She let out her breath. She assumed Darien would be pissed that Ryan was here. Jake also, because he’d made all the arrangements for the gathering. And because this was her coming-out.

Darien and his brothers stalked into the foyer to meet Ryan, all of them looking stern and with firm resolve. “Your date will have to wait until after the gathering. Where do you plan to take Carol?” Darien asked.

Her heart thumped harder. Darien was allowing it?

But her second thought was that this was so much like when she was sixteen, going on her first real date with a boy and her dad had read him the riot act first! No riding in vans, on motorcycles, or visiting homes when parents aren’t there. That was the only time her father had acted really alpha. She’d always suspected her mother had counseled him first as to what to say.

Carol was twenty-six now, for heaven’s sake, and beyond needing fatherly lectures before a date!

Ryan smiled a little. “The movies.”

Darien’s response was terse. “We don’t have a movie theater here.”

Ryan had to have known that. Cad. Yet she loved his sense of humor and the way he challenged Darien. Darien’s brothers supported him in just about every situation that arose. None of his people disagreed with Darien. She enjoyed seeing someone who would test him in a lighthearted way.

“We’ll grab takeout and return to my room at the inn to watch something on TV then.” Ryan gave Carol an elusive smile and winked.

Pure macho man and a lady-killer all rolled up in that one faint smile and sexy wink that promised a night of pure heated pleasure. After the way they’d kissed with an audience, being alone in his room didn’t sound like a safe bet at all. She was certain Darien wouldn’t think so, either.

Every inch of her skin flushed with warmth, and if she hadn’t known any better, she might have worried that the shift was coming. But the heat that signaled the impending transformation went much deeper, Lelandi had explained to her, as if it settled into the marrow of the bones and melted them. And she supposed it did since the bones reshaped into a wolf’s skeletal form or back again into a human’s. What she was experiencing now was more of a surface heat, triggered by pure embarrassment.

Darien shook his head at Ryan’s suggestion of taking a meal to his room and watching TV there. Darien tried to conceal the expression, but Carol had lived with him long enough to recognize he was fighting a smile. He admired alpha males, and she could tell that while it stuck in his craw that Ryan was an outsider intruding on his pack business, the gray was a challenge. And Darien enjoyed the game when someone had the audacity to oppose him in a non-threatening way from time to time. She wondered if Ryan reminded him of himself.

In good humor, Ryan folded his arms. “All right. What do you suggest?”

“The tavern. Have a couple of drinks. They’re serving roast beef sandwiches tonight. You can enjoy the music. Best place in town for a date.”

Also crowded with tons of pack members ready to observe their every move.

“All right. Agreeable, Carol?” Ryan asked, with one raised brow.

“Sure, after the gathering,” she grumbled. So much for getting out of that affair, although she appreciated that Ryan had asked if she was okay with the setup and hadn’t just made the decision without her say.

“You’ll bring her home by midnight,” Darien added. Then he gave Jake and Tom a look.

Which meant they’d be Darien’s eyes and ears at the tavern, along with everyone else’s there.

Darien motioned to the sunroom. “Shall we?”

Carol wished she could have skipped the gathering altogether, dealt with Ryan, and settled this matter in private without delay. But as usual, Darien would have his way.

Lelandi came out of the kitchen and wrapped her arm around Carol’s waist. “I should have told you earlier that the pack gathering is a throwback from ancient times and that even some humans adopted the notion after they learned our people were doing this. Although they hadn’t a clue what we were. It then became fashionable in England and other locales to present women to society as acceptable to marry.”

“Werewolves started the trend?”

Lelandi smiled. “Yes. Only we stick to our traditions longer than most.”

Carol envisioned the women’s long gowns and other more restrictive articles of clothing and wondered how in the world they could have removed all those garments if the urge to turn hit them. Living back then would surely have been a disaster for her. For one, she’d have been considered a witch if she’d revealed her paranormal secrets. And a werewolf on top of that? She would have been bonfire kindling for sure.

She glanced back to see where Ryan was, but he’d vanished. Had Darien or his brothers kicked him out of the house until he could return to pick her up for their date? She shouldn’t have been disappointed that he was gone, considering the reason he wanted to see her further.

Still, she believed she’d prefer his company to that of the beta males in Darien’s pack. She sighed and asked Lelandi, “Are drinks being served?”

