She picked up her folding picnic chair and turned it around so her back was to the crowd, and faced the cubs. The younger cubs dove into their dinner with their usual enthusiasm. Sarah was sulking as usual, but at least she was clean, and so was her clothing.
Dakota felt that prickle of awareness again and twisted around to look at the crowd by the grills. She didn’t see Miles, but she saw Baldwin sitting in a folding chair by himself, eating a burger and pretending he wasn’t watching them.
“You should go talk to him,” Dakota said to Naomi.
“What? Who? Sailor, your face is dirty, come with me so I can wash it,” Naomi said, her cheeks turning red.
“Is not! I just washed it five minutes ago,” Sailor protested.
“Baldwin, that’s who,” Dakota said.
Naomi’s voice went up a notch. “Why would I want to talk to him?”
“Because he’s good-looking and seems like a really nice guy and I can tell that he’s checking you out.”
“Yeah, in case I attack him again. He doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m crazy. And every time I get near him, I start talking like an idiot. I’ll tell you what,” she added, as Dakota started to argue. “I’ll go talk to him if you go talk to Miles.”
“But I’ve already talked to Miles. Ha. I win.”
“Go talk to him again.”
Sailor started singing, “Jamie and Miles, sittin’ in a tree…”
“You could not be more wrong,” Dakota informed her.
“Yes, that’s true,” Naomi said. “You would say sitting. You forgot to pronounce the G.”
“I thought you had my back.” Dakota scowled at her friend.
“I do. That’s why I want you to talk to Miles.”
“Jamie and Miles…” Sarah started singing louder. As she did, Dakota felt Miles’s presence, but she refused to turn around and look.
“What are those kids singing?” Miles’s voice rumbled behind her. He held out a plate piled high with ribs, and she took it and handed it to Naomi.
“Ignore them. There’s a strong streak of insanity running through that family,” she said.
“But they’re your family,” Miles pointed out.
“Yes, exactly, so you should be careful,” Dakota said. “I might snap and run amok at any moment.”
Miles smiled. “Please call me when you do. I want to watch.” And he walked away again, heading back to the crowd by the grills.
Dakota took a swig from an ice-cold soda and half-twisted around to watch him.
Miles stood with his back to her, talking to his packmates. Anders handed him a beer, and he took it and stood there chatting with him. The minutes dragged by.
She remembered that she had food sitting in front of her, and reluctantly reached out and picked up a rib. She chewed it but barely tasted it.
What was wrong with her, anyway? She’d told him to stop hitting on her and leave her be, and he had. And now she was annoyed.
And a woman was talking to him. A woman who wasn’t a member of the pack. A woman who was tilting her head to the side and giggling at him and stroking his biceps. A woman who would look much better if her head were separated from her body.
“You don’t like the ribs?” Naomi asked her, looking puzzled.
Dakota started at Naomi. “Of course I do. Why?”
“You’re glaring like they’re the worst thing you ever—” Naomi followed Dakota’s stare. Miles was walking away from the woman, but she was following him, still talking to him. “Oh. I see.”
“You see nothing.” Dakota scowled and glanced around. “By the way, here’s Sailor, Sarah, Mary… Why are there only three cubs with us?” she asked. “Why are we missing a cub?”
Across the clearing, Miles was walking away from the female, who was following him and tugging on his arm with a pout on her face. Miles shook her arm off. She tried to grab at him again, when John, in cub form, sailed through the air, landed at her feet, and latched on to her ankle. She screamed and shook her leg, trying to kick him off.
Dakota ran over and grabbed at John as the woman kicked at him and swore. Naomi was right behind her.
John dodged away from Dakota and crouched low, snarling.
“My ankle is bleeding! That’s going to take hours to heal! He ruined my pants!” the woman wailed.
“He’s a cub, you’re a shifter. Deal with it,” Dakota said scornfully.
The woman tried to kick John again as he snarled at her, and Naomi jumped in front of her before she could respond.
“If you try to kick him again, I will chew your face off,” Naomi snapped.
“Go, Naomi ! You even scared me,” Dakota said admiringly as the woman whimpered and cringed away from her.