“I’m not sure explaining it would make it any better.”

“Okay. I need your car,” she said, surprising him.

“Sure. Told you to take it whenever you need it.”

“Yeah, I know. But I thought I should let you know I’m not just taking it out. I need to race it.”

“Race it? Against who?”

“Cats.”

“You need to race cats?”

“Yeah. I don’t have a choice. Janie Mae bet on us winning and if we lose, we can’t get what we need to make the pies we promised everyone because that’s the money she used. So we race the cats, we win, we make pie.”

“You live a complicated life, Darla Mae.”

“I know. Anyway, you know how races go. Your car might get damaged and—”

“Frankie can fix it. He works the mechanic shop with our uncles. Now give me a couple of minutes to get dressed and I’ll go with—”

“Lord, no,” she quickly cut in. “That cats will have a fit if you come. Your name was mentioned specifically as a do not attend.” She glanced at Bubba. “And Janie Mae doesn’t want you there at all.”

“What did I do now?”

“Breathe?” Eggie asked, grinning when Bubba snarled at him.

Darla started to move away, but she stopped, looked back at him. Eggie girded his loins, preparing for what she was about to say to him.

“So it’s okay then, Eggie?” she asked sweetly, fluttering her eyes up at him. “If I take your car? I didn’t want to do it without your permission.”

Eggie twisted his mouth to look like he was thinking about it, but it was really so he didn’t laugh. “I give you permission.” He nodded. “Take the car. Enjoy yourself. But be careful. Can’t trust cats.”

“I know. Thank you, Eggie.” She winked at him and walked out.

Bubba, his mouth open, stared at him, and Eggie shrugged. “What?”

Darla got into Eggie’s car.

“What took you so long?” Janie Mae asked as Darla closed the door.

“I was torturing your mate.” She grinned at her sister. “It was surprisingly fun!”

“It is, isn’t it?”

“Although I can see why you’re waiting to let him mark you.”

“Yeah. I love him but he needs to realize I’m his partner, not his Beta.” Janie studied her for a moment, then asked, “Are you going to stay here, Darla Mae?”

“Mostly.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means when I’m home, so to speak, I’ll be here. But if I need to go, I’ll go.”

“This is a Pack town, Darla.”

“Meaning?”

“There’s a way things are done here—”

“You mean when you’re Alpha. When you run the Smithtown Pack by Bubba’s side.”

“Maybe I do.”

“Well, if you need me, I’ll be there. But if you’re asking me if I’m going to be one of your Beta females, following you around town every day, then the answer is no.”

“Still think you’re a lone wolf?”

“I never thought that. I know I’m not. I need my friends, my family, my Pack, Eggie. But I do need my freedom. I need to be able to roam free. For Eggie that means spending hours exploring the hills and forests of this entire town. For me that means exploring everything whenever I feel like it.”

“You think you’ll feel that way forever?”

“I know if I stop feeling that way it’ll be because of me. Not you. Not Eggie. Not anyone.” Darla started the car. “Can I suggest something to you, Janie?”

“I guess.”

“Eggie’s daddy could have put his foot down and told Eggie he had to stay here, that he couldn’t be a Marine, he couldn’t leave town, he had to stay and be part of the Pack. But he let his son go and be what he wanted. And now Eggie always comes home, and he’s always here for his family. You gotta know when to let go, big sister, and when to hold on. You learn that . . . you’ll be an amazing Alpha.”

Janie Mae smiled at her. “Look at you, teaching your big sister something.” But unable to let that sweet moment just be, Janie added, “Did you learn that from Charlie Manson, too?”

Darla growled. “I can’t believe you heifers keep bringing that up! I went one time and didn’t even stay!”

“Look, Patty Hearst—”

“Stop calling me that!”

“—you’re the one who keeps involving herself with these cult types.”

“Gee, I wonder what in my background”—Darla hit the gas and tore away from Francine’s house—“would attract me to large groups who have nothing in common but hanging around each other constantly, sleeping on the floor in large people piles, and hunting innocent strangers? Really, I have no idea how I could be comfortable around that sort of thing!”

Eggie waited on top of the hill while his brothers stripped off their clothes. They were going hunting on orders from their daddy. He wanted venison for dinner. Fresh venison, not a frozen slab from the shifter-friendly grocery store. It had been a while since he’d sent them out to do that for him, but it gave the brothers something to do while their females were out racing and baking.

If they could get the venison quick enough, then Eggie could track down some wild boar for Darla. She’d told him she loved fresh boar. He could barbeque it for her the way he’d learned when he was in Korea for a while.