Then the scent hits me.
Pine. Smoke. Warmth.
Jace.
I drop my guard with an exasperated groan. “What are you doing here?”
He steps out from the shadows, looking infuriatingly casual for someone trespassing on another pack’s sacred ground. His dark hair is tousled, moonlight catching on his sharp jawline.
“Nice to see you too, Stevie,” he says, voice low, edged with amusement. “You’re quiet. I almost didn’t find you.”
“Maybe that was the point.”
He leans against a stone pillar like he owns the place. “Alpha said you might need backup.”
“I don’t.”
“That’s not what he thinks.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know,” he says easily, “but Keith’s not exactly big on taking chances.”
I glare. “You’re supposed to be my beta, not my shadow.”
“Semantics.”
“Jace—”
He grins. “Relax. I’m just he
