Page 71 of Poet & Protector

He gave her a long look, and she sighed. “I’m sorry, Ren, but why? They don’t belong there. It’s Efron’s club.”

“Sabine’s right,” Dax agreed. “If they come, we’ll have to babysit them. That’s gonna suck.”

“You could have run it by us first,” Sabine complained.

Ren lifted an eyebrow.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the alpha,” she said sourly. “I’m not challenging your authority. I’m requesting common courtesy.”

He relented, laughing. “Fine, Sabine. I apologize for lacking courtesy. But this is necessary. The Keepers won’t get off my back about the union. If you had wraiths in your house on a regular basis, you’d do something about it, too.”

She shuddered, as did Cosette. Dax gave a low growl and I shifted my weight in my chair. No one liked to think about wraiths.

“Sorry, Ren,” Dax said. “We’ll do whatever you want.”

“Damn right you will,” Ren replied, but he was grinning at his second. “Besides, I don’t think it’s going to be the chore you all expect it to be. They may be Nightshades, but they’re wolves like us. It’s drinks, dancing. No reason not to have a good time.”

“Maybe,” Dax said. “You just want to get your hands on Calla.”

“Two birds, one stone,” Ren said, still grinning.

Sabine rolled her eyes and turned to talk to Cosette.

“Nev.” Ren looked at me. “Any issues for you here?”

I shook my head. My mind was running ahead to the possible pitfalls of a night out with our rival pack. I couldn’t care less about them coming to Eden, though I worried about Sabine. I wondered if Ren was forgetting her true reason for not wanting the Nightshades there was less about not liking them and more about them glimpsing what a night at Efron’s club would mean for her.

I offered her a quick sympathetic smile and she flashed her fangs at me.

For my own part, Ren’s invitation was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it meant I’d get to spend Friday night with Mason. On the other, I’d be spending Friday night with Mason…and pretending I didn’t give a damn. It sucked, but our ongoing subterfuge was necessary.

“Nev, I want a rematch,” Dax said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I folded my arms across my chest. “You that eager to lose again?”

“No way I’m losing this time.” He rested his arm on the table, bending it at the elbow. “Come on.”

“It’s your ego, man.” I mirrored his position and grasped his hand.

I’d never minded arm-wrestling Dax. His bulk made it seem like he’d be the clear favorite, but he was impatient and easily frustrated. I could match his strength and I had better focus. All I had to do was wait for him to get pissed off he wasn’t winning, take advantage of that emotional distraction, and I had him. It worked every time.

I used to get a kick out of it, but ever since Ren talked to the rest of my pack about my relationship with Mason and made it clear we had his approval, Dax seemed to believe beating me in an arm-wrestling match would prove Ren wrong. Dax wasn’t stupid, but this was not a bright idea.

Even if he did beat me, it didn’t change the fact that I was as skilled a fighter and hunter as any other wolf in the pack. Ren’s opinion about me wasn’t going to differ because of some lunchroom contest. More than that, Dax’s repeated challenges only reminded our alpha of his second-in-command’s reluctant acceptance of Ren’s order. It put a constant strain on their friendship and our pack hierarchy.

“You ready?” Dax grinned at me.

“Just waiting for you to start,” I replied.

Our forearms and biceps flexed as we each tried to force the other’s arm down. Ren kept an eye on us as Sabine started asking him questions about an essay they’d been assigned in their afternoon philosophy seminar.

Dax’s arm began to quiver from strain and he bared his teeth at me. I was working just as hard, but I refused to appear anything but bored by the whole thing, which was yet another strategy in winning this match. The more I pissed off Dax with my ‘I give zero fucks’ attitude, the sooner he’d make a mistake.

This time it took about three minutes. Dax growled, adjusting his body in his chair in an attempt to gain more leverage. The moment his weight shifted, changing his balance, I went for the kill. His arm was on the table before he could blink.

“Fuck!” He glared at me then at his arm, as if it should apologize to him for the loss.

“Nicely done, Nev,” Ren said, giving me a nod of approval before he went to sit beside Sabine and Cosette.