Lelandi only smiled and guided her into the sunroom.

The room was bathed in warm lights, with the spring floral decorations giving off the sweetest scent of jasmine and roses. As soon as she walked in, Carol saw the two women from the other pack. Both were stunning, and Carol shriveled a little, feeling plain and unnoticeable. Yet something about the women gave her pause. She was awful about remembering names, but faces, especially as striking as those of the two women, stood out in her mind. She hadn’t met these women, except maybe in passing. But where had she seen them before?

“Becky’s the black-haired one, the librarian, over there by the leather sofa. And Marilee’s the brunette, the masseuse, next to the fireplace,” Lelandi whispered to Carol.

Both women looked to see who the new arrival was. Frowning, they didn’t appear pleased, but Carol wondered why they were bothered. Becky was a black-haired and black-eyed beauty, her thick curls cascading over her shoulders. She was sophisticated and sultry looking, particularly wearing a shocking-pink sweater that dipped low at the bodice. Not at all how Carol pictured a librarian looking. The ones at the college where she went? Business suits, glasses, and buns. This babe didn’t look like she read anything literary. Maybe she liked historical romances, too.

Carol gave her a quick smile. The woman gave her a guarded smile back.

Marilee was a brunette with the same kind of luxuriously thick hair that caressed her shoulders, dark brown eyes, and a plunging, silky orange neckline that also showed off ample cleavage.

Both wore black jeans and spiky black heels, and looked dressed to kill. And both towered over Carol by a good four inches. Which made her feel inadequately short—from her bobbed haircut to her petite height— and not half as sophisticatedly dressed or sexy. She’d describe herself as more casual sporty. Not a siren at all.

She glanced at Darien and his brothers, expecting someone to make a formal announcement, but no one did. The event appeared to be just a meet-and-greet affair where the guys would eventually garner the courage to speak to the women looking for mates. Although Carol was not in that category willingly.

None of the men were very alpha, and neither of the two women appeared to be, so no one made an effort to speak to anyone else.

Lelandi and Darien and the other mated couples talked freely among themselves about general news, but Carol felt that was more of a ploy to set everyone at ease. To make it appear that they were not chaperoning the women.

Dressed in a fresh red-and-white-striped jacket, no grass stains evident, Mervin walked across the room, headed in her direction, and gave someone a chilling glare. Carol turned to see who. Ryan. Where had he come from? But where he was going bothered her even more. He was headed straight for Marilee. Of course. The sexy masseuse.

“Sorry about earlier today,” Mervin said, getting close—too close—to Carol and pulling her attention away from Ryan.

If her back hadn’t already been up against a wall in a defensive wallflower mode, she would have stepped away from Mervin.

A cloying cologne clung to him like a cloud of heavy allspice, when normally their kind didn’t bother with heavy human fragrances.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Thinking of the way he’d pinned her to the ground during the game and wouldn’t let her up, Carol gave him a scornful look.

“It was supposed to be a game of tag, not a wrestling match.”

She wouldn’t let him get away with believing she thought his behavior acceptable. If she did, she was sure he’d continue to behave that way.

He didn’t seem in the least bit remorseful and glanced at Ryan. “I don’t know what he sees in Marilee.”

Carol didn’t mean to, but she nearly growled when she spoke. “Maybe he needs a good back rub.”

Mervin snorted. “He shouldn’t be here. This is a gathering for our pack, not for outsiders like him.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t have any intention of going after any of the women here tonight.” Or maybe he did. What did she know?

Mervin gave Carol a look like she couldn’t be serious. “He’s an alpha male. They always go after available women and take their pick. I hear you have a date with him. Break it.”

A short laugh tumbled from her lips. She doubted he’d say anything like that to Ryan, but he thought he could order her about, and she’d wilt and agree? “Why?”

“He’s trying to make you jealous by talking to Marilee. But we all know you’re the one he wants. Why else would he have sneaked around Darien’s place last night? Why else would he have kissed you the way he did outside the house?”

She dismissed Mervin’s concern and folded her arms in an annoyed fashion. Not for an instant did she think Ryan was talking to Marilee because he wanted to make Carol jealous. And he had only kissed Carol because he was trying to prove something to Mervin and the others who had been watching their interaction. She still wondered why Ryan had been sneaking around Darien’s house.