’s mouth.
“Anyway, we worked everything out,” Dakota informed Naomi, then took her hand away.
Naomi looked relieved. “You did? He’s not going to kill you?”
“Nope,” Miles answered for Dakota. “Not today, anyway.”
Naomi glanced nervously at him, then said to Dakota, “And he’s not going to kill me?”
“He’d have to go through me first,” Dakota said. “And then he wouldn’t have an English teacher and he’d still be taking care of a bunch of bratty orphans.”
“Orphans?” Naomi’s face lit up. “I love kids! I can’t wait to have my own kids. I want lots of kids. I’ll help you take care of the orphans, I’m really good at taking care of kids and— Am I talking too much?”
“Take some deep breaths,” Dakota suggested.
Macy shifted back into human form. Now she was stark naked, her clothes having fallen off her when she shifted.
“That’ll learn you, picking on a woman like that! And don’t look at my ass!” she yelled, covering herself with her hands, and ran off to fetch her suitcase.
Miles snorted. “I will give you all a one time pass, just because you gave us the best laugh we’ve had in ages. Don’t hit any of my pack members again,” he said to them. Then he glanced at Dakota. “All right, I’ll take you to the cabin where the kids have been staying. They tend to rove around wherever the hell they want, but they’ll show up eventually. As soon as you get them all rounded up, you’ll bring them to my pack’s property and we’ll put you in a cabin.”
Dakota bristled at his bossy tone. Also, the thought of sleeping anywhere near that big, swaggering mountain of sexiness filled her with feelings she’d rather not acknowledge.
“I’m not staying on your property,” she said firmly. “I’ll just stay at…at my family’s cabin.”
He snorted at that. “You have fun with that. Catch a ride out there to the cabin while you’re at it.”
He turned and walked off with Baldwin, who cast wary glances at the women, and Anders, who was still chortling quietly under his breath.
Dakota turned to face her new group of friends. Yes, friends, who’d been willing to risk their lives to save her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Thank you guys so, so much,” she said. “That was incredibly brave, and I will never, ever forget it. If you ever need anything, I have your back a thousand percent.”
“Right now,” Naomi said, holding out her hand so they could see how it was shaking, “I need a good stiff drink and a change of underwear.”
* * * * *
Miles paced back and forth in the front of his cabin, scowling. He was staring into the distance, his eyes dark and unreadable. Anders and Baldwin stood back and watched him thoughtfully. The rest of the pack was by the barbecue grill, but Miles wasn’t feeling sociable at the moment.