For a moment, none of the kids moved, but I flicked my gaze over to them and made it an order, and that was all it took. They were off and running before they even switched forms, and as much as Ink didn’t want to leave my side, a silent please convinced him to lead them out to play.
Or, more to the point, out of harm’s way.
I pulled my mind away from Ink’s, but not quickly enough to keep from picking up that while Ink and his wolf would guard the pups, neither wanted to turn his back on Lucas, and neither wanted to leave me there with him.
Luckily, Ink’s human half seemed to know that I could take care of myself, and his wolf half knew, on a bone-deep level, that I was alpha, and together, those things were enough to buy me some time alone with Lucas—if alone meant “with River, Macbeth
