Chapter 261: Chapter 260

Chapter 260 Xander One thing | was definitely missing in this place was the gym. | hated splitting wood, and Zane had taken that over, anyway. But |

needed to get out and clear my head, so | decided to go for a run in the morning before anyone else was up.

Hunter was more than happy to come out and play. It had been a while since me and my wolf just hung out like that, alone and running. Smelling what there was to smell. Patrolling the borders of Lanie’s property. He was wary and alert, but there were no signs of any intruders or even strangers. Nothing out of the ordinary.

That was almost as worrisome as if he’d scented danger.

“Where are you?” Zane called to me through the mind link. “Do you need me to meet you somewhere?”

| thought back a series of images through Hunter’s eyes. The trees. The stream. A running rabbit.

Zane chuckled. “Have fun. See you soon.”

By the time | got back to the house, the sun had risen. Inside, | found my mom and my Luna making pancakes for the children.

My Beta was deep in conversation with my brother, both of them looking serious until Zane threw back his head in laughter.

Mason jabbed a finger at him, also laughing.

My family “Xander!” Lanie’s face lit up as she came to the door to greet me with a long, loving kiss. “Mmmm. You're sweaty. Breakfast is almost ready.”

We'd fallen into a routine, and it was great, but we were still all on edge. Lanie was right; we couldn’t stay here forever, but how should we approach going back to Constantine territory? | was the Alpha, yeah, but | couldn’t make this decision all on my own.

“First, we're going to go to that birthday party you got invited to. Now that your friend knows you're back in town, it would be pretty suspicious if you ditched her,” | said this over the towering stack of pancakes my Luna had served me. “And besides, you deserve to do something fun.”

Mom had taken the kids away from the table to get them cleaned up. My mates had all joined me around the platter of food and pot of coffee. Lanie didn’t dig in, only nibbled at a piece of bacon. Waves of uncertainty were rolling off of her.

When she looked up at me, Lily flashed in her gaze. Hunter whined, reaching for her.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” She shook her head, her brow furrowing.

“She really needs this,” Mason thought to me Zane nodded. “It'll be good for her And we should know her friends. Know if any of them are a danger.”

Lanie scowled. “Hey, you three. Cut it out. | can tell you’re talking about me.”

She laughed and brushed her thumb over my bottom lip.”You practically snarled that.”

“| can’t help it that | don’t love remembering that you had a whole life here without us,” | said with a nod toward Mason. “No offense, bro.”

“None taken,” he said smoothly. “I feel the same way about before she came to Stillwood.”

Lanie put a hand on each of our shoulders. “Settle down, boys.”

“Go to the party, and we promise to behave ourselves,” Mason said with a grin.

| had to admit it, yeah, it was true 1 didn’t like being reminded of the time when we’d forgotten each other -but he did have a beginning with our mate that wasn’t as...controversial...as the start of our relationship had been. | could learn some things from him about how to deal with her in a way that didn’t make her bristle.

Of course, | kind of liked it when she was feisty.

“What about the Council?” Lanie asked in a low voice.

Zane forked a bite of pancake and said around it as he chewed, “The odds of them, or anyone, targeting us at a party is pretty low. They’d want to get to us outside of neutral territory. Or, they’d just come right here and do it without witnesses.”

“Whatever they're planning, they sure don’t want anyone to see them doing it,” Mason added.

Lanie frowned, then nodded. “I would really like to go to the party. Show off my three handsome mates But what about the kids?”

“My mom will watch them,” | offered, knowing she'd be happy to and it would be the only way to get Lanie to agree to go.

“We'll be vigilant. It’s the best we can do. Gabriela’s a warrior, and our pups will be safe with her.” Lanie a last dug into her stack of pancakes.

She still looked worried. Clearly, something was on her mind. | sent out a gentle probe through our private link to see if she’d confide in me, but she only shook her head and kept eating.

She knew something we didn’t, and | was going to have to find out what it was