Lost (Shifter Island Book 1) by Carol Davis Page B

certainly possible; there were a lot of trees in the way.
    By the time they reached the bottom of the slope, her hands and feet were ice-cold, and she had to resist the urge to look to Aaron for support. She had to seem strong, sensible, and capable. Someone these people would see as an asset to their community, not someone they ought to give the bum’s rush to.
    The three men didn’t approach. Instead, they waited for Aaron to lead Abby closer to them.
    “Alpha,” Aaron said quietly.
    That was an odd greeting. She’d expected him to say “sir”—or maybe to walk her on past the men to one of the buildings that were now only a short distance away. To his father’s house, maybe, or someone’s office.
    Did anyone here have an office? she wondered.
    “Your brother came to me,” said the man Aaron had identified as his father. Then his gaze fell on Abby, and for a moment she felt more naked than if she’d left all her clothes behind at the cabin. “As well he should have. You’re aware of custom in situations like this—and yet you seem to have completely ignored that in favor of indulging your impulses.”
    Aaron’s breath came out in a little whuff . “It’s not an impulse,” he said. “I admit I’ve gone against custom, but it’s not an impulse. I come to ask you and the elders to accept this woman as my mate.”
    For a moment, the older man was silent. Then he turned to the others and said, “A moment to speak to my son, Alpha?”
    Again with that alpha thing. Weird , Abby thought.
    “Granted,” one of the other men said.
    He was the oldest of the three, Abby guessed, because his face was somewhat lined, and his hair had thinned more than the others’ had. But how old any of these people were was a puzzle. She’d taken Aaron to be somewhere in his mid-twenties, and he’d said Luca was older, but that would put their father at fifty-ish, and he didn’t look that old, in spite of his gray hair. She’d seen him move with somewhat of a limp, but other than that he seemed young, strong, and vital. And the other two…
    “Stay right here,” Aaron instructed her.
    Then he moved a few steps away with his father, leaving her to endure the scrutiny of the others.
    “It’s really beautiful here,” she said, trying to paste a smile onto her face, knowing it was stiff and phony.
    Neither of them responded.
    As had been the case during Aaron’s argument with Luca, she could hear only bits of what he and his father were saying. She could pick up the tone of it, though: Aaron’s deference to the older man, and his father’s indignation. Unsurprisingly, Aaron was on less of an equal footing now than he’d been with his brother, and she understood that he was reluctant to say too much, to press his case too strongly.
    No, this wasn’t going to be easy.
    She forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply, and not to fidget, not to grip her bag too tightly. Worst job interview ever , she thought, and then had to fight back the urge to grin stupidly.
    Finally, Aaron came back to her side and took her hand.
    “I ask your permission for us to go to my father’s house,” he said to the two stonily silent elders. “We’ll remain there until you send word for us to meet with you, if you find that suitable.”
    “You agree with this, Jeremiah?” asked the man everyone had called alpha .
    “I do,” said Aaron’s father. “It seems to be the most sensible choice, given the situation.”
    “Very well, then. The damage has been done. We’ll discuss what should be done to mitigate it, and then sit in judgment.”
    Somehow, in the blink of an eye, the two men disappeared. That startled Abby a lot more than their initial appearance had—and, actually, it startled her more than seeing that wolf in the woods had. She’d forgotten all about seeing the animal down here, less than ten minutes ago, and now she began to wonder where it had gone. For all she knew, these people kept it as a pet. That wouldn’t be