Lured

1-2

POPPY GLANCED AT ME from her cocooned position in the passenger seat of the Porsche. “You really don’t like the idea of other females invading your territory, do you?” she asked over the hum of the engine.

I shrugged.

“I know you have a strong bond with Josh, so I understand you feeling pushed out, but ... it’s not only him, is it?”

“I don’t know. It’s just ...” I paused to consider. “None of them have shown an interest in women.”

“Just because they haven’t advertised their attraction doesn’t mean the feelings aren’t there, sweetie.”

I didn’t comment.

“At the end of the day, they are male. They all have a pulse,” Poppy continued. “Of course they think about women.”

Still, I remained mute as horrid images of sharing the breakfast table with six females rampaged through my mind.

“You’re too used to having them all to yourself.”

I shrugged again, trying to shove the mental slideshow away.

“You have to consider they may meet someone—date even. Surely, you don’t think they’ve all lived their lives as monks?”

I couldn’t tell her that, as a rule, the pack didn’t date humans because past experience showed them the consequences could be catastrophic—not for themselves but for the humans. “I’ve never thought about it.” I hadn’t needed to.

“Oh, come on. Men have needs. Sooner or later, those men of yours will want to get those needs fulfilled.” She probably thought the conversation helped.

She couldn’t have been more mistaken.

My eyes had been opened to the possibility that I may not always be the sole female to interact with the pack.

I welcomed the idea about as much as a bout of diarrhoea.