“Don’t be a pain, period. What are you trying to say?”
Tony plopped into one of the plastic cafeteria chairs, and it groaned under his muscular weight. “Fine. Wolves. Pack. Alaska is filled with wolves who could be very territorial about a cat coming into their midst. You’re good with people, Tessa, but wolves can be a tricky lot. Especially when they are the game in town.”
She fluttered her fingers. “Pshaw. I met their chief pooh-bah. He’s super nice. And Keri is mated to one of the Granite Lake pack, so I’m like already a kissing cousin. There’s not going to be trouble. Really. I promise not to go on any wild rampages and stir up trouble, no matter how tempting.”
Tony raised a brow. “A town full of dogs, and you don’t feel the slightest urge to cause mischief?”
All the crazy ideas that flashed to mind could be blamed on that faulty instinct she was working on fixing. “Of course not. I’m a grown woman. This is my career, and I’m capable of suppressing a few urges.”
This crazy expression crossed his face, and Tessa slammed up a hand. Oh no, they were not going there.
“Don’t. Don’t even think about giving me advice regarding any other kinds of urges. I will not listen. I will not hear. You cease to exist…blah, blah, blah.”
Tony sighed. “You’re a cat.”
“You’re so annoying.”
“They’re wolves.”
Tessa wadded up her napkin and threw it in his face. “So, what have you got planned for the next year? Working three cruises? Going to take some time off in the fall and go exploring?”
Her brother stared at her so hard she swore she heard the gears in his brain grinding, but he was smart enough to drop the subject and switch to chatting about his future plans.
Because no matter how comfortable shifters were with sex, talking with her brother about mattress mamboing was on the list of things she really didn’t want to do.
Besides, the point he’d planned on raising she’d already thought through. The place she wanted to buy was on the outskirts of Haines, and wolves were a well-established part of the northern community. Wolves, like all shifters, enjoyed their sexual escapades, but they were more territorial and possessive than the average cat, in bed and out of it.
Cats and bears and other shifters picked mates when the time was right. Wolves followed some mystical mumbo jumbo and fell in twue wuv when their animal sides sniffed the right person. Which—ick. Just ick.
Well, maybe not ick—she’d seen it work for her friend, but there was no way she wanted to settle down yet. She’d make sure any urges of the naughty sort were satisfied during playtime with humans. Or visitors to the area. Or battery-operated boyfriends—the list of possibilities was endless.
This stage of the adventure was about establishing a top-notch resort in the north. And sex, while always enjoyable, was a low priority. Tessa nodded to herself, pleased she’d gotten that straightened out.
She turned her attention back to her brother and tried not to allow her fanciful daydreams about the new resort distract her.
Mark Weaver stared in dismay across the table at his boss. “But—”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ve only been here for two months.”
The older man sighed. “Which means, according to the rules, now that the season is slowing down and I have to let staff go, you’re the first on the release list.”
Dammit. “I enjoyed this job. And I worked hard. And—”
“Mark, please don’t make this any tougher than it already is.” Mr. Remy pushed his pink slip closer. “You are a good worker, but I can only afford to keep two full-time staff over the winter.”
Double dammit. Mark nodded. “I understand.”
“If you need work in the spring, I’d be happy to hire you back on. And I wrote you up a letter of recommendation.” A slim envelope joined his release papers on the tabletop. “If I can help you get a job, let me know.”
Mark shook the man’s hand and grabbed his things, escaping into the crisp fall sunshine of late August. Well, that was an unexpected and bitter twist. He hopped on his mountain bike and considered where he wanted to waste the rest of the gorgeous, yet annoying day.
Some tough, all-out physically draining exercise would help. If nothing else, it would make his body match the crappy mental state he was now in. Of all the blasted luck.
Instead of going home, he headed toward the opposite side of town and the Granite Lake pack house. Maybe there would be a few other members hanging around he could convince to join him for a backcountry jaunt. Something to distract him from the fact he was once again unemployed, unattached and unhappy.
Life sucked. It really did